Part III: What's Forgotten

::12 years previously:: Trianon, Brasil::

A rebellion's camp, approx. 40 km outside the São Paolo U.S. Naval Base

The organizers were squeezed together for a meeting in the leader's bunker. Maps littered the tables and covered every inch of the walls. The bunker was bare and impersonal except for the few toys scattered around the room and hidden in the bed.

"We don't have long."

"I realize."

"We have to pull out."

"But we may never have the opportunity again."

"Papai," a child groaned, tugging on the leader's jacket. "I'm bored."

"Don't bother me," the man sighed, looking toward his wife, "Woman, take care of it, please?"

"Woman…," she drawled, unimpressed.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, glancing her direction, "This is important. Let him play with the locks."

"He'll get hurt," the woman argued.

The man smiled, "It never hurts to know how to pick a lock."

"Max never returned. They could already know our location." One of the rebels interjected, redirecting the conversation.

"Max wouldn't sell us out."

"I told you they have their ways. And it ain't fucking pretty. Even you would be fucking singing our location out."

"We should just quit while we're ahead. I hate to say it, but we just might not be ready to face them yet."

"We won't quit," the man refused, slamming his hand down on the table. "As long as they continue their experiments, we can't. We just can't."

There was an explosion and gunfire. And suddenly everyone was running and shouting. The woman clicked her tongue, whispering to the child she held tightly against her, "Fique tranquilo."

"You're too optimistic," the man barked, loading his rifle.

"You'll protect us," she said simply, brushing the child's dark hair from his eyes.

"You're too optimistic," the man repeated, sliding his knife through the holder on his belt. "I'm going now."

"Tenha cuidado," she called out, turning to watch him walk out the door. "I love you, Dragon."

He paused just a moment, knocking his fist against the door of their bunker, "I love you too." And then he was gone.

The woman murmured under her breath, squeezing her child tightly. She kissed the side of his head, planting kisses all through his hair. He made a noise of complaint, struggling to break free of her hold. "No kisses!"

She laughed, her hands folding nervously in her lap, "Okay, fofinho, no kisses."

"Where's Papai?" the child demanded, running toward the door.

His mother stood quickly, scooping the child in her arms. She held him tightly, kissing the back of his neck affectionately, "Papai is fighting. Papai is brave. Papai is good."

"No, Mamãe!" the child protested, "Let me go!"

There was another large explosion and shrapnel or debris pummeled the roof. The woman screamed in spite of herself and dropped to the ground, her body firmly placed over her son's. The earth seemed to quake for an eternity after.

"I want Papai!" the child began to scream, covering his ears.

"Papai is fighting," the woman repeated, crawling under the desk. She held her child in her lap, smoothing her hands over his hair. "Papai is brave. Papai is good."

"Papai will win right?" the child asked, looking at his mother with round, wide eyes.

She hesitated only a moment, but her child noticed it immediately. She nodded vigorously, pretending that the sudden outburst of close gunfire hadn't made her jump. "Yes, Papai will win. Our side will win…" his mother promised. "Because evil cannot win."

"The other side is evil?" the child asked.

She nodded, "But Papai and Uncle Joe and Uncle Kuma and Terry… Everyone… Everyone will fight and we will win."

There was another explosion, but this time it was close. The bunker exploded with force and sound. Broken stone rained down on the desk, tearing through the wood like tissue paper. Fire singed the two remaining walls. The maps burned slowly, sliding down the walls in a delayed reaction.

The woman and child were screaming but couldn't even hear themselves. There was a terrible ringing in their ears, deafening and maddening. The woman clawed her way out from under the decimated desk, pulling her child after her. She dropped down onto her knees, grabbing her son's face and holding it to hers.

"We are going to run." The boy shook his head, clapping his hands over his ears. His mother frowned, pulling his hands down. "We are going to run." The boy cried. The tears streamed down his dirty cheeks leaving muddy tracks. "We have to run, meu filho."

"Papai will come get us! Papai will come back and save us!"

"Yes," the woman agreed, nodding, "but right now we must run. Papai won't be able to fight hard if he doesn't think we're safe."

"Okay," the boy decided.

"Good boy, Luffy," the woman smiled tightly, clasping her son's hand. "On the count of three; one, two-" She never said three. Her hand tightened painfully around Luffy's. And then she was on the ground, her arms splayed at her side. She blinked in astonishment, slowly absorbing what had happened. She tried to take another breath and couldn't as blood filled her lungs. The bullet had hit her heart and she was gone a second later.

"Mamãe!" Luffy screamed, collapsing on top of her. "Mamãe!"

"Run, Luffy!" One of the rebels shouted, firing indiscriminately into the trees. "Escapar!"

Somehow, he managed to get to his feet. He ran, sobbing, toward the jungle. He ran as fast as he could manage and then he hid, climbing into and under the roots of a tree. He cried uncontrollably, his hand held over his mouth. He was there for an eternity before the gunfire abruptly ceased.

He climbed out from his hidden cove and walked the familiar path back to camp. Everything was eerily normal, even the birds had picked back up their songs. Luffy smiled expectantly, hurrying the rest of the way back to camp.

But when he arrived it wasn't his father standing there shouting orders. They were soldiers, wearing all black and without a flag patch on their uniforms, the kind his father hated the most. They were lining up the bodies of his parents' friends. They were taking pictures of their corpses, moving their heads with their boots for a better angle.

"Hey, it's a kid," one of the soldiers exclaimed, pointing toward Luffy with the butt of his rifle.

"What do we do with him?"

"It's a kid," another barked, walking over to Luffy. He kneeled beside him and opened his vest. He pulled out a granola bar and handed it to Luffy, smiling politely, "Hungry?"

"Where's my Mamãe? Where's Papai?" Luffy cried, shoving the granola out of his face.

"What's going on over here?" Another man asked, walking over quickly.

"There's a little kid."

"What are we gonna do with him? Leave him here?"

"Orders are orders," the man sighed, raising his rifle, "And orders are everyone here dies."

::11 years previously:: Deadhouse Unit:: Undisclosed Location::

Luffy sat up suddenly, retching bile and gasping for air. Everyone around him was screaming and running. He shivered uncontrollably, his breath misting in the air in front of him. The cold burned his throat and it felt as if his lungs were tearing apart.

It took him several minutes to realize he was on a shiny, metal table. He wore only a sheet, much like a hospital gown. Something was caught on his toe and he pulled it off. It had writing but he only understood the letters LUF, part of his name. His name…

He looked around, panicked, and finally began to really see the situation he was in. He was nearly naked in this frozen place. Strangers, all grownups, were running and chasing each other. Everywhere he looked tables were tossed aside. People lay on the ground, crying and bleeding.

Luffy tried to climb off the table. It was too high and he was too stiff. He looked around, finally finding someone who wasn't running away. He pointed to them and gestured them closer, "Help. I can't get down."

The person was completely silent, but Luffy knew he'd seen him. He moved through the chaos toward Luffy like a snake. Finally he was close enough that Luffy could see the way his eyes bulged and his mouth hung open. He let out a low moan, his hands wrapping painfully around Luffy's arms.

"No!" Luffy shouted, closing his eyes in fright, "Don't hurt me!"

Suddenly the man was gone. Luffy dared to open his eyes and he saw a boy, not much older than himself, smashing the man with an IV pole. The boy was sturdy with brown skin and freckles and he cursed like a sailor, "Die! Fucker! Shit! Die! Asshole!"

"We need a grownup!" Luffy screamed, shielding himself from the violence.

"In case you missed it," the boy grunted, "They're trying to kill each other right now."

"What's going on?" Luffy asked, rolling off the table and collapsing to the floor.

The older boy kneeled, letting Luffy use his leg to climb onto his feet. "Hell if I know," the boy breathed, "But we're under attack!"

"Who are you?" Luffy asked, staggering uneasily.

The boy handed Luffy his own tag, "Pulled this shit off my damn toe a while ago," the boy murmured, "I guess I'm Ace. Who're you?"

"L.U.F… Loof? La-uff?" Luffy murmured unsurely.

"What kinda name is that?" Ace barked, swinging the IV pole around them both defensively.

"I don't know…" Luffy admitted, scratching his head, "I can't remember."

"Hey, Kid," Ace breathed, "Stay close. People are fucking dying."

"My feet hurt," Luffy complained. "And I'm hungry."

"And?" Ace scoffed, "Do I look like your damn Mommy?"

"Hey!" Someone shouted. "Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Ace and Luffy looked up. There was a man standing on a table. He waved his arms above his head. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fucking peachy!" Ace shouted, brandishing the IV pole at the nearest attacker.

"Stay there!" the man shouted, leaping onto the next table. "I'll be right there."

"What's he doing?" Luffy asked.

"I don't know," Ace admitted, "but if I was that fat I wouldn't stand on furniture."

"Aghhhhhhhhh!" Luffy cried out. He was hoisted from the ground by a man in a white coat. His eyes were yellowed and bloodshot. He drooled everywhere, his spit spilling over into Luffy's hair. "Help!"

The man leapt from the table he was on and slid across the ice covered floor. He nearly slipped but righted himself. He burst past a line of crazed people and punched the man holding Luffy in the face. The man dropped Luffy and he hit the ground hard. Ace grabbed Luffy and dragged him under a table to hide.

The man seemed crazy. He laughed deliriously as he fought; a black space in his smile where he'd lost a tooth. He pummeled Luffy's attacker until he was a blood stain on the frosted floor. He turned toward the children, wiping his bloodied hands on his gown. "You guys alright?"

"I think so," Luffy breathed, checking his body. His bottom lip began to quiver and then he burst into tears. "I wanna go home!"

The man looked around at the rows and rows and rows of motionless bodies. And then he turned, pointing toward a full length glass wall. He dipped down, low enough to see the children underneath the table, "You should tell those guys. I'd say they're in charge."

Suddenly there was a voice coming through the intercom, "If you can understand this message, please raise your hand."

The man raised his hand, kicking the table back to show the two children with their hands raised. The crowd of bloodied people didn't respond. "Please call out your designated letters, found on your toe tags…"

"TCH," the man announced.

"ACE."

Luffy cried a bit longer before finally managing to say, "L…U….F-F…"

"Law." It came unexpectedly from within the jostling of bodies.

"Raise your hand LAW, we can't see you…"

A teen boy emerged from the crowd, blood oozing from multiple bite wounds. He was naked and bruised terribly, a peculiar pattern as if the blood had long since settled. He limped down the row, walking purposefully toward the windowed wall. He placed his palm against the glass, letting his forehead drop against it, "Why am I here?" He beat his fist against the glass angrily, "Why am I alive?"

"ACE, LAW, LUF, and TCH, please line up by the door, your hands held at the level of your eyes…"

"In case you haven't noticed," TCH shouted, "There's a bit of danger in here!"

"Yeah!" ACE shouted, "You come get us!"

There was a long pause before the man finally returned over the intercom, "We're going to gas the room. Please sit down so you're not harmed."

TCH grabbed ACE and LUF and pulled them to him. He kneeled down, covering them protectively, "Hey, kid! Get over here…" TCH called out to LAW.

But LAW wasn't interested in being protected. He beat his hand against the glass, over and over. His skin split open, the cartilage of the knuckle exposed. He slammed against the glass again and again, ignoring the men behind him, tearing at him. He was enraged and just kept screaming, "Why am I alive?! What have you done to me?!"

"What's he talking about?" ACE wondered, peering out from under TCH's arm.

"Don't worry about it," TCH murmured as gas began filling the room. "He's probably a little nutty."

"Aghh," ACE groaned, clutching at his chest.

"What's wrong?" TCH breathed out. But a second later TCH was double over. He gasped loudly, touching his stomach in agony. He pulled up his gown to examine his abdomen and gasped again. There were dozens of wounds on his stomach. "Fuck! It hurts!" And then, as if the wounds were just made, blood spurted past his fingers and dripped onto the floor.

"What the fuck?!" ACE demanded, crawling away from TCH in shock. He began to cough and then to retch. His throat burned painfully and he began to choke.

"Help!" LUF cried. He looked around at the others. Everyone seemed to be experiencing some terrible pain. LUF looked up at the gas billowing into the room. He breathed in and out rapidly, but it didn't seem to be taking effect.

And then LUF felt it. He grunted miserably, yanking his thin gown to the floor. He stared at his chest blankly. He didn't understand the four tiny holes in his body. His back burned terribly and he tried to scratch it. His hands came away bloody. "What's happening to me?"

LUF could only scream as something twisted inside of him. He watched with horror as a bullet slowly coiled out of his body. It hit the icy floor and rolled a few feet away. And that's the first and last moment that LUF knew exactly who he was and why he was there while in Deadhouse.

….

"My name is Caesar," the imposing, grinning scientist said, "I am your friend." He stood behind a glass wall, watching them with great interest.

"Bullshit," TCH scoffed.

"Please no interruptions," Caesar sighed, "This is difficult for me too. I wasn't planning on giving a speech…" Caesar laughed at his joke. "With a heavy heart I must inform you all that you have died."

"Prove it," ACE hissed. "How the hell would I die?"

"You died from aspiration of vomit from acute alcohol intoxication," Caesar explained, reading off the chart, "Not typical of a second grader, I can assure you."

TCH's eyes grew wide. He looked from ACE to Caesar in disbelief, "No fucking way."

"Yes way," Caesar insisted, tapping his clipboard, "I don't have the details beyond it was ruled a homicide."

"That's fucked up," TCH spat, shaking his head.

ACE stood up, his shoulders shaking with anger, "Prove it."

"I can and I will." Caesar snapped, turning toward the blank wall behind him. Another researched turned on the projector and suddenly surveillance video was shown on the wall.

There were countless rows of dead bodies, lined up in an enormous freezer. Men in white lab coats shuffled around the room performing their duties. Time skipped by thirty second increments, but nothing seemed to be happening. And finally, it happened.

LAW was the first. He groaned loudly sitting up on his table. One of the scientists screamed. And then laughed. And then, realizing it wasn't a joke, screamed again. LAW rolled onto his side, one of his legs remaining, unattached, on the table. He dropped on the ground and began to crawl, his gown tearing loose.

The scientists rushed toward him. The door opened and a medical team entered with a crash cart. They rolled LAW over onto his back and his arm separated, falling to the floor. One of the researchers stood and backed up, hitting another table. And that's when the second corpse sat up. He immediately latched onto the researcher's arm, tearing into his flesh.

The freezer tumbled into total chaos.

Thirty corpses were suddenly moving. The majority of them were intent on destruction. They clawed after the researchers who were unlucky enough to discover the doors had been locked. They banged against the glass, pleading for their lives.

"So as you see," Caesar interjected, stepping in front of the projection, "We're very surprised to meet you."

"We could've been in comas!" ACE argued.

"Little dude," TCH breathed out, shaking his head, "I don't see any monitors or breathing tubes or anything…"

"How did he regrow his arm and leg?" LUF wondered. And the three others turned, peering slowly and cautiously at the fourth. He sat alone, a great space between them. He looked forward unflinchingly, his jaw held tightly.

"This is a research facility," Caesar explained. "We are working on regenerating damaged or diseased tissue. So, I'd say the serum worked…" Caesar frowned, "Just not in a way we could replicate ever again."

"Explain it, like you would to a child," TCH insisted.

Caesar smiled tightly, "You are dead. We've incidentally reanimated you. You're a danger to everyone. You can't leave. And currently, you all have a serious disease."

"What disease?" TCH barked.

"Amber Lead," LAW finally spoke, squeezing his hands into fists.

"Yes, Amber Lead," Caesar confirmed.

"Never heard of it." ACE snapped.

"Amber Lead isn't contagious," LAW growled. "That's a misconception, with deadly consequences."

"It's not entirely your fault," Caesar agreed, "You see we are responsible. The Amber Lead was reactivated by our serum. We injected you and moved onto the next several people around you…"

"I don't care about the details," TCH interrupted, "How'd we die? How'd you get us?"

"LAW died from complications from Amber Lead disease," Caesar began, "To better understand the disease, we were given permission to examine one of the corpses. TCH, you died from multiple stab wounds, homicide. ACE, you died from-"

"Yeah, I got it," ACE snapped.

"And, LUF," Caesar said simply, "Accidental discharge of weapon."

"Why weren't we buried?" ACE demanded angrily.

"No one claimed either of you and TCH was an organ donor."

"I don't think this is what I meant…" TCH argued.

"Why are you calling us by letters?" LUF questioned. "What do they mean? What are our real names?"

"The letters are randomly assigned. And I do not know your names. You're dead after all, it hardly mattered." Caesar replied.

"But we're not dead," ACE said, "And I want to go home."

"Impossible," Caesar refused flatly. "At the moment, you are all contagious. And we just don't have enough information on what we're dealing with."

"Where are the others?" LAW asked.

"They aren't up for conversation," Caesar said simply, "They're being held separately for your protection."

"This is bullshit. You can't keep us here," TCH spat.

"First things first," Caesar announced, ignoring TCH, "We're going to cure your Amber Lead disease. I'm sure you'll feel much better after that. Any questions about that?"

"Yeah," LUF spoke up, rubbing his stomach, "When do we get to eat?"