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 90: The New Island

As Ace crossed the deck he noticed out of the corner of his eye a familiar speck on the horizon, one that signaled they were nearing an island. Being apart of the crew, the brothers now had a better idea of when they were going to be reaching new islands, and because of this Ace knew that this island was the one they were supposed to reach in another three days, however from the looks of it it was only another day, maybe two, away.

Changing course from the infirmary to Whitebeard, he told his father figure as much, to which he was thanked and told to go inform the navigators about this new development.

Word spread fast that they were on course to reach the next island earlier than expected and with the news came excitement. The time passed quickly with everyone in high spirits. Luffy was ecstatic during this time, both because they were reaching an island soon, and because he allowed himself to let in all the happy feelings, making the day and a half that it took to reach the island pass by in a flash.

The Moby slowly made its way as close to the island as it could before it had to stop They were still a short boat ride away from actually docking, but due to the shallow waters surrounding the island, this was as close as the giant ship could get. Because of this, the groups being sent to the island had to be done strategically, only those who would be restocking the necessities could go first due to the limited number of boats they had to ferry them all along. The chefs in Thatch's division were given priority, then those in Marcos division who would be restocking supplies for the infirmary, followed by Fossa's division which would restock supplies needed to repair the Moby, and then Rakuyo and Vistas divisions which were in charge of restocking the weapon supply, and so on and so forth.

Aces division wasn't needed in the restocking this time, and because of that, they weren't high up on the list of those getting to go to the island. However, Ace did have his own private boat that could only be run by his devil fruit, thus he and his brothers were able to go whenever they wanted. Of course, Marco knew about this seeing as they had gone and used the Striker to leave the Moby and head to islands in the past, so he was quick to find them before they could sneak off.

"I already know what you three are up to, yoi," Marco said, arms crossed and eyebrow raised as he blocked the trio from sneaking off below deck to where the boats were at, namely the Striker.

"What? I have no clue what you're talking about." Ace said, whistling and looking away while Sabo smiled cheerfully to Marco and Luffy looked anywhere but at the commander who he knew could read his face and know if he was lying or not.

"Yeah, right. Anyways, I'm not saying you can't go, you have your own boat after all, yoi. I just wanted to ask you three to watch the group being sent from Blenheim's division for him. He has to stay here and fix some boards for Fossa while he gets more supplies so he can't do it, and seeing as you three are going to be there at the same time as those restocking, you're up, yoi." Marco explained.

"Aw, but I wanted to explore the forest! Its huge!" Luffy whined but knew he would agree to keep an eye on the group. They were apart of the crew after all- ship brothers- so of course they would keep an eye on them and make sure they stayed safe. He knew Ace and Sabo felt the same way.

He was just a bit disappointed in their change of plans. The forest was big, and it looked like it had some really tall trees, maybe some tall enough to see the entire island from.

"We'll be here tomorrow too, yoi. You can go explore it then." Marco said with a smile as he watched Luffy pout. This seemed to appease the youngest who nodded, smiling again, and Ace and Sabo nodded as well.

"Sure, we can keep an eye on them, but tomorrow you cant make us do anything else! We have to go exploring in that forest before we go!" Ace demanded, pointing a finger at Marco as he said this, knowing that if he didn't clarify the Commander might make them do something else tomorrow as well.

"Alright, alright, I won't get in your way. You don't have to worry about me, yoi," Marco said, hands raised in the air as he spoke, though he was still smiling. Luffy and Sabo laughed at the display and Ace smiled as well, eyes narrowed.

"Ok Ace, the supply groups are heading out now, that means we should go too. We haven't even had the chance to get Striker ready yet." Sabo said, knowing that it took them a few minutes to get the yellow boat prepared to sail.

"Ah, that's right! Marco, you're wasting our time!" Ace shouted as he ran passed the Commander and down into the Moby. Sabo rolled his eyes and shouted a goodbye to the Commander as he followed after Ace and Luffy did the same, eyes wide at the prospect that they were wasting precious seconds talking to Marco.

The brothers made their way to the Striker and got the small one-man boat ready with practiced ease. Ace stood in the boat, ready to power it up, and Luffy climbed on top of the sail while Sabo sat against the small mast, keeping a close eye on Luffy should he fall off. Once they were ready, Ace maneuvered the raft out of the dock on the Moby and out onto the open waters, heading right towards the boat carrying Blenheim's division members.

When they were close enough to speak to them, the division called out some greetings, the brothers returning them in kind as they made their way to the island.

"We're going to go and dock first, check everything out for you," Sabo called over, knowing Aces smaller, fire powered raft would be able to reach the island much faster than the rowboats the divisions were using.

"Sounds good! We should dock in about ten to fifteen minutes!" One of the members, Frederick, called back. Sabo nodded in understanding to him before giving Ace the signal that he could speed up. Luffy cheered as the wind blew in his face, the Striker zooming quickly across the waters. They were heading to an empty beach to dock- at least, that's what Ace had said. They wanted to avoid troubling the townspeople seeing as this wasn't an island under Whitebeards protection, and it also wasn't one they had visited much at all. It was relatively unknown how the people on this island would react to the pirates, so when Ace informed them that there was what seemed to be an empty, abandoned beach, Whitebeard had decided that would be the place the resupply groups would dock at.

The Striker reached the beach within a couple of minutes, and the second it was possible, Luffy was jumping off the sail and wading through the ankle-deep water, leaving Ace and Sabo to beach the Striker themselves.

"No running off Lu, we're scouting ahead for the resupply divisions, remember? Explore tomorrow, scout today." Ace called to Luffy as he and Sabo watched him reach the beach. Luffy stopped and pouted again, but nodded, abandoning his previous idea of running off into the forest and instead using his sense of smell and ability to feel emotions to his advantage.

"No one's been around here recently, and I can't feel anyone either," Luffy announced as Ace and Sabo reached him, Striker in tow. Ace made sure the ship was high enough on land that the water wouldn't reach it anytime soon before glancing around their surroundings.

"I don't see anyone around either, just trees," Ace added, looking into the forest that lined the beach.

"And I don't hear anyone. Seems this was a good place to dock after all." Sabo continued as he stretched out his hearing, only hearing the animals running around the trees.

"I saw the town on the west side of the island, so we should head that way once everyone else gets here. There aren't any paths that I can see so people might get lost on the way back." Ace said, making Sabo frown.

"We could mark the trees as we go, that way they don't get lost. We could set a time limit too and if no ones back by at the designated time we can send Luffy to go find them." Sabo suggested, Luffy nodding cheerfully at that idea. Ace shrugged.

"Sounds good to me. Come on, let's go check out some of the forest. Make sure there're no traps around that anyone'll accidentally stumble onto." Ace said. Luffy once again cheered at the prospect of getting to explore, even if it was only a small section of the large forest. The young teen bounced after his older brother, and Sabo checked one more time that the Striker was alright before following as well.

Luffy was quick to grab onto a tree branch and fling himself into the canopy of the trees, swinging like the monkey his name proclaimed him to be as he scanned the ground for any traps. Ace stuck to the lower branches of the trees, using the height he had to scan even further into the forest, and Sabo followed on the ground, marking the trees as they passed them.

They didn't head too far in, they wanted to be there when the supply groups docked, so once they determined it was safe enough, they headed back.

They made it back to the beach just in time to see the groups all getting out of their boats and dragging them onto the sandy ground, placing them near the Striker as they did. Fossa, Izo, and Vista were among the groups, all of them sent to watch over the divisions just as Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had been.

Sabo went over and gave a recap of the plan to the three commanders, all of them agreeing it was a good idea, while Ace and Luffy helped bring the boats out of the water and onto land.

"I already started marking trees and Luffy and Ace scouted a little ways ahead for any traps the town could have set. So far there's nothing, but we didn't get too far. Ace saw the town off to the west side of the island so we headed that way." Sabo informed.

"Good work, that'll make this faster for us then. Alright everyone, get into your groups!" Fossa called out once all the boats were safe from being washed away.

"We'll be heading through the forest, keep an eye out for any traps that might be set. We're going to mark trees as we go, that way we don't get lost coming back." Vista explained, everyone nodding in understanding.

"We're meeting back here by sundown. Anyone not back by then, we're sending Luffy to find." Fossa added, getting more nods in return.

"Alright, lets head out. You all know what you're assigned to get. Ace, Vista, Fossa, Sabo, Luffy and I will be keeping an eye on everyone. Any questions or concerns that you have, ask one of us about it." Izo said. With that, the group of pirates all headed off, Luffy and Ace in the trees again, scouting ahead for traps, while Sabo stayed on the ground, marking trees with the other commanders.

It was a bit of a hike, but about fifteen minutes in, Sabo heard Luffy alerting Ace to a bear trap that he saw ahead of them. Sabo said as much to the group, and they all slowed down, looking around more carefully. A few minutes later, they walked up on Ace and Luffy moving a now disarmed trap out of their way.

"We're getting pretty close to the town now, I can see it from the lower branches." Ace said as Luffy flung himself back up into the trees. With that, the groups resumed their trek, being careful to watch where they stepped.

Another five minutes later, they finally reached the town. Groups were divided up depending on who needed to get what, and commanders were assigned to those groups. The trio of brothers were assigned to Blenheim's division as expected, but they were also told to keep an eye on a few from Rakuyo's group as well seeing as they would be restocking in the same section of town as Blenheim's. The brothers agreed, and with that, the groups split up into the town.

To keep the townspeople from panicking, the groups were small, only two to three people each, so when the group of, now, nine walked out from the forest they were given some looks. This was understandable, of course, but as expected, they weren't given much more attention than that, the town returning back to its usual tasks.

Blenheim's group was assigned to getting some more tools for the shipwrights, while Rakuyo's division was sent to get more weapons. The brothers followed the two groups, chatting with them as they went.

A year on the Whitebeards ship meant that they were friends with most everyone on the Moby. Sure there were times that you saw someone you'd never seen before, but that was only because the ship was so big and there were so many people that sometimes you never ran into certain people for months. Word got around about the brothers pretty quickly though, about how they all had abilities that were unlike any others, like Sabo's insane hearing, or how Ace and Luffy could both swim despite the fact that they were both devil fruit users. Gossip about them spread fast, and when the brothers did nothing to stop it, it only continued to grow.

Of course, with these abilities of there's, people wanted to know how they got them. The trio wasn't going to tell them about the facility, so instead the rest of the crew was left to make up their own wild ideas on how the brothers could have stumbled upon these abilities. Some theories were as tame as the brothers being born with the abilities, but some got more crazy, such as the brothers having saved a genie and being granted wishes as a result.

As they all walked through the town, the question of their abilities came up again. None of them minded, they liked hearing the theories, so they allowed it.

"You guys totally saved a fairy and they gave you your abilities, right?"

"No way, they met someone with a devil fruit that gave them those powers!"

"Nu-uh, what kind of devil fruit could do that? I think they prayed to the Gods and were granted their abilities that way."

"I don't even think they're religious..."

The trio snickered to themselves as they listened in on the arguing groups. It was one of their favorite pastimes to listen to the wild imaginations of the crew.

"Sabo, Luffy, Commander Ace, are you guys religious or not?" Frederick asked, the theorizing having devolved into a small argument on whether the brothers were religious or not.

"Not particularly, no," Sabo answered through his snickers.

"See, told you! No way it was God!"

"Just because you're not religious doesn't mean God couldn't have done it!"

"What if they drank some magic water?"

"How many times have you heard about someone drinking magic water?"

"How many times have you heard about people getting extraordinary abilities?"

"... Good point."

"Alright, alright, as much fun as it is to listen to your guys' speculations, I'm pretty sure that store is where you three need to be, correct?" Sabo asked Rakuyo's group, pointing to a weapons shop. The three in the group blinked, before realizing Sabo was right and headed in, saying farewells as Blenheim's group continued walking.

"I'll stay here with them, you two watch those three." Ace said to Sabo and Luffy, nodding his head to Blenheim's group that was once again back to debating scenarios where the brothers got their abilities.

"Sure. If you need anything just say so." Sabo said as he and Luffy turned to walk with the group.

"Whatever mom." Ace teased, heading into the weapons shop. Luffy laughed at Aces words while Sabo glared at his brothers back, but ignored it none-the-less.

"That's not at all how it happened!"

"Oh, so you were there then?"

"Well, no, but that was just stupid! In what world did those three find a magical rock that they had to take on top of a mountain where they saw a dragon who gave them powers?"

"That one is a bit far fetched Pat."

"Oh, and your idea of them being bitten by a poisonous spider that gave them powers was better?"

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

"Ne, Commander Ace, tell us, have any of us been close to figuring out how you guys got your powers?" Fitz asked while the group waited for the store owner to get the supplies they needed from the back.

"Hm... yeah, actually. I overheard someone who got pretty close to what happened." Ace said, remembering someone who suggested the brothers had been experimented on and that's how they got their powers.

That theory had definitely hit a little too close to home.

"What?! Really?! Who was it? What was the theory?" Gary asked, eyes wide as he leaned forward in anticipation, hoping Ace would tell them. The other two looked just as eager to know which made Ace smile mischievously.

"Who was it? Ah, I think it was Kelvin... no, maybe it was- or wait, I think it was during a party so it was probably Rey. No, no! They were drunk so it had to have been Barry! But they could actually talk when they were drunk so maybe it wasn't him after all..." Ace said, acting as if he couldn't remember. It was obvious to the three watching him that this was the case, all three of them pouting.

"Aw, come on Commander, what's the big deal? Tell us!" Fitz whined. Ace laughed, shaking his head.

"Nah, it's fun to watch everyone get so worked up over it." Ace said instead, only getting groans in response from the guys.

"Here you go, I think this is everything!" The shop owner announced as he returned from the back, boxes in hand. Attention drawn away from Ace the three began grabbing the boxes, still pouting slightly as they did.

"Can you at least tell us if any of us were close?"

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

"This town is big!" Luffy chirped as they walked down another side street in an attempt to get to the necessary store sooner.

"Sure is. I can't even see the ocean from here." Gerald said, standing on his tiptoes and shielding his eyes from the sun in an attempt to see any glimpse of the water.

"That's mostly due to the fact that there are too many shops and houses in the way," Sabo said, patting him on the back as they walked. Gerald shrugged.

"Big is big. My home island, you could see the ocean no matter where you were in the village." He said.

"You also lived in a village with three homes for twenty people and two shops." Webber retorted.

"We're not all big city folk like you Webber." Gerald scoffed. Luffy listened as the two bantered back and forth, not feeling any malice from either of them as they spoke. The two were light-heartedly joking with each other, even if it seemed like they were arguing from an outsider's perspective.

"Well my town was pretty big, but we could still see the ocean too." Jack piped up.

"Ha! See!" Gerald said, pointing to Jack triumphantly.

"Ne, Sabo, how big do you think the tallest tree in that forest is? Do you think I could see the whole island if I climbed it?" Luffy asked, ignoring the conversation his ship brothers were having. Sabo smiled to the youngest, shrugging.

"Who knows. I'm sure you'll find out tomorrow though." Sabo said.

"Yeah! I'm gonna find the biggest tree, climb it, and then I'll be able to see the whole thing! Like Ace!" Luffy said determinedly. Sabo laughed while Luffy smiled brightly, excitement bubbling up in him at the prospect of exploring and adventure, even if it would have to wait until tomorrow.

Finally, they reached the necessary shop and they all filed in. The group was quick with practiced ease as they ordered all the supplies they would need. Conversation was had, and soon enough they had everything they needed. Sabo could hear that Ace's group was done, telling the others as much, and with that, they all began to head back towards the boats, Sabo telling them that that's what Ace's group was doing.

The walk back through the town was quiet, everyone focusing on what they were carrying. The sky was beginning to change colors as time passed, indicating it was going to be sundown soon. They had docked here a little after lunch, and docking and walking to the town had taken quite a while, so to see that it was going to be dark soon wasn't a surprise.

They reunited with Ace's group just on the outskirts of town, and Sabo could hear that Vista's group was already ahead of them in the forest. Izo and Fossa's groups were still in town but sounded like they would be finishing up soon so they all decided to head back to the boats and wait for them there.

Now that they were carrying boxes, Luffy couldn't climb through the trees which made him antsy, wanting to let loose after all the stress of the past few weeks and being cooped up on the Moby for so long. Noticing as much, Ace took Luffys box from him seeing as he wasn't holding anything and told Luffy he could go on ahead so long as he didn't go any further into the forest then they already had.

The last thing they needed was Luffy getting too carried away with exploring and getting lost. Sure, with their enhanced senses it wouldn't be too much trouble to find him, but it would waste a lot of time. Besides, they would be exploring tomorrow anyways.

Luffy cheered before disappearing into the canopy of trees, everyone watching him with smiles.

"You'd think he's never been outside before," Sabo said with a sigh, shaking his head after Luffy was no longer visible to him. Ace scoffed at that but nodded in agreement.

"He gets way too antsy sometimes. Has way too much energy." He said.

"To be fair, you two can have just as much energy," Fitz said, the others nodding in agreement to his words.

"No, we sometimes have a similar amount of energy as Lu, but he's a class all of his own. He could run twenty laps around this whole island without getting tired and still be excited to do more. We have a limit to how much energy we have. Luffy, however, seems to have an unlimited amount." Sabo explained. After all, it was true. Luffy was an enigma, one that you could never quite figure out. He and Ace still had trouble understanding their crazy little brother sometimes.

"Fair point. Hey, do you think the God that gave you guys your abilities gave Luffy limitless energy too while he was at it?" Ace and Sabo laughed at the mention of the newest theory while the others groaned.

"That's not how it happened! They're not religious!"

"You never know! Gods can work in mysterious ways, like granting strange abilities to non-believers!"

"Are you even religious?!"

"No, but why does that matter right now?"

Welcome back everyone! In this chapter I wanted some light-heartedness to counteract what the brothers are going to be going through the next few chapters. As much as I want to give you all hints as to whats to come, I would end up spoiling it all. Fun fact about this arc though; If you all had picked the option of a preview to celebrate 1,000 reviews, I was going to use the ending of next chapter as the preview. This arc is definitely my favorite throughout the whole story because it brings a lot to light and ties many things together.

Anyways, I'll stop talking about future chapters and talk instead about this chapter. I wanted to have a moment where the brothers interacted with the Whitebeard pirates without the Commanders or Whitebeard himself. We always see Commanders and Whitebeard because they're named, memorable characters, but there's more to the Whitebeards than that. I've mentioned the rest of the crew in passing, but I haven't really had scenes where they're involved all that much. Plus, I wanted to show that even though the crew accepts the brothers, powers and all, they're still curious about how they got their abilities.

Other than that, there wasn't much else I wanted to say about this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it though and coming up with the different scenarios in which the brothers could have gotten their powers.

As always, thank you all for your support on my story. I can never thank you all enough. I'll see you all on Friday with the next chapter!