Warnings: Dark themes, lots of mentions of death, strong language, human experimentation, experimenting on children, child abduction, graphic descriptions of experimenting, lots of needles, lots of violence, poor descriptions of panic attacks, rated M for safety.

*If I need to add anymore warnings please tell me in the reviews or a PM and I'll be sure to add it!*

Chapter 6: One Step Forward, Fifty Steps Back

"Outside of this hallway this place is like a giant labyrinth!" Sabo mumbled to himself as Ace and Luffy peered over his shoulder, all looking at the map Emily had given them.

"That's correct. Everywhere outside of this hall is complete darkness. All of the staff here wear these lenses over our eyes to see. The doctors here know some really smart scientist who supplies them with all the new inventions and tests." Emily informed, lifting up a pair of glasses that looked normal enough.

"Then how are we supposed to get out?" Ace asked. Emily sighed.

"I'm still working on a solution to that problem. We only get one pair of these glasses. If we lose them we don't get replacements." Emily said, frowning slightly.

"But what are all these rooms?" Sabo asked, looking back down at the map. According to it, once they left this hall the rest of the basement was a condensed maze with doors leading to dead ends and curving hallways. There was only one way to get out of the maze and into the hall leading to the stairs, but a door leading off that hallway confused Sabo as it led to a giant room.

"Everything here," Emily began, pointing to the maze of halls.

"Is just empty hallways. Pitch black. That big room there is a lab. That's where they take the blood they've drawn and the test results." Emily explained. Sabo nodded.

"So, definitely don't go in there." He said, his brothers nodding their agreement.

"This is the only path out of the basement, so memorize it. If you lose your map you don't want to have to wander aimlessly and end up back here." Emily said sternly, the brothers nodding again.

"What about when we get upstairs?" Ace asked, seeing as they had no map for that part.

"That's the hard part. If they know you're escaping they'll send everyone they've got at you. Most of the guards are stationed upstairs so when you do get there it'll be almost overwhelming. The good news, though, is that all you have to do is run out the big glass doors!" Emily said, smiling again. Ace and Sabo glanced at each other while Luffy got distracted by a bug. It was the first one he'd seen since the spider in the closet a year back.

"But how do we get past all the guards?" Sabo asked slowly. Emily gave a nervous laugh.

"That's going to be tricky. I plan on trying to stall them. Hopefully, I'll be with you and can get up there first and lead them away, but if I get caught sooner then your best bet would be to try and sneak by. When you get up the stairs all you'll have to do is enter the main hall and go out the glass doors, but there's a chance that guards will be stationed at the doors." She said. Luffy was completely gone from the conversation by now, knowing Ace and Sabo would be able to handle it, and was making an arena with the chalk for the spider to crawl around in.

"I should go now. Here, its the best I could find today." Emily said, sliding in three pieces of unwrapped chocolate. They thanked her as she left, popping the candies into their mouth, giving Luffy one. They had just been given breakfast meaning testing would be soon, which they definitely weren't looking forward to.

"Ace, Sabo, look! It's a spider!" Luffy said, finishing his chocolate.

"I haven't seen one of them in a while," Sabo said. It was surprising, the lack of bugs, seeing as they were in the basement.

"Yeah, well if I were a bug, I'd get out of here too." Ace said with a scowl. Suddenly Sabo was scratching his ear and the brothers stopped talking, hearing the footsteps.

"Time for testing! 11032, 11088, 11090!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I'm gonna kill 'em!" Ace growled out, staring at Luffy who was sleeping.

"Ace, calm down, I know you want to-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! Look at what they did to him!" Ace shouted, gesturing to their brother's body. It was littered with cuts and bruises and Luffy's breath was labored, sweat running down his face.

"I know, Ace, I know. I see what they did, damn it, I was there!" Sabo said in exasperation. Ace went silent at that while Sabo took a deep breath.

"I know. I hate it too, trust me, I do, but there is no point in getting angry right now, especially when we have no way of controlling anything. The most we can do now is try and help Luffy the best we can." Sabo said. Ace was quiet for a minute before nodding, the two moving to sit beside Luffy. The doctors had decided to test the effects of seastone inside of a devil fruit users body, injecting Luffy with some in liquid form. They had even continued to test on him after they had given him the seastone, completely disregarding the boys declining health.

"All of this sucks." Ace mumbled out, anger diffusing, though it was still there and would resurface the next time he saw Haru. Sabo rubbed his fingers, Ace watching as he scratched his ear. Ace tilted his head, rolling his fists.

'Food?'

Sabo nodded, having heard the cart. Ace seemed to brighten somewhat. He made a motion of wrapping something around his arm, tilting his head again and pointing to Luffy.

'Help for Luffy?'

Sabo flattened his hand, raising it to face palm down.

'Maybe.'

The two got up, sticking as much as they could out the bars to see further down the hall. After some time Emily finally gave everyone else their food, reaching their cell.

"Hi boys! Oh, poor Luffy, I heard what they did, but I didn't think it was this bad." Emily said, turning her head to look into the cell where Luffy was still laying down.

"Can you help him?" Sabo asked. Emily hesitated, looking between the three, a slight look of fear in her eyes.

"I-... I can." She said after a minute. Ace and Sabo smiled happily at this.

"Great! How?" Sabo asked. Again, there was a slight hesitation before Emily pulled out a needle full of a pinkish liquid.

"What the hell is that?" Ace asked, examining the needle carefully.

"Its something the doctors made up. They think it'll completely flush seastone out of someone's system within seconds." Emily said, handing over the needle to Sabo.

"They think?" Ace asked, skeptical.

"They haven't been able to test it yet, and I stole the one needle they had prepared for the test," Emily said, her voice lowering. Everyone stared at the needle, knowing the significance of what Emily just said.

If they found out she took it, who knew what would happen to her.

"Then I guess we better try it out," Sabo said, standing up. Ace gave him an incredulous look, moving to intercept him.

"What?! Are you crazy?! We don't know what that could do to him!" Ace shouted. Sabo glared at him.

"Yes, we do! We know that this could completely fix Luffy! We have to hope it does, because if it doesn't, then who says he won't just get sicker and die? His devil fruit has been helping him heal rapidly, and now that it's nullified by the seastone he's only going to get worse!" Sabo shouted back. Ace hesitated, looking between his two brothers before finally moving out of the way.

"Fine! I don't like it though!" Ace growled out. Sabo nodded, happy, and slightly surprised, at how little of a fight Ace put up. Sabo moved back beside Luffy, kneeling.

"You don't have to like it until it helps him," Sabo said, sticking the needle into Luffy's arm, making Luffy groan in pain, and injecting the pink liquid into his vein. Everyone watched with bated breaths as Luffy slowly gained color, breathing returning to normal, and expression changing from pained to peaceful.

"I-I... I think it worked." Sabo said softly. Suddenly Luffy groaned again, eyes squeezing as he sat up, blinking rapidly.

"W-Wha' happened?" He asked, looking around.

"You-" Before Sabo could finish that sentence though a shot rang out down the hall, many of the children in their cells screaming at the sudden noise. All three brothers looked outside their cell to see Emily's eyes widening in shock, mouth falling open as she fell to the floor, blood oozing from her wound.

She'd been shot.

"Emily!" Sabo and Luffy shouted in shock, both moving to the bars quickly. Ace followed, just as shocked.

"My my, it seems the serum worked perfectly! I had a feeling you would take it to them, so I kept an eye on you." Haru said, gun in hand as he watched Emily fall.

"Emily?" Luffy asked softly, trying to reach out and touch her, but she was just out of reach. He didn't know what was happening. One second he was hot and weak, and the next he was completely fine. Before he knew it though, Emily was being shot right in front of him. Why?

"You bastard!" Ace shouted, fury showing on his face as he gripped the bars aggressively.

"I prefer Doctor, 11062," Haru said, grabbing the food cart, leaving Emily's body in the hall.

"Clean up in aisle 3!" Haru called down the hallway in a sing-song voice, laughing maniacally. It echoed throughout the hallway until it finally quieted, leaving them alone in their cell, Emily lying on the floor. Ace opened his mouth to speak, but all three jumped when they heard a voice.

"B-boys?" Emily's voice was weak and strained, her breathing light, barely there. Her eyes were opened halfway, peering over to the three.

"Emily!" Luffy cried out, sliding to the ground, holding the bars, Ace and Sabo doing the same. Emily coughed.

"You'll g-get out of here, don' worry..." She mumbled, Sabo trying his best to hold back tears while Ace glared at the ground. Luffy was openly crying, tears and snot running down his face.

"I jus' wan'ed to help, wan'ed to get you all outta here." She said softly, eyes closing.

"P-promise me, you'll get everyone outta here, p-please..." She mumbled out, opening her eyes again to look at them.

"We'll get them out Em, promise," Sabo said quietly, Luffy nodding his agreement rapidly. Emily smiled.

"Thank you..." It came out in a whisper, her eyes closing for the last time, breath leaving her, but smile still showing on her face. It was silent, no one knowing what to do or say. At last, Luffy broke it.

"A-Ace, S-Sabo!" Luffy shouted, turning to them, tears still falling rapidly. Sabo opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.

"Luffy..." He finally said, pain clear in his voice. The boy jumped into his arms and began sobbing loudly. Sabo knew he had really liked Emily. He had too, and he was sure Ace did as well. She was nice to them, made their days in the cell almost bearable with edible food and things to entertain themselves with. Now she was gone.

"Damnit!" Ace shouted, and it was obvious he wanted to hit something, throw something, punch something, anything to get his aggression out, but there was nothing in their cell to do that with. He opted to banging on the bars.

"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Ace shouted over and over, Luffy only sobbing louder and louder. Within a few minutes, a man entered the hallway, retrieving Emily's body and leaving without a word or look their way.

"To hell with this place! Luffy stop crying! I hate crybabies!" Ace shouted, spinning to face him and Sabo. Sabo glared at his brother, knowing he was angry, but that didn't mean he could take it out on Luffy. Luffy merely sniffled, not even bothering to argue that he hadn't been crying.

"Calm down Ace, we'll get out of here," Sabo said, though he knew the words were falling on deaf ears.

"Oh yeah? How?! Emily was our only chance! Now we have no way of getting through the dark halls, passed the guards, or even out of this damn cell!" Ace shouted.

"I don't know, but we will! We have to!" Sabo shouted, anger building inside himself as well.

"You know what?! I'm tired of holding onto hope when it's getting us absolutely nowhere! Face the facts, were stuck in here! Not gettin' out till we die!" Ace shouted, and Sabo had to keep himself from punching his brother, though he did stand suddenly, leaving Luffy to sit on the ground, watching.

"Don't you say that! Since when do you give up on something? You're as stubborn as a mule!" Sabo shouted. Ace glared.

"When I faced the facts that we're done for!" Sabo growled, grabbing his brother by his worn and dirty shirt.

"We're gonna get out of here! Alive! That's my resolution. By the time you and I are 17, we will be out of here. No matter what. We'll be free! We can be pirates!" Sabo said, letting go of Ace and backing away. Ace watched, mouth open, not sure what to say anymore. Luffy sniffled again, standing finally and looking at Ace.

"A-and I won't cry! I won't cry 'till we get out of here! Not a single tear!" Luffy promised resolutely, head high. Ace was still speechless but scoffed.

"Yeah right, you're a crybaby, its what you do." Ace said, trying to go back to his abrasive attitude.

"Nu-uh! I promise I won't!" Luffy shouted. Ace watched him silently for a moment, knowing Luffy normally did everything in his power to keep his promises and didn't make them unless he could keep them. Sabo and Luffy stared at Ace, waiting for his response.

"Well... Well, I'm gonna live my life with no regrets! If we do get out-"

"We will!"

"-If we get out, then I don't want any regrets in my life!" Ace said. Silence. Then, they all smiled.

"Its a promise then. By 17, we'll be out of here and live our lives without regrets. We'll get everyone out of here like Emily wanted." Sabo said.

"And I won't be a crybaby!" Luffy added. Sabo laughed.

"And Lu won't be a crybaby." He agreed, holding his hand out. Luffy smiled happily, putting his hand on top of Sabos, the two watching Ace as he examined the hands before huffing and putting his on top of the pile.

"A promise between three brothers!" Sabo said, the three pushing their hands down and then into the air, cheering.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The rest of the day passed normally, and by breakfast the next day it was like yesterday never happened. The guy that used to give out food, before Emily, was back, handing the food out without expression. The brothers went back to being silent, not sure how much Haru knew about their plan to escape. Did he know about the whole thing? That they had a map? Or did he not know anything? Well if he did know he let them keep their map, which was still taped to the toilet. For now, they were going to assume he knew everything.

Ace and Sabo continued to discuss what they could do to fill in the holes of their plan but were coming up with blanks. There wasn't much they could do now and there was no way for them to get anymore outside help. Despite this, they continued trying to think of different things, ways for them to escape. After their promises were made they were all more determined than ever to get out. They had given themselves a time limit, something to work towards, and now all they had to do was achieve their goals.

"Pur...fff...ect. Perfect!" Luffy said happily. Sabo had written some words with the chalk for Luffy to practice while he and Ace 'talked' through their made-up sign language.

"H... o- no, ow... see? No, that's not right. Mm... How... sss. House!" Luffy continued, going down the list.

'Maybe we could try something when they're taking us for testing.' Ace suggested. Sabo shook his head.

'Not unless we have a weapon or something. They can easily restrain us, and we haven't been able to train in a while.' Sabo signed back.

"Ko... coa...cola?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion, not quite sure he had said that word right. Sabo looked over, hearing his confusion and shook his head.

"Close Lu, the -oa in that word don't make the oh sound. The A isn't silent." Sabo said, not bothering to sign it. Luffy nodded, reexamining the word.

'Do you think any of the doors are locked?' Ace asked, and Sabo sighed.

'I hope not. We should have asked before.' Sabo replied.

"Ko... ay... la?" Luffy muttered to himself, shaking his head. Koayla wasn't a word... right?

"It's not a word Lu," Sabo said offhandedly, knowing what Luffy was thinking. Luffy pouted, but became more determined, leaning into the word as if it would help him understand it more.

'Well, we can't ask now, so we have nothing to go on!' Ace signed, his movements becoming more erratic as he got more frustrated.

"Ko... ko..."

'Don't worry, we just have to solve one thing at a time.' Sabo signed carefully, trying to calm his brother down.

"Ko... ah?"

'How are we supposed to do that when we can't solve anything! All of our ideas aren't working!' Ace signed with a growl.

"Ko... ah... la?"

'Ace-'

"Koala!" Luffy was beaming, turning to look at his brother for confirmation that he was right, but frowned when he saw Ace was angry, his signing much faster than normal.

'Don't tell me to calm down! I'm going to sleep!' Ace signed with a huff, standing and moving to the back of the cell where they normally slept. Luffy watched silently, turning back to look at Sabo who was sighing.

"Yes Luffy, the word was Koala."

Hoo boy, that was a lot! So, Emily's dead... whoops? But at least there's a time frame on how long the brothers are willing to remain in this horrible place! If you didn't notice, I've been attempting to have cannon events happen in a non-cannon universe, for example, the brothers promising to live with no regrets after someone they were close with died. Of course, instead of Sabo dying, it was Emily. Expect more of that type of thing to happen in the future.

Another thing that I wanted to mention was that this was the last chapter where you all had to wait two weeks before I updated! From now on, I will be updating weekly chapters, so you all have that to look forward to. This is something I'd always planned on doing if I found that I was able to, and I'm excited that I finally can.

And now, I hope to see you all next week with the next chapter!