"Something is wrong with Luffy," Zoro says. The entire group is settled around the small table in the warehouse, minus Luffy who went home.

"No shit," Usopp says. "He was just in a car crash. In the hospital."

"Luffy's in the hospital all the time. Remember when he broke his leg last year?" Nami sighs. "He didn't seem all that different at lunch."

"Nami," Robin says, tilting her head to the side and setting her book on the worn wood. "You didn't notice? I thought it was quite obvious."

"Something's up with Luffy-bro?" Franky says—more like shouts, because he can never talk at a normal volume. Nami ignores him and looks at Robin.

"What was obvious, exactly?"

"He was spaced out," Zoro says instead. "Wasn't talking as much. Didn't finish his lunch."

That got the group's attention. Luffy was easily the glutton of the group. For him not to finish his lunch was unheard of.

"You're kidding," Sanji narrows his eyes.

"Something must be bothering him," Brook says before returning to fiddle with his violin.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Chopper mutters, quietly fiddling with his phone. Everyone stops what they're doing to look at him. Chopper's instincts, like Luffy's, are nothing to laugh at. "It's…dark."

"Dark?"

"Yeah," Chopper says. "And I think… I think it's connected to Luffy."

Around midday, Ace turns on the news.

"There has been a massive break in to one of the top prisons in the US, Impel Down. Police are saying it's Marshal D. Teach, a notorious underworld leader, that lead the attack and is the—"

"What's going on?" Fire Fist says as he walks in the living area, holding a tube of Pringles. Sour Cream and Onion too, damn. Ace was going to eat those later.

Straw Hat trots in a moment later, holding Ace's bag of Doritos. Of course.

"Watching the news," Ace tells them as they both join him on the couch.

"—Police are unsure of how all the damage is caused, though some suspect a bomb was used." The news station flashes to pictures from the attack, the perpetrator clearly visible among all the rubble.

"HEY!" Straw Hat shouts and points to the TV. His voice is hard, angry. "That's Blackbeard!"

Fire Fist squints at the screen before his eyes go wide, "You're right."

"Blackbeard, the one who sent you here? Are you sure that's not his double?"

"No," Fire Fist says, "That's him alright. I doubt yours would be able to wreck a prison as much as that."

"Your Blackbeard… is he strong?"

Fire Fist doesn't look at him. "He is. But this… this is bold, even for him."

"You think something is happening," Ace says and it's not a question.

Fire Fist nods. "I don't know what he's planning, but… it's nothing good."

Ace hears the front door open, accompanied by the sound of Luffy's voice.

"I'm home!" he shouts. Ace pauses his conversation with Thatch and Marco (who had come home not an hour before) to call for his brother from the living room. Luffy happily walks in and drops his heavy backpack on the floor before collapsing on Ace's lap with a sigh.

Thatch grins and ruffles his hair, "How was school?"

"Good!" Luffy says. "I'm hungry."

"Ah, man, I completely forgot to go to the store," Ace says and slaps his forehead. He knew he forgot something (wouldn't have had this problem if the pirates didn't eat enough for ten grown men each).

"We'll order takeout," Marco says.

Ace looks at him incredulously, "Do you know how much that's going to cost?"

"Speaking of," Thatch says. "Where are our two resident pirates, anyways? It's oddly quiet."

That is a good point. This entire day had been anything but quiet, minus when the two fell asleep for an hour or so. "They were here just a minute ago… Maybe we should go look for them?"

"Our house is a thousand square feet, with almost no backyard. How the hell did we lose two people?"

Just as Marco says that, a crash came from one of the bedrooms. Ace jumps to his feet and is about to investigate when something literally flies out of the hallway and crashes on the couch, not two feet from where Ace was sitting.

Ace yelps and whirls around in just enough time to see Straw Hat (What? What's happening?) push himself up, blood dripping from a split lip.

Ace's gut drops in his stomach, their earlier conversation coming to mind. Was Blackbeard attacking them already? How did they find them? Was he—

Fire Fist comes out of the hallway, grinning smugly, "Trained for two years and that's all you got?"

Wait—

"Not at all!" Straw Hat tells him and grins right back. His fists are black (didn't they call that haki?) and raised in the direction of his brother. In return, Fire Fist raises his own, covered in fire.

"Are you fighting?!" Thatch yelps just as the two pirates rush at each other, faster than Ace can keep up with (and faster than humanly possible). They trade blows, blocking and dodging. Straw Hat was much nimbler and much, much faster, while Fire Fist had the power behind his blows.

Fire Fist misses his next punch and Ace's coffee table is suddenly on fire.

Ace stares.

"What is going on?!" He vaguely recognizes Marco getting Thatch and Luffy and pushing them back, but all Ace can do is stare at his poor, poor coffee table that is now burning in a fiery inferno.

Then Fire Fist takes Straw Hat's stretched arm (right, Devil Fruits) and promptly flings him into a wall.

That breaks Ace's trance.

"Holy shit!" Ace says and takes a step back. His eyes are wide as he stares at Fire Fist and then at Straw Hat, who was on the floor next to his wall which has a very large hole in it.

His other-self just killed his brother.

Fire Fist stalks forward and Ace has just enough sense to jump in front of him, to stop him from getting close. He doesn't want to look at Luffy's double, no doubt with a broken spine. His wall has a hole in it, his coffee table is still on fire and his double is a murder.

Ace is not having a good day.

"Move out of my way," Fire Fist says with a grin as if he didn't just murder his little brother. His left cheek has a nasty bruise already starting to form and he's covered in sweat.

"Ow," a voice mutters behind him. "A—Fire Fist, that hurt!"

"Give up?" Fire Fist says mockingly.

"Hell no!" Straw Hat says. "I didn't even get to use my gears yet!"

Ace turns, eyes wide to see a very much alive Straw Hat sitting on the ground, surrounded by rubble from his wall.

"You're not dead…" Ace says.

Straw Hat looks at him, confused. "Why would I be?"

Ace sees Thatch, Marco and Luffy peeking their head out from the kitchen. He stares at Straw Hat, then at his wall.

Fire Fist scrunches his nose up. "Why are you so worried?"

White hot anger curls in his gut. Fire Fist talks like there wasn't a possibility that his brother could have gotten hurt, like they weren't just trading punches. To disregard his brother's safety like that…

"Oh, man, I don't know, maybe the fact that flinging people into walls KILLS THEM!" Ace practically growls.

"We were just sparring." Straw Hat says, standing up and dusting himself off. He looks perfectly fine, not even flinching as he pops his treasured straw hat back on his head.

"Uh," Thatch says, coming out of the kitchen once he sees that the fighting is done. Ace turns his glare to his roommate. "New rule: no sparring in this house. Actually, you two probably shouldn't spar in this world."

"How are we supposed to train?" Fire Fist demands.

"Why are you so obsessed with training?!" Ace snaps, whirling on his double. Thatch takes a step back at his tone and even Straw Hat looks a little uncomfortable.

"We have to be!" Fire Fist snaps right back, "If we don't we die! Our friends die! Our family dies!"

"Look, I don't know much about your world but in our world it's not like that! You don't have to be fucking super human to survive!" Ace yells, getting up in his double's face (his face? It was weird).

The room is almost silent, tense. No one else speaks.

"Have you ever seen your family die for you because you're too weak?" Fire Fist's voice is low, challenging Ace. "Seen your nakama murdered right in front of you because you were a second too late? Have you ever seen your brother fight in a war for your sake because you weren't strong enough to avoid getting captured in the first place?! Maybe if you had, then you'd know why we have to become stronger!"

Marco comes up and pushes them apart before Ace can respond. Both Ace and Fire Fist turn to glare at him, ready to protest, but Marco cuts them off before either of them can say anything.

"That's enough. We should probably clean up." Marco says.

"Fine," Fire Fist snaps shortly, before taking a step back and sighing. He pinches the bridge of his nose, all anger seemingly gone. "Sorry, that was unnecessary. I just—"

"Not it's okay," Ace says and sighs too. "Just... culture shock, I guess."

"Our worlds are different," Fire Fist agrees. He seems tired, Ace can see the stress in his body. "For future reference, it'll takes a lot more to hurt us. I've been flung through brick buildings and gotten up without a scratch."

"That's not…possible."

Fire Fist grins at him, but his eyes are soft. "Different world, remember? We're strong, don't worry about us."

"You guys are not human," Thatch tells them.

Luffy rushes out of the kitchen, energy abundant and all smiles. He runs up to his double, then Fire Fist. "That's SO COOL! Teach me how to fight!"

Marco clears his throat and gestures to the debris all over the living room. Fire Fist gives him a guilty smile. "Later. If Marco here doesn't kill us first."

"My insurance is going to kill me…" Ace stares at his wall, then his coffee table and resigns himself to his fate.

Even after everyone has gone to sleep, Fire Fist is still awake. The house is eerily silent and he can't sleep, plagued by too many memories of his past—of his friends. No matter what he does, how much he fights it, the flashes of the war always come back.

"Hey, Luffy," Fire Fist whispers, "You up?"

"Mm, yeah," Straw Hat yawns and shifts on the bed.

Fire Fist sighs, "They're going to hate me if I get back."

"Your crew?"

"Yeah. I don't know how I'll ever face them."

"They don't hate you," Straw Hat says. He shifts to look at Fire Fist. "They're hurting more than you can imagine."

"So you've met them?"

"Yep," Straw Hat grins. "Marco and them helped me with Kaido, he's my friend now. I like them a lot, I can see why you joined them."

Fire Fist sighs and buries his face in his pillow. He allows a small, watery smile to come across his face. "Yeah, they're pretty amazing."

"Ace," Straw Hat says. There's something in his tone that makes Fire Fist look up. "It's not your fault."

"It is—"

"No," Straw Hat cuts him off. "Listen to me. It's not your fault and they know that. They're your friends and they miss you. No one blames you."

Fire Fist chokes on a sob, forcing his tears down. He tries to imagine their faces in much happier times but it's hard.

Two years is a long time. He wonders how they've changed. Wondered if they hurt just as much as he does (but they had two years to heal. Fire Fist wasn't granted that luxury). Then, he glances at Straw Hat's scar and decides that he doesn't want to know.

He thinks of all the fun he had on the Moby Dick, he thinks of Thatch and Marco and all the other commanders, he thinks of Oyaji. He thinks of prank he pulled, every island they explored, every sea they sailed.

"It hurts."

Straw Hat smiles like he understands (he's too young, too young to understand this kind of pain). "I'm glad you're alive, Ace."

ahhhh i liked writing the chapter

sorry for the long wait in between updates! i had asexualzoro on tumblr (10/10 blog, check it out) look over this and do a second round of betaing for me. We're still working through some kinks in the stories so the earlier chapters might be reuploaded soon!

ace, seeing fire fist getting blown up: what a culture shock