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 42: The Return of the Darkness

It had been a peaceful night for once. At least, that's what Ace and Sabo had thought. Upon waking up though they found that it had not been a peaceful night, and it wouldn't be a peaceful morning.

"Luffy, wake up, you're just dreaming," Sabo said as he shook the youngest, hoping he would wake up.

"Come on Lu, open your eyes." Ace prodded, sitting up in bed and turning to face the youngest whose eyes were scrunched tightly.

Neither Ace nor Sabo had noticed that Luffy had been having a nightmare, which was already odd, because normally he would make sounds that would wake Sabo up, but nothing like that had happened this time. The only reason they knew that their brother was having another nightmare was because his breathing was faster than normal and his eyes were scrunched. Not to mention the sweat covering his forehead.

"Lu, its alright, Ace and I are right here." Sabo soothed, hoping it would have some effect. There was no outward reaction to the blondes words though and, if anything, Luffy only got worse. He was stuck in a nightmare.

"How long do you think he's been like this?" Ace asked, feeling bad that he hadn't noticed Luffy was having another nightmare.

"I don't know. I thought it was weird that he hadn't had any nightmares." Sabo said, also feeling bad about it. Ace and Sabo had only just gotten up and had noticed Luffy was in a nightmare only minutes after, but that didn't make them feel any better.

"It's just a bad dream Luffy, just wake up and it'll be gone." Ace said softly, smoothing back the hair matting to the sweaty boy's forehead. After a few more minutes of this, the two oldest were beginning to worry.

"Have any of us been stuck in a nightmare for this long before?" Ace asked with worry in his voice. Sabo spared him a glance and Ace could see the worry on the blondes face as clear as he could hear it in his own voice.

"I don't know. I don't think so." Sabo said, and at this point, Luffy was beginning to make noise, but it wasn't anything good. He sounded terrified, whimpers and sounds of pain escaping that made Ace and Sabo's hearts start to beat a bit faster.

"Luffy, calm down." Sabo tried, holding the raven's shoulder. Luffys breathing was picking up now, and Sabo could hear the pounding of the smallest's heart. It unnerved the brothers and only doubled their attempts at trying to wake him up.

"Luffy! Come on Lu, it's just a nightmare!" Ace hissed for the umpteenth time, beginning to lightly shake the boy again. Luffys breathing only got heavier and his heart beat faster.

"Maybe something's wrong. What if the doctors gave him something that didn't take effect for a while?" Sabo asked, far passed worry and quickly moving into panicked. Ace didn't know how to respond, because honestly, he was thinking along those same lines himself.

"Lu- ah! Luffy!" Ace had been cut off when Luffy suddenly sprung up in bed. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated and his hair stuck to his face from the sweat covering it. He was panting heavily and his heartbeat was still pounding in his chest almost painfully as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He was rigid for a few seconds and Ace and Sabo were afraid to touch him in fear that they would set him off, but after a few seconds, he slacked a bit, breathing evening out slightly and heartbeat slowing.

"You alright Luffy?" Sabo asked gently, not wanting to scare the youngest anymore than he already was. Luffy didn't respond, instead looking around for something until Ace placed the straw hat in his lap. Apparently, this had been what Luffy had been looking for because he stopped scanning the room and instead grabbed the hat tightly in his grip for a minute before pulling it down on his head.

"Luffy?" Ace asked quietly, this time Luffy looking over at him.

"You wanna talk about it?" Ace asked, not knowing what to expect from his brother. Silence followed the suggestion, and after a few seconds that felt like hours, Luffy answered.

"It was really bright..." He started, slightly confusing Ace and Sabo.

"Bright?" Sabo asked, and Luffy nodded, continuing.

"Mm... it was really bright, and then it started getting foggy, and the fog was black, and it made it hard to breathe and see," Luffy explained, shivering at the memory of the nightmare.

"And then it was all black and I couldn't breathe anymore and it was really loud and it hurt." Luffy finished, gripping the edges of his hat.

"At least it was just a nightmare," Sabo said, rubbing Luffys back.

"Why don't we go see Whiskey about your bandages and then go take a bath? Luffy, you could probably go sit with Whitebeard while Ace and I go to the nurse." Sabo suggested, thinking that the infirmary was not a place Luffy needed to be at right now, trusting the Captain to keep Luffy safe the few minutes they would be in there.

"Sabo-"

"Mm..." Luffy agreed, cutting off Aces retort. Even though Sabo and Luffy had told him about how they were supposedly trusting Whitebeard and Marco now that didn't mean he liked leaving Luffy anywhere that wasn't with him.

"It'll be fine Ace, don't worry, we'll only be a few minutes and I'll be able to hear him," Sabo said, trying to get Ace to see reason and show him that Luffy wouldn't be able to handle the infirmary right now. Despite looking like he didn't like the plan Ace nodded, deciding to go along with it for now. But he would be grilling Sabo every second to make sure that nothing was happening to Luffy.

They were all still trying to get comfortable on this pirate ship, and the only way they could do that was by going out of their comfort zone while also making sure that they stayed safe as they did. If they had no means of making sure Luffy was ok the entire time then they would have never even considered letting him stay out on deck alone, no matter how much they trusted the pirates in this moment.

Luffy was still a bit jittery and on edge, which was normal considering he had been stuck in a nightmare only minutes before. It was always bad to wake up from one of those, they felt so real and were extremely disorienting. Because of this, the brothers decided to wait a couple minutes before they left the room to make sure Luffy would be ok before being bombarded with noises and people. It was almost time for breakfast, but that would have to wait until after the infirmary visit.

When they deemed themselves ready to leave the room they all shuffled out of bed, Luffy gripping his brothers' hands tightly in his own as he followed them out the door and out onto the deck. It was as lively as always, but the brothers were able to easily maneuver their way around the crowd, careful not to let anyone get too close to them.

'If you want to leave for whatever reason you can, just come find Ace and I, alright?' Sabo tapped out on Luffy's hand, the boy nodding as he glanced at everyone around them.

'And if anyone tries anything scream so Sabo and I can know.' Ace added, tapping his own sentence on Luffy's other hand. Luffy nodded again, feeling the tension coming from his brothers at the thought that they would be leaving him with the Captain out on deck without them.

'We won't be long. Hopefully, we'll be done before you know it.' Sabo tapped as they reached the Captain. Marco was a little bit away, Ace could see him talking to some people, and only Atmos and Rakuyo were near the Captain which made the brothers calm a bit that not all the Commanders were there.

'See you soon Lu.' Ace tapped as he and Sabo reluctantly let go of Luffy's hands, allowing the boy to walk freely over to the Captain while Ace and Sabo continued walking over towards the infirmary. The two oldest began to have a mindless conversation between each other to keep themselves looking calm while they focused all their attention onto Luffy.

Luffy walked quietly up to the Captain who was now noticing his presence. Looking up at the giant he tilted his head, taking in the mans emotions and finding that none of them were bad.

"Ne, , can you tell me a story?" Luffy asked, trying to keep the timidness from his voice as he did. He did like the Captain, especially his warm feelings, but the nightmare was still fresh in his mind, keeping him on edge perpetually whether he wanted to be or not.

"Gurararara! Of course, which one shall I tell today, hm?" Whitebeard asked, more to himself. Luffy could feel the mans curiosity and confusion, but otherwise, he could feel the happiness and warmth coming from the captain, outweighing the other two emotions. A quick check showed that there was still no signs of greying in the Captains aura so Luffy decided everything was good for now and sat down on the ground, preparing himself to listen to a story.

Seeing that their brother was safe for now Ace and Sabo felt a bit of their tension leave as they opened the door to the hall leading to the infirmary. Sabo made sure to keep himself tuned in on Whitebeards story and anything and everything that was happening within a 20-foot radius of Luffy.

The two continued on to the infirmary at a slightly faster pace, ignoring the questioning looks sent their way when the pirates around them realized Luffy wasn't with them. It wasn't too much longer a walk, and within minutes they were at the door, Ace grabbing the handle and opening the door. The infirmary was void of any patients and there were nurses milling around the room doing their own thing. Whiskey, who was looking at some files, looked up at their entrance and smiled to them.

"Ah, Ace, Sabo, glad that you two actually came, I thought you would try and avoid this place." Whiskey said in a friendly tone as she walked up to them. It felt weird not to have Luffy with them to tell them if the nurse was being genuinely happy or if she was trying to deceive them. Either way, though, Sabo put on a smile.

"We tend to keep our promises," Sabo said, and that was the truth. When Ace and Sabo had met Luffy they slowly realized how much promises meant to the small boy and made a habit of not making promises they couldn't keep. Ever since then they've also held those who keep their promises in high regard because most people were quick to abandon their promises when it was most convenient for them.

"Well, that's good. Why don't we get started? I'm sure you two want to be on your way." Whiskey said, gesturing to a chair that Ace could sit in while grabbing her wheely stool.

'Hows Luffy?' Ace asked as they waited for Whiskey to make her way back to them.

'Good, Whitebeards telling him a story and for the most part, people aren't getting too close. Marco's gotten a bit closer to him since we left though.' Sabo said, not knowing if that made him feel better or worse. He did trust Marco about as much as he trusted Whitebeard so in that respect he felt a bit better, but at the same time, what if his trust was misplaced and Marco turned on them?

"Alright, let's get those bandages off. Have you felt any pain? Soreness?" Whiskeys voice brought the two back to what was happening and Ace had to clear his throat, not having expected the questionnaire.

"No, feel fine." Ace said a bit gruffly, though Sabo expected it.

"That's good to hear." Whiskey said as she began removing the bandages that covered Aces torso. Once they were all off they saw that the once harsh and violent wound that spanned Aces chest was now a mere pink line, almost completely gone now.

"It seems to be healing nicely. I don't think you'll need another set of bandages so I'll let you go, but just remember, don't do any heavy lifting, we don't want to reverse any of the progress." Whiskey said, sitting straight after leaning over to examine the wound.

"Thank you Whiskey, I'll make sure he follows those instructions," Sabo said as he stood, suddenly ready to leave. Ace noticed this and felt himself tense up a bit. Was something happening to Luffy? Ace was watching Sabo's face and hands, ready to see if he'd say anything, and just when he was about to ask himself Sabo glanced over to him, worry pooling in his eyes despite the smile he wore. This made Ace stand as well, just as ready to leave as Sabo was.

"Then you two are free to go." Whiskey said with a smile and wave as she began heading further into the infirmary once more. Sabo nodded to her and waved back, turning and practically rushing out the room, Ace following close behind.

"What's going on?" Ace hissed to Sabo, ready to go beat some pirates up if they were hurting Luffy.

"Luffy's heading this way, and by the sounds of it he's terrified," Sabo said, frowning now. Ace did the same, feeling the anger begin to fill him. He didn't know why Luffy was terrified, but whatever caused it, he would stop it.

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

Ace and Sabo hadn't been gone all that long, maybe only a couple of minutes. Luffy was sitting, actually enjoying a story that Whitebeard was telling him about one of his many adventures. He had noticed that Marco had gotten a bit closer, but he wasn't hurting him so Luffy allowed it. None of the pirates were getting too close to him and he was thankful for that, he was still a bit on edge, though Whitebeards story was calming him down a lot more now.

Time was passing quicker then Luffy thought it would, and soon he was completely immersed in the story, nightmare forgotten. He was beginning to enjoy himself, getting lost in the words the Captain used.

Of course, something had to ruin that.

It was like someone dumped a bucket of cold water on him. One second he was fine, happy, not a care in the world, and then, like a switch, he could feel the terror running through his veins, an icky feeling in the air that he didn't like at all.

He could feel darkness.

His heart rate suddenly sped up from its calm, slow pace to that of a racehorse. He glanced around, trying to figure out where the slimy gross feeling was coming from, noticing that it wasn't actually on the ship, but heading their way.

Forgetting the story completely now Luffy stood, beelining it to the infirmary. He had to get Sabo and Ace, he had to tell them that someone with the darkness was coming. They would know what to do, they were strong and smart, and they would help him. He walked quickly, ignoring the looks he got from his sudden exit and the no doubt look of terror showing on his face. As much as he wanted to run he was already drawing attention and he didn't want to draw anymore so he opted for a very brisk walk.

When he reached the hallway leading to the infirmary he saw the door open, his brothers coming out, worry on their faces, and Luffy could feel the worry, anger and a bit of panic coming from them.

"Luffy, what's wrong? Did someone do something? Are you ok? I knew we shouldn't have left you out there alone!" Aces fast speaking did nothing to calm Luffy, but even so, he was near his brothers now, and that by itself helped him calm down a bit.

"Hold on Ace, don't go frying them yet. What happened Luffy?" Sabo asked, grabbing the back of Aces shirt before the eldest could go charging out on deck and swinging his fists. Trying to slow his heavy breathing Luffy focused on the warmth he could feel in his brothers, a harsh contrast to the icky darkness that was growing ever closer.

"Darkness. Darkness is coming." Luffy said, a bit out of breath. His words made Ace and Sabo freeze, all of Aces anger draining and morphing into worry and fear.

"It's coming? So its not on the boat?" Sabo asked after a second of trying to gather his thoughts. Luffy shook his head.

"No, but it's getting closer," Luffy said quietly, feeling the darkness grow stronger and stronger. It made him shiver.

"We should leave then. I don't know who's got this darkness or what they want but I don't want anything to do with them." Ace said firmly, trying to keep himself from bolting to the first lifeboat he could find.

"Hold on, let's not go doing anything crazy yet," Sabo said, trying to remain level headed despite the fear he felt. He could hear people talking, most wondering what had Luffy so scared, the pirates having noticed the look of terror on the boys face.

"Let's go to our room, we'll talk there," Sabo said, already beginning to walk hastily back in the direction of their room.

"Fine, but if someone tries stopping us I'm not promising that I won't punch them." Ace growled, feeling jittery and on edge with the news that someone with darkness was coming. Luffy grabbed his brothers hands tightly in his and the two oldest squeezed his hands, both for his comfort and theirs. Once again they went out on deck, ignoring the looks they got, something they were good at, and went straight to their room.

Once inside Sabo shut the door, listening for a second to make sure no one followed them or was trying to listen in on them.

"Alright, now, how close are they?" Sabo asked Luffy, noticing the boy was beginning to sweat and was fidgeting restlessly.

"Really close, about to be here in a few minutes," Luffy said, trying more and more to take in the warmth from his brothers, but the darkness was growing stronger and stronger. It wasn't even here yet and it was almost as strong as Haru's had been. That thought did nothing to help Luffy's growing anxiety.

"Then what are we doing waiting around here for it to come?! Let's leave!" Ace nearly shouted, Sabo shushing him before he alerted the whole ship.

"Now hold on Ace! We don't know if they'll actually come here. For all we know its a passing group of pirates and they don't even want to stop here!" Sabo tried to reason, though maybe it was more for himself.

"And what if it's not? What if its doctors and these pirates ratted us out, huh? What if they told the marines and they sent someone here to get us and take us back?!" Ace asked, clenching his fists tightly at his side.

"If that's the case then we will fight. I won't stop you from burning this ship, and the other ship, to the bottom of the sea, but right now we don't know if that's the case. Let's just wait. If they come aboard I'll listen and find out if its marines or doctors, and if it is, we leave, no objections." Sabo said, trying to stop the jitters he felt from the adrenaline.

"There's still the chance that its opposing pirates though and that they just have a really bad person on their crew. They could be passing merchants, bounty hunters, or maybe even travelers, but we can't go running from something that might not even be a threat to us." Sabo continued.

"What if they're apart of this crew then? What if it's one of these pirates?" Ace asked, and Sabo honestly hadn't thought about that, even though he knew it should have been one of his first thoughts, but they had never encountered the darkness outside of the facility and it hadn't come to mind that it could be apart of this crew that they were just starting to grow comfortable around.

"If it is then we'll leave. If that's the case though, we'll need to figure out how we're getting off this ship. We know where the lifeboats are, but where are we gonna go? We don't have any way of navigating these waters." Sabo said, more to himself as he tried thinking quickly, knowing they were on a time limit.

"We have Shanks' paper!" Luffy suddenly said, pulling said paper from the ribbon in his hat. Ace and Sabo looked over at the boy in shock that he had thought of that.

"I completely forgot about that." Ace said in shock, pulling his own piece from his pocket. Sabo nodded, having forgotten about it as well, pulling it from his own pocket.

"Maybe we can ask to use a snail phone then and let Shanks know we're coming, that way we can actually catch up to them if we do go after them," Sabo said, flipping the paper over and seeing the number written on the back of it. After they all agreed to the plan they sat in tense silence, waiting to see who had the darkness and what their intentions were.

"They're here."

And so it begins! The darkness is finally arriving to the Moby, and now the brothers are going to have to figure out what to do next! They have a tentative plan in place for now, so all they have to do is wait for more information before they take any action. I'm so excited for you all to read the next batch of chapters, because finally there's more action taking place! I hope you all stick around for it!

These upcoming chapters have been some of the most fun to write, tied with when the brothers were escaping the facility.

Anyways, in this chapter the brothers went out of their comfort zones more, leaving Luffy out on deck alone. Even though Sabo could hear him the entire time and know that he was fine, it was still a big step for them regardless. It shows that they're beginning to trust the pirates with their safety, something they've never really trusted anyone but themselves for. They've expressed already that Whitebeard and Marco are two people that they trust more then anyone else, so leaving Luffy with them made it a lot easier on them rather then leaving him with anyone else on the crew.

With that said, I'll see you all next Thursday with the big reveal of who has the darkness! See you then!