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 62: The News Is Out

"Look at this!" Luffy said to his brothers. Sabo was sitting on the railing beside Luffy while Ace was leaning against the railing, deciding not to pretend to be sleeping today.

The two looked over to Luffy, curious as to what he could be doing. They had finished breakfast, as well as their chores, so they were just killing time until lunch or something else entertaining happened.

"Look at what?" Ace asked after Luffy didn't do anything.

"This!" Luffy said, nodding his head towards his hands. He was interlocking his fingers, but Ace and Sabo couldn't quite figure out what that was supposed to mean. Sabo was about to question it when, with his tongue peeking out in concentration, Luffy stretched his fingers out, making an almost net-like structure with his rubber body.

"That's pretty cool," Sabo said honestly, watching Luffy stretch his fingers out wide before returning them back to their usual size.

"Do you think he could catch fish with that?" Ace joked, Luffy looking as if he was seriously contemplating trying that.

"Honestly, he probably could, but let's not attempt that right now please, I'd rather not have to jump in and save you if you fell in," Sabo said with a sigh, knowing that, with their luck, that's exactly what would happen. Luffy pouted but didn't try it, instead sitting in silence once more with his brothers.

Time passed and the brothers continued having a quiet conversation amongst themselves, Luffy trying new ways to stretch his body while Ace let his fire dance in the palm of his hand. After so long with the two not being able to use their fruit powers, it felt amazing to let go, to use their abilities in the open. In the middle of doing this Ace, who was still leaning against the railing and looking at the ocean, squinted slightly, looking off in the distance.

"Are we getting close to an island?" Ace asked out loud, knowing it was a stupid question to ask. After all, he could see the island right there, so of course, they were getting close, but he knew that Sabo and Luffy couldn't see it, and he knew that the Whitebeards probably couldn't even see it through their telescopes yet, so really, it was a reasonable question to ask.

"Yeah, why?" Izo asked, coming to stand beside Ace. The Commander hadn't been all that far away from the brothers, so when Ace asked the question, he had been close enough to hear it.

"I'm pretty sure that's what I'm seeing over there." Ace said, nodding his head to the island off in the distance.

"Oh, really?! What's it look like? Is it big?! Come on Ace, tell me!" Luffy chirped happily, always wanting the details of the islands that they were getting close to.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry Lu, I'll tell you." Ace said before launching into a detailed description of the island that they were approaching. Izo listened curiously because it was fascinating to him that someone could be given such an incredible gift such as Aces. It seemed like something that could only happen thanks to a devil fruit, but here he was, living proof that something impossible like this could be real.

Of course, it hadn't happened miraculously, it hadn't happened without sacrifice, and that was something Izo had to remind himself of. Even though the brothers all had amazing gifts, they had been given them forcefully, and painfully.

A caw above them cued them in on the fact that the news coo had arrived, and Izo waved his hand in the air, buying himself a copy of the newspaper. A few of his ship brothers did the same, all of them buying their own copy as well.

Normally Izo would flip through the news, taking everything that was printed with a grain of salt, because the marines were known for controlling the media to turn everything into something that made them look righteous, and make their opposers look dastardly. Of course, there was always the off chance that there was something good in the paper, like updated bounties or reports of new rookies, and that seemed to be the case for today's news as well, because right on the front page, in bold lettering that caught his attention, was something that interested him.

"Oh?" Izo asked, more to himself, as he skimmed through the article. Both his anger and his amazement at the Marines audacity made Izo scoff unpleasantly as he finished reading the article, only just noticing that Sabo was giving him a curious look.

"Something the matter?" Sabo asked, catching Luffy and Aces attention as well, Ace stopping in his description of the island as he turned to look at the Commander.

"Interesting is more like it, yoi," Marco spoke up as he handed his own newspaper to Whitebeard who read the article with a raised eyebrow. Ace frowned at that, also becoming curious.

"What is it?" The eldest asked, wishing he had a paper of his own to read.

"See for yourself," Izo said, handing over his paper to Sabo who only needed to glance at the front page to see what they were talking about.

Trio From Hell?

A report from the Marines Headquarters in Marineford has just informed us that there are three new villains out there that we should all be worried about. About a month ago now, there was a breakout on the usually peaceful island of Trinatary. Reports indicate that there was a mental hospital for delinquent and violent children as well as children with mental disorders on the island which was subsequently destroyed when three teenagers from the facility broke out, freeing all of the children that were being held inside.

The three that destroyed the facility reportedly went into a fit of rage, attacking those who were attempting to feed them, and they ran out, attacking and defeating every guard that stood in their path, while also freeing all the other children as well.

You may have become aware of the Marines hunt for children with numbers tattooed on their wrists, and you would be correct in assuming those very children are the ones that have escaped. If you see a child with a number on their wrist it is advised that you keep your distance and call any nearby marines so they can detain them safely. All of these children are suspected to be highly dangerous, so do not attempt to make contact with them if you see them.

The three that caused all of this have the numbers 11062, 11085, and 11097. It is reported that 11062 has the ability to control fire, and 11097 has a rubber body, both due to devil fruits that they possess. These three are the most dangerous, and if seen, it is expected that you contact the marines immediately.

The Marines thank you all for your cooperation as they try their best to resolve this manner and get the children the help they desperately need. If anyone has any information on where these children could be, especially the trio that caused this, there is a reward out. Marines will be doing sweeps on all of the blue seas islands in hopes of finding and returning as many children as they can, and hope to stretch their searches into the grand line and hopefully into the New World as well.

We hope justice will prevail and no one gets hurt by these dangerous children.

Beside the words, there were pictures of the destroyed facility, but none of the pictures went further than the first floor, of course, because that's where everyone would have seen the cells and labs.

"Of course that's the story those damn marines would come up with." Ace said, glaring at the words on the page. He and Luffy were reading over Sabo's shoulder, all three of them amazed at how the marines had managed to spin the story into something that made the brothers look bad and made the marines look like godsends, regardless of the fact that it was almost completely the other way around.

"Looks like we'll have to be even more cautious on islands now too, now that everyone knows our numbers and some of our powers," Sabo said with a sigh, looking up and towards where he knew the island was getting closer.

"Can't believe it took them over a month to come up with this though." Ace muttered, not even looking at the paper anymore.

"They probably thought they could get us all back before anyone got too suspicious of their searches," Sabo said, flipping through the paper a bit more before some pages fell out, the blonde quickly grabbing them before they could fall to the water.

"What are those?" Luffy asked curiously, peering over Sabo's shoulder in an attempt to see them better.

"Bounties." Ace said simply, recognizing the paper for what it was. There were three pages, each with one of the brothers' numbers on it, but there was no picture with them, just their number, the words; Wanted: Alive Only, and their bounties, which were each 100,000,000. There was a whistle as Jiru came up, also holding a stack of similar posters.

"That's some starting bounty!" He said, a few other Commanders that were out nodding their agreement.

"Yeah, it looks like they really want you guys back, it's not every day you see a starting bounty that high. They even put your status as 'Alive Only.'" Haruta noted. None of the other children that had been at the facility had posters, but the brothers chalked that up to both the fact that there were so many of them, as well as the fact that the rest of the children didn't have the same information about the facility like the brothers did.

"It was to be expected," Sabo said honestly with a sigh, handing both the posters and the newspaper back to Izo who returned to reading the rest of the paper. There were whispers amongst the rest of the crew that didn't know the brothers entire past, some of them wondering if what the marines wrote about the brothers was true, but once Whitebeard and Marco heard these doubts they had all the Commanders inform their divisions that what the papers wrote was false and that there was no need to worry about the brothers turning into vicious monsters.

It was a bit disheartening to them that, after all this time of trying to get comfortable here, the marines were still doing their best to keep the brothers from having any semblance of a normal life. They would never be able to walk around islands without the fear of someone seeing their number always looming over their heads. People would always see them as 'The Trio From Hell' that defeated numerous armed guards and were a threat to humanity as they knew it.

It made the brothers mad, that was for sure, but there was nothing they could do about it now. They had been dealt their hand, and now they just had to be careful how they played their cards.

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

The island that Ace had seen around a half hour ago was now close enough to the Pirates that they were getting ready to disembark. Ace had gone to get their wristbands while Sabo and Luffy stood nearby Marco as they waited. They would be going with the first Commander to the island like usual, and now that everyone on the planet knew about them, they were a bit tenser than they usually would be, fear that someone would see their numbers feeding into their anxieties.

"Here." Aces simple word caught their attention as the eldest tossed Sabo and Luffy their wristbands, his own already around his wrist, perfectly covering the dreaded number. Sabo thanked him, slipping his own on, double-checking that it covered his number, before triple checking that Luffys was covering his number as well.

Whitebeards booming voice was heard soon after that, the Captain giving instructions to some of the divisions on things they needed to go get while telling others that they were free to explore and enjoy themselves. When he was finished, the brothers and Marco were about to leave when Thatch ran up to them.

"Hey, guys!" Thatch said happily, smiling as he made his way over to them.

"Hi Thatch!" Luffy chirped back happily, waving to the chef.

"Hello, there Thatch, what's up?" Sabo asked, wondering what the man wanted.

"Oh, well I was wondering if I could come with you guys! The restocking that I normally do was passed on to a different group in my division so I'm free to roam around, and I thought it'd be more fun to hang out with you guys, even if you do have old man grumpy pants with you." Thatch said, teasing the first division Commander, which quickly earned him a glare. The brothers smiled, Ace and Luffy laughing at the comment, while Sabo nodded.

"Sure, we're just going to look around though," Sabo said, knowing that most didn't find that all that exciting. As much as the brothers wanted to go charging into an adventure, they also knew that they couldn't risk that, not when news about them was just released that morning.

"Sounds good to me!" Thatch said happily, leading the way off the ship, Marco rolling his eyes and muttering about annoying chefs. This only made the brothers smile more as they followed the man.

Thatch was someone that, for a while now, they knew they could trust. He had done so much to help them, including helping them escape, so it was no surprise to them that they felt so comfortable around the man.

Luffy watched the happy chef walk in front of them, talking to them about his previous experiences on this island, and Luffy could feel all the same happy emotions that Thatch always exuded. Not once had Luffy ever felt the man get mad towards them, not once had he felt any malicious feelings in the chef, every time Luffy saw him he was always smiling, cheerful.

Thatch had been one of the first people he'd seen after escaping the facility. Thatch was the one to calm Luffy down, the first one to make and keep a promise. Thatch made sure they were safe on Sabaody, and he also made them all amazing food. Trusting him was almost as easy as eating to Luffy, so as they continued walking down the path towards the town, Luffy had no problem in following close behind Thatch, listening to his every word.

Ace and Sabo felt the same way as they walked beside Luffy, not even bothering to keep tabs on the chef anymore as they walked. Marco and Thatch were both people that the brothers knew wouldn't try to hurt them. They had proven time and time again that they would instead help the brothers rather than let them get hurt or caught.

The walk through the town was pleasant, and despite the fact that only a half-hour ago the brothers found out that the whole world was now looking for them, they were relatively at peace. They knew they could handle their own, it was just an added bonus that they were now with Thatch and Marco who they knew was much stronger than them.

That didn't mean they were any less cautious than they normally were though. If anything, thanks to the newspaper, they were more cautious.

Window shopping was done calmly like they did on every island, and they even went into a few stores when Thatch would see something interesting. At one point they passed by a weapons shop and Thatch ushered them in, mentioning something about a crew members birthday coming up as he disappeared behind shelves in search of whatever it was he was looking for.

"Ooooh, Ace, Sabo, look at that!" Luffy said enthusiastically, grabbing his brothers' hands and pulling them over to a display of swords. Marco strolled lazily behind them, looking at the sword that Luffy was pointing at.

"It's all shiny! And its got jewels on it too!" Luffy said in amazement, looking at the particularly sparkly sword. The boy was right, the sword was covered in shiny jewels along its hilt, looking like it would be uncomfortable to even hold. Ace raised an eyebrow at the weapon.

"Who would want a sword like that?" Ace asked, Sabo and Marco, finding themselves agreeing with the fire user.

"Because it looks cool! Too bad I don't know how to use a sword though." Luffy said a bit bummed that he wouldn't have a reason to use the sword. Sabo chuckled, placing a hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"I think its a good thing for everyone that you don't know how to. I'm sure you would manage to get into a lot more trouble if you did." Sabo said, he and Ace shuddering at the thought of Luffy with a sword. Luffy pouted for only a second more before moving on to another even more interesting looking mace, dragging the group with them.

Thatch had finally found whatever it was he was looking for, paying for it and rejoining the group as Luffy examined a bo staff with intricate carvings etched into it. Ace stood beside him, looking at a set of daggers, and Sabo was a bit away, looking at halberds that were lined up on the wall. Marco stood with Luffy, noticing that the kid had a tendency to take off without a word and decided it was best if he just stayed close to him.

"Alright, I've got it!" Thatch announced, holding up a bag with something in it. The brothers nodded, moving to join Thatch as they left the store, but as they were, Sabo's eye caught something sitting in the corner.

"Hold on," Sabo said, already heading towards the weapon that caught his eye. Ace and Luffy watched curiously, following the blonde, while Thatch and Marco decided to wait by the door. When the brothers saw what had caught Sabo's eye they grinned.

"Are you gonna get it?" Ace asked, examining the shiny steel. Sabo tilted his head as he thought.

"I think so. After all, I don't have you and Luffy's monster powers." Sabo teased, knowing that, of the three, Sabo had been given significantly less deadly abilities compared to his brothers. Luffy snickered while Ace grinned. Sabo grabbed the weapon and went to the counter to pay for it, his brothers once again following as they chatted amongst themselves. Once purchased, Sabo returned to Marco and Thatch, smiling.

"A pipe, yoi?" Marco asked curiously, looking at the weapon that was strapped on Sabo's back thanks to another purchase the blonde had made.

"Yup. We used to fight with them when we were younger. Its been a while but after a bit of practice I'm pretty sure I'll be able to fight with it again." Sabo said, taking the weapon off his back and tossing it between hands, adjusting to its weight. He hadn't held a pipe in a long time, and to be holding one now was admittedly a bit nostalgic.

"That's cool, I don't think I've ever seen someone fight with a pipe before." Thatch said with a smile as the group left the store.

"Maybe we can spar later!" Luffy chirped happily, remembering their old sparring tradition of 100 fights a day.

"That would be fun." Ace agreed, Sabo also nodding his agreement as the group continued heading back to the Moby. As they walked, a small conversation was made, until they were finally back to the ship and they headed their separate ways, Thatch to his room, Marco to Whitebeard, and the brothers back to their room as well.

Even though the whole world was after them, they had a feeling everything would be just fine as long as they were with the Whitebeards.

Now the world knows of the brothers and the other escaped children! The cover story is that the facility was actually meant to help the children, which was expected, and seeing as the escaped kids know the truth, that means the marines want them back bad. It would look bad if tens of children came out and told everyone about what had really happened in the facility. Seeing as Ace, Sabo and Luffy had been there for multiple consecutive years, they've seen a lot and have the most information on the facility, which makes the Marines especially scared of them, hence their high bounty.

I was a bit indecisive about how high I should make the bounty, because 100 million is a lot for a first time bounty. After thinking about it though, Robin was given a bounty of almost 80 million just because she could read poneglyphs. Its not that big of a stretch to think that, if facilities were canon to One Piece, escaping from one would make you a high priority for the Marines to get back, hence the 100 million.

Also, it was mentioned in the news, but not in detail. The other escaped children do have bounties too, not just the brothers, however, as mentioned, there were so many of them that they all have one big collective bounty. Any number child that is found and returned to the Marines will result in the person getting a monetary reward, though its not going to be as large as 100 million.

Finally, I don't think I'll ever be able to say this enough, but thank you all for the support you show this story! Even when I have difficult days, I see the reviews and views on this story go up daily, and it makes my day a little easier to get through. Honestly, you guys are the best support to not only my story, but to me, and I'm forever thankful to you all. I'll see you all next Thursday!