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 36: Luffy's Questionnaire
The next day began much better than the previous. Although Luffy still had a nightmare it was only once, when they were already waking up anyways. Now that they were fully rested they all felt much better then before, the edge they had been on yesterday gone as if it hadn't happened.
The three laid in bed, waking up still, all of them staring at the ceiling with barely open eyes.
"'S breakfast done yet?" Ace asked in a mumble. Sabo listened for a second before nodding.
"Thatch just finished. If we go now we'll get there before everyone starts crowding in," Sabo said, already dragging himself up into a sitting position. Ace groaned but also sat up, already missing the feeling of the comfy mattress and warm blankets. Luffy sat up as well, doing so silently, and stood up, stretching his arms over his head just a bit further than a normal human would be able to.
The fact that the boy hadn't used his devil fruit powers once in front of the pirates was something that continued to amaze Ace and Sabo, having expected him to use them without thinking, but that wasn't the case. Sabo was reminded of the fact that Luffy had also managed to fool everyone into thinking he was a mute because they told him not to talk to anyone, and suddenly he wasn't as surprised.
Not using his powers though seemed to be putting a strain on the youngest, because whenever they were alone Luffy would stretch his arms or legs, using his fruit in the process, making the brothers think that maybe he was more bothered about it then they thought.
The three walked to the galley, ignoring any looks they got from curious pirates. After they had heard Haruta's name yesterday they had shut themselves in their room, not even coming out for meals. Luckily Sabo noticed that Thatch had been kind enough to leave a platter outside their door for them at lunch and then for dinner as well.
The brothers had definitely not been expecting it, thinking the pirates wouldn't want to waste food on them if they weren't in the galley to eat it, so when the chef did it they felt a bit better, even if their day had been horrible until then. Sabo was going to make sure to thank the chef when he could, grateful that he had fed them.
The brothers knew they were going to be staying with the pirates for a while now, they knew that they should at least become... friendly with them, but there was that piece of them, warning them that the second they started getting closer, they would be betrayed.
Of course, no matter how close they got to anyone, they weren't going to tell them anything about their powers, because that would just be opening the door for betrayal.
The brothers could try and be distant forever, but how long would it be until the pirates got fed up with them and turned? That wasn't something the three wanted to risk, so if they could avoid it, they would.
"Hey, you three made it!" As they entered the galley Thatch was the first to notice, smiling brightly as he set a plate on the table, probably food for himself. Sabo smiled at the man, nodding as he and his brothers went to the table and sat down.
"We did," Sabo said as Thatch ran back to the kitchen, coming out with food for the brothers.
"Well, I'm glad you could make it! We missed you yesterday." Thatch said, making Sabo feel a bit uncomfortable at the mention of their bad day yesterday.
"Ah, yeah, sorry about that, we were a bit... out of it yesterday, didn't get enough sleep I guess," Sabo explained, quickly eating to get himself out of the conversation. Thatch nodded in understanding, sitting down and picking up his fork.
"That's understandable. Well, anyway, we're all glad you're feeling better then." Thatch said, waving his arms out to gesture to the few other commanders who were at the table with them. Seeing as breakfast was only just finished there was only a handful of commanders there, the ones who usually got there early. Izo, Marco, and Jozu all nodded in agreement with Thatch's previous statement, all with food of their own.
Ace and Luffy were back to being on guard during breakfast, the crowd of pirates slowly filing into the room until nearly everyone was there. The rest of the commanders and the Captain were here as well now, everyone having their usual, joyful conversations while the trio tried to stay as out of the way as possible, not wanting to get involved in any conversations.
As they did this though Sabo remembered how he had wanted to thank Thatch for giving them food yesterday when they didn't show up for meals. Waiting for a chance where the chef wasn't talking or being called back into the kitchen Sabo finally spoke up.
"By the way, Mr. Chef," Sabo piped up eventually, drawing his brothers' attention. They hadn't expected Sabo to initiate any conversations, and from the looks of it, Thatch hadn't either.
"Really, just Thatch is fine, what's up?" Thatch asked, turning his attention to the blonde. The brothers were just finishing their breakfast so Sabo found this was the best time to have this conversation. If they needed to leave, they could.
"We just wanted to thank you for giving us food yesterday, seeing as we didn't come here to eat," Sabo said with a genuinely grateful tone. Realizing what Sabo was talking about Ace and Luffy relaxed, both nodding their thanks to the man as well who still looked a bit surprised.
"Oh, that? It was no big deal, besides, as long as you're on the Moby you're not gonna go hungry! Not when I'm your chef!" Thatch boasted proudly with a smile. Sabo smiled at the thought, nodding to the happy chef as some of the commanders laughed around them at Thatch's antics.
"Wait, so how did you know it was me?" Thatch asked after the laughter died down.
"Ah," Sabo started, he and his brothers standing up, getting ready to leave.
"You have loud footsteps," Sabo said, flashing the chef a smile, waving as they walked away, leaving a confused chef behind.
"They're not that loud are they... ne, Fossa, do I have loud footsteps?" Sabo snickered to himself, Ace smiling and Luffy much more relaxed then he had been so far on this ship.
It was true though, out of all the people on this ship Sabo had noticed that Thatch's footsteps were a bit heavier and louder than most, making it easy to identify the man whenever he walked by.
Now that they were done with breakfast and feeling much better then they had yesterday the brothers decided to do a bit of exploring. Even though they never finished that tour with Izo they didn't want to bother the man who was still eating breakfast so they decided to just walk around and see what they could find inside the Moby.
The trio had only really gone through the hallway where their room was, and although Ace and Sabo had explored a bit when looking for Luffy when he ran off they hadn't been paying much attention. Seeing as everyone was in the galley the three didn't see any harm in speaking aloud, especially since Sabo would be able to hear anyone coming. The three talked about mindless things for a while until Sabo remembered Luffy's penchant for nicknaming the Commanders.
"By the way Luffy, you should at least learn the names of the Commanders," Sabo said after Luffy once again mentioned Marco by using the nickname lazy face as they walked. Luffy pouted, clearly unhappy with what Sabo had just suggested.
"But those are their names," Luffy whined, crossing his arms where he stood in between Ace and Sabo.
"No they aren't Lu, they're weird nicknames that you made up." Ace dead panned, causing Luffy to pout further.
"So what if they are, they're easier to remember," Luffy mumbled, kicking his foot against the ground. Sabo sighed, shaking his head.
"Yes, but sometimes your nicknames can make people a little... unhappy, even if you don't think they would." Sabo tried explaining, knowing that Luffy meant no harm in his nicknames, but sometimes they could be taken offensively to the people he said them to.
"What do you mean?" The youngest asked, confused.
"You know how you get mad whenever Shanks calls you anchor?" Ace asked, Luffy nodding.
"Yeah, it's not my fault I sink!" Luffy said, remembering the nickname. Ace held back a laugh, nodding.
"See, that nickname upsets you, just like some of your nicknames upset others, even if you don't realize it." Ace said, Luffy finally seeming to understand.
"Oh~! I get it now! So I should learn their names then!" Luffy said determinedly, Sabo smiling gratefully to Ace, to which the eldest gave a smug smile back.
"That's right Lu, for starters, Marcos the first commander, not lazy face," Sabo said, Luffy frowning as he tried to remember the name, nodding.
"I still think lazy face is better though..." Luffy mumbled after a minute, causing Ace to laugh. Sabo glared at him.
"You're not helping Ace. I know you might think its better Lu, but that's not his name, its Marco." Sabo said again, saying the name slowly in hopes that his brother would catch onto the name and stick to it.
And that's how the conversation went. As they familiarized themselves with the inside of the Moby Sabo taught Luffy a few of the commanders' names, the ones they normally talked to, like Thatch, Marco, Izo, and Namur.
He let Haruta's nickname slide for obvious reasons.
By now breakfast was over and they were passing more and more pirates so the brothers decided to talk silently rather than out loud as they explored. The Moby was definitely big and they were getting a bit tired and disoriented after everything they'd explored so far so they decided to try and find their way back to the deck, Luffy using his sense of smell while Sabo used his hearing and Ace kept an eye out for anything weird.
When they finally reached the deck Ace and Sabo were about to head to the railing when Luffy stopped them, tilting his head as he stared across the deck.
'What is it Lu?' Sabo asked, looking across the deck to try and figure out what Luffy was looking at. Ace did the same, waiting for a response.
'Can we go near Big Mustache Captain?' Luffy asked, staring at the giant captain. Ace and Sabo raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at each other.
'You wanna go near the Captain?' Ace asked for clarification. Luffy looked hesitant, eyebrows scrunching in thought.
'No... but he has a lot of warm feelings and no one else has had warm feelings besides Ace and Sabo...' Luffy said, having been curious about that since he first figured out that the Captain contained a lot of the warm feeling. The two oldest seemed hesitant, but they were also curious about that as well.
None of them had figured out how someone felt the warm feeling, but none of the doctors had had it. After a while Ace and Sabo had been able to figure out how to send that feeling to Luffy to calm him down, but that had taken a lot of trial and error and a lot of meditating to help them figure out where the feeling was coming from in the first place, so for the Captain to have such an abundance of it was a bit confusing.
'As long as you don't let the warm feeling influence yourself too much.' Sabo said, Luffy nodding in agreement. With that said the three made their way along the railing, towards the Captain but not getting too close. They eventually sat on the railing in their usual positions some feet away from the Captain, close enough that they could easily see him, but not close enough that the man could reach them if he tried.
The pirates noticed the brothers' change in location but said nothing, opting to instead give them curious stares as they went on with their duties. The trio ignored them though, Sabo pretending to look at the clouds with Luffy again while Luffy started trying to decipher the Captain's feelings.
He couldn't find even a hint of any bad feelings in the man, no anger, frustration, annoyance, not even a feeling of being tired. The only thing that the Captain was feeling were happy feelings, joy, pride, contentment, love, and of course the warm feeling. It confused Luffy because these were pirates, and he had never felt anyone feel these feelings without the slimy greed behind all of them.
Luffy let himself take in just a small bit of the warmth that the Captain was sending out, amazed when even that much made him want to feel more. He remembered what Sabo said though and forced himself to stop, instead trying to focus on the other feelings, searching as far as he could for even a hint of dark feelings, because surely no one else but his brothers could feel only good emotions, right?
The Captain was an enigma to Luffy, a puzzle he couldn't solve, something too good to be true. He decided to take down one of his walls to see if the Captains soul had changed color at all, looking for even a trace of grey in the vastly blue aura. Finding none the straw-hatted teen slumped a bit, not understanding.
Were his powers defective? Surely these pirates weren't all nice! Maybe the doctors had messed up and he only saw a few peoples true feelings. Maybe he only saw happy feelings in people he'd never met before.
He didn't have any explanation for what was happening, because the Captain couldn't possibly be this good of a person, right?
Mind made up Luffy jumped down from the railing, ignoring the shock and surprise coming from Ace and Sabo as they both got to their feet as well, moving closer to him. Determined Luffy walked down the stairs into Whitebeards amphitheater-like zone and looked up at the giant. He could feel the worry rolling off of Ace and Sabo but again chose to ignore it. He could even hear them tapping to him, telling him to stop whatever he was about to do, to not anger the Captain.
By now all eyes were on them, everyone curious as to what was happening, because, by the looks of it, Ace and Sabo had no idea either, only Luffy, who was staring at Whitebeard with narrowed eyes, seemed to know what was happening.
Ace and Sabo had no idea what Luffy was planning, and they didn't want to find out. They hadn't been expecting the timid and anxious boy to suddenly stalk up to the giant pirate captain without a word to them. Ever since everything that happened in the facility Luffy had been much more wary of strangers, but seeing him now reminded them of seven years ago, before any of the hell that was the facility happened.
But what had caused this? Had Luffy felt the bad feeling? If he had they had a feeling he wouldn't have reacted in this way, or he at least would have told them before doing this.
"Ne, giant mustache Captain." Inwardly Sabo cursed for not teaching Luffy the Captains name, but how was he supposed to have predicted that the boy would go and do this.
"Luffy." Ace hissed so low and quiet that Sabo wasn't even sure if Luffy heard, the fire user shuffling closer to Luffy as he did. Luffy had to have heard it though because his eyes flitted over to Ace for a brief moment before he promptly ignored the oldest, turning back to face Whitebeard with his narrowed eyes.
"Yes?" Whitebeard asked, obviously curious as to what was happening as well, and Sabo just hoped that Luffy wouldn't get them into any trouble. If ever there was a time for the brothers to be worried about the pirates turning on them, it would be now.
"You're mustache is stupid." The bluntness of the statement made everyone blink, not having expected the youngest to say that of all things.
"Luffy!" This time it was Sabo who hissed, but before he could turn to apologize to the Captain he was interrupted.
"Gurarara~! You're a cheeky brat, huh?" Whitebeard asked, a grin on his face, but Ace and Sabo for the life of them couldn't figure out if there was any ill intent behind it. In any case, they shuffled closer to Luffy, grabbing his hands tightly in theirs.
Luffy didn't reply, instead staring at Whitebeard for a moment with the same narrowed eyes and determined look.
"I bet I could beat you." Again, the bluntness threw everyone for a loop and Ace and Sabo's stomachs continued to drop more and more, wondering if Luffy was trying to get the Captain to attack them. Again Whitebeard laughed in response, leaving Sabo with no chance to try and explain Luffy's actions, not that he could even if he had the chance.
"Oh? I think you're a hundred years too soon to be challenging me." Whitebeard said confidently, his smile never leaving his face. Still, Luffy wasn't fazed by the answer, once again staring at Whitebeard for a moment before speaking up again.
"How do you feel about family?" Once more, the bluntness of the question caught everyone off guard. There seemed to be no pattern to the questions Luffy was asking, no reason for them. They were completely random and no one could figure out what was going on in the boys head, not even his brothers who merely stood by, watching.
They knew they should stop Luffy from speaking anymore, but the determination showed that, obviously, Luffy was trying to figure something out, and whatever it was it was probably important, so they let him ask the questions, just hoping that this wouldn't be the moment they had to jump ship.
They still hadn't found where they kept lifeboats.
"Family, you say? Family looks out for each other, keeps each other safe. You don't hurt or betray family. You don't turn away from family." Whitebeard answered easily, raising an eyebrow now at Luffys questions, and Ace and Sabo hoped that didn't mean he was starting to get annoyed with the youngest's pestering.
"And everyone on the crew is family?" Luffy asked, furthering the conversation. Whitebeard nodded, face serious.
"Everyone on my ship is my sons and daughters. We're all a family." Whitebeard confirmed. Luffy went silent again, everyone watching, waiting for his next question, not knowing what to expect next. Eventually, Luffy grinned his large toothy smile that was rare these days, only shown to the brothers when they were in the safety of their room, away from prying eyes.
"Shishishi~! You're a good guy Whitebeard." Luffy said, still grinning as he turned to walk back to the railing, though it was the railing much closer to the Captain, clearly not trying to distance himself anymore. Ace and Sabo looked at each other in a mixture of shock and confusion. They had no idea what the purpose behind Luffy's actions was, nor how those questions deemed the Captain a good guy, but they followed Luffy back to the railing silently, ignoring any looks they could feel coming from the pirates.
Luffy was back to facing the ocean as Ace and Sabo reached him, Sabo sitting beside him while Ace took his position on the ground, listening for the taps he knew were to come.
'Luffy?' Sabo questioned almost hesitantly. The boy, who was smiling brightly, glanced at Sabo out of the corner of his eye, acknowledging that he had heard him.
'What was that all about?' Sabo asked, wanting more than anything to figure out what had just happened. Luffys smile widened even more as he turned his eyes back to the ocean, holding back laughter.
'Shanks and Jii-chan were right, Giant Mustache Captain's a good guy.' Luffy said though, that did nothing to explain what had happened or how he had figured this information out.
'What's that gotta do with what just happened?' Ace questioned from the floor, tapping just loud enough for Luffy to hear.
'I was checking to see if he was a good guy. Bad guys don't have so many good feelings." Luffy replied, still smiling. Sabo and Ace both felt even more confused.
'You deemed him a good guy because he was feeling happy?' Ace asked incredulously. Luffy tilted his head, as if unsure of how to answer that.
'No... but yeah... but no.' Luffy said, a bit confused himself now. Sabo resisted the urge to facepalm.
'Then explain to us what happened.' Sabo resolved, wanting to move forward with the conversation. Luffy nodded at that, thinking of how to explain it.
'Well, I was feeling Giant Mustaches feelings because only Ace and Sabo have had the warm feeling, but he had a lot too, so I was confused. I checked his other feelings and there weren't any bad feelings, not even anger or sleepiness, so when I asked him questions I tried to make him mad, but it didn't work, so that's why he was a good guy.' Luffy tried explaining, though his brothers were still confused.
'Wait, what do you mean he didn't get mad? Not even a bit?' Ace asked, thinking back to some of the questions. Sure, Luffy's insult had been kind of lame, but it was still an insult, and his challenge should have been a sure fire way to get a pirate Captain ready for a fight. It was the perfect excuse, so why hadn't the Captain even felt an inkling of wanting to fight them? Was he that confident he would win that it didn't matter to him?
'Nope! He didn't get mad, he was only interested and a bit confused and when I asked him about family he didn't lie to me. He meant everything he said, so he's a good guy. I like him.' Luffy determined, smiling again. Ace and Sabo went quiet a moment, both thinking over Luffys words.
They had already felt a bit more comfortable near the Captain over all the other pirates, purely because of the fact that the man exuded a lot of the warmth. They hadn't known anyone else who had it, so that was a good sign to the brothers, but now that Luffy was so confidently claiming the man to be a good person it made Ace and Sabo that much more inclined to like the man.
It also helped that, even when presented with the perfect opportunity, Whitebeard hadn't fought their brother. He'd had the perfect opportunity to get rid of one of the brothers at that moment, yet he hadn't done anything, choosing to laugh it off instead.
Both of them glanced to the Captain, realizing some of the pirates were still watching them, very clearly still wondering about what had happened.
A while passed since Luffy's interrogation of Whitebeard and the pirates were finally beginning to disperse, allowing the brothers to relax a bit. As usual, it didn't last long though, Ace spotting the first Commander making his way over to them. After informing Sabo and Luffy of the incoming commander Ace sat up slightly, making it look as if he was waking up, stretching a bit before letting his eyes flick over to Marco fully now.
It didn't take long for him to reach the brothers, Sabo and Luffy turning around to face him as well.
"Hello Marco, how are you?" Sabo asked politely, smiling to the man.
"Good, thank you, yoi," Marco replied. Luffy began trying to get a read on the man, hoping to figure out why he came to talk to them in the first place.
Like Whitebeard before he interrogated him Luffy felt a bit more comfortable near the first commander, Thatch as well, because both of them had helped him save his brothers, and he knew that both of them kept their promises, but he had to be sure, like he was with Whitebeard, that he was really a good person.
"So what is it you needed?" Sabo asked, making himself comfortable as he gave his attention over to Marco.
"Nothing much, I just came by to tell you all that we're on course to an island that we should reach sometime tomorrow. We figured we could restock and get you three some necessities like clothes, yoi, seeing as you'll be staying with us now." Marco explained. The three perked at the thought of being able to go onto land soon, and maybe even away from the pirates for a bit.
"Anything else?" Sabo asked, wondering if the man would bring up Luffys stunt earlier. The commander shook his head though, surprising Sabo a bit, having expected him to try and pry the answer out of them, or at least question it a bit, but that wasn't the case.
"No, that was all, yoi. You three won't have to do chores until next month when we get the new schedule made so until then you guys can just rela-" Marco cut himself off when Ace, who had been sitting up straight, arms crossed over his chest, suddenly slumped back against the railing, arms falling at his side.
Of course Ace would have a sleep attack now of all times.
A few pirates turned to see what the thump noise Ace had made was, but Sabo had more pressing issues, namely the Commander who had just seen Ace have a sleep attack mid-conversation.
"Ah, don't worry about him, he gets bored easily and has a knack for falling asleep whenever and wherever he wants." Sabo lied, hoping the Commander wouldn't question it any more than that. Luffy seemed a bit worried as well, shifting a bit beside Sabo on the railing, looking like he wanted to move closer to Ace, to make sure no one got too close to him now that he was defenseless. Sabo felt the same.
"Are you sure, yoi? He looked like he hit the rail pretty hard there, I can get Whiskey if you want." Marco said, a hint of concern in his voice, contrasting his outwardly bored looking appearance, though his eyebrow was a bit more raised now.
Sabo had to bite his tongue from screaming that, no, they would not like for him to get Whiskey, a nurse, to check up on their brother right now. Stopping himself though he forced a smile, hoping he looked unfazed by the question.
"He's fine, he's got a thick skull, something like that wouldn't hurt him," Sabo said, trying to smile pleasantly to the man. Marco looked at Ace another minute before he turned back to Sabo, seemingly accepting the answer to which Sabo nearly sighed in relief. They wrapped the conversation up quickly after that, the commander leaving just as Ace began to wake up again, the same dazed look on his face that he usually had whenever he had a sleep attack.
Sabo quickly recapped everything that had happened before they left, deciding to go take a nap. Obviously, Aces attacks weren't going to get better after only one night of good sleep but Sabo had hoped he wouldn't have to deal with him falling asleep so obviously in front of the first commander of all people.
Well, at least he hadn't been standing when it happened, that would have been a lot harder to explain.
Happy Valentines Day to everyone who celebrates it!
This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I hope it was a lot of fun to read as well! The brothers interacted with a lot of people in this chapter, something they normally don't do, and they've even become a bit more trusting of Whitebeard. Progress is being made, albeit slowly, and the trio is becoming more and more comfortable with being around the pirates, even if it doesn't seem like it just yet.
Don't forget, you guys are all my favorite people ever! You're reviews, favorites, follows, views, all put a smile on my face whenever I see them. If any of you need a Valentine today, I'll be that person for you. No one needs to be alone, not when I'm sending all of you my love through a computer/phone/tablet screen.
Did that sound weird? Oh well.
See you all next Thursday! I hope you all have a fantastic week!