"I need out of this house," Fire Fist groans into the couch. "I am a pirate. I am free, I cannot stay cramped up in here any longer."
"Fine, then you can go shopping with me." Ace says, barely glancing up from his newspaper. It's been eight days since the pirates appeared out of nowhere and Ace is pretty proud of how used to them that he's gotten. Luffy's already at school and Marco and Thatch left for work a few hours ago. It's a routine at this point. "Hey, Straw Hat, do you want to come?"
Straw Hat jumps in the air, rubber fists flying, "YE—"
"No," Fire Fist says immediately. His tone leaves almost no room for argument. "He'll destroy the place, trust me."
Ace really doesn't want to have to pay for any destruction that the two caused… He knows they can cause a lot of property damage. His coffee table and wall are proof of that. Ace really, really does not want to get arrested no matter how much the two try and convince him that it's not that bad. He isn't a criminal, thank you very much.
"If you're leaving then I want to leave too!" Straw Hat protests.
"No, you stay here." Fire Fist says.
"I don't want to be alone here; I want an adventure!"
"We'll take you to the park once we get back, okay?" Ace tries to be the voice of reason for the two. Both look at him, one with a frown and one with an approving smile.
"Otherwise you're not going at all," Fire Fist adds on.
The two pirates stare each other down.
An unstoppable force meets an immovable object, Ace thinks, but doesn't dare say out loud.
Straw Hat finally relents with a huff, "Fine, but I want to explore the park later!"
"Yes! Let's go!" Fire Fist pumps his fists in the air. Straw Hat goes to sulk in the living room, probably hoping to be entertained by the TV.
Fire Fist is about to run out the door, but Ace catches his shoulder before he can, "First, put on a shirt. Why do you walk half naked anyways?"
Fire Fist grins at him but hesitates, "Style."
"Okay, right, your style is going to get me arrested so you're going to be wearing a shirt." Ace pinches the bridge of his nose. This isn't the first time he'd tried to convince the pirate to wear a shirt and probably wouldn't be the last. "Also, you look exactly like me."
"So?"
"So," Ace says, "You need a disguise."
Ten minutes later with the help of Straw Hat, Fire Fist looks like a completely new person. He also looks, for lack of better words, pretty terrible, but it'll work and no one will suspect they look the same. Ace is lucky that Thatch leaves around various articles of clothing (that he should definitely not be leaving around) and hair gel. Fire Fist looks in the mirror,
"This… is terrible."
"Quit complaining," Ace says as he grabs his keys off the counter. Fire Fist is still looking at himself in the mirror and Straw Hat is laughing from the couch. "I don't want to have to explain to everyone why you have my face."
"I have your face? You have my face."
"My world, my face. Let's go, dumbass." Ace pushes Fire Fist out the door (and ignores Straw Hat's moping from the living room).
"You know you're calling yourself a dumbass, right?" Fire Fist says and grins at him. Ace pushes him towards the car and scowls.
Fire Fist takes on look at the machine and stops. Ace tries to keep pushing him, but if Fire Fist doesn't want to be moved, then there was no way someone like Ace could move him.
Those abs aren't for show.
"That thing looks like a giant metal death machine! Are you kidding me? How does it work?" Fire Fist still isn't budging, so Ace sighs and shrugs before clambering in the driver's side.
"Easy. You come sit in this nice seat over here and I drive." Seeing the look on Fire Fist's face, Ace says, "I'm a good driver, it's fine."
"If you say so…." hesitantly, Fire Fist climbs in the passenger side and stares at all the buttons. Ace starts of the car and Fire Fist jumps.
"Seat belt," Ace tells him, and then buckles it for him because he already knows that the pirate would have no idea how to do it anyways.
Oh, Ace is going to have so much fun with this.
That's him, isn't it?
Luffy's eyes widen as he stares out the classroom window. He'd been dozing during his English lecture, but now he couldn't be more awake.
Fire Fist and Straw Hat's descriptions fit him to a T. Large, bushy-haired, looks like a pirate (unlike the two currently staying at their house). Black captain's coat draped over his shoulders with different colored beads around his neck.
Blackbeard.
He's talking to someone that Luffy can't see, laughing and making gestures towards the school. Luffy feels his stomach drop and suddenly the room feels like it was on fire.
Zoro glances at him, worried.
"Luffy, you okay?" Zoro whispers.
Luffy doesn't hear him and stands up. Twenty other eyes are on him but all he can think about is how bad the situation was. "I'm going to the restroom."
He takes off down the hallways before his teacher can say a single word.
What is he doing here?
That is the man that scarred both Fire Fist and Straw Hat. The man that murdered Thatch in their world. Who murdered Ace's boss.
Luffy runs out of the building and around, careful not to be seen by any classroom windows. The last thing he needs is for the teachers to catch him before he can get too far. He didn't need to get in trouble with the principle again. The first time is enough and right now, Luffy needs to be there.
It would very well be life or death.
Luffy has to stop him, before he could hurt anyone ever again.
Luffy skids to a halt, right outside the alley. Carefully, he creeps closer, trying to listen to the two of them. He can no longer see Blackbeard nor the person he's talking to.
"Two boys?" he hears someone scoff.
There's a laugh and Luffy tries not to shiver. Something about it is eerily familiar. It echoes in his head. "Underestimating those boys will get you and your men killed."
"I'm the one being underestimated, Blackbeard," the voice says. "You might have my men and your…powers, but I know this world better than you. Watch, I'll get rid of your problem."
Luffy hears footsteps coming out of the alley and he panics, looking around for a spot to hide. Quickly, he slips behind a bush a little way away, careful not to make a single sound. The footsteps continue on until Luffy can't hear them anymore and he sighs a breath of relief.
That was close.
He steps out from behind the bush and walks into the alleyway, forgetting that there was one more person that he had to worry about.
"Well isn't this a surprise? Fancy seeing you here, Straw Hat Luffy." Luffy takes a step back in alarm as a man emerges—quite literally—from the shadows. The man narrows his eyes after looking at him. "You aren't Straw Hat… you must be this world's Straw Hat."
The darkness swirls around the man's feet like a living creature, encompassing the entire alleyway. Luffy stands there, terrified.
"No matter," Blackbeard says and approaches closer, and closer, and closer. "It's your funeral too."
Blackbeard shoots out his hand and black tendrils snake out, aiming right for Luffy. It's only by the skin on his teeth that Luffy dodges, panting heavily. Luffy watches in horror as the tendrils continue towards a brick building only to cut right through it.
He can't defeat this man. He has to warn everyone.
Luffy scrambles to his feet, fight or flight response taking hold. His only thought is run, run, run. He sprints out of the alley, ignoring the cackle from behind him. He doesn't know where to go—where he could be safe from this monster.
Wait—he does have a safe place. The warehouse!
Luffy changes direction and sprints towards it. He's thanking whatever deity is up there for Ace making him sign up for cross country. He rushes past pedestrians, pushing and shoving his way through.
By the time he's near the docks, his lungs are burning and his legs are shaking. He throws open the steel doors and slams them shut before running into the main space of the building.
"Franky! Brook!" He calls, but there's no answer. Luffy tries not to cry because of all the times they could've gone shopping.
"I'm impressed, Straw Hat," a voice from behind him says and Luffy feels his stomach drop. He slowly turns and there, completely unharmed and not even winded, was Blackbeard. "You're still as slippery as ever. But not enough."
The darkness shoots out and grabs ahold of Luffy's ankles. He falls on his butt, staring up at the monster with wide eyes. The darkness wraps around his torso and lifts him in the air. Luffy tries not to scream, fear overcoming every inch of his body.
He is going to die.
Blackbeard approaches him, agonizingly slowly. Every move of his is that of a predator that knows that it's prey is already beaten. The darkness swirls around him and constricts around Luffy. He chokes, trying to breathe.
"Now die," Blackbeard says and Luffy shuts his eyes.
"—LUFFY!"
Luffy hears a crack and feels the darkness around him drop him to the ground. Luffy coughs, but has enough sense to scramble as far away from Blackbeard as he can. He looks up, only to see the man covered in what looks like…eggs?
A hand yanks him back and Luffy looks up to see Zoro glaring at Blackbeard. His wooden training sword is in his grasp and he raises it threatening towards the monster. Behind him, the rest of his friends take up fighting stances. Usopp loads his slingshot with another egg.
"You guys…" Luffy whispers, horrified. This wasn't their problem; they shouldn't have gotten involved. He didn't want to watch them die.
"Talk to us next time, Luffy," Zoro says, his voice calm and collected even in the chaos. "We're your friends, we'll help no matter what."
"This guy has powers!" Usopp says and his voice is quivering. "Like actual fucking superpowers."
"Doesn't matter, we can beat him," Sanji says.
"Yeah!" Chopper echoes, but it comes out as more of a peep.
"Nine against one doesn't seem to bad," Nami agrees, holding up a wooden staff.
"If someone is trying to kill you, just let us know Luffy-bro!" Franky shouts while Brook and Robin laugh. "We'll beat the shit outta them!"
Blackbeard wipes the egg off his face and grins. "How touching, but you're going to have to do better than eggs and wooden swords to defeat me."
Luffy is missing.
Ace gets a call from the school saying that his little brother left without any warning. He disrupted class, caused two others to follow him, and has not been seen since second period.
Ace is trying not to freak out.
On top of that, Ace's car is missing—stolen, most likely. Ace and Fire Fist are forced to roam the streets, looking for Ace's missing little brother. He's not picking up his phone at all, which only makes Ace more worried. Luffy never misses calls.
"We'll find him," Fire Fist says and places a hand on Ace's shoulder.
"Can't you do your little ESP thing to find him?" Ace asks instead.
"You mean haki? Wherever Luffy is, he's not in my range." Fire Fist says before he stops. His eyes widen. "Actually, Straw Hat isn't either."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that Straw Hat isn't at your house anymore."
"So weak," Blackbeard says and sighs, as if he's bored. He takes a step forward and Luffy forces himself to his feet, even if his entire body is screaming at him to stop. He knows he can't take much more of this.
But then he glances behind him to see all of his friends, beaten and bloody. He knows that if he falls, they all die. Luffy knows that they don't have much time left.
Blackbeard is toying with them.
"Give up yet?" Blackbeard sneers as he starts taking steps forward.
"No," Luffy has trouble finding his voice, but he won't back down. "I won't let you touch my friends."
"You're still the same as ever," Blackbeard says and laughs. Behind him, his friends flinch at the sound. Zoro tries to push himself to his feet as well, but can't seem to find his footing. Nami is crying, trying to call for help but can't.
Luffy raises his hand and throws a sloppy punch at Blackbeard. Blackbeard easily catches his fist and with little movement, flicks Luffy over his shoulder. Luffy lands on the ground, hard. His back explodes in pain and his head throbs.
A cry of, "Luffy watch out!" has him trying to move, but he's not fast enough. Blackbeard kicks his stomach and Luffy gasps. The darkness wraps around his body and yanks him to his feet so he's face to face with that monster.
"It's been fun," Blackbeard says and grins, missing teeth and all. "But I have a schedule to keep after all."
He holds out his palm and the darkness swirls and solidifies in it. Luffy pants and tries to move, but his body is spent. So this is how he's going to die; by a pirate not from this world that has a grudge against him in an alternate dimension.
Luffy closes his eyes, waiting for the inevitable blow to come. He feels Teach tense, no doubt prepared to strike and—
"Oi!" A new, yet familiar voice ring out, coming from somewhere up on the ceiling. "Pick on someone who can actually fight you, you bastard!"
Luffy cracks open his eyes, seeing Blackbeard turn his head with a scowl—
And suddenly he isn't there anymore.
Someone else is standing above him, a fist outstretched and a wide grin on his very familiar face.
"Yo," Straw Hat says. "Need a hand?"
pls review my crops are dying
anyways, fun chapter. finally caught up to the old version of CE. shoutout to asexualzoro who, once again, reminded me that this story existed bc i am a terrible person with a terrible memory.