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, descriptions of blood, 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 10: And We All Fall Down

Ages:

Ace, Sabo- 14

Luffy- 11

"Good job you two! I think you've both completely gotten the hang of it!" Sabo said proudly, looking at the actually well-structured sentences that Ace and Luffy had written out in legible handwriting. Ace and Luffy beamed proudly.

They were now onto their fourth year in the facility, barely having any time to practice reading and writing, but they had finally gotten there in the end. Over the last year, they were all tested and trained harder than ever. With Aces new devil fruit, Sabo nearly dying, and Luffy's sudden adeptness with his devil fruit, the doctors were having a field day.

Ace now had nearly full control over his fruit powers, able to create fire easily and direct it where he wanted it to go. He also found that he could do other cool things, like shoot fire out of his feet for a boost when jumping into the air or when running. The doctors had also done an odd test on him, giving him fast regenerative abilities like they had done to the one child they had fought. Instead of being able to heal wounds in seconds though, Ace was only able to heal much quicker than an average human, a deep cut healing within a few days rather than a week plus.

Sabo was now much stronger than he used to be, but so were all the brothers, what with all their constant training and fighting. After he had died and come back to life the doctors had taken an interest in trying to figure out what the repercussions would be on things like the brain, muscles, senses, etc. His hearing remained as it did after the doctors messed with them, still able to hear talking in rooms far away, and his other senses remained the same, none of them any better or worse than before. Sabo called himself the most normal of the three, only having his better hearing.

Luffy was much better at aiming, only missing occasionally now, and could really pack a punch. He'd created a few new moves, like weaving his fingers and stretching to make a net, or stretching back both arms for a bazooka, as he called it. He had also unlocked what he called gears. The doctors had been pushing Luffy to do different things, one of them being to try and force his blood and heart to pump and move faster. This was Gear Second and made Luffy extremely fast. They also had Gear Third after a doctor mentioned that, since Luffy was rubber and could expand like a balloon, then he could do that with any limb.

All in all, it had been eventful.

"11062, 11097, testing!" Haru chirped, entering the cell along with another doctor, taking Ace and Luffy. Sabo could only watch, wondering why just the two were being taken.

They reached the lab quickly, but this time they weren't strapped to anything or even pushed into the training room. Instead, Haru placed cuffs around Luffy's wrists, seastone, and doctors who were mulling around began uncovering two tanks that had been in the corner of the room, untouched as far as the brothers knew. There were steps leading up to the top of both tanks and the glass allowed them to see that the inside was empty of anything except water that reached the very top of the tank.

Ace and Luffy were pulled along, up the stairs. Ace looked like he wanted to start arguing or fighting, but the seastone around his wrists made him weak, and he hadn't slept well the night before. Overall, Ace was weak and tired, barely even able to shuffle up the steps, much less work up enough energy to yell.

Suddenly the brothers were pushed in, shocking them both as the water immediately made them sink, unable to move their limbs. They both wanted to struggle, Ace looking over at Luffy through the glass, but neither could do a thing.

Within minutes the two were out of breath, bubbles shooting from their mouths as the last of their air escaped their lungs, being replaced with salty sea water that burned their noses and throat. As everything began fading there was a pull, and both brothers were pulled from the water, gasping and coughing.

"2 minutes. Barely acceptable. Again!" Harus voice was stern, a frown on his face. Ace and Luffy were once again unprepared for the push as they landed back into the water, sinking.

This continued for hours, the brothers being pushed into, and then pulled back out of, the tanks filled with water. Their record for being in the longest was currently 3 minutes, which was still unacceptable to Haru. He explained that anything under 5 minutes would only result in another dive back in, but nothing the brothers did helped extend their time underwater before they began to lose consciousness.

Their noses and lungs hurt from the water and the lack of air was giving them headaches, as well as making them dizzy, but they didn't have a say in the matter as they were pushed back in, Ace trying to get a deep breath before the water pulled him in.

"3 minutes."

Pushed back in.

"2 minutes."

Pushed.

"3 minutes and 30 seconds."

Pushed.

It was an exhausting test and Ace saw no end in near for him or Luffy. They were dunked countless more times after, raising their time to 4 minutes due only to luck and pushing the limits. Ace was pretty sure he blacked out during that one before they pulled him out.

"One more minute you two, and then we can finally move on," Haru said, his excitement returning the closer they got to five minutes. Ace and Luffy took deep breaths, being pushed into the water. They managed to last two minutes before running out of the air and beginning the process of drowning all over again. Ace and Luffy's vision was tinted with black, everything slowly beginning to fade away, but right before they were completely out they were pulled again.

The two could only hear the sound of them coughing up all the water, breathing heavily as the black began to fade from their vision.

"-a whole 5 minutes!" Harus voice drifted to their ears and Ace could only feel relief at finally being done with that test.

"Shame, it seems we'll have to start again tomorrow after all. Oh well." Haru said with a sigh, the brothers being lifted from the ground and dragged back to their cell, still dripping wet. The burning sensation hadn't quite left yet, and even though they were breathing heavily it didn't feel like enough air.

They were thrown into their cell where Sabo was sitting, waiting impatiently. He had heard everything so it wasn't a shock to see his brothers soaked and breathing heavily, both still restrained with seastone. It seemed that they were beginning to believe Luffy's powers were strong enough to start harming them because the doctors left the cell without removing the cuffs, leaving Luffy in a perpetual state of weakness.

"I-Its c-c-cold..." Luffy stammered out, shivering and teeth chattering. The cold of the basement and Luffy soaking wet only made the cold even colder, making Sabo fear he would get sick.

"Come on Lu." Ace said, gesturing the best he could with shackled hands for Luffy to sit beside him. Luffy nodded, plopping down next to Ace and snuggling into his side, sighing as he felt the warmth of Aces skin permeate his soaked clothing. Even with seastone on Aces powers still kept his body temperature above that of a normal human being.

"That was a weird test. Why'd they wait four years to start doing it?" Sabo asked, more to himself as he sat in front of the two. Ace shrugged, Luffy not even bothering to reply.

"Who knows, they're crazy bastards, that's excuse enough." Ace muttered. Sabo rolled his eyes with a sigh but agreed with Ace. The doctors were just weird sometimes.

"Well, anyhow, now you both have to wear seastone. We should change our sign language so that you don't have to gesture as much. You wouldn't even be able to tell me there's an explosion because your hands are together." Sabo said with a grin. This time Ace rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, cause I'm gonna need to signal that real soon." Ace said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, you never know. We could do this instead." Sabo said, flicking all of his fingers on both hands a few times. Ace shrugged.

"Sure, that's fine."

This began the long discussion of creating new signs, mostly tapping or flicking to get points across rather than make big gestures. Luffy joined in so he would know what to signal and what certain taps meant.

"I think this-" Sabo began, tapping his index finger on his leg three times.

"-should mean, 'be careful.' That way, if we're in a hurry or we're sneaking around we can signal that something might be about to pop up, so we should be on our guard." Sabo suggested. Ace and Luffy nodded, agreeing to the signal and memorizing it for future use.

"What about when we want to signal that its all clear?" Ace asked. Sabo thought.

"Well, maybe we could just give a thumbs up," Sabo said. Luffy frowned.

"But what if I think you mean good job?" Luffy asked. Sabo thought about it.

"Hm... you're right... well, we could do this." Sabo said, giving a thumbs up, but instead of curling all his fingers he pointed the pinky out. Luffy brightened.

"Mm! That way I'll definitely know!" Luffy cheered, trying out the signal for himself and finding it was easy to do quickly. Sabo smiled, Ace shifting to get more comfortable when Luffy moved.

"Oh, and this could mean, 'You smell good!'" Luffy said, giving two thumbs up and scrunching his nose at the same time. Ace and Sabo laughed.

"You look ridiculous Luffy!" Ace said through laughs. Luffy pouted, listening as his brothers laughed.

"Meanies." He said, wishing he could cross his arms, but found he was unable to with his hands cuffed.

"Sorry Lu-" Sabo said, trying to calm himself, still laughing.

"If it makes you feel better, that can be the signal for you smell good," Sabo said, finally ceasing his laughter, Ace doing the same soon after. Luffy brightened and cheered.

"Yay! After being in that water Ace does smell a lot better, but you still stink Sabo." Luffy said, smiling at Ace and scrunching his nose up at Sabo who merely smiled.

"Not all of us had a water adventure today," Sabo said. Ace scoffed.

"I definitely would not call that an 'adventure'" The eldest said, frowning.

"We could call it-" Sabo was cut off by a loud booming noise coming from the lab, everyone in the cells screaming in fear. The brothers all sat stock straight, Sabo wincing and covering his ears after the loud boom, plus his heightened hearing, caused him to hear ringing.

"W-What was that?!" Luffy asked in fear, sniffing the air over and over again, like a dog.

"Uhhh... Sabo?" Ace asked, Sabo barely able to hear him over the screaming and the ringing.

"Yeah?!" Sabo shouted, trying to get his voice heard. Ace only looked at him, flicking all of his fingers.

'Explosion.'

Sabo opened his mouth, about to say something, when the screaming intensified and Sabo could hear a noise, almost like crackling, coming from the lab.

"I-I smell fire..." Luffy said, Ace barely hearing it, but Sabo picking it up loud and clear. That's what the noise was, a fire. Luffy's eyes were wide, Ace and Sabo's as well, as the two oldest moved cautiously to their cell bars while Luffy stayed in the back, grabbing his hat which he hadn't touched in years and holding it tightly to his chest. Ace moved in front of Sabo and peered out, having the better sight.

The better sight was not needed though, because everyone could see the blazing fire moving rapidly down the hallway, seeping into cells and burning whatever was inside. The screams were deafening and the brothers could only stare in horror as they watched children run to the bars, screaming to be let out, fire blazing all around them before they were engulfed.

"Get back!" Ace shouted, shocking Sabo out of his thoughts. He hesitated for only a second before nodding and running to grab Luffy, the three all running to the furthest corner they could, trying to stay away from the fire.

"A-Ace, S-Sabo?!" Luffy shouted in terror, clutching his hat as the smoke billowed into their cell, making it hard to see or breath.

"Get on the ground and cover your noses with your shirts, they're still wet so they should help a little!" Sabo shouted, dropping to the ground and helping Luffy pull his shirt over his nose. Ace watched, noticing Sabo didn't have any wet clothes, so he tore a piece of his shirt off, handing it over as he and Luffy dropped to the ground as well. The smoke hurt their eyes and noses, giving them all headaches.

"I'm scared!" Luffy cried out, tears in his eyes, yet they refused to fall.

"Don't worry Lu, we'll be fine!" Sabo said, not quite sure he believed that himself.

"B-But-!"

"We'll be fine!" Ace shouted, his voice stern as he stared out their cell where it was getting brighter, and hotter. The fire was finally beginning to reach their cell, creeping into the one diagonal to them, and then the one directly in front of them, and then to theirs. They could all only watch as the smoke covered everything and the fire began coming into their cell, all of them sweating from the immense heat.

"It's hot!" Luffy screamed out, trying to move further away but only finding the wall. Sabo didn't know what to do and quickly realized that there was nothing that he could do. He grabbed Luffy, pulling the youngest close to him as they listened to the screams, some beginning to go quiet, others just beginning. Some were dead, some were dying. Ace moved in front of the two, glaring daggers at the fire in front of them.

"Ace-?"

"Its gonna be fine!" Ace cut Sabo off, turning to look at his brothers, his glare leaving and face softening.

"We're not gonna let some fire kill us after being trapped here for four years!" Ace shouted. Sabo gave him a confused look but noticed how close the fire had gotten, nearly touching Aces foot.

"But-... Ace, there's nothing we can do!" Sabo shouted, hating that it was a simple fact now. Ace scoffed at him, Luffy still trembling in his arms.

"I've been practicing, remember?" Ace asked, the fire finally touching Ace, scaring Sabo and Luffy as they watched with wide eyes. Sabo was practically in tears now, realizing these were his final moments. Their final moments. Ace didn't flinch at the fire creeping over him, didn't make a sound, he just let it happen.

"Ace!" Sabo and Luffy both shouted the name as their brother disappeared in the flames.

Now the fire was reaching Sabo and Luffy, practically touching their toes. They curled in on themselves as much as they could, Sabo practically crushing Luffy in his grip, as the fire finally began crawling over them.

But it wasn't hot.

Sure, the air around them was scorching and it was hard to breathe, especially through the wet cloth, but when the fire touched them, it didn't hurt. He looked over to Luffy, the boys' eyes squeezed closed with his hat at his chest, but he didn't seem to be in pain.

"L-Luffy?" Sabo asked in shock. Luffy peeked an eye open, looking and seeing the fire on them.

"Ah! It's hot! Hot, hot, hot-! Wait... it's not hot!" Luffy shouted in confusion, looking at Sabo. They were both equally confused.

"I don't understand... hold on... Ace?! Ace?! Ace where are you, you idiot?!" Sabo shouted, but didn't dare move in case whatever was keeping the fire from hurting them went away. Luffy seemed to have the same thoughts as he hesitated, moving to get up, but stopping.

There was once again nothing that the two could do except sit and hope that everything would be ok in the end. The smell of the smoke was burning their noses and Luffy was coughing harshly beside him, Sabo holding in his own coughs.

"S-Sabo, Ace is ok, r-right?!" Luffy asked, the fear having never left his eyes. Sabo didn't know how to respond but wanted to believe Ace was fine. After all, they were fine, right? So Ace had to be too.

"Don't worry Lu, we'll get out of this, all of us," Sabo said, despite his doubts. A tense silence fell over the two, both sitting and doing nothing. There wasn't anything they could do but sit and wait. The screams around them all began to slowly stop until the only thing they could hear was the sound of the fire crackling all around them. This left the two to their thoughts, and Sabo wondered how the two hadn't passed out from lack of oxygen yet. They were breathing in a lot of smoke, regardless if they were breathing through the wet cloth or not, and they were even showing symptoms of smoke inhalation, yet they both seemed to be fine for the time being. Another thing was the fact that they weren't being burned. The fire definitely looked like it was touching them, yet they couldn't feel any of it.

Time passed, the fire eventually beginning to die down. There wasn't much for the fire to burn in the cells, the only thing in them being toilets and concrete, and soon it was small enough that it wasn't overwhelming anymore. They still couldn't see anything from all the smoke, but at least it seemed the fire was stopping. Sabo could hear something down the hall, almost like a whooshing sound, and it gradually got closer, the sound of voices joining the whooshing noise.

"Hey, we're gonna be fine, I hear people," Sabo said to Luffy, mustering a smile for Luffy who grinned back, nodding. They were both hoping that when this was over they would see Ace in front of them, safe and sound.

"-Terminated in here too-"

"-Onto the next one-"

"-No survivors-"

"-Have to resupply-"

Sabo could hear the snippets of conversation, swallowing hard at the thought that all the children in the hall had died from the devastating fire. The noises grew closer, and soon the fire was being put out, doctors flooding into the cells surrounding them. When their cell was cleared, the fire simmering into nothing, Sabo scanned quickly. Ace was where he had been when the fire engulfed him, sweating and panting heavily. A few doctors entered the cell and looked at them in shock.

"Hey, these three survived!"

Everything began to blur, doctors rushing in, grabbing the brothers, and taking them to the lab that was definitely worse for wear. Everything that used to be a pristine, clean white was burnt and black. The chairs were burned to ashes, and the tables, though still there, were blackened as well. All the machines were destroyed and Sabo was glad that everything had been ruined. The doctors might just rebuild it all and start again, but at least this set them back a bit.

"You three just don't want to die, huh? Well, that's good news for us I suppose." Harus familiar voice entered the room as tables were cleared of ash and debris, blankets thrown over them.

"We should begin immediately." A doctor said, Haru nodding his agreement.

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

Sabo was pretty sure a few days had passed by the time the three were sent back to their cell, which had been cleaned and looked as if nothing had happened. The doctors had worked on them, sticking oxygen masks on them and trying to reverse the effects that the smoke had had on them. The three had cuffs on the entire time but weren't strapped down seeing as the straps had been burnt away.

Everyone was confused on how the three had survived, Sabo and Luffy especially, and eventually found that it had been Ace who had done it. Due to some drug that he had been given before the fire he had gotten just enough strength to control the fire and keep it from burning them. It had left him drained and exhausted by the time the fire had been eradicated and he had passed out the second the doctors reached them, not waking up until two days later.

Now they were in their cell, the hallway absolutely silent. It was unsettling after the constant noise that was in the hallway for the past four years. Everyone else in the hallway had died, as well as two doctors who had been in the lab. Sabo overheard the doctors talking and found out the source of the fire had come from the lab after the doctors tried creating a new drug.

Sabo couldn't even try to feel bad for them.

"Its weird that its so... silent..." Sabo said, looking into the hallway. Ace and Luffy remained silent, not replying to the statement. Sabo sighed, turning to look at their cell. Luffy was in the corner, his hat safe and sound at his side, while Ace was sitting near him, knees up to his chest.

"Wait," Sabo said, horror creeping on his face as he rushed over to the toilet.

"Don't worry, I kept it safe. Good thing the chalk was there too." Ace said, already knowing what the blonde was thinking. Sabo sighed in relief, spotting the map still taped to the toilet.

"The chalk is safe too?!" Luffy asked, spirits rising slightly. Sabo nodded, holding up the few sticks they had left. They had been careful with how much they used the chalk so that they wouldn't run out.

"Well... this definitely could have been worse," Sabo said softly, remembering how ready he had been to die.

"We're gonna get out of here." Ace said suddenly, having, for the most part, been silent. Sabo and Luffy stared at him, Luffy nodding slowly, a frown on his face, while Sabo raised an eyebrow.

"Not like I'm complaining," Sabo said, shrugging and smiling to the eldest.

"Then we can all be pirates!" Luffy said happily.

"We'll be free."

And here it is! It's up a bit late, but oh well. I wanted to get it up earlier but my friends, who I'm going on the camping trip with, wanted to hang out today and triple check that we had everything we would need for the trip.

I'm sure that's not all that interesting though, and you're all more concerned about the events of this chapter, huh? Well... I did say it was gonna be pretty bad. This is one of the big events that I knew I wanted to happen in the facility since I started this story. The Grey Terminal fire was an important event in canon One Piece so I wanted to have something similar to that happen in this story. Now all the children there have passed, sadly, but the brothers have once again survived!

A quick explanation as to what happened, just to clear it up. I don't know the full extent that seastone has on a devil fruit user, just that it basically nullifies a users powers, but I swear I read or heard something somewhere saying that, even though their powers are nullified they still have them. For example, even though blunt objects can hurt Luffy when he's wearing seastone, his limbs can still stretch. I also believe I heard that users can build up a bit of a tolerance to seastone, so that's where this idea came from.

Essentially, Ace built up enough resistance, both from a drug and from his own resistance to seastone, and used his own fire to combat the fire from the explosion, keeping them all safe in the process. Whether this is a plausible idea or not, I don't know, but this is also a work of fiction, so I guess it doesn't really matter all that much anyways!

With all of that said, the doctors have now been set back due to the fact that they have no lab to work in, and nearly all of their test subjects gone. How that'll work out, you'll just have to wait and see!

So, that's that, I just thought I would explain that for anyone who might be confused or would just like to know a little bit more of my thought process behind this scene. I'll see you all in two weeks with the next chapter! Also, another quick thank you to all the amazing reviews, follows and favorites, I can't get enough of them!