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 85: The Betrayal
Although the previous day had been easy-going and light-hearted, that night was anything but. Luffy was plagued with nightmares the entire night, which in turn woke Ace and Sabo every time as they attempted to snap Luffy out of them.
Over the year, their nightmares had lessened more and more until they were only worried about having them once every few weeks rather than every day like they used to. It had also been a while since they'd had to worry about having more than one nightmare in a night, so when Luffy suddenly had so many nightmares that night, it confused both Ace and Sabo.
"Its alright Lu, we're still on the Moby, Ace is back too, and no one's gonna hurt us here. Oyaji wouldn't let that happen." Sabo soothed quietly, smoothing back Luffy's hair off of his sweaty forehead. The words broke Luffy from his latest nightmare, eyes wet with unshed tears and breathing heavy and quick.
"You're safe Luffy." Ace murmured, he and Sabo sitting up in their shared beds as they calmed Luffy down. The room went quiet, only Luffy's heavy breathing being heard as the youngest calmed down.
"You're having a lot of nightmares tonight Lu," Sabo said with a tone of concern. He didn't know what was causing the nightmares, whether Luffy had seen a trigger the day before, or whether this was just a set back to their healing.
"I feel something bad. I don't like it." Luffy mumbled quietly, hands gripping tightly onto their blanket.
"Bad? Like darkness?" Ace asked, mind immediately going to Teach. Luffy tilted his head to either side before nodding.
"Kinda. Feels like darkness, lots of it, but far away. It's heavy. I don't like it." Luffy said, repeating the last sentence again as he shivered. As he had described to his brothers, his chest felt heavy with the pressure of whatever was coming, and there was a pit in his stomach that he didn't like.
"A person?" Sabo questioned, more to himself. They'd met a few people with grey auras, and even rarer those with black auras, but no one as bad as Teach or Haru. If there was a person getting closer with a darkness so bad that it caused Luffy this much distress already, the person would have to have a darker aura then both Teach and Haru combined.
"No, not a person. Feels like darkness, but it doesn't feel like a person" Luffy said, trying to explain it the best he could. Ace and Sabo frowned, not knowing whether that was a good thing or not.
"Is it getting closer?" Ace asked.
"Mm." Luffy hummed, grip on the blankets tightening.
"When do you think it'll get here? Should we go tell Oyaji?" Ace questioned more, needing more information on whatever was coming.
"It's still far away. Shouldn't get here 'til morning. After breakfast maybe." Luffy said, trying to judge just how far away the feeling was.
"Alright, we'll tell him first thing then. Do you wanna go back to sleep Luffy?" Ace asked, tone becoming gentler as he spoke to his brother. It was obvious Luffy was distressed, and with good reason too.
"'M tired," Luffy said with a nod, though he looked a bit apprehensive about it, which was understandable seeing as he hadn't gotten more than an hour of sleep without being woken up by another nightmare.
"Ace and I will be right here the whole time Lu. We'll tell Oyaji about the feeling in the morning and everything will be alright." Sabo reassured as he lay back down with Luffy, Ace doing the same as well as they all got ready to go back to sleep.
"Mm. Night Ace, night Sabo." Luffy mumbled, his brothers responding in kind before they all drifted off again.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
When Ace and Sabo woke up in the morning they felt exhausted. The fact that Luffy had continued to have nightmares throughout the night meant that they were waking up constantly as well to calm him down. Because of this, none of them had gotten a good rest, but the sun was starting to shine through their tiny window, and there was a possibly really bad unknown... thing heading their way that they had to tell Whitebeard about, so they forced themselves to wake up.
Of course, this is when they noticed that Luffy seemed to be once again having a nightmare from where he lay sleeping in between them. With a sigh, the two got to work on attempting to wake him up.
This was easier said than done though as they quickly realized Luffy was stuck in his nightmare, something that hasn't happened in a couple of months for any of them. Sabo was quick to turn to their nightstand, pulling open the top drawer and taking out a familiar vial with a cork on the top.
Uncorking it, Sabo held the vial under Luffys nose, and within a few minutes, Luffy was waking up again. Sabo was quick to pull the vial away from Luffy before the smell could hurt his brother's nose, corking it and putting it back in its drawer.
Usually, the three didn't resort to using the special smelling salt Whiskey had made them, but with this unusual darkness heading their way they had no time to lose.
"Everything's good Luffy, we're still safe." Ace said for Sabo, the blonde still busy with putting the vial away. As he turned to face Luffy again he could see the shivers racking the boy's body, only further worrying him and Ace.
"Ace, why don't you go tell Oyaji while we go tell Marco," Sabo said with a frown because obviously, this was worse then they had thought. Ace nodded, face set in a firm expression of determination as he pushed the blankets off himself, getting ready in record time before leaving their room and heading to Whitebeards. It was still early- so early that breakfast was only just getting prepared- so most everyone was still in their rooms. The only ones out and about were those on watch, the chefs in the kitchen, and the few early birds.
Sabo and Luffy both got out of bed at a slower rate then Ace had with Sabo helping Luffy get ready due to the fact that the youngest could barely get himself out of bed. When they were finally ready, they left their room and went straight to Marco's nearby room, Sabo knocking on the door without any hesitation. Luffy's hand was clutched tightly to his own, still shivering, a sheen of sweat covering his whole body.
Marco opened the door quickly enough, expression in its usual relaxed look before changing to one of concern once he saw the state Luffy was in.
"Sabo? Luffy? What's wrong, yoi?" He asked, opening his door wider and letting the two in. Sabo guided Luffy to the Commander's bed and Luffy practically fell onto it in relief, his legs feeling like jello.
"Luffy feels something. He says its like darkness, but not a person." Sabo said as he sat beside his brother.
"Is it coming from the ship?" Marco asked as he sat in his desk chair, sitting on it backwards to face them due to the fact that it was bolted to the ground.
"No, he says its heading our way though. He's been having nightmares all night because of it." Sabo said with a frown as he turned to look at Luffy, his brother's eyes drooping closed slowly before opening back up just as slow.
"How long until its here, yoi?" Marco asked with a frown of his own. Ever since they found out about the brothers' powers they had accepted them as easily as they would anyone else, as if having the ability to feel emotions was normal. Whenever Luffy mentioned he was feeling bad feelings, they took him just as seriously as they would anyone else saying they had witnessed a crime. They believed them, and Sabo wondered, not for the first time, how they had managed to stumble upon one of the better pirate crews in the world.
"After breakfast," Luffy said certainly. Now that the... whatever it was was closer, Luffy could better determine how far away it was and how long it would take for it to get here.
"Do you have an idea what this thing might be, yoi? An object? Weapon?" Marco asked, trying to get any information possible. Luffy shook his head though, telling them all that they would just have to wait until it got here to figure out what it was.
"Ace is telling Oyaji right now, but I thought it'd be best to tell you about it too seeing as Luffy's having such a strong reaction to whatever this is," Sabo said, Marco nodding in understanding as he stood.
"I'll have a few from my division keep an eye out, yoi. Could you show me where the feelings coming from?" Marco asked Luffy, the youngest nodding as he stood shakily.
As they left the commander's room, Sabo could hear more and more of the crew waking up. Ace and Whitebeard were out on deck now too, the two of them by Whitebeards chair as they spoke amongst themselves.
When they were outside, Luffy took a deep breath, trying to use the outside as a calming agent like he usually did. It helped, but not by much. His legs still felt like they would give out at any second, and he was still shivering and sweating, though not as often as before.
Luffy pointed off towards wherever the feeling was coming from, Marco thanking him before heading off to inform the necessary people of what was coming. Sabo, meanwhile, guided Luffy towards Whitebeard, knowing the man would help calm the youngest better then he could at the moment. Luffy had always been able to use the giant's expanse of warmth to help calm himself down, no matter the darkness coming from Teach, so Sabo hoped he could do the same now.
Whitebeard gave them a smile as they walked up to him, quick to lower a hand for Luffy to climb onto which the youngest did without hesitation, sighing in relief as he let the warmth from Whitebeard wash the darkness away. It wasn't gone completely- whatever this thing was had too much darkness for Whitebeard to combat- but it was enough for Luffy to relax, to stop shivering, stop sweating.
Ace and Sabo were relieved to see Luffy relaxing, even if it was only slightly, and Ace went back to speaking to Whitebeard, finishing informing him of the darkness, Sabo helping add a few things, before talking to the man about the mission he had just completed.
Marco had taken it upon himself to inform all of the Commanders about the incoming darkness, so every commander on board was out on deck, standing by Whitebeard and the brothers as they all waited impatiently for a spec of something to appear. When asked, Ace said he could see a ship in the distance, but there was a fog that blocked him from seeing it clearly, so they had no clue what kind of ship it was.
When breakfast was ready everyone made their way inside to eat. Whitebeard noticed that Luffy had fallen asleep on his shoulder where he had been resting, so as to not disturb him, he stood slowly, walking carefully to the galley with Ace and Sabo close at his feet.
The trio were all obviously tired, but once Marco explained that Luffy had had nightmares due to this incoming darkness, the commanders all understood, being as quiet as possible so Luffy could sleep.
When they were in the galley Ace and Sabo left to get food for themselves and Luffy while Whitebeard roused the youngest, careful not to knock him off his shoulder in the process. When Luffy woke up with a yawn the Captain explained it was time for breakfast, which made Luffy blink a few times in confusion before he registered where he was.
"Here Lu, we got you some food." Ace said as he set down both his own and Luffy's plate at the table. Whitebeard helped Luffy off his shoulder and the youngest quietly sat in between Sabo and Ace, eating slowly rather than his usual fast pace. This made the brothers frown, but they were happy that Luffy was at least eating something.
When they were finished Luffy returned to Whitebeard's shoulder and they all headed back out onto the deck where one of their crewmembers told them that the ship was Thatchs, the Commander having been due to return from his mission today.
"Thatchs? So whatever this feeling is is coming from his ship?" Namur asked, everyone equally confused and concerned at the same time.
"Maybe someone planted something on his ship? He had to go fight some pirates right?" Jozu asked, getting nods of affirmation.
"Or someone snuck onboard? Maybe they've got a prisoner?" Atmos suggested.
"Whatever it is, we'll find out soon," Blamenco said, looking to the ship that grew closer with every passing second.
Luffy, Ace, and Sabo were all on high alert as they watched Thatch's ship slowly reach the Moby. No one knew what they should be preparing for, so they prepared for anything and everything. Luffy sat cross-legged on Whitebeards shoulder, hands gripping tightly to the giant's coat that he wore.
Thatch's division began preparations to board, and within only minutes they were rejoining them on the Moby, all of them carrying over the loot they had with them. Luffy took deep breaths as he tried pinpointing where the darkness was coming from. It hadn't moved since they started carrying things over, so it was obviously still on the other ship, but he had no idea where it was.
Before he could figure it out though, Thatch was heading their way, box in hand, and that's when Luffy figured it out.
"Thatch has it. The box. Its in the box." Luffy said, voice just loud enough for the commanders and his brothers to hear as they all looked at the box. Marco met Thatch halfway, noticing that the close proximity of the box to Luffy was causing the young boy to shake again, even with the fact that he was sitting on Whitebeard.
Luffy didn't hear what Marco said to the other commander, his whole attention focused on the box. Everything else around him seemed to melt away until Marco was opening the box slowly, everyone's eyes trained intently on it as he did. It finally opened enough that Luffy was able to see inside, and once he did he knew exactly what he was looking at.
A sudden spark of darkness drew his attention away as his eyes narrowed in on Teach, the man standing nearby as he looked into the same box Marco had just opened and that Thatch still held. His grip on Whitebeards coat tightened, gaining the Captain's attention.
"What's wrong son?" Whitebeard asked, noticing how pale Luffy was getting. The trembling was back, and at the Captain's words, everyone turned to look at him.
It all felt too overwhelming for Luffy, the darkness coming from the box, and now the rising darkness coming from Teach. It was such an overpowering feeling, it was like a cloud was forming over the Moby, and not a good one. It threatened to swallow them all, to suffocate them in the horrible heavy, icky feelings.
"Hey, Luffy, it's alright, calm down, we're still safe, everything's alright." Sabo's soothing words broke through the panic Luffy was feeling. His brothers were sitting on either side of him now, and he realized he hadn't even noticed them join him on the Captain's shoulder.
'Teach's darkness got worse.' Luffy tapped, making both his brothers and the Captain frown. The commanders, who hadn't seen or heard what Luffy tapped, could only watch in confusion.
'He's looking at the fruit.' Ace noticed, getting a bad feeling in his stomach at the greedy look on the man's face.
"Marco, Thatch, why don't you go put that away? You can tell me all about your mission after." Whitebeard said, drawing the two Commanders' attention to him. Thatch blinked before nodding, smiling.
"Sure thing. I'll be right back." Thatch announced as he and Marco headed off, Sabo hearing Marco tell Thatch about the darkness coming from the fruit as they left the deck. Luffy tried to take some deep breaths as he felt the fruit get further away, but it wasn't far enough away for him to not be affected by it.
"We'll keep a closer eye on Teach for now. This could be whatever he's been searching for all this time." Whitebeard said in a low voice, only loud enough for the commanders to hear.
The rest of the loot was unloaded from Thatch's ship, all the meanwhile Ace kept his eyes trained to Teach like a hawk and Sabo went to talk to Thatch. Luffy stayed with Whitebeard, scared to leave the man's shoulder in case the darkness got any worse. It was already hard to keep the feelings at bay, the Captain's warmth only barely holding them back now, and he didn't want to feel the darkness anymore.
The rest of the day, everyone was tense. On edge. They all knew that Teach was up to something, they all knew that he'd had a reaction to the fruit, and they all knew that said fruit was bad news, but they just couldn't figure out what he was going to do about it. Maybe he wanted the fruit for himself? Or maybe he wanted to sell it? Or did he want to get rid of it? Why was this specific fruit causing him to have a reaction?
There were no answers, and even though Ace was watching the man and Sabo was listening to his every word, they still didn't get any closer to an answer then they started with.
It was frustrating, to say the least.
By the time night rolled around, the brothers were in their room, all trying to go to sleep. Hours passed as they tossed and turned, none of them falling asleep for more than a few minutes before they were up again, their minds racing with different thoughts and ideas as to what Teach could be doing.
It was during this time that Luffy, who was also combating the feelings coming from both the fruit, and Teach, sat up in a mixture of groggy confusion, and fear. Ace and Sabo, who still weren't asleep yet, sat up with him, concerned.
"Whats up Lu?" Ace asked, eyes flickering to the door subconsciously, practically waiting for someone to barge in and attack them.
"Teach's darkness got worse again," Luffy said meekly, the trembling starting anew. Ace and Sabo frowned the blonde straining to listen for what Teach was doing.
"He's walking somewhere. Sounds like... he's heading towards the kitchen." Sabo informed, head lowered in concentration. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his head rose again, fear bubbling off of him and into Luffy.
"Thatch is there, in the kitchen. Teach is heading his way." Sabo said softly as he continued training his ears on the man, not wanting to miss a single thing.
"Hows the darkness Luffy? Same? Better? Worse?" Ace asked, nearly frantic at the idea that Teach was finally making his move, finally showing his true colors.
"Worse," Luffy said, just as soft as Sabo had spoken.
"Alright, Luffy, you go get Marco just in case the bastards really gonna try something. Sabo, we're gonna go check on them, just to make sure." Ace ordered, already flinging the blankets off of them as he practically jumped out of the bed. Sabo and Luffy both nodded in understanding as they both got out of their bed as well, Sabo following Ace out the door and towards the kitchen while Luffy headed right to Marco's room.
It was like deja vu as he knocked on the Commander's door, shivering and sweating, however this time he was without Sabo.
It took Marco a little bit of extra time to get to the door, probably having been asleep, and Luffy could tell that was the case when the man opened the door, shirtless, and feelings fuzzy and confused.
"Luffy?" He asked, grogginess in his voice, but slowly the Commander was waking up more and more.
"Teach's darkness is getting worse, and he's heading to Thatch, and Ace and Sabo are going to check on them, but they said I should get you too just in case, but the darkness from the fruit, and from Teach, is really strong, and-" Marco, having experienced Luffy's ramblings before, knew that the only way to stop the kid from continuing was to interrupt him, so that's what he did, frown on his face as he opened his door more.
"Is it still getting worse, yoi?" Marco asked, worry seeping into his tone as he spoke. Luffy nodded, shivering again.
"He's got all the dark feelings, like the doctors before they hurt us," Luffy said, voice much lower and quieter as he spoke about the facility. Marcos frown deepened as he turned back into his room, grabbing his jacket off the chair.
"I'll check it out. You can stay here until we come get you, alright, yoi?" Marco asked, gesturing for Luffy to come in. The boy nodded, entering the room and sitting on the commander's bed again. Marco watched him for a moment as if making sure Luffy was ok, before nodding and turning to leave, closing the door behind him as he did and leaving Luffy in darkness.
The young teen sat there in the darkness for what felt like hours. He could only focus on the feelings coming from the group, from Ace and Sabo's fear, yet determination to check on Teach and Thatch, to Marcos worry as he headed their way as well. Teach's maliciousness and darkness were still on the rise, meaning the man was getting ready to do something, getting ready to act on those feelings, and Thatch stood in the kitchen still, his feelings blissfully unaware to the malice heading his way.
It was all very disconcerting for Luffy, to feel all the feelings coming from everyone, but then to be sitting safely in a room away from them all. He wanted to help too, wanted to keep Teach from harming Thatch, but he couldn't work up the courage to fight against the darkness rolling off of Teach to do anything.
Maybe if the fruit Thatch had found wasn't so close by he would have been able to, but with the way things were now, it was a struggle for Luffy to even sit on Marco's bed without having a panic attack.
He could feel Teach getting closer to Thatch, in the same room with him now. He didn't have Sabo's super hearing, so he had no clue what Teach was doing, just knew that his emotions were changing from curious, to frustration, to calm, all the while the maliciousness and darkness were still overpowering it all. Thatch was still happy, though that happiness had dimmed once Teach had entered the same room, and instead he was feeling worried, on edge.
Ace and Sabo were closing in on the two now, their feelings still much the same, and it was only moments later that they were entering the kitchen as well, Thatch and Teachs feelings turning into shock as they did. His brothers' emotions were quick to turn from their fear and instead into a fierce emotion of protectiveness.
Marco was there now as well, his emotions turning to surprise before they were changing to the same protectiveness of Ace and Sabo.
Teach's emotions turned to rage, his darkness increasing and making Luffy's breath heavy as if something was sitting on his chest and constricting his breathing. It was suffocating. He was so focused on not falling into a panic attack that he stopped monitoring the emotions, so he didn't know who was feeling the anger, who was feeling the pain, who was feeling the worry, he just knew that it was all culminating into a cloud of negativity that had Luffy squirming.
He hated all of this, wanted it all to just stop, but there was no way for him to know what was happening or when this would all be over.
He grabbed the pillow from Marco's bed and held it tight to his chest, squeezing it as tight as he could as he tried to calm down, tried to take deep breaths. He was alright, no one was hurting him.
But his brothers could be getting hurt.
He didn't have to worry, Ace and Sabo and Thatch and Marco are strong, they could take Teach.
But what if they couldn't?
In a few minutes, someone would get him, tell him it was all over, and everything was alright.
But what if they didn't?
Every time Luffy came up with a calming thought, he had another contradicting one, telling him that it wouldn't be alright, that Teach was going to hurt them all, that his happy, peaceful time on the Moby was over.
Hopefully, Marco didn't mind that Luffy accidentally ripped his pillow in two during his panic.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Ace and Sabo both sped walked down the hallway as quick as they could, needing to see if Thatch was alright, needing to know what Teach was up to. It didn't take long for them to reach the deck, and when they did it was empty, those on patrol nowhere near them and the ones on watch high up in the crow's nest. It was dark out, the moon a crescent and barely illuminating the deck.
Sabo grabbed Aces wrist unconsciously, not wanting now to be the time he tripped and hurt himself in the dark when he had a perfectly good pair of eyes at his side.
The blonde could hear Luffy telling Marco what was happening, but he could also hear Teach in the galley, getting closer to the kitchen Thatch resided in for the time being.
Which begged the question of why in the world Thatch was in the kitchen to begin with, this late at night, but he forced himself not to think about that too much right now. There were bigger things to worry about after all.
"Teach is in the galley. We should hurry." Sabo told Ace who nodded, leading them to the galley doors in record time. They entered the empty room, but Teach was already slipping into the kitchen, the light from the other room seeping under the door that separated them. Ace and Sabo swallowed, trying to push down their fears of the man with darkness that rivaled Harus, and then they were marching towards the kitchen doors as well, ready for anything they would spot behind the door.
Of course, that was what they would have like to think, but when they opened the door and saw the knife raised in Teachs hand, Thatch's back turned to the man as he chatted almost happily to him, they were stopped in stunned silence.
This lasted only a split second though before Ace was charging the man, tackling him to the ground and knocking the knife out of his hand in the process.
Thatch turned around in surprise at the noise, eyes wide as he observed Teach struggling under Ace.
"Woah, what's going on?" Thatch asked. Sabo glared at Teach as he walked around the man, careful not to take his eyes off him, and stood near Thatch.
"Teach here just tried to stab you in the back is what just happened," Sabo told the chef as he lowered into a fighting stance.
"What?!" Thatch squeaked in surprise, eyes flitting over to the knife that lay too close to Teach for his liking. Sabo opened his mouth to speak when the door opened again and Marco entered the room. The first mate's eyes scanned everything that was happening before he was lowering into a fighting stance as well.
It was good timing too because Ace was suddenly thrown from Teach, the man much stronger then the second commander had anticipated.
"What the hell Teach?!" Thatch could only manage to ask. It was one thing to know that someone you had considered to be your brother for over a decade was going to betray you, but it was a completely other thing for that person to actually attempt murdering you.
"I knew I should have tried getting you two on my side sooner." Teach said with a tsk noise as he stood, brushing his clothes off as he did.
"Like we would ever work with a bastard like you." Ace spat, standing up himself from where he'd been thrown across the room. Sabo felt his glare harden, his frown deepen at even the thought of working with the man.
"Are you sure Commander? I could offer you a hell of a lot more than these guys ever could." Teach said, a toothy smile growing on his face that disgusted the brothers.
"You've got some nerve Teach, yoi," Marco spoke up from the doorway where he stood.
"Tell me, how did you figure it out anyway, hm?" Teach asked, ignoring Marco's words as he addressed Ace and Sabo directly, stepping towards them. The reaction was immediate as everyone else in the room tensed up, waiting for Teach to do something.
"We don't need to tell you anything," Sabo said icily, refusing to give Teach any unnecessary information.
"Aw come on Sabo, we're in the same division, right? That means we can share secrets with each other!" Teach said, his smile still on his face and tone easy-going despite the fact that he was outnumbered four to one.
"That also means we don't go attacking others on the crew, but it looks like we don't follow those rules all that well, do we?" Sabo asked, hands almost hurting from how tight he was holding his fists.
"Hm, you're right. You sure you two don't wanna join me? You could even have Luffy come along too, zehahahahaha!" Teach laughed. Ace and Sabo's skin crawled as the man mentioned their brother, and before anyone knew it, Ace was charging, fist flaming as he went to attack the man. Teach was caught by surprise, only barely dodging the attack, but not before his shoulder was burned by Aces fire.
"So that's how its gonna be, huh?" Teach asked with a sigh, his smile gone now as he righted himself, turning to face everyone.
"Shame."
The betrayal is here! Teach has attacked and the devil fruit is onboard the Moby. I'm as excited as you guys that this moment is finally here, after all, this is one of the biggest moments that we all knew was bound to come. Don't worry though, I do have more planned for after this big moment as well.
The poll for the 1,000 review celebration has ended and it looks like you all will be getting a chapter tomorrow as well! Good thing too, because that means you won't have to wait until Friday to see the inevitable fight that is about to occur. Also, thank you all so much for the 1,000 reviews! I will never be able to thank you enough for the support you've given both me and this story, and again, I know it's redundant for me to say it at the end of every chapter, but I truly mean it.
I'll see you all again tomorrow with the continuation of Teach's betrayal so that you all can see how it will play out. Until then, I hope you all have a fantastic day!