School's now closed thanks to COVID-19. Our countries are in complete lockdown. We need to keep our social distance and constantly wash our hands...
Crazy how things have escalated over the course of just the last few months, huh? How are you guy's quarantines? Mine's quite great, actually! Not really a lot of stuff's changed for me since I was kinda bound to my house beforehand anyway, sooooooo... yeaaaaaa... anybody bored? Well, I have just the cure right here! (Sowy for da wait, this quarantine thingy has actually left me with a bunch of extra time on my hands so I've picked up a bunch of hobbies; reading, watching Anime with family (whilst keeping distance), practicing piano, homework (duh), exercising (to the extent that I am allowed, of course) and it's eating away the days... -_-)
*Big inhale* So...
Here's a chapter with a title I know possibly will entice a lot of you. But no more words required!
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 :)
Chapter 12: Whitebeard pirates ahoy!
To say it had been a long journey would be… a vast understatement.
For the past 2 months - 7 weeks, 6 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes, and 45 seconds to be excruciatingly precise (and yes, Ace had in fact, alongside many of his fellow suffering brothers, begun counting) the Whitebeard pirates had been stuck at sea. For. 2. Freaking. Months. Even as pirates, that number was bound to eventually drive them crazy.
Not from boredom, though. In fact, their long time spent at sea had been some of the most turbulent and eventful days in a hot while. Especially considering this was Paradise - the supposed less wacky ocean in the Grand Line.
It had started out small when a party they'd held had attracted a flock of sea kings. Alright, that was fine, though, they were the crew of the strongest man in the world after all, so that complication had promptly been resolved - no trouble at all whatsoever.
But then… the chain off misfortune and absolute adversity had been set in motion.
The very next morning - while everybody was feeling that post-party hangover that getting drunk, unfortunately, entailed - the freaking persistent ass marines decided they wanted to have a go at taking Whitebeard's head. (Honestly, what did those buffoons think was gonna happen, anyway?)
While there (unsurprisingly) exclusively had been minor injuries (only the weak marines were brainless enough to even attempt assaulting them after all), the battle had left the Moby Dick in a complete mess thanks to everybody's carelessness while fighting. Which meant, they had to spend the entire sunny - perfectly suitable for other activities - day scrubbing away blood, retying cut ropes, reorganizing tumbled and destroyed crates/barrels, and such boring crap.
Unfortunately, they had not even been allowed to do that in peace, as suddenly, a blizzard had appeared out of nowhere and it was all hands on deck (as if everybody weren't already) to safely navigate through it.
The rough winds and compressed snow turning to ice had resulted in many (far more than the Whitebeards could proudly admit) to slip into the freezing icy waters, putting a hell lot of pressure on Namur, who had to hurry his ass and rescue his brothers before anybody would drown or die from hypothermia.
Fortunately, all crewmembers pulled out were still (well, to some degree at least…) alive, and had been rushed to the infirmary where it had then been Marco's turn to be overloaded with work to a point where not even Thatch could joke around about it any longer.
It paid off in the end, though, as ultimately, all the pirates ended up with were some pretty severe colds that eventually would dull with rest and some green tea. In this period of ailment, Ace got surprisingly popular with the sick.
Whaddya know, a hot firecracker for a brother proved very useful when there was no fireplace in the infirmary... The Mera-Mera no mi was a remarkably convenient fruit to have in desperate times of need!
The Whitebeards' misfortunes, however, didn't even end there…!
While half of the crew were down with colds - and they still snailed forward - weeks away from any sort of solid ground- another Grand Line storm had hit and hit them hard.
80% of their food supplies had been ruined in a flood - ruined as if things weren't grim enough as it was! That had been an absolute disaster. People were forced to portion out their meals and eat just once a day! Once. A. Day.
…
…
…
WHY!? WHAT IN ODA'S NAME HAD THEY DONE TO DESERVE THAT KIND OF TORTURE!? WHY DID IT SEEM LIKE THE OCEAN ITSELF WAS SUDDENLY AGAINST THEM!?
Speculations were swarming. Some thought they'd somehow angered the god above (yeah, cause there was totally a guy sitting up there in the clouds claiming to be God), although the strongest supported theory was one of Haruta's, who suggested they'd stolen some cursed treasure that was now bestowing bad luck upon them.
Honestly, it was both hilarious and quite alarming what the crippled souls could come up with...
Starving, sick, sleep-deprived, exhausted - not to mention the migraines basically everybody was suffering with - it was no wonder, really, that the crew of wearied men could barely believe their ears when Curiel frantically had shouted from atop the crow's nest, that Steller Island was in sight.
Nobody at the time had cared how plain or uninteresting the damn place was, just that it had food, medicine, and some solid ground where they could dock their ship and finally enjoy some goddamn peace!
Those events had lead up to the inevitable split up. Everybody who wasn't sick, too debilitated, or (poor souls) obligated to stay behind to guard the Moby Dick immediately went scavenging for necessary supplies.
Somehow - out of his literal thousands of brothers - Ace had winded up walking down the crowded streets of the town alone with Thatch. Not that he was complaining about that, though.
The two had been busy sprinting all around for food. The streets were vaster and more confusing than you'd expect, but despite a few setbacks and needing to ask for directions a few times (minding their manners, of course), the payoff was the sacks upon sacks and crates upon crates of food they were now yanking around.
And, inevitably, also two depressingly empty wallets.
"Man this place's a total rip-off." Thatch half-mumbled, not even trying to hide his displeasure.
It had taken no more than a few minutes for that to be painstakingly clear. As if the extravagant buildings alone weren't a dead giveaway, everything - down to something as casual as toilet paper - was gawkingly overpriced.
"Who in their right mind charges 1500 Beli just for some green food coloring!? I was gonna use that to prank Marco!" Thatch whined, not at all happy that he for once needed be resourceful with how he went about spending his money.
Ace had to wonder just what kind of prank Thatch had in mind. It probably involved switching Marco's shampoo with the green food coloring and turning their poor 1st division commander into a real life-sized pineapple…
"Sounds like a great idea. I bet it'll be fun to watch Marco chase you around the entire ship when it backfires," Ace smirked, already excited about laughing his ass off along with all his other brothers who'd - without a doubt - also be spectators to the hunt.
"Hmp, an unfortunate but necessary sacrifice. For your information, I feel no prank is completed without a good proper chase at the end," Thatch admitted, crossing his arms and looking away in fake offense.
Ace rolled his eyes.
"Whatever… let's just hurry and get this shopping done. No offense, Thatch, but not even you can make just porridge and sea king meat appetizing any longer."
Thatch grimaced, seemingly agreeing with that assessment.
"Ugh, none taken. I've promised to cook up a real feast tonight to get everybody back into good spirits, and that I intend to do! We've already got the boar, rice, and most of the vegetables, though, so all we're missing are ingredients for dessert."
Ace nodded. He was more than ready to just be done already, head back to the Moby and take a nice long nap until dinner was ready, then empty out their stock once again when enjoying Thatch's feast, and then sneak in some mugs of sake before Marco would stop him because he was "underage".
(He was a pirate for Oda's sake! 17 was more than an appropriate drinking age!)
It grew silent between the two commanders as they continued strolling down the streets. It was strangely peaceful - minding all the crap that had happened to them over the course of just two lengthy months.
The thronging inhabitants didn't even seem affected by their presence at all. Even though Ace's naked back showed off Whitebeard's mark proudly for the whole damn world to see, the most they got was some curious eyes from the folks not currently too occupied.
That was certainly nice. For pirates whose captain's name was feared over the whole globe, such treatment was rare. Not that they minded getting recognized, but moments where they could just casually go about were definitely appreciated.
While being lost in thought, Thatch suddenly remembered something he had urgently been wanting - no desiring to ask Ace for weeks. A question any new member of the Whitebeard pirates was obligated to answer when joining.
"Say, Ace, you wouldn't be as kind as to tell your bestest older brother when your-"
Thatch cut himself off (a rarity indeed) as something even more important suddenly caught both his and Ace's attention.
A smell - no an indescribable heavenly fragrance from somewhere not far from their current positions.
*GRUUUUMMMMBBLLLEEEE*
The stomachs of the two food-lovers fully agreed that whatever they were smelling just needed to be eaten. They hadn't had anything delectable for weeks after all, so they certainly deserved it.
The divine aroma led the hungry commanders straight to the entrance of a bar that, from the outside at least, didn't have anything outstanding about it (at least in the standards of this city).
Looks mattered little to the two salivating pirates, however. Without a single word being said, the two waltzed right on inside the building filled with clinking cutlery and the laughter of drunken men. Immediately, the smell of fresh meat being grilled hit them like a punch straight to their faces.
"Smeeelllsss goooooodddd!" They said in perfect sync as if hypnotized by the many fragrances.
That was the moment it was decided their little shopping trip could wait just a few more minutes (or, however long it would take for Ace, the superhuman bottomless pit, to be done anyway…).
In a flash, the two suddenly stood by the counter and placed down their abundance of groceries. That certainly earned them quite the looks from some intrigued customers…
Despite the many other eaters indicating this was quite a busy day, however, an old man soon noticed and greeted the hungry pair.
"Gooday gentlemen. Excuse me if this comes out wrong, but doncha' belong to the crew of Whitebeard..?" He questioned, delivering them both quite the muddled looks.
"Hm? Oh yeah. Is that a problem?" Ace politely asked, despite his own and Thatch's impatience. The brown-haired commander pouted at Ace's question, knowing fully that that could very well be and they'd have to respect and follow their rules if so.
"No no, of course not! Pirates are always welcome s'long as they don't cause any trouble. It's just… weren't you guys here just yesterday?"
"Huh?"
The man's query greatly puzzled the two clueless commanders. The two shed each other some befuddled glances, but both knew there was no way what the man was implying made any sense.
"Yesterday?" Thatch inquired, not even trying to hide sheer confusion in his voice.
Blink blink.
An expression matching Ace and Thatch's immediately spread on the old man's face.
"You mean… those guys from yesterday weren't part of the crew...?" He asked desperation and worry starting to sound in his voice.
"Sorry to tell you pal, but this is our first time visiting Stellar Island. Believe me, we'd deeeefinitely know if a group of us had come by here yesterday," Thatch answered with a fake grin.
The old bartender, however, didn't seem charmed by his playful tone at all. His expression strained and turned a mixture of regret and confusion, as he silently brought his wrinkled hand to his chin as if thinking hard over something.
"Is… something the matter?" Ace asked upon seeing the bartender's reaction.
The two commanders took the man's worrisome silence as an unfortunate "yes."
"I…- it's just that… that yesterday, this kid came by-"
"Kid?"
"Yeah, I didn't get his name, but he was looking real roughed up, I tell ya. He was covered in dirty bandages and was so starved and scrawny he got sick after taking just a couple a' bites of my food. He claimed to be 14, but considering his looks, he could've easily been even younger, although there was nobody escorting him…" The man explained, sounding pitiful from even just remembering the boy.
Both Ace and Thatch immediately shared the man's concern.
'Just 14? That's right about Luffy's age…' Ace couldn't help but think of his crazy idiot of a little brother upon hearing that. Just the thought that children as young and defenseless as him were running around alone in such a state was enough to make his stomach churn…
"What's someone so young doing here of all places in such a condition?" Thatch asked with a deep frown, as if reading Ace's thoughts.
The man shrugged.
"I dunno… didn't get to ask too many questions before these other guys showed up."
Ah, now things were starting to piece together.
"Were those the guys you thought were part of our crew?"
A nod from the elder affirmed that conclusion to be true.
"Yeah, they overheard us talking about the Whitebeards and suddenly stood right behind us and explained some stuff about a vacation or something… Anyway, I, no offense or anythin, was very skeptical about these guys and asked for some proof. In response, one of em' showed me a Whitebeard tattoo, which is why I decided to trust them."
The man looked anxiously up at the two Whitebeard commanders. He didn't know what kind of response to expect, and considering either one of them could wreck and kill everyone inside the bar within seconds, not without good reason either.
"..."
Their silence provoked fearful glances from any nearby customers who'd listened in on their conversation.
Thatch and Ace's expressions remained unchanged. Their calmness, however, was clearly only external… the tension building up between the two could legitimately have been cut by a knife. Their anger was ever so slowly rising… Ace and Thatch respectively might be idiots, but even they knew where this conversation was headed.
"What… happened next?" Ace asked, breaking the silence.
"The little imp was very eager to go... The grunts seemed nice enough, so I let em' leave…" He gave Ace and Thatch a quick apologetic glance with regret-filled eyes.
Once again, they said nothing. The two commanders cast each other some apprehensive looks as they realized just what they had just learned.
Somebody out there was impersonating them. Running around with a fake mark - the symbol that brought them peace, protected them - struck fear into the hearts of their enemies and comfort in those under Whitebeard's protection. To think somebody would have the audacity to take it as a joke was sickening.
And apparently, these particular delinquents had used to trick some defenseless kid… only Oda knows what other kinds of crap they might've already pulled wearing their symbol.
The commanders knew this meant war. Whoever these "guys" were, they were gonna pay.
"Say, you wouldn't perhaps know where those people are now?" Thatch asked.
"And the kid - do you know what happened to him?" Ace cut in. Those fakes better not have done anything to him, or he swore, asses were about to be scorched till they were some steaming pieces of crispy burnt flesh.
Unfortunately, it seemed finding and punishing the imposters wouldn't be as easy as that, as instead of providing the Whitebeard commanders with an answer, the man scratched his neck.
"Sorry to tell ya' but it's kinda too late for anything to be done…"
"And why's that?"
"Well, ya' see…"
O-o-O-o-O
"Oi…. OI!"
Luffy moaned at the gruff voice that threatened him to wake up from his deep slumber. His body felt even worse than it usually would after a "training" session with that crazy grandpa of his - head spinning and pounding at the same time, and every inch of his skin stinging from the fresh wounds and loads of burns covering it.
The straw-hatted teen fought against his overwhelming fatigue to force his heavy eyelids open. He was probably lucky the sky was covered in thick dark gray clouds, or the light unquestionably would have overwhelmed him. Instead, however, he was confused when he found himself staring directly into the stupefied face of a stranger.
Then it all clicked. The rich fancy town. The bar. The traitors who had lied about being Ace's nakama. The explosion. The harbor where he had somehow managed to sneak aboard some merchant ship and then passed out after hiding behind a stack of barrels.
Crap, this meant he'd been discovered again, didn't it?
"Huh, so you weren't dead after all…" The man sounded surprised more than anything. Probably because of the pool of blood Luffy was certain he was sitting in. Any normal human probably would have been long since gone.
"A-anyway, this is the end for you. We've been patient enough to wait until arriving at the next island… This isn't some cruise ship you know, so… just get off, please? Or else, my captain told me to make you." The sailor did his best at sounding rigid, but his discomfort shone through it.
Luffy remained motionless, even upon hearing that threat. Not that he doubted the man wouldn't do it. He was just too tired to waste any energy replying.
Unfortunately, this meant he had no choice but to move. In his current state, Luffy was sure it was gonna hurt like hell to walk.
He shed the island they had docked at a desperate glance. From his position on the floorboards, all he could make out was a bunch of tall trees with lots of colorful fruits and flowers growing on them.
Hopefully, though, there was a doctor somewhere on the island who'd be willing to help him. He still had the money that nice guard had handed him… if it wasn't too burnt. He'd forgotten to check.
Ever so slowly, the wounded straw-hatted teen arose from his comfortable position on the floor, his aching muscles instantly complaining from the slight movement. Black dots immediately blocked his vision and his lightheadedness made him want to faint. He leaned against the barrels for support to avoid that while he regained his lost breath.
Ugh, he felt like crap. But the impatient stare the sailor was giving him lead to Luffy to believe he didn't care much about that as long as he got off their ship.
The teen gritted his teeth.
'Come on Luffy! You're not gonna get any closer to Ace like this!' Luffy mentally scolded, clenching his blood-smeared fists as a means to finally get his act together.
O-o-O-o-O
Ace let out an abysmal sigh of satisfaction as he lazily leaned against the Moby Dick's railing, gazing out on the glittering ocean. The sun was setting in the distance, turning the water an absolute exquisite crimson-red color. A beautiful sight indeed - one Ace knew he blessed to have the freedom of enjoying like this.
His tummy was, after 2-ish hours, finally stuffed to a point where he felt satisfied. Thatch's cooking had really hit the spot. Nobody had even attempted to hold themselves back at the banquet, even if that meant another shopping trip tomorrow.
The party was still going strong behind him. Probably would until everybody were either passed out or had run out of liquor.
If one listened closely enough, they'd be able to hear the bickering voices of Haruta and his sparring partner, Vista. Apparently, the 12th division commander had gone just an insty bit overboard while shopping for "supplies" and had bought matching shirts as a sign of their "respect" for one another. Now everybody was doing their utmost best to try and convince their 5th division commander to actually wear it, of course ensuing chaos.
Ace had oh so politely excused himself from getting involved in that entire mess to have just a moment of alone time.
It was nice. Just a few months back, be would've for sure snickered at the thought of sailing with idiots like these. But damn had he come to love them idiots. Laughter.. singing… the tranquil waves calmly slamming against the Moby's sides in a soothing slow rhythm… Everything was exactly as it should be... Ace felt great and at absolute total peace!
…
...Or, so he'd like to be able to admit.
Even though the evening was a joyful one for the Whitebeard pirates, something… just ...was not right. Ace had desperately been trying to shake the nagging feeling of "wrong" all night, but needless to say had been unsuccessful.
"Ace, yoi? Something wrong?"
Ace glanced in the direction of the familiar voice and spotted Marco approaching.
"Ah, Marco. Sorry, it's just… I guess I've been kinda uneasy ever since the shopping trip…"
The 1st division commander's expression remained calm. Just as always when you were addressing personal matters with Marco. He had some scary talent for keeping up that lazy facade of his.
"Now that you mention it, both you and Thatch seemed upset when you returned…" He shed Thatch a brief glance.
The 4th division commander had somehow managed to remove Vista's old shirt and was now playing a game of 'throw and catch' alongside some other helpful crewmembers whilst mocking their shirtless 5th division commander.
Vista (unsurprisingly) was red as a tomato and was shouting drunken curse words at Thatch whilst trying at best attempt to catch the damned prankster, but it was basically the entire crew against him, so it was a cruelly uphill battle. And there Thatch was… laughing like a madman while derisively waving his brother's shirt for the entire crew to see.
He might've been laughing now, but Marco still recalled the lost look on his face when he and Ace silently had waltzed onto the deck without saying as much as a single word about their trip just a few brief hours ago.
"Mind sharing a piece of your mind, yoi?" Marco inquired, attention returning to Ace.
The 2nd division commander stared blankly at the lulling waves as if contemplating how he should explain himself. That was fine, though, Marco kept his eyes locked on him, patiently waiting for him to make sense of his thoughts.
"Well..." He finally began after quite some time had passed. "I guess it happened when Thatch and I… Uhm... went a little off schedule and into a bar selling some heavenly smelling food… There we met an old man who seemed surprised to see us. Apparently he'd talked with some guys claiming to be Whitebeard pirates just yesterday... they even had the mark going to prove it..."
Marco's eyes widened ever so slightly as he quickly pieced together just what Ace was claiming…
"You're saying there were fakes, yoi?" Anger was evidently underlying in his voice. Ace understood that... he'd felt the exact same way when he first learned of it too. He gave a simple nod as an answer to his question, but then, much to Marco's puzzlement stared back at the ocean instead of continuing his explanation.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" He queried. Sure, Ace might still be a relatively new member to the crew + a comically big hothead who for some damned reason felt the need to shoulder the whole world on his shoulders, but even Thatch had kept quiet about this too… and that was not an easy feat when it was Thatch they were talking about.
"Because there'd be no damn reason to! Those bastards were dead before we even arrived at Stellar Island!" Ace yammered, obviously displeased with his inability to intervene as well.
"Dead, yoi?" Marco pushed.
"Yeah… apparently there was an explosion yesterday night and those guys somehow got cut up in it. Their bodies - well what remained of them anyway - was recovered not long after."
The 2nd division commander pouted deeply, his (pun definitely intended) blazing temper undoubtedly getting the better of him.
With all the battles and constant dangers the Whitebeard pirates had faced lately, Marco had somehow forgotten Ace really was just 17. A hot-tempered brat with a knack for getting into trouble. A boy so stubborn and prideful he didn't even know to run away from a fight to protect himself.
Damn… it had taken a long-ass time just to get the fact that it was ok to have people looking out for into that thick skull of his…
"Why all the sulking then, yoi? If they're already dead there's simply nothing we can do about it. Why not let it go and join back up with the others… I think Vista's finally starting to crack," he snickered. But despite Marco's playful shift in tone, Ace didn't seem appeased at all.
There was a short moment of silence once more. Ace appeared to be having another kind of internal conflict. Marco wondered for just a moment if Ace was planning on actually sharing some of his thoughts, but that uncertainty was quickly resolved:
"Say, Marco…? Have… have you ever felt like there's something you're just… unaware off? Like - something is horribly horribly wrong, but you just don't have a clue as to what that something might even be?" Ace did his best to explain, but even he didn't get these shitty feelings much himself.
Marco stared, slightly bemused at his younger brother. His calm facade, however, remained nonetheless...
"Well, I'd say I definitely have, yoi… most of the, though, it's definitely stemmed from paranoia or stress more than any real sign of an emergency. I think it's because there's a lot of things out of our control while we're out here sailing... You don't know where or what the people you care about are or are doing… heck, one of them could be having a heart attack as we speak, and you wouldn't know before its too late, yoi!"
The 1st division commander stared ruminatively at the darkening waters. His expression hardened - hurt and regret glinting painstakingly clear in his eyes. Marco was talking from experience. That much even Ace could deduce from his look alone.
A much-preferred grin, however, quickly found its way back onto his face.
"I think I've learned not to worry about stuff like that. If all you do is contemplate the horrendous stuff that has even the slightest of possibility of actually occurring, you're only gonna wear yourself out by stressing about it all the time. But what brought this up, yoi?"
Marco couldn't help but wonder. Ace wasn't one to get depressed and have deep thoughts like this.
"Well I… I guess that happened when the bartender told us about this kid he met…"
"Kid, yoi?"
"Yea, our thoughts were exactly the same when he first mentioned it. But apparently, som 14-ish-year-old kid with horrible injuries has been wandering around alone asking for some way to contact us."
"Why's that? Does he know somebody onboard, yoi?" Marco questioned, brows furrowing in worry.
Ace shrugged.
"I dunno. All the man could get out of the kid was it was really important he found us fast... Those… imposters they… they tricked him into following them..! Luckily, it seems he managed to avoid getting involved in that explosion I mentioned earlier, because his… dead body wasn't found… the only issue that leaves is nobody knows what happened to him..."
Ace's grip around the railing tightened. For some strange reason, this entire ordeal agitated him to an inexplicable degree. Why was that? What was it he was missing? Even after an entire evening, he couldn't seem to figure that out.
"I see, yoi… that certainly is bothersome. But, Ace, you shouldn't feel guilty or in any way responsible for that.." Marco's voice lowered into the 'motherhenly' state he was oh so famous (or infamous?) for. "We'll go searching a bit tomorrow to see if the villagers might have missed him… we can even ask around a bit on the next few islands as to if anybody has seen him. That sound good to you?" Marco suggested, knowing that, unfortunately, was all they could do.
The Grand Line, cruel as the thought was, was no place for a kid to be traveling on his own. Chances were, even if he had managed to escape their imitators, his injuries or age would leave him too vulnerable to fend for himself for much longer…
Ace determinedly nodded, thinking along the same sets of disturbing lines as Marco. Marco, knowing he had finally gotten through to that little idiotic brother of his smiled in victory.
"Why don't we rejoin the others? Dessert's just about to be brought out, yoi," Marco enticed.
"...Sure," Ace - reluctantly for some bizarre reason - agreed.
Even after that fulfilling chat with Marco, he couldn't completely shake the feeling of urgency to do… something…
O-o-O-o-O
Luffy stared as the merchant ship that had carried him gradually sailed off into the horizon, leaving him behind. It had been a quick stop for the crew on board. Just set anchor, gather some fruits for consumption, and then off they'd went again.
The teen stood leaned against a fairly sizable tree trunk as he gazed after the vessel. The cool salty breeze from the edge of the island was soothing for the many stinging wounds. If not for the fact that Luffy was already shivering thanks to the freezing temperature, he could've probably stayed there forever.
"Right… better get going…" he mumbled begrudgingly staring straight into the depths of the unknown forest.
It was actually peculiarly colorful and dense upon further inspection. It was probably easy to get lost in there, which was problematic for Luffy. Maybe there… was a map or something around that could help?
"Oi, kid!"
Familiar with the nickname, Luffy turned to look who called out to him, only to be met by a set of shady unattractive men approaching.
Maybe it was some newfound instinct, but it told Luffy he shouldn't engage with them. The straw-hatted teen immediately turned around to flee, but more bad guys promptly emerged from the nearby bushes, blocking his path. Within seconds, the remaining members caught up as well, surrounding and efficiently trapping Luffy in a circle.
The 14-year old gritted his teeth.
Damn it! Not again!
"Now now, where do you think you're going, kiddo?" One of the grunts chuckled mockingly.
Luffy send him a death glare. Actually, just to all of them. This scene already was already starting to get waaaaaaaay too familiar…
"Go away! I have nothing to give you ugly jerkasses!" He boldly insulted. And true to his words he was. Because now Luffy actually had money, but as if he'd sink as low as to try and bargain his way out of this.
"What was that!?"
"You brat-!"
"Oi, cut the crap, men," a man with a sable and scruffy beard tiredly commanded. Luffy concluded he lead the group as the two men reluctantly shut their mouths. His dead stone-cold eyes quickly fell to Luffy. He studied him for a few seconds, but his unemotional expression made it impossible to tell what he was plotting.
"I'm just gonna skip straight to the point here, boy. A little birdie informed us the government is chasing some roughed up kid wearing a straw hat and broken handcuffs… in exchange for capturing you alive and kickin' there's a hefty reward awaiting us."
He smiled maliciously.
Luffy tensed tremendously upon hearing that ludicrous (and yet somehow astonishingly obvious) piece of information.
"Does that mean you're with those guys!?" He hysterically yelled although the answer to that question was painstakingly evident.
"That's right! Now, come along like a good little boy!"
"Not that there's much a kid in your condition could do to resist anyway!"
The kidnappers (they might as well be) slowly closed in on their prey. Any second now, one of them was sure to leap in and snatch Luffy, ensuring his capture. Fortunately, Luffy by now had obtained enough experience to know that as well…
The second a bandana-wearing fellow surged forward to grab him, Luffy jumped, using the man's head as a springboard to hop straight over the heads of the group, and out of their 'secured' circle.
Unfortunately, as Luffy, shortly after, connected with the ground, his knees jolted weakly under his weight as he felt a surge of pain from his joints.
'That's new…' was all the thought he gave it before promptly dashing into the depths of the forest as fast as his short legs could carry his bloodied body.
The flabbergasted crooks stared in bemusement as their precious prey disappeared in between some bushes, only just then processing what had just happened…
"WHAT ARE YOU FOOLS WAITING FOR! CHASE HIM FOR ODA'S SAKE!"
"Y-YES BOSS!" They stuttered, and with that outcry, the chase began.
Luffy looked back in discontent as he heard the grunts pick up pace and chase after him. He was already well ahead of them, but that advantage, unfortunately, wouldn't save Luffy forever, that he knew…
They were adults with legs much longer than his own, plus the tiny factor that none of them were fatally injured.
Luffy's world was spinning. With every unstable step he ran, it felt as though knives were repeatedly stabbing his bloodied abdomen, forcing him to clutch his throbbing tummy once again. His head was about to explode. His vision was growing dim once again. His burns were all acting up, not appreciative of his straining movements.
There was nothing Luffy could do about that though. Nothing but grit his teeth, suck it up and run faster.
His only saving grace was the familiar terrain. While Luffy had spent the last 10 years dashing through the wilderness, he imagined that plausibly wasn't the case for his pursuers. Every now and then, swears were yelled from behind him as they hit their heads on dangling branches or tripped over the roots of the trees.
"Serves them right…" he sourly mumbled under his own muttered breath.
"Just give it up brat! There's nowhere to run!"
Luffy took the liberty of peeking back at his pursuers. They were still right behind him. Covered in dirt and scrapes from all their tripping, but their eyes were fuming in their spirits not yielding in the slightest.
Damn those guys were tenacious!
Focusing back ahead, Luffy saw a hefty bundle of bushes coming up. They were densely packed… could even provide as a cover for the few seconds he would be running through it...
Desperate as Luffy was, an idea miraculously sparked in that brain of his.
If.. if he could just manage to reach past those bushes… then he could use his Gumo-Gomu no mi powers to grab onto a tree branch and take cover in the treetops for a while. A second was all he required to thoroughly confuse the jerks. At least until they went off to search for him elsewhere.
With that plan in mind, Luffy sped up (it burned, but would be worth it in just a few seconds). The kidnappers also noticed. Being professionals in this profession, they could easily spot the difference between a trapped rat and a trapped rat with a plan…
"Hurry! Don't let him pass through those bushes!" The leader yelled, though in vain.
Luffy tore straight through, blocking his face with his equally injured arms as the innumerous itnsy bitsy branches slapped against his skin. He couldn't care less about that though, as a brief 3 seconds thereafter, he breached through the bushes at 100 km/h.
Yosh! Alright now, quickly before those goons could follow, he'd need some branch to grab onto-
…
…
…
Just then Luffy recognized the horrible mistake he'd made. There were no trees to grab onto… actually, that plan in itself was thoroughly flawed, Luffy now, unfortunately, realized. The seastone around his wrists. He couldn't stretch willingly as of right now!
That was far from his worst worries though... because...there… there wasn't even any ground to stand on.
A cliff. He'd run himself straight off the edge of a damn cliff.
The last thing he heard as he plummeted into the even denser part of the jungle-like flora was his pursuers emerging and cursing as their prized target fell further out of their reach.
O-o-O-o-O
"Damn it!" The leader's swear echoed far and wide across the dead silent canyon. Beside him, his sweaty subordinates still fought hysterically to regain some air after that turbulent chase.
"What… *huff*are… *huff* we supposed to… *huff*... to do now, boss?"
The incompetent faction turned to their commander for answers. Their eldest ignored his underling at first, though, staring indignantly down the hundred meters steep cliffside, eyes fuming markedly instead.
For freak's sake! The reward they were gonna receive by capturing that little shrimp was big enough that they'd never ever have to work ever again! They could've bought liquor lasting them days! Enough food that they'd never starve once more!
Damn this hurt. Their entire group of experienced criminals couldn't catch one deathly injured kid. What humiliation! And now the little brat had gone and done this!? Was he clever or simply that desperate that he was willing to risk his life to escape like that?
"Get in contact with our clients," he sharply ordered, not even shedding his valued comrades a glance.
"Y-yes! Of o-of course boss!"
A member clumsily pulled out a baby den-den mushi from the depths of his pocket and hurriedly dialed the correct number. While the small snail waited for a reply from the other end, the leader stomped over and snatched the communication device out of his subordinate's hand. He was pissed, and he wasn't gonna try to hide it either.
A simple "gacha" soon sounded, indicating a connection had been established.
"Hey, it's us. The little brat somehow managed to evade us. He jumped straight down a cliff, the crazy pipsqueak," the man explained, moving straight to the point.
"..."
A short temporary silence followed that direct confession.
"I see… I wouldn't worry if I were you, though. It takes more to kill that boy, even if he's severely injured," a stern voice calmly elucidated.
The kidnappers all raised their brows in suspicion, clearly skeptical of the man's assessment. Had he even seen the degree of some of the burns and other sortsa' crap that boy had had?
"Where are you right now? We'll send backup your direction straight away," the voice casually continued.
"R-right…"
The grumpy leader scoured the area, registering just then he too had little idea of their current location.
"I'd say... we're about a mile away from the east shore… on the edge of the cliffside leading to the valley below," he told, finally regaining some of his senses.
Unfortunately for the dearly unfortunate man, he had no time to receive further instructions. Suddenly - way way faster than a single one of the thugs had an opportunity to register, a shadow swooped right past them, targeting their leader.
The outlaw wasn't even allowed to have a few last pathetic words as something was inserted into his chest, leaving a bullet-sized hole. The man coughed up blood and then tumbled over. Lifeless. Dead.
"...B… B-B...Boss..?"
The faction stared, eyes wide with abhorrence and horror. Just as that. They'd turned their backs and then...
"Boss!-"
"I think you outsiders have done quite enough…" an unexpected grave voice abruptly declared, rudely interrupting the group's compassionate moment.
All crooks instinctively drew their weapons of choice - sables, swords, knives - and stared with raging eyes in the direction of its owner.
There - a mere feeble few feet away - a man in total black had suddenly appeared out of thin air. His hair was curly, mid-length, and also black, matching his suit. On his shoulder, a damn pigeon (of all things!) was for some reason very comfortable sitting on his shoulders. Though most notably was the number of bandages covering him from nearly head to toe... had they not just witnessed it with their own damned eyes, not one of the crooks would have believed that man to be of any sort of danger to them.
"Th-that voice…! Rob Lucci-sama, is that you!?" The previously hollow voice from the baby den-den sounded astonishingly dazed.
The criminals chose to ignore that. Lucci too.
"You..! Who the hell are you!? Why would you kill our Boss!? What did he do to deserve this…!?"
Lucci said nothing. He stared. Glared. With eyes that could kill. Despite their boiling rage, the grunts were overwhelmed by that intense withheld malice, and anxiously shied away a little…
"...Why?" Lucci quietly repeated.
Suddenly, like a cat finally ambushing its prey, he disappeared in a blur of speed and, in the wink of an eye, reappeared right in front of his newly selected target, impaled his chest with his bare finger, and just like that, killed clueless crook #2.
"It's simple. A stone-set rule of suppressing information, really. Anybody knowing of that boy's existence also carries the risk of leaking the fact that the government's chasing him to some...rather perilous sources. This means, of course, all of you will have to die so we can rest assured you won't go off telling anybody."
So, uh, karma-much? At least those dastardly kidnappers got what they deserved in the end, though... right...? XD
To those of you who've been wanting Ace; here he is!... not in the way you expected, huh? OwO Sowy, but it is not yet time for Ace to discover the horrid truth!
So, what are your thoughts on this chapter? Please do tell! I'll gladly take a scolding for dangling the truth right in front of Ace's nose like that. But then you might ask; "Cookie-chan! When will Ace finally stop being stupid and learn and then burn everything!?" Well, dear amazing reader, to you I say, I have made some quick calculations *cough cough* and... I'd say... uhhhmmm... approximately 5... 6ish chapters until Ace learns. But fear not! Only 3 chapters and... something (something definitely worthwhile the wait!) is bound to happen ewe.
Anyway, favorite part, time for reviews!
AysaWolf: Owo. Sorry XD Glad I could finally pull myself together and write something not excruciatingly cruel to little Lu, though! And here's Ace for you! Cookies to you for being an amazing supporter, thank you a million for reading and reviewing, and stay safe!
deathshade37: Thank you! Writing emotions can get a tad bit tedious at times, so I'm glad it usually works out as well as it does OwO Stay safe and healthy in these times!
Caliawenn: Well yea. Those sailors were mean and impatient. As will, unfortunately, many strangers treat a little snot-nosed kid T-T Don't worry, I promise you there shall be fire when Ace's rage is unleashed... (hehe). Anyway, thank you for your excitement, it pumps me! And stay safe and healthy! :D
MR97: *ahem* Your level of English is perfectly understandable, I know exactly what you mean! To your generous words, I say thank you! :D And yeah, don't worry I can't wait for that sweet sweet reunion either! Stay safe and remain healthy!
Sophia Mendes-Coruja: No worries, but I'm ecstatic to see you back! :D So, where to start... well firstly, thank you a million times over and over, as always your compliments have brightened my world! OwO LOVE YOU LOTS BACK! *SENDS VIRTUAL HUGS AND COOKIES. And yeah, it's crazy to think about the world... 2020 will forever be remembered as the year a pandemic broke out and everybody began fighting over buying toilet paper. (sorry, just tryna' brighten mood a little XD) But whamzalladam, Sophia-chan can now no Coronavirus get ba BAM! (Stay safe!)
Lou: Yes. The entire country's in complete lockdown. We aren't allowed to meet in big groups or visit patients in the hospital. We need to keep at least 2 m distance from one another and constantly wash our hands. Then again, COVID-19 doesn't nearly affect my country as much as China... How are you, Lou? ): I pray for your well being and safety!
Greer123: Yes. That's (unfortunately!) gonna be a point when he meets new people from now on. D: (Also, stay safe and healthy please!)
Ocii99: Yeah but... but the more the suffering the sweeter the reunion... right...? XD Oh! And thank you a bunch, Cookies for you! Stay safe and take care of yourself!
kagome11: Glad it met your standards. My CO-writer and I went on a rant discussing what needed to happen and... yeah... the result was that! XD Wash your hands, keep your distance, stay say, and remain healthy! OwO
Jennifer: Welcome! Cookies to you! Here's your update, and you too.
deant33: Yes! I poked around a bit but couldn't find another fanfic that took the "what if the government discovered Luffy's existence?" to this extreme. (Idk, maybe I just missed some great ones? :D) so as the saying goes, "I decided to simply do it myself!" It's certainly been a ride so far, but please hang on just a little longer! Also, stay safe and protect yourself! UwU
yekyucho: Thanks. Really. I try, but I do feel I still have some growing left to do, which pumps me to write even more! And oh, you have "I like those types of fanfictions?" XD. Yeah, I gotta say this plot is quite enjoyable. (Probably why I've decided to write an entire fic centered around the damn premise... C: ). And sorry for the wait... haha *nervous laughter*... I'll try my best to get the next ones out a bit faster XD I promise their reunion will be as heartwrenching as my abilities as an author allows me to! Stay safe and healthy!
Oh god... it's like, 10 PM and I still have homework... whoopsie... XD
One last time: STAY SAFE! STAY HEALTHY! PROTECT YOURSELVES! AND DON'T DIE FROM BOREDOM!
Updates are to be expected ewe! I'll see you guys!
-Cookie