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 46: The Big Question
It was at lunch the next day that Sabo finally thought up a new plan to get the pirates to turn on them. Even though the whole point of this was to find out whether the pirates were acting or not, the three brothers found themselves getting more and more desperate for the pirates to finally turn on them.
It was unnerving for the pirates to keep smiling, to keep the niceties going, to be helpful and accommodating. Everyone the brothers had ever met always had other intentions when being nice to the brothers. No one was nice without reason, whether it was because they wanted to trick them, trap them, lure them into a false sense of security, or hurt them.
They didn't count Makino or Emily.
'So? What's the new plan?' Ace asked as they left the galley. Ace was itching to get the pirates to show their true colors. He didn't believe for one second that they were all actually this nice and helpful. They were pirates after all.
'The only thing I can think to do is to try and get them mad and see how they react, but there's not much we can do to get them mad without picking a fight with them, which is not what we want to do.' Sabo started, Ace and Luffy nodding in agreement.
'Because of that, we have to do something that would be annoying and would give them an excuse to get mad if they wanted.' Sabo continued.
'What's that?' Ace asked, wanting to know.
'That's the easy part. The crew has chores, right? We've seen them cleaning the deck plenty of times, and they always have those buckets of water with them when they do. All we have to do is knock one over and see how they react.' Sabo explained as they walked towards their room.
Because the brothers were eating more during meal times they were finishing later than they used to, but they also had more energy and it was easier for them to do more without getting tired. Despite this, Sabo still had them head to their room because, normally, they would sit with Whitebeard and listen to stories, but seeing as they had this plan it would look weird if they suddenly stood up and went and knocked over a bucket with seemingly no reason. It had to look like an accident.
Once they reached the room they wasted a bit of time just hanging out. Luffy laid on the bed, in a weird inbetween state of asleep but awake, and Ace was pacing, his nerves still bouncing over the fact that this could be the time that the pirates finally attack. Sabo shared Aces nerves, both of them still more than a bit confused as to why the pirates hadn't done anything to turn on them after all this time.
They waited in there about an hour before Sabo heard cleaning supplies being taken out and buckets being filled with water. Another few minutes and everyone was in position, cleaning the deck while others milled around them.
'Alright, its time to go.' Sabo announced, Ace going and getting Luffy up. The boy was a bit groggy and disoriented, but got up anyways, following Ace and Sabo to the door as they headed out. The walk was quick and within a few minutes, they were out on deck once again. Ace could see the people swabbing the deck, along with the buckets that littered the area around them.
Ace and Sabo didn't even have a chance to pretend to stumble over there and knock one over because... well, frankly, Luffy did it for them.
Apparently, the young teen was so groggy and disoriented that, while rubbing his eyes, he had drifted away from his brothers and managed to trip right over one of the buckets himself, both him and the bucket toppling to the floor. There were a few gasps as people noticed the boy fall and Ace and Sabo rushed over to their brothers' side. They couldn't get there before he managed to fall face first into the water he knocked over, but they helped him up regardless, Ace using his shirt to wipe off the water falling down Luffy's face while Sabo turned to gauge the reactions of those around them.
"We're sorry for this, I guess Luffy was more tired then we thought," Sabo said truthfully. Even though this had been their plan in the first place, it hadn't gone exactly how they thought it would.
"Oh, its no problem. Is he alright? That was some fall!" The pirate who had been next to the bucket said, sending a worried look to Luffy.
"He's fine. Come on Luffy, let's go change your clothes." Ace said, noticing that quite a bit of water had gotten on Luffy, enough to drain the boy if they didn't change soon. Luffy followed as Ace led them away while Sabo gave a polite smile, beginning to follow them as well.
"Again, sorry about the mess!" Sabo called as they walked off. It looked like most of the pirates were too shocked to even know what to do, making it the perfect time for the brothers to leave.
"Well... can't say I expected that..." Sabo muttered as the door shut behind them. He turned to look at Luffy, noticing his black hair was dripping and his clothes were thoroughly soaked from where he landed in the puddle.
"Either way we did it. Now we just have to wait for those bastards to come running after us." Ace said, still entirely convinced that the pirates were acting and this would be the last straw. Sabo looked at Ace for a minute but said nothing, instead turning to face forward again.
"The plan worked, right?" Luffy suddenly asked, looking much more awake then he had been previously. Sabo chuckled a little but nodded.
"Yes Lu, it worked. You could have told us you were still too tired." Sabo said, remembering that Luffy had seemed groggy getting up, but not groggy enough to go stumbling over buckets.
"I wasn't, but the cleaning stuff hurt my nose and gave me a headache and I got confused for a second," Luffy explained, scrunching his nose a few times at the memory. Ace and Sabo suddenly felt bad, not realizing that Luffy had been asleep enough that his senses would be overloaded once they walked out of their room.
"It's fine, I didn't know either. I didn't think I fell asleep." Luffy said with a shrug, noticing the guilt that came rolling off of his brothers. This stopped Ace and Sabo from saying anything, but they still felt a bit guilty as they entered their shared room.
Sabo went to the closet to get more clothes while Ace helped get Luffy out of his soaked clothes.
"So, I guess that plan didn't work. What's next?" Ace asked.
"Ace, we can't just throw one thing after another at them. Even if they aren't acting they can still get mad. Anyone would if we kept pushing." Sabo explained with a sigh as he pulled out a shirt and pants, turning around and helping Luffy into them.
"Yeah, but I don't like it! They're just so... so..."
"Nice?" Sabo asked, seeing that Ace was having a hard time with the word. Ace shot him a glare, grumbling.
"Pirates aren't nice. Pirates are supposed to be mean and greedy, not nice and helpful." Ace said, and Sabo had to agree with him on that one. It wasn't every day that you saw nice pirates.
"To be fair, Doctors are supposed to be nice and helpful, not mean and greedy." Sabo countered, making Ace laugh spitefully.
"I think we live in opposite world then. Or we just have really shitty luck." Ace said as he walked to the bed and flopped onto it, face buried in the pillows. Sabo laughed while Luffy looked confused.
"Opposite world?" He asked, not knowing what Ace meant by that. The blonde shook his head, ruffling Luffys damp hair.
"Its nothing Lu, Ace is just a bit confused," Sabo said before frowning and looking to the door.
"Or he might just be right." He said as he walked up to the door, looking ready to open it. Now Ace and Luffy were both confused as they watched Sabo's back.
"Huh? What'd'you mean?" Ace asked as he sat up and turned to look at Sabo.
"Well, it would seem that Marco's on his way over here. Whether its because he's mad or because he's worried about Luffy, who knows." Sabo explained with a shrug as he listened to the footsteps get closer. Luffy moved to the door as well so he could get a better read on Marcos feelings.
"Not mad. A little bit of worry, but it's not why he's coming. He's calm." Luffy said softly in case Marco was close enough to hear.
"So this is it then? They're turning?" Ace asked, sitting up in a defensive position, ready for a fight.
"We don't know that yet, Ace, calm down!" Sabo hissed quietly, glaring at the hot-headed teen. Ace glared back but didn't drop his position. Shaking his head Sabo turned back to the door, opening it right as a knock resounded in the room. Luffy backed away as the door opened, moving beside Ace while Sabo looked out.
"Hello, Commander," Sabo said politely, smiling to Marco as he did. Marco nodded his head in greeting, noticing that he couldn't see in the room like always when Sabo answered.
"Hello Sabo, is Luffy alright, yoi?" Marco asked, to which Sabo replied with a nod.
"He is, he was just a little disoriented after his nap." The blonde responded easily.
"That's good. I came because Pops wanted to talk to you three." Marco said, getting to the point. Sabo's smile remained on his face, though it was a bit strained now.
"Oh? Alright, we'll head right over." Sabo answered, Marco nodding.
"He'll be in the room with the snail phones when you're ready, yoi." The first mate said as Sabo began closing the door.
"Thank you, Commander," Sabo said as he shut the door completely, turning to Ace and Luffy with a frown.
"So they are turning." Ace said in an 'I told you so' manner. Sabo rolled his eyes, but he was also beginning to feel that way.
"If they are, we need to be ready. Luffy, you're awake now right? The smells won't be too much for you?" Sabo asked, Luffy shaking his head.
"No, I'm fine now." The youngest responded, feeling a bit tense at the prospect that the pirates were turning on them.
"Good. If they are turning on us then don't fight Whitebeard. He's too strong for all of us put together. Focus on getting a snail phone and getting out of there. We should be able to run to one of the lifeboats we saw and can call Shanks on the way." Sabo said, quickly coming up with a plan. Ace and Luffy listened carefully, nodding their agreement as they did.
"Well? Let's go get this over with then!" Ace said, wanting to release all his pent up energy from these past weeks. The stress of waiting for the pirates to attack was enough to make Ace go insane.
"Fine, fine, don't be so eager to run into these things Ace," Sabo said as he walked to the door with his brothers. Luffy was snug in the middle as always, nervous energy building in him as they walked. He did like the pirates so it would be too bad if they really were turning on them right now.
"Then tell these things to stop happening." Ace countered as they walked out. Sabo didn't bother responding to that as they made their way through the hall and to the deck. To get to the room Whitebeard was in they had to cross the deck and go into the door on the other side, but right in that path, Teach stood, talking to someone. They definitely didn't want to go near the man, but they didn't have much choice. Huddling together they walked briskly, trying to keep anyone from stopping them, especially Teach.
However, right as they passed him, Teach stopped talking to his friend and turned their way.
"Hey, you three are the new kids, right?" Teach asked. It seemed pleasant enough, he was smiling politely and gave off a peaceful air, but knowing what was going on in that mans head, they shivered. The peaceful vibe became a threatening aura, the polite smile was much more menacing, and the pleasantness of his voice was more hostile. However, Sabo put on a polite face as well, ignoring the warning bells in his head telling him to take his brothers and run.
"We are," Sabo said simply, not wanting to elaborate any further.
"Well its nice to finally meet 'ya. Names Teach." Teach said, holding out a hand. Sabo looked at the hand, knowing that the man was looking for a handshake, but couldn't quite bring himself to raise his own to meet him.
'Don't.' Aces simple tap was easy to catch, but Sabo couldn't just not shake the man's hand. If the pirates actually weren't turning on them it wouldn't be good to make enemies with a man who was already dangerous to them.
So, swallowing his fear and anxiety, Sabo raised his hand, gripping Teach's hand in his with a tense smile.
"Likewise," Sabo said curtly as they shook. The millisecond that it took felt like an hour as the two stared at each other, but, finally, his hand was released and the brothers were turning on their heels, speed walking as fast as they could away from the man with the darkness.
"I need to wash my hand in acid," Sabo muttered with a scowl. He could almost feel the uncleanliness of the man on his hand. Ace looked at the blonde's hand with a sneer.
"Told you not to touch him." Ace replied. Luffy remained silent, glancing at Sabo's hand as well, practically feeling the darkness taking residence on his brother's hand.
The brothers reached the door that would take them to Whitebeard quickly after that and sighed in relief. After having to talk with Teach, anything would be better than that, even the pirates turning on them.
'Ready?' Sabo asked, raising a hand to hold the doorknob of the meeting room. Ace and Luffy nodded, giving Sabo the ok he needed to open the door. Whitebeard and Marco were the only two in the room, the Captain sitting at the head with Marco in the chair right at his side. It made the three feel a bit more at ease knowing that all they had to do was get a snail phone away from these two and then book it rather than have to fight an entire room of Commanders. Still, it was the two strongest people on the ship in a single room.
"Hello, boys." Whitebeard greeted as the brothers sat at the opposite end of the table.
"Good afternoon, Whitebeard," Sabo replied as he sat down.
"We heard you wanted to speak with us." Sabo continued as he watched the Captain carefully, ready for anything.
'Luffy, if this does turn into a fight, don't hide your powers. Use them to grab a snail phone so we can leave.' Sabo tapped as he saw the snail phones all at the end of the table where Whitebeard was at. Luffy tapped, telling Sabo that he understood.
"I did. I was actually wondering something." Whitebeard said, confusing the brothers a bit.
"What is it?" Sabo asked a bit cautiously. He didn't know what the Captain could be wondering. Was it the facility? That would be the safest option to assume. He could see Aces leg bouncing in anticipation, his fists clenching and unclenching in his lap.
"Well, I was wondering if you three would like to join my crew. Become my sons." Whitebeard announced, his voice sounding almost too loud in the small, quiet room.
Anything that the brothers could have been imagining suddenly crashed around them at the Captains exclamation. Everything they had thought was going to happen, everything they expected to be said, none of this was it.
'He wants us to join?!' Ace asked in shock, leg ceasing its incessant bouncing, hands unclenched in his lap. Sabo couldn't even think up a response as he sat in a much similar state of shock. His eyes were as wide as Aces and he was just barely able to keep his jaw from hanging.
Luffy, for the most part, was unaffected by the question. He understood what the Captain was asking, but he wasn't sure why he was asking it. Didn't they make him mad with all the tests that Sabo thought of? Why would he want them to stay? Looking over at his brothers he realized they weren't going to answer anytime soon, and Luffy didn't need his powers to tell him they were in shock.
"Why?" Luffy speaking snapped his brothers out of it, both of them looking between Whitebeard and Luffy, wondering what the response would be.
"I like you three," Whitebeard said simply as if that explained it all.
'Luffy?' Ace needed confirmation that the man was being genuine in his words. He couldn't believe that after three weeks with the brothers the man liked them. He knew nothing about them!
'He means it.' Luffy affirmed as he felt the genuine nature roll easily off the Captain.
'Aura?' Sabo asked because he was having the same doubts as Ace.
'Still blue. No grey. Marco too.' Luffy reported. Ace and Sabo shared a look, wondering what their next step should be.
"How can you like us when you don't know anything about us?" Sabo asked in an even tone, still unsure about the entire thing. Whitebeard chuckled.
"But I do know about you. I know you have big appetites, I know you all are brothers, I know you would do anything to keep each other safe, and I know all three of you are good people. What more do I need to know?" Whitebeard asked, astounding Ace and Sabo some more while Luffy merely sat back and listened.
"B-but that doesn't mean anything! What if we aren't as good as you think?" Ace asked, thinking back to all the horrible things the Doctors at the facility made them do. Whitebeard shrugged.
"I don't. And I won't. Not unless you tell or show me, but as I know you now, I don't believe that could be possible." Whitebeard said in a confident tone.
"What if we become more trouble then we're worth? We've already got marines after us, and you don't even know what happened back at the facility." Sabo added.
"We're pirates, Marines are already after us, what's a few more? As for the facility, its true, I don't know what happened there, and I don't expect to know unless you want to tell me about it, but that's your past, it doesn't define who you are now. Whatever happened there has nothing to do with the person you are now." Whitebeard said, and it amazed Luffy how genuine someone could feel when they were talking. It was like the warmth, he had never felt so much of it come from one person.
"But it does! We are who we are because we had to be it! We aren't who we were when we went into that place, and we never will be again." Ace said angrily, fists clenched again as he fumed. Luffy frowned at the feelings coming from his brother and hated the facility even more for making him feel that way. Meanwhile, Sabo watched him in shock, not having expected that outburst from the eldest.
"And is that a bad thing?" Marco suddenly asked, the brothers nearly forgetting he was there.
"What?" Ace asked, confused by the question.
"Is it a bad thing that you've become the person you are now?" Marco elaborated. Ace went silent as he thought the question over. When he didn't respond for a minute, Whitebeard spoke.
"I'm sure whatever you three went through back at the facility was horrible, and I don't expect you becoming my sons to change that. I know things are difficult for you three and that you'll have lasting scars, but that doesn't need to keep you back from moving forward. I want you as my sons because I like you, and I want to help you. You don't need to accept if you don't want to, but I wanted to extend the offer anyways." Whitebeard explained calmly.
Silence reigned over the room once more as the brothers thought over the Captains words. They still didn't know how to feel about the whole situation, especially because, just moments ago, they had been testing the pirates on whether they were actually good people or not.
"If you don't mind, I think we need some time to think this over," Sabo said a bit hesitantly. Whitebeard nodded.
"Of course, take as much time as you need." He said, the brothers standing from their seats.
"Thank you, Whitebeard, Marco. We'll see you later." Sabo said as they walked to the door, leaving.
They made the walk back to their room much quicker then they had made the walk to the meeting room. It helped that they weren't stopped this time.
Oh my god, we've reached over 600 reviews! That's insane! Thank you all so so so so so so so sooooo much! I feel like it was only last week that I was thanking you all for 500 reviews! I don't want to take up a whole lot of your time by gushing to you all about how amazing you are, but just know that my love for you guys is endless!
Anyways, about the chapter! Whitebeards finally asked the brothers to join his crew. The ASL trio is, understandably, shocked about this turn of events and we'll have to see how they proceed next week. They also, officially, met Teach, and they're slowly beginning to see that the crew, minus Teach, doesn't seem to want to do them any harm. Overall, things are chugging along now, and next chapter we'll also be landing on Sabaody finally which I know you've all been both excited and worried about.
So without anything more, I hope everyone has a fantastic rest of their week as well as weekend! I'll see you all next Thursday with the next chapter!