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 65: The Terrible After the Bad
The darkness felt suffocating. It was cold, it was dark, and the ground beneath him was hard, giving no sense of comfort. A quick glance around showed the same thing as always; a dark wall over there, a dark wall back there, another dark wall to his right, and of course, the bars that showed nothing but darkness in front of him.
How long had it been since that cell door had been opened? Since he had last been fed? Since he had last seen someone? He didn't know, but the loneliness was almost as suffocating as the darkness.
The sound of footsteps made him stiffen in surprise. He tried getting up and moving to the bars, but his body felt heavy and difficult to move like he had ten-ton weights strapped to his legs. He was forced to sit and wait as the footsteps grew closer and an even darker shadow began to loom outside his cell.
The thing that walked up though, was anything but human. Its face looked as if it could be a person, but the mouth was far too stretched to be normal. The lips were pulled upwards into a sickening smile, sharp, jagged teeth showing, and their eyes looked small and beady in comparison, only adding to the monster like quality of the thing.
It was tall, extremely so. It was hunched over so it didn't hit its head on the ceiling, and it was thin and lanky. Its arms looked abnormally long and its legs didn't look like they could properly support the creature. There was no hair anywhere on the monster and its skin was almost too taut as if there was just barely enough to cover it completely. Its arm stretched out towards the cell bars, showing its long, gangly fingers, and suddenly, the door was being swung open.
The creature didn't even need to enter the room. It merely stretched its arm inside and plucked him up from the ground with ease, pulling him towards its face. The heat and smell of the creature's breath made his stomach churn, and every hair was raised in fear as he stared into the creatures beady red eyes.
They seemed to sit there for an eternity, and with each passing minute, each second, it felt as if he was going to faint from the terror he felt. Finally, the creature moved, its arm moving somewhere he couldn't see, before retracting back and showing him the gleaming needle it held. A soft whimper escaped as the creature raised the needle to his arm. The pinch as the needle was pushed into his skin made him wince, another, slightly louder, whimper falling out as the liquid was injected into him.
And then the needle was pulled out, and he was left to once again stare into the eyes of the terrifying monster as he slowly felt the effects of that liquid rush through his body.
It was excruciating. Every limb, every muscle, every nerve, felt like it was cramping. The cramping quickly began to feel as if it was replaced by fire, and every part of him screamed for relief. When the burning subsided, it was replaced with an itch. An intense, borderline painful, itch that he desperately wanted to soothe, but he was still in the monster's grip, still staring into its eyes.
This continued on, and on, and on. A never-ending cycle of pain, from cramping, to burning, to itching, all while staring into the beady eyes, the monsters smile only stretching further on its face. The darkness surrounding them started to cover them now, making it impossible to see the ground. It began to swallow them up, slowly creeping up the legs and hands of the creature, and then its torso and arms, and then its shoulders and neck.
It swallowed it all up until all he saw was the monster's eyes staring into his own, and its smile still stretching unnaturally wide.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The pirates milled along lazily. The weather was nice, the seas were calm, and breakfast was nearly finished. There wasn't much to do this early in the morning. Most did their chores after breakfast or even lunch, and those on watch hadn't seen anything that would be concerning. It was a normal, lazy morning on the Moby Dick.
"Ne, Jozu, do you think something fun'll happen at the next island?" Haruta asked, slumped over the railing as he watched the water move beside their ship. Jozu, who stood beside Haruta, shrugged.
"I don't know, we haven't been to this one in a while. I'm sure there's something there that you'll find exciting." Jozu said. It wasn't often that the Whitebeards went to islands this close to Paradise. Normally, they would take a more direct route right into the New World, but they had decided to hang around the beginning. They were still a couple of days away from the island, but it was already beginning to make the crew excited.
"I hope so. I feel like it's been a while since we've had an adventure." Haruta said, moving out of the slump and standing a bit straighter with a sigh.
"Wouldn't you call the entire ordeal with the brothers an adventure?" Jozu asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Haruta rolled his eyes but smiled as well.
"Of course, but what about a good fight? We haven't had a really good one in a while. Sure, there were those pirates, but even then they weren't much of a challenge." The short, in comparison to Jozu, commander whined.
"Anyways, speaking of the brothers, where are they?" Haruta asked as he scanned the deck curiously for the trio. They were normally up right before breakfast, or even right as breakfast was starting. Jozu, who also scanned the deck, shrugged.
"Don't know. Probably still sleeping. I'm sure they'll show up once breakfasts underway." He said just as the bell to signal meal time rang, everyone beginning to make their way towards the galley. Jozu and Haruta both pushed themselves off of the railing and began making their own way to the galley.
"Wait, Sabo said he could hear everyone right? So he can hear us right now?" Haruta asked, suddenly remembering that fact. It was something that they were all going to have to get used to, no matter how crazy it seemed.
"Presumably, yes. If so, hello Sabo, hope your mornings been well so far." Jozu said politely, making Haruta smile and laugh a little.
"However, he said he doesn't normally listen in on conversations." Jozu continued.
"Unless it was about him or his brothers. Which would mean he is listening." Haruta countered.
"He said he did that because he didn't know us and wanted to make sure we wouldn't send them back to... you know where," Jozu said, not using the word facility on the off chance that the blonde was listening. As the two Commanders spoke they entered the galley, moving to sit down in their usual spots at the commander table, all of the others already there except for Fossa and Blenheim who Jozu remembered said that they were going to check on something in the depths of the Moby.
"And if that's the case, then he would still be listening. Just because they joined doesn't mean they aren't worried we might send them back." Haruta said, knowing that trust was something that was hard to earn, especially when you were raised to be always on guard like the brothers were.
"What are you two talking about?" Izo asked with a raised brow, only hearing snippets of the conversation.
"We're debating whether Sabo's listening in on us right now," Haruta said nonchalantly as if it wasn't that big a deal. Really, it wasn't. Sabo, Ace, and Luffy were their brothers now, whether they reciprocated those feelings or not, so that meant they accepted everything about them, from their past to their strange abilities.
"Why would he be doing that?" Jiru asked making Haruta sigh in exasperation at the fact he would have to explain himself again.
"Well, as I told Jozu, he said he doesn't listen in on everyone's conversations, but if he or his brothers are mentioned he listens. That's why I think he could be listening to us now, but Jozu here thinks that he isn't listening regardless of what we talk about." Haruta explained, the commanders and Whitebeard all nodding and humming in agreement to the words.
"Well, they did join the crew, so there's a chance he stopped listening all the time." Blamenco agreed, holding his chin in thought.
"See! Blamenco agrees with me." Jozu said as he smiled smugly.
"Yeah, but as I said to Jozu, just because they joined doesn't mean they're all buddy-buddy with us. I mean, I get why, but I'm just saying, that could mean that he's still listening. It would also mean he's listening to us right now." Haruta countered. Plates were set down at the end of the table and they turned to see Thatch placing the brothers' breakfast at their empty seats which confused them.
"The brothers haven't come yet?" Kingdew asked with furrowed brows.
"Seems not." Thatch said with a frown, confused.
"Maybe they're still waking up?" Rakuyo questioned.
"Or they're having another bad day?" Namur suggested.
"But they just had a bad day. Can they have one right after another?" Vista asked.
"Who knows son. We'll wait for them like always and if they don't show Thatch will bring them food. If it is another bad day we're just going to have to be supportive. I'm sure those three are still having a hard time adjusting." Whitebeard said, the commanders nodding their agreement to the words. It was always hard to remember that it hadn't been all that long since they'd rescued the brothers, only a little over a month.
"In any case, I still think that Sabo's listening," Haruta said confidently.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Breakfast continued on normally enough after that, and like the commanders predicted, the brothers were a no show which confused more than a few of them. Thatch waited as long as he dared before he knew he was going to have to start prepping for lunch.
"Just bring them their breakfast Thatch," Marco said with a sigh as he stood up from the table, he and Thatch the only ones left, both waiting in hopes that the brothers would show up.
"Alright..." Thatch muttered a bit disappointedly. He wasn't disappointed in the brothers, he understood, really. He knew that they had faced a lot of horrible things in their lives, he knew that even though they were physically healed, there was still a long way to go when it came to their mental health, but he had still hoped that the Whitebeards would have been able to work some type of magic and heal them.
He wasn't disappointed in the brothers. No, he was more disappointed in himself for not taking the brothers' mental health as seriously as their physical. Sure, he didn't play their mental health issues off, he took them seriously, but he still naively believed that after such a short amount of time, they would be fine.
"I'll go with you, yoi," Marco said as he followed Thatch to the kitchen where they began to load food onto the rolling cart. Marco could see the turmoil in his brothers' eyes, knew that the chef was beating himself up over something. He didn't know what, but he trusted that if it was important, or if it became an issue, Thatch would come to talk to him, or Pops, or the nurses, or anyone really.
The walk to the brothers' room was done silently, and the food was left in its usual place beside their door. A quick knock from Thatch on the door was enough to signal to the trio inside that the food was there, and when there was no response the two commanders began to head back towards the deck.
"It just sucks that there are people that can do that to children." Thatch said finally as they neared the door that led out to the deck.
"It does. We just have to keep showing the brothers that we're not those people. They're safe here, and they'll learn that eventually, yoi. We just have to be patient with them." Marco soothed. Thatch nodded in understanding, straightening as his resolve to help the brothers get over their past grew.
"Yeah, you're right. Hey, maybe I'll make something extra meaty for dinner! Luffy seems to really like meat-based dishes. Oh, and maybe some of those chicken tenders with the dips for lunch that Ace likes! And chocolate cake for dessert! Sabo really liked that cake we made that one time." Thatch rambled happily with a smile. Marco felt himself begin to smile as well as the two walked out onto the deck.
"Sounds like a good idea Thatch." Marco agreed. Even though the brothers didn't open up about themselves all that much, Thatch was still able to do one thing, and that was figure out what those on the crew enjoyed eating. Some joked that the man had a strange sixth sense when it came to knowing a person's favorite food, but the chef always claimed it was something any good chef should be able to do.
"You think so?" Thatch asked, turning to look at the first mate and commander.
"I do. If the brothers are having another bad day I'm sure that you making their favorite meals will definitely cheer them up, yoi." Marco said, causing Thatch's smile to widen at the thought.
"It's settled then, tenders and dip for lunch, meat for dinner and cake for dessert."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Its time for the next test~!" The sing-song, cheery voice sent shivers running down his spine. He urged his legs to move faster than they had been before, but he was already beginning to feel the exhaustion slowing him down. His legs couldn't quite keep the same rhythm as they had been before. He was beginning to trip over himself much easier than before, his feet not coordinating with his brain like he wanted.
No, left right left right! Why did his left foot insist on getting in the right ones way?
Pushing himself up off the ground he broke back into a sprint, turning right at the next fork in the never ending hallway. Behind him, he could hear a cheery tune being whistled, and even though he was running, the person following him was taking slow, even steps, yet they seemed to be gaining on him.
He had to get out. He couldn't stay here any longer. He just needed to keep going, and eventually, he would find the exit. This place couldn't go on forever, right?
"All around the mulberry bush," His breath hitched as a familiar tune began to come out of the man's mouth. The tune echoed eerily throughout the halls, making it seem as if the words were being sung right in his ear.
"The monkey chased the weasel."
Faster. He had go faster. Faster. Faster. Faster. Faster!
A startled yelp escaped his lips as he once again tripped over his own feet, his legs screaming at him, begging him to stop, to rest, but he couldn't do that, not when-
"The monkey stopped to pull up his sock," He had to start moving. He had to get out.
How was he supposed to do that though? It was so dark. Too dark. He could barely see his own hands in front of his face, how was he supposed to find the way out of this maze?
It didn't matter, he could do it, he would do it.
Footsteps behind him snapped him back to the predicament he was in. The slow, deliberate steps seemed far too close for comfort, the humming in between lines only chilling him further.
Left. Surely if he went left he would find the way out.
His footsteps echoed around him nearly as loud as the pounding of his heart in his ears. He ran as fast as he could down the hall, noticing yet another fork in the hallway. Left or right? He had to make the decision quick.
"Pop! Goes the weasel." He jumped back in shock as the man who he knew for sure had been behind him popped out in front of him from the darkness, a grin spreading over his face as he brandished a long, sharp needle in his hand, his other hand stuffed deep into the pocket of his white coat.
"It seems our fun is over for now, but no worries, there's more fun to be had back in the lab." The words echoed loudly around him as the boy began back peddling away from this man- no, monster. No man could be as evil, as sinister, as uncaring of human life as this person. Monster definitely fit the criteria better.
Turning to run back the way he came he was surprised when the monster was there as well, long needle in hand and smile still plastered to his face.
"Now now, the chase is over. You've lost." He didn't have another chance to run before the hand in the monsters pocket shot out and grabbed his wrist, tugging him towards the monster as it shoved its needle into his arm.
"There. Let test #462974 commence." What was once a loud, sharp and clear voice became warbled and muffled as he felt the world tilt sideways. The grip on his wrist never let up, and instead, the monster began to quite literally drag him down the hall. He had tried to keep up, tried to move his legs in time with the monsters, but with the world shifting so uneasily beneath him, it became futile and he fell to the floor, allowing the monster to drag him back into captivity.
He hated this. He was almost out, he just knew it, and yet here he was again, being dragged back into the depths of what could only be hell. A place like this couldn't exist anywhere other than hell after all.
What seemed to have taken him hours of running took the monster only a few minutes of walking, and they were soon walking into a painfully bright white room.
Yes. Hell. That's what this was.
They always say that hell is a red fiery inferno filled with suffering and pain. They say its got cavernous pits and devils with pitchforks. They say it's deep down underground where no one can get to it and no one can get out of it.
Honestly, this wasn't far off from the imagined hell. He knew though. Hell wasn't red, it was painfully white. Yes, there was pain and suffering, but it wasn't given to those who deserved it. Those cavernous pits might not exist here, but there were never ending halls of darkness that did the job just as well. Devils with pitchforks? What about twisted doctors with scalpels? And it sure did seem that there was no getting out of this place.
So yes, this was hell. There was no other place that it could be.
"Why the long face? Give us a smile, after all, I'm sure you're brothers would just love to see it." The fog suddenly cleared and he found himself sitting in an all too familiar straight back wooden chair, looking at the two metal tables in front of him with two small bodies lying on them.
Dread filled him as he opened his mouth to speak, to scream, to do anything, but nothing came out. Not a word, not a scream, not even a whimper. It was dreadfully silent as the footsteps of the monster clicked on the white tile floor as it made its way to the bodies.
Bodies. Bodies of his brothers. The only thing he knew was keeping him sane in this horrible place.
"No, no, a smile. Like this!" And something was shining in the monster's hands, something that he moved to his brothers head. His mouth opened, it closed, it opened, and yet still, nothing came out. He tried, tried so hard to scream, to shout, to fight against the restraints, but nothing worked.
"See? Now, why don't you follow your brothers' example?" The monster lifted his brother up from the table, showing off the large grisly smile he had carved into his brothers face. Tears welled up in his eyes as he watched the blood pour from the cuts, pooling onto his brother's chest and falling to the table.
"No? Hm, maybe something else will get you smiling then." The monster unceremoniously let go of his brother, the body thumping back down loudly onto the metal table making him flinch. His brother wasn't moving, it was painfully obvious, and he hadn't made a sound. Surely he would have made some sort of noise while the monster had cut into him, but there hadn't been anything.
"What about this? Would this make you smile?" The monster's voice was still much too cheery for the events taking place in front of him, but he forced himself to look to where the monster was, now at his other brothers' side. He was holding him up much like he had the other and was showing off the carvings he had placed all over.
Smiley faces. There were dozens, hundreds even, of various sizes of smiley faces littering his little brother's body. The blood poured out of the boy's body and it looked as if he had bathed in it.
He truly wanted to scream, to cry, to do anything, but he was stuck. Forced to watch as the monster let his brother go in the same way he had before, walking away from the body and right up to him.
He couldn't do anything. He couldn't stop the monster, he couldn't get out, and he couldn't save his brothers.
"What will it take to get you smiling?"
Surely, this was worse than any hell anyone could ever imagine.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It was a few hours after breakfast had passed. Thatch and the rest of the chefs were cooking up a storm in the kitchen while the rest of the crew went about their daily tasks. Division commanders went around and made sure things within their division were running smoothly while the rest of the crew did chores and switched shifts for watch.
"Remind me to write up a report about the extra wood we need," Blenheim said to Curiel as he walked by. Curiel watched him pass with a raised eyebrow.
"I thought we just got some more wood," Curiel said, making Blenheim stop to address the commander fully.
"We did, but it looks like some of the boards down below need replacing soon, which means we'll need to stop somewhere soon to make the necessary repairs. It also means we'll be low on extra Adams wood." Blenheim said as he leaned against the rail next to Curiel.
"Ah, that makes sense. We did hit those rough waters a few months ago. Adams wood sure is tough, but even it begins to wear down after a while." Curiel said knowingly, thinking back to the last time they had had to replace boards. It was definitely a long time for them to last and he was sure that with the replacement of the old boards, they would be able to sail without much incident for a while.
"Hey you two, have you seen Marco?" Izo's voice brought the two out of their conversation. Looking over they saw the geisha man walking up to them, a slight frown on his face as he did.
"Sorry Izo, last I saw him was when he and Thatch left to bring the trio their breakfast," Curiel said with a shrug.
"I think I saw him near the infirmary when I was coming back u- oh, there he is," Blenheim said, looking past Izo to where the first commander was walking from below deck and heading across the deck towards the Commanders rooms.
"Thank you. Hey, Marco!" Curiel and Blenheim watched Izo as he left them, moving swiftly through the crowded deck and toward their brother.
"What do you think Izo wants with Marco?" Curiel asked in a hushed tone, lest the man hear him.
"Who knows, but he didn't look all that happy. If I had to guess, I would say he's either low on makeup or fabric. Or someone did something stupid." Blenheim muttered in an equally low tone, neither of them wanting the man to turn his wrath onto them.
"Let's wish Marco luck," Curiel said, Blenheim nodding his agreement as the two fell silent.
"Marco, its a travesty!" Izo whined as he caught up with his brother who was making his way to the commanders' hall just as quick as Izo had made his way to him.
"And what is it this time Izo?" Marco asked, only the slightest hint of annoyance in his tone. He loved all of his brothers and sisters, truly he did, but there was only so much one man could take. After dropping the brothers' food off with Thatch it had been one thing after another. First, the third division needed more weapons because someone had dropped a box of them overboard, and before they could be retrieved they had sunk deep below the surface. Namur was away on a mission at the moment to check on one of their islands that was reporting a rookie pirate tormenting them so they couldn't have him retrieve them for them.
Then, a group from the eleventh division was delayed in heading off to one of their own missions to recon an island that they were thinking of making a part of their territory because the boats they had planned on using had sprung leaks.
Along with many more various complaints ranging from minor to serious, the latest one had come from the infirmary, the nurses informing him that numbers weren't matching up in terms of the supplies they were supposed to have versus the supplies they did have, which meant he had to go get the original report from his room to verify things.
Which brings them to now, where he was heading to his room to get said report while Izo followed with a frown that said he had something he was going to complain about.
"It's horrible! I was mending a shirt for Theo from fifth division when I realized I'd run out of fabric! I have too many things to fix and mend, and with no fabric, that means everyone's going to be hounding me until I get more and can return their personal items to them fixed." Izo said with a huff as he hid his hands in his sleeves.
Marco took a deep, steadying breath as he opened the door to the Commander's hallway, he and Izo entering it and closing the door behind them.
"I'll make sure to set aside some extra money for your division then. We're stopping at an island soon so-" Marco paused as he and Izo walked towards his room. To get to his room you had to pass the trio's room, and in doing so they both saw the pile of food still sitting on the rolling cart that he and Thatch had brought earlier.
"Did Thatch bring the brothers lunch early?" Izo asked, looking at the cart in confusion. Whenever the brothers had a bad day they always ate the food, so it was surprising to see it still sitting there untouched.
"No, that's from breakfast. I brought it down with him, yoi." Marco said, walking up to the food and examining it to see if any of it had even a bite taken out of it. After finding that it was all untouched he and Izo shared a look before the first mate stepped in front of the door, raising his hand and knocking.
No response.
"Do you think they're ok?" Izo asked, worry seeping into his tone as he looked from the closed door to Marco. The Phoenix didn't say anything, instead opting to knock again.
"Ace? Sabo? Luffy? You three alright, yoi?" Marco called but was once again met with silence. Frowning Marco realized that he was going to have to enter the room. He didn't want to invade on the brothers' privacy, especially if they were having a bad day, but if they weren't eating then it could be serious. After sharing one more look with Izo, Marco grabbed the handle of the door, twisting it and pushing it open, poking his head in.
"You guys alright in here?" He asked, but stopped when he saw the three brothers lying in their pushed together beds. All of them looked to be sleeping, however it seemed to be anything but a peaceful sleep. Sweat poured down all of their faces and they're features were scrunched up as if in pain. Luffy looked to be thrashing a bit, and even Ace and Sabo were moving their heads from side to side as if trying to move away from something. There were low sounds of whimpers coming from them, whichever one though was indistinguishable, and it only made Marcos worry increase.
He pushed the door open and entered the room quickly, moving to the bed and attempting to wake Sabo, the closest one to him, up from whatever he was dreaming.
"Hey, Sabo, wake up, yoi." He said in a hushed, gentle voice, though there was a bit of urgency to the tone. In the doorway Izo watched with worry, not wanting to get in the way. When Sabo didn't wake up Marco turned to look at Izo, lips thin.
"Go get another Commander. We're taking them to the nurses, yoi." Marco said sternly, Izo nodding quickly and rushing out onto the deck. He scanned the deck quickly, finding Vista to be the closest.
"Vista! We need you down here now!" Izo called, gaining everyone's attention with his worried shout.
"Izo? What's wrong?" Haruta asked, he and Jiru stopping their spar to look at the man along with everyone else. The geisha man didn't respond though, instead telling Vista to hurry again before turning and rushing back to the brothers' room. He could hear Vista, along with a few others, follow him, but paid them no mind. If something was wrong with the brothers it needed their immediate attention, and if this had been happening since breakfast, they needed that attention five hours ago.
"Izo! Hold on, what's happening!" Ignoring the shouts Izo entered the brothers' room again, seeing Marco already shifting Sabo into his arms.
"Can you get Luffy? Vista, you get Ace." Marco said, his face set in a frown that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Izo nodded as he rushed over to the bed, gently pulling the youngest towards him and into his arms, ignoring the wrinkles that were inevitably going to be left in the kimono as he did. Vista quickly moved up beside him, pulling Ace just as gently into his arms as they turned to leave the room.
"Oh my Kami, what's wrong with them?" Harutas voice was hushed, full of surprise as he watched his brothers carry the trio out. He didn't get a response as the three moved quickly out of the hall and out on deck, ignoring the many worried eyes as they rushed to the infirmary. Out in the sunlight, the brothers looked even worse, their skin a pale shade that was almost sickly. Izo could feel Luffy shaking in his arms and worried that the boy might flail like he had seen him do in the bed.
"Whiskey, the brothers need help, yoi!" Marco called as he barged into the infirmary, Izo, and Vista close behind. The head nurse looked up in surprise but quickly schooled her features as she saw the trio.
"Set them on the beds. Shirley, go get some IV's in case we need them." Whiskey ordered, Mary rushing off to do as told while the Commanders did as they were told.
"What happened?" Whiskey asked as she quickly began assessing her new patients.
"We don't know, they never showed up for breakfast so we thought it was another one of their bad days, yoi. When I went to get that report for you I noticed they hadn't eaten the breakfast Thatch made them so I checked on them and found them like this." Marco said, gesturing to the three who looked to still be in immense pain. Whiskey nodded, jotting notes down on her clipboard.
"I'll need you all to wait outside. I'll tell you what I know when I know it." Whiskey said, all of them nodding as they turned to leave the room. It was quiet out in the hallway, Marco, Izo, and Vista walking out to see Haruta, Jozu, and Jiru waiting patiently for them.
"We sent the others away. The hall was too crowded for all of them." Jozu said, hinting to the fact that a lot of people were worried about the brothers' well being.
"We'll have to calm them down before they cause a panic," Vista said to Marco who nodded.
"Go and tell them that Whiskey's already on it, yoi. If they ask what happened tell them we don't know but Whiskeys doing her best to help them." Marco ordered, Vista nodding as he rushed off to stop a mass panic from happening.
"I'll go tell Pops," Izo said, his past worry about lack of fabric seeming petty compared to his worry now. The geisha man left the hall quickly, leaving the four commanders alone.
"So what did happen?" Haruta asked softly, worry on his face. He really liked the brothers, and he hoped they were ok, but everything had happened so fast that he didn't even have a clue what happened. Were the brothers hurt? Had someone hurt them? Or had they hurt themselves? He didn't know, and by the looks of it, Marco didn't know either.
"I don't know, yoi. Izo and I noticed that the brothers' breakfast hadn't been touched so I checked on them and they all looked like they were in pain and sweating. None of them had fevers but I couldn't wake any of them, yoi, so we brought them to the infirmary." Marco said concisely, massaging his forehead. Haruta frowned.
"All we can do is wait for the nurses' report," Jozu said softly.
A nice, long chapter for you guys! This chapter got away from me, and before I knew it I had written over 5,000 words. I had to cut it before it got too long, and so we are left with a cliff hanger! The poor trio can't get a break around me. I feel bad sometimes for everything I put them through, but at the same time, I keep writing it.
Anyways, there's something wrong with the brothers. The Whitebeards managed to figure it out before too long, and now they're going to do their best to help the three. Ace, Sabo and Luffy are family now, (Not that they weren't before) so the crew is going to do their best to make sure they help the brothers through this.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next week we'll get some more answers as to whats happening, but whether or not the brothers wake up is still to be determined. The craziness of work is finally over, and thankfully I managed to keep up with my updates. With that said, I hope each and every one of you has a fantastic week, and I'll see you all next Thursday with some answers!