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 97: Fights and Familiar Faces

"Come on Marco, please?"

"Yeah Marco, please?"

Marco sighed in exasperation as he rubbed his forehead.

"Ruta, you're a bad example, yoi," Marco said in annoyance, trying to ignore the two.

"What do you mean? I'm teaching Luffy here valuable life skills, like persuasion! And how to hit moving targets!" Haruta said, gesturing to Luffy who was grinning beside him.

"Yeah! So come on Marco, please? Please, please, please, please, please, please, please-"

"It's still no, so stop asking." Marco interrupted, not wanting to figure out long Luffy could repeat the same word. He didn't doubt that it would be a while.

"Aw, but why?" Haruta and Luffy both whined simultaneously, visibly deflating in front of him. He rolled his eyes at the theatrics, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because why would I want to fly around so you can have Luffy try rocketing at me? Not only are we in the middle of the ocean right now, where you would more than likely land, but I'm also not fond of the idea of having a human projectile coming at me, yoi." Marco said, trying to walk away so he wouldn't have to hear the two whine anymore.

"But Marco-"

"I said no."

"Stingy."

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

"Marines." Ace confirmed, Luffy cheering beside him and Sabo smiling. It had been a while since their last marine fight, so when Ace confirmed the incoming ship was a marine's, it made them all a little excited.

It didn't take long for the marine ship to reach them, and once it did, like always, they sprung into action. Marines boarded the Moby and the pirates boarded the Marines. This fight was no different from the hundreds they'd had before it, and the Whitebeards were going to be the obvious victors once again. Whitebeard watched over every fight from where he sat, not interfering, but prepared to if necessary. The commanders were all leading their divisions and helping crew members when needed.

Like always, the trio of brothers stuck together, fighting in unison and watching not only their backs but their ship brothers as well.

The fight was in their favor, they had the larger crew and more experience compared to this Marine crew that was clearly only here because the Captain thought this would be an easy fight like many before him had. Luffy hadn't seen the Captain, he'd only briefly heard him yelling about taking Whitebeards head, so when he did catch a glimpse of him and saw the dark color surrounding him he instinctually shrunk back from the man.

The black aura wasn't as bad as Teach or Haru, he didn't think he'd find anyone else who had colors that dark, but this Captain didn't have a speck of grey either. It was a thick, slimy, black that oozed off the man and practically crept towards Luffy, threatening to taint anything in its way.

"Luffy?" Ace asked, checking on the youngest quickly as he ducked under a sword. He'd noticed Luffys sudden pause in the fight, Sabo as well, and they were concerned about what had happened.

"Captain has black color," Luffy told them, peeling his eyes off of the man and back to his brothers. He did his best not to look back at the man, but he couldn't help but look back every few seconds. Ace and Sabo's faces grew more serious at the news and they nodded. Ace immediately broke from them and moved towards the Captain instead, telling anyone he passed that the Captain had a black color so that others would be more cautious around him.

Sabo stayed with Luffy, the two of them keeping away from the Captain, while Ace and some of the other commanders went to take care of the Captain.

It had happened a few times now that an opponent would have the darker colors, and when that was the case Luffy would tell them and the Commanders would go and take care of it, everyone keeping a careful eye on whoever had the color to ensure no one got hurt around them. More often than not, the person with the darker colors was more vicious than the rest of their opponents. It wasn't that they were all that much stronger or scarier, but they didn't seem to have the same regard for human life then normal people did. Whereas a normal, good person would want to try and keep casualties- especially of those on their side- to a minimum, people with darker colors had a tendency to not have such a regard. They were the type to use human shields, even if that shield was a friend. So long as they got the desired result in the end, they didn't seem to care who they used or what they did.

This was the case with the Captain as well. The second he realized he was going to have company in the form of three commanders- Ace, Marco and Atmos- he called his crew to come and cover him while he fired a gun from behind them.

Sabo and Luffy continued fighting their own group of Marines, Luffy trying to focus on them rather than the commanders' fight with the Captain. He brought up Marco and Aces waves, but he wasn't able to pay much attention to them while he was fighting. He tried to keep them in the corner of his eye though as he fought, watching for any translucence to them that would indicate someone was hurt.

Ever since Marco and Luffy had created a wave together, the teen had noticed that, whenever Marco got hurt, the wave would only flicker momentarily before becoming opaque once more, as if nothing had happened. It showed Luffy that, even though the man was getting hurt, he was healing just as fast.

This happened to be the case now as well. The few times Marco would get hurt, Luffy would notice the flicker in the wave, but was reassured soon after when he looked closer and saw the bright azure blue still going strong. Aces wave was taking a little damage, but it usually did during fights. Even Sabo's wave was fading just a tad, but it was nothing to be worried about yet.

The fight continued on this way, Sabo and Luffy sticking together before moving on to fight with others from their division, all the while Luffy was watching the waves for any sign that there was trouble.

Everyone was finishing up their fights, all divisions clearing up the marines they'd been attacking, and Sabo and Luffy had just knocked out the last three marines in their group when Luffy noticed that, at the same time a gun went off, Marcos wave flickered. He watched, waiting expectantly for it to heal and go back to normal, but seconds passed and it remained the same. His eyes went wide at this and he turned to where the commander was fighting, noticing he was no longer in his Phoenix form flying in the air, but rather on the deck, holding his shoulder with bright blue and yellow flames coming from beneath his hand. Ace and Atmos looked unhappy as they continued trying to get to the Marine Captain, but every time they tried there was another marine in their way, blindly shielding their Captain without any hesitation.

Sabo had noticed Luffy's attention to the fight, realizing that something might be wrong, so he wasn't surprised when Luffy began running towards Marco, instead deciding to follow along. He'd heard the shot, but they were in a fight, shooting wasn't exactly uncommon at the moment.

"Marco?" Luffy asked as they grew closer, worry in the teen's voice.

"Don't worry Luffy, yoi, I'm fine. Seastone bullet." Marco said, lifting his hand to show the two that the wound wasn't healing like it normally would.

"I don't want it to heal over the bullet so I'm not letting it. Sorry for worrying you." Marco said to Luffy, giving him a smile as he did. Luffy frowned, eyes flickering to the marine Captain that Ace and Atmos were finally getting closer to. Rakuyo and Blamenco had joined the fight now as well, having cleared their own marines.

"Let's go have Whiskey take that out," Sabo said with a frown, looking to Luffy to see if he was paying attention. Marco nodded his agreement and the three began to leave the deck, Luffy still watching the fight carefully until it was no longer possible. At that point, he began watching Aces wave. He didn't want to leave the fight, he wanted to stay and help too, but he knew they were going to be fine. They would take down the marine captain easily, so he was fine to go with Marco and Sabo, even if the infirmary did smell.

As was typical during a fight, nurses were busy getting wounded the treatment they needed, everyone rushing this way and that as they did. When the three walked in they were quickly taken to a bed where Marco was told to wait for Whiskey.

Sabo updated them on the fight outside while they waited, telling them as more and more of the marines were taken down until, finally, the captain was down as well, ending the fight. The Marine ship was raided before they let it drift off, any wounded on their side was being helped to the infirmary and it didn't seem like anyone was hurt too bad.

When Whiskey finally reached them she already had the necessary tools to take out the bullet, and within minutes, it was out, Marcos flames burning brighter and covering the wound until they flickered out, leaving a healed patch of skin.

"All good, yoi?" He asked Luffy with a smirk. Luffy would know even better than Whiskey in this case whether Marco was fully healed or not, and a quick check of Marcos wave told him he was just fine.

"Mm!" Luffy hummed, grinning. He was happy everyone was alright. Even Aces wave was healing up, his brothers fast healing being put to work.

"Good. If you'll excuse me, I have more patients to take care of." Whiskey said to them with a smile.

"Come on Lu, let's go help bring the injured here," Sabo suggested, stretching. Luffy agreed, Marco telling them he was going to speak to Whitebeard, and the three left the infirmary, all of them healthy.

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

"What are you, chicken? You scared we'll actually get you?" Haruta teased, waggling his eyebrows while Luffy grinned beside him.

"I'm not chicken, I just don't want to give you two the chance to break something and blame it on me. I've heard enough out of Blenheim and Fossa this week, I don't need you two getting me in more trouble with them." Jiru said defensively, arms crossed as he looked away from the two, not letting himself get baited into joining the game these two wanted to play.

"Please? We need a target!" Luffy urged, eyes big and a small pout on his face. Jiru nearly hesitated at the look but held strong.

"No. Nope, no way. Not happening." Jiru said, turning around completely now so he couldn't be tempted.

"It's just a little target practice Jiru- you being the target of course. We want Luffy's aim to get better, don't we? What better way than by using a moving human target?" Haruta asked, walking in front of Jiru's face again.

"I think I hear my division looking for me. Sorry, I'll talk to you two later." Jiru said, walking off quickly before they could stop him.

"Aw," Luffy whined, Haruta pouting beside him.

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

Sabo walked through the town at a slow, calm, peaceful pace. It was evening, the sun was beginning to set on the horizon now, and Sabo was by himself, enjoying the peaceful air. Ace and Luffy had headed back to the Moby already, wanting to be the first ones to dinner since Thatch was making a feast today so Sabo was left to meander back to the ship by his lonesome. He didn't mind, his brothers could be a bit... much, so to have some time to himself in the sleepy town was nice.

There was minor chatter around him as those that inhabited this small town talked amongst themselves, some buying last-minute items from the closing markets and others having idle conversations with their neighbors. He didn't focus too closely on any one conversation -he didn't like eavesdropping- so he didn't really know what anyone was talking about.

He laced his fingers together behind his head, walking at a relaxed pace and looking up at the sky. Ever since the facility, he'd never taken the endless expanse of space above him for granted, and every day he found himself taking in the freedom of the sky, the warmth of the sun, the cover of the clouds. He smiled, enjoying the breeze that blew past him, trees swaying in the wind around him. He didn't think he'd ever get over the sensation of freedom from walking under the sky.

"Sabo?" A voice broke him from his thoughts and he turned in confusion, wondering who was calling him. The voice was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out how. Once he saw them though, he remembered, eyes lighting up in recognition.

"Koala? What are you doing here?" He asked, not sure if he should be on guard around the woman or not. She was apart of the Revolutionaries, a group no one had much information on, but she had helped them in the past, as well as the children they'd saved from the facility.

"I'm not exactly at liberty to give that information to you. Its got nothing to do with you though, it just happens to be a coincidence that we're meeting again." She said with a smile, and Sabo wished Luffy was here to tell him if the woman was lying or not.

"Oh? Its coincidence that we're meeting on this random island in the New World again and it was all unplanned?" Sabo asked with a raised eyebrow, skeptical. Koala puffed her cheeks, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away from Sabo indignantly.

"Fine, don't believe me, it's not like I care or anything." She said, and Sabo could only watch her, blinking in confusion. Finally, he broke the silence, laughing at the way Koala was acting, but that didn't seem to make the situation any better as the woman turned a glare on him.

"Sorry, sorry! Anyways, you can't tell me why you're here then? That's too bad." Sabo said with a smile, knowing that if he'd paid more attention to his surroundings he might have heard Koala talking sooner and might have more of a clue as to why she was here.

"That's right. Where are your brothers? Ace and Luffy?" She asked, looking around the street for them but not seeing them.

"Back on the Moby. I was actually heading back there myself. Wheres Hack?" Sabo asked in return, also not spying, nor hearing, the Fishman anywhere nearby.

"Not here. I was sent on this mission alone." Koala answered, fixing her hair as she spoke.

"Ah, that must be pretty lonely," Sabo said, trying to think back to the last time he'd really been alone. He was apart of a giant crew so he was never really alone, and before that, he was with Ace and Luffy in the facility. He'd always had them with him, and he wondered if there would ever be a time where neither were there with him.

"Not really, I'm used to it. Why don't we go get some drinks? We can talk about all the trouble you three have been up to." Koala suggested, hand on her hip as she did.

"Oh? Were you keeping tabs on us?" Sabo asked teasingly, smirking to the redhead. Her cheeks puffed out again in annoyance as she glared at him.

"So what if I was? You three are in the papers all the time." She said defensively.

"Yeah, but when we met you didn't even know our names, and we were in the papers just as much then." Sabo pointed out, making her huff and cross her arms again.

"Whatever. Do you want those drinks or not?" She asked, already beginning to walk off. Sabo followed, laughing all the meanwhile.

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

"Hey, Namur-!"

"No." Haruta and Luffy shared a look of confusion at the fishman's answer.

"What do you mean no? I haven't even said anything yet." Haruta said, looking at the commander now.

"I've heard from the others about how you two are trying to rope someone into being a target. The answers no." Namur explained, not even looking up from his task.

"But why?" Haruta and Luffy asked in unison. Why was it so difficult to get someone to cooperate with them?

"Because I don't want to be responsible for all of the bad that's going to come from this," Namur said, gesturing vaguely to the two as he spoke.

"Namur, buddy, think about it. Luffy, our youngest ship brother, will be leaving us in just a short while. We won't be there to help him, so we should all do our best to make sure he's prepared. That involves helping him improve his aim, with a moving target no less!" Haruta said, pulling Luffy into a side hug and gesturing to the teen. Namur looked up briefly at the explanation, frowning. He looked between Haruta and Luffy slowly, and the two could practically see his resolve breaking.

"What happens if he meets someone like Kizaru, hm? That man is literally light, he moves faster than we can see. We've trained up his haki for those kinds of situations, but it's useless if he can't hit the target because you didn't want to help him practice." Haruta continued. Luffy remained silent, feeling the confidence from Haruta and the dilemma within Namur as he listened to the commander's words.

Namur sighed and Luffy didn't think he'd ever seen Haruta smile so wide before.

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

"We've liberated a total of 12 facilities since we've started doing this. They're hard to get information on, even for us, and even with the information it's hard to find the actual buildings." Koala admitted with a sigh, chin resting on her hand, elbow propped on top of the bar they were sitting at.

"How many do you think there are?" Sabo asked somberly, staring at his glass in front of him, frowning. Koala matched his frown, sighing.

"Honestly? I've got no clue. None of us do. There isn't exactly a list of all the facilities for us to check off. Every time we take one down we always hope its the last one, but then we get a lead on another and we have to try and find it before too many children are lost." Koala said in a hushed voice so no one would overhear her. It was risky sharing just this much with the blonde, but she was hoping that he'd keep this between them and not spread the information around like gossip. She liked her job, she liked helping people, and it would suck if she lost it because she trusted the wrong person with the wrong information.

"Damn." Sabo cursed quietly, sighing heavily.

The two talked amongst each other for a while, Sabo learning more and more about the different facilities the Revolutionary Army had found and liberated while Sabo even shared a bit of information on what it had been like living in a facility.

"Eating garbage soup for 7 years and then finally having the chance to eat real food? I think that was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life." Sabo said with a reminiscent smile, thinking back to the near tears he'd shed after eating real food again.

"Cheers to that," Koala muttered, raising her glass. Sabo raised an eyebrow at that, picking up on the implied agreement. Koala seemed to realize this and frowned, giving a sigh as she put her drink down.

"I may have had a... similar experience in the past. I wasn't in a facility, and I'm not going to tell you what happened, but when I was a child, let's just say there was a period where I was only eating scraps if I was lucky." She told him. Sabo frowned but nodded, understanding it was a sensitive topic that Koala wasn't going to share with just anyone.

"Anyways, we got gross soup every day, every meal, and nothing else. One glass of water with each meal too. Testing usually started every day after breakfast. A doctor would come out, call the numbers that were to be tested that day, and we'd be taken to the testing room, or lab, or whatever it was called, and be strapped to these uncomfortable wooden chairs- or even worse; the tables." Sabo told her, and he wondered if he should stop there. Maybe it was the two glasses he'd already had, or maybe it was because Koala was practically a stranger that made it easier to talk to her. She did know a lot about facilities already, so that could be it too, but he had no hesitance in telling her what he and his brothers had gone through. Some things he obviously wouldn't share, because after all, she was a stranger, but for the most part he was alright with talking to her like he would to Whiskey.

"We watched a lot of kids die," He admitted, taking another sip of his drink as he thought about the hundreds of children he and his brothers had seen come and go.

"I'm sorry," Koala said softly, but Sabo waved it off.

"No need for you to apologize, you had nothing to do with it. Its all the damn doctors- the governments- fault." Sabo said with a scowl, finishing his drink. Koala was about to speak, but Sabo looking to the bar doors stopped her.

"Ace and Luffy are on their way here. If you want, you should leave now." Koala frowned at the information, trying to use her haki to find the two, but found nothing.

"How do you know that?" She asked in confusion. Sabo's previous scowl was replaced with a smirk and she suddenly remembered when they'd first met.

"Abilities." They said at the same time; Sabo happily while Koala said it with a hint of annoyance.

"Right. One of these days you'll tell me what those abilities are." Koala said as she stood from her bar stool, placing money down for her drinks. Sabo copied her, still smirking.

"That implies that we'll see each other again. However, as I recall, this only happened by mere coincidence." Sabo teased, making Koala puff her cheeks again.

"It was a coincidence." She said, knowing it wouldn't have any effect. Sabo laughed at her and she huffed, thoroughly annoyed.

"Then I'll look forward to the next coincidence," Sabo said with a small bow, taking off his hat. Koala rolled her eyes at the theatrics but smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, see you later Sabo," Koala said, waving as she left the bar. Sabo was in no rush to leave, knowing that in only a few minutes, his brothers would be entering, no doubt to question him on what he was doing.

He may as well buy himself another drink.

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

"And what, do tell, made you think that letting Luffy, a devil fruit user, rocket himself at you while you swam in the ocean was a good idea?" Sabo asked Namur with a raised eyebrow as Ace yelled at Luffy beside them. Haruta was laughing loudly, clutching his stomach and falling to the deck as he did.

"I know, I know, those idiots persuaded me," Namur grumbled, already annoyed with himself that he'd even let Haruta's words have an effect on him like they'd had.

"Seriously, do I have to listen to everyone here 24/7?" Sabo asked, more to himself as he gave an exasperated sigh and pinched his nose.

"I don't care how cool or how much fun it was, it was stupid!"

"But Ace, did you see it?! I went, 'Fwoom' and I got Namur too!"

"That's not the point, idiot!"

Look at that, Koala has made a return! I knew I wanted to have her make a return, but I wasn't exactly sure on how I wanted to do that for a while. I felt the best way for it to happen though would be when things were more calm rather than crazy and hectic.

Whenever I'm writing these chapters, I always have plenty in my head that I want to write about in these authors notes, but by the time I actually get to writing the authors note itself I completely blank on what I should say. Its like cramming for a test, but then thinking of nothing when faced with the actual test.

Some good news though; I've finished writing the last few chapters of this story! I still have to edit them, but the story -for me- has finally come to a close after all this time. I honestly felt sad when I was writing the last few lines of the last chapter; not because what I was writing was sad, but because I was finished writing this. Of course, like I said before, there will be a sequel, but this story, a story with 100 chapters, took so much of my time, effort, and thought for over two years.

I still have editing and uploading to look forward to, as well as planning out what I'm going to do for the sequel.

So, with that, I'll leave you all until the next chapter on Monday! Thank you as always for all of your amazing support!