"Let go of me! LET GO!" Doflamingo smirked behind his steepled hands as he watched Pica and Machvise drag his new acquisitions into the room. Three young male specimens. Topless and cleaned as he had requested, as well as properly shackled in heavy stone on one leg and seastone on the other. Though it appeared only one of his new Ds had eaten a fruit already. He'd have to ask his men the details on that.
He watched, not bothering to hide his amusement as the three were forced to their knees before him before he spoke. "Were there any survivors?"
"None, Young Master. Just like you commanded." Pica informed him.
"We have sunk the ship to be sure, iin."
Doflamingo rose, "Good. Now, what have you brought me?"
"Two full wings and a cut-wing, iin." Machvise shrugged, "It's still a winged D, even if it ain't got wings. Figured you might have some use for it."
"I'm not an it, you bastard!" The blond one snapped, making it easy to know which they were talking about. Wordlessly Doflamingo held out his hand and Pica passed over the chain connected to the boy's shackles. "What are you doing? Stop it!"
"Lesson one. What you want means nothing here." He informed his new… pet. Yes, he liked that. He dragged the blond the whole way back to the chair before picking him up by the back of his neck and draping him over his knee, ignoring the weak kicks as he eyed the damaged back with a frown. A thick patch of gray and blue feathers spread out between the shoulderblades, almost hiding the scars, but not quite. Ruthlessly he pressed his thumb against one, earning an ear piercing shriek of pain as the body on his leg tried to squirm away. He didn't allow it, of course, pressing harder until he felt the bone underneath - a smooth, clean removal. This brat was useless to him. Or would have been, if he hadn't chosen that moment to lash out with a kick much stronger than before. Doflamingo let up, feeling the body sag in relief as he thought about that kick. It was easily as powerful as that of a full grown man, meaning even a cut-wing retained some of their monstrous abilities. He supposed it was only logical, if only the wings were lost. "Congratulations, you're not worthless." He informed the blond. "I think I'll call you… Sky."
"That's-Not-My-Name!" The youth growled.
He pressed his fingers right at the base of the shoulder blades and dug in, and the boy cried out, his back spasming as his body tried to produce the wings he no longer had even as he bowed his spine away from the touch. Doflamingo kepted pressing until the boy sobbed, still too proud to beg. "You foolish little thing. I'll let the back-talk go with a warning this time, Sky. In the future, though, I won't be so kind. You three belong to me now, and my word is law." He tossed the moaning Sky back at Machvise. Both the two full winged Ds glared at him, though the smaller of the two was being shielded as best as the bigger one could manage. It was obvious with how the younger was drooping that he was the Devil Fruit user. He smirked down at the two before snatching the older one.
This time he didn't bother to let his new pet drag his feet, instead carrying the kicking, squirming body to his chair before taking his seat once more. The D in his lap attempted to bite him and his smile took on a cruel edge as he dug his fingers into those oh-so-sensitive muscles on the back. "Lesson two: You will always present your wings when I am around or be punished. No hiding what you are, pets."
It shrieked and howled in pain as two reasonably large wings weakly beat against Doflamingo's legs in a useless tempo. Still the pirate continued to press his point home into the back bowed away from him until the wings fell limp. The Ds' whole body shuddered silently in pain. Only then did he remove his hands from the back of his pet's neck and back, using his strings to hold it still as he explored the wings at his leisure. They were well feathered, gray for the most part with shades of orange mixed in here and there. The orange feathers felt firmer, less soft to his hands. He assumed he was looking at adult plumage coming in. Most of the color seemed concentrated on the lower half of the wings. Those would have to go...but not today. The body on his lap was already in a state of shock. Despite all he knew of Ds, he wasn't sure how hardy young ones were. So instead with a final tug on the right wing he placed his pet on the ground before Pica, where it promptly collapsed.
"Young Master, is it to your liking?"
"Yes, Pica. Sun here is an excellent choice." The renamed D made a choked sound of protest but nothing more.
The youngest was openly crying now, silent tears running down his face as he still managed to glare defiantly at Doflamingo. It was a simple thing to pick him up, walking back to the chair as the little one kicked at open air. "Leave Lu-ffy alone, you bastard!" Sky managed to gasp out. He ignored his pet, keeping his attention on the youngest.
"Where are your wings, pet?" He smirked at the little one darkly.
"No! Jiji said hide them and-"
"I'm your master now, pet. What your jiji told you means nothing anymore. Wings out now, or feel the same pain as the other two."
"I don't know how." It snapped, glaring through it's shiver.
That was an interesting thing to admit. He supposed it was only logical, since young Ds blended with humans so well. They had to be taught how to call their wings at will… Still, his new pet would have to learn fast. Without another word he placed the youth across his knees and pressed, not gentle despite knowing full well the boy had no control. Pain was an excellent motivator to learn. He found it interesting how the youngest's shrieking whimpers of pain had both the other two pulling at their restraints, trying to get to him, calling out in obvious distress for the youngest, well after the body on his lap had stilled.
The wings were smaller than on Sun. A dusky, murky gray color straight through, and very soft. Law's wings had never been so soft, but he supposed that D had been older than the three he had now. This one had wings that were downy soft, even the longer primary feathers were much softer than expected. He smirked, working his fingers deep under the feathers to feel the skin below. This one was a long way off from fledging. "Stoooop." It whined helplessly, wing twitching. "Stoooop it, it feels wrong! Stop touching them like that-ah!" He silenced the protest with a less than gentle tug on the soft feathers.
"Lesson three, I am your Master, I can touch you however I please." A whimper answered him. "Good boy, Cloud. You're learning. What devil fruit did it eat?" He asked Machvise.
"Gum Gum no Mi."
"Ch. Useless. Still, better than none." He handed over Cloud, "Feed them, and put them away for now. Tell the others not to get too close, they're not to be trusted yet."
It had been four weeks since the warship had been due in with his grandsons. The silence on the denden mushi hadn't been worrying. Even Sengoku had agreed that with the war hero's grandsons on board they didn't want to be broadcasting to any pirates lurking around just what was on board. Not that Garp wasn't sure that a fully armed marine vessel wouldn't be able to protect his brats. Hell, the little shits were monstrously strong in their own right and more than capable of giving plenty of lower ranking pirate scum a good run for their money. For a week after the original arrival date he was sure everything was fine. They'd probably gotten caught in a storm or had to dispense some justice. Completely understandable. A week and a half, and maybe they'd run low on stocks with three D boys on board. It could happen... But even that sounded weak to him. After two weeks Sengoku had sent him out looking for the wayward vessel, grim faced. Garp had refused to acknowledge what his friend had tried to tell him. His boys were strong. They were guarded by a whole marine warship coming from the East Blue. They were fine. Sengoku was worried over nothing.
Even when they'd found the wreckage he'd told himself that Ace, Luffy, and Sabo were fine. That they'd hidden during the attack. Luffy might not have been that bright but he was good at hiding. Three boys on a big ship like this? Plenty of places to hide that were still well above the water. They were fine. They had to be. Even if all the marines were dead, rotting in the hot sun, his boys would be alright. What would a pirate want with three stupid brats who didn't even want to be on the ship, anyway?
He and his men had scoured what remained of the vessel, collecting their fallen for proper burial and in the off chance one of the men had been shielding the boys. Garp was relieved to see that wasn't the case. But his heart dropped as more time went by without hide nor hair of his three boys being found. Then there was a shout. Someone had found something. He went running. Garp didn't understand when his men tried to block his path, preventing him from entering the horribly slanted storage room with it's destroyed door. He yelled at them, threatened to have them court marshaled, anything to get to his babies. The tiny room stunk of blood, brine and rotting wood when he finally forced his way in wide-eyed. Garp looked around, panicked when he didn't see Ace and Sabo huddled in a corner around Luffy like he'd half expected. Instead, one of his men held out a straw hat, dripping wet with salt water. His eyes strayed to the hole in the corner of the room, the one the floor tilted to, and saw the broken remains of a table half in the hole pinning two other hats between it and what remained of the floor. He sunk to the floor in despair, knowing the fate of his boys now.
Law bit back a yelp of pain as he tugged another feather out by the root. He held up the yellow and back banded feather, turning it slowly in his hand as it caught in the slight breeze before sticking it in the gap under the roots of the tree he sat in front of with the rest of the feathers he'd pulled out from their moorings. Each one had hurt, but the burning pain felt good, clean in some way. In days the missing feathers were replaced by new ones, anyway, so his original goal of plucking them all off was impossible. But just pulling out a few a day made him feel like he was doing something to pay back Cora-san for all he'd given up. He deserved the little stabs of pain anyway. If he hadn't hid the fact he was a D…
"Law? Law, where are you?" The teen spun, wings flaring out to counterbalance him as Cora-san crashed through the underbrush. "There you are. I was getting worried about you." The man smiled, even as his eyes flitted about, never actually looking at Law- at his wings. It made him feel low, lower than he already did.
"I'm fine." Law snapped, pulling his wings close to himself and willing them to recede. It wasn't that easy, though. Pulling feathers always made it harder to put his wings away, like the damn things protested the treatment by staying out longer. So he drew them in as tight as he could. He didn't like them, and it was obvious to him that Corazon was regretting not removing them as well. If Law had been normal, then neither of them would have been in this mess…
Law blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall, and suddenly Cora-san was there, crouched in front of him with a look of worry on his face. "Hey, what's wrong?" His hands reached out and hovered so close but didn't actually touch the teen. Not that Law blamed him. He was disgusting, a monster. He didn't deserve it, even if he wanted Cora-san to just pat him on the head, or touch him in some way like he used to. Corazon's face shifted from one of worry to one of determination, and Law found himself enveloped in a hug, wings and all. He let out a gasp in surprise. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise I'll try and make it alright."
The teen couldn't help the tears that slid down his face. "You can't! I'm a monster- I shouldn't be alive-not when everyone else died!"
"You're not a monster!" The arms tightened around him, almost desperately.
"Liar! You- you won't even look at me! I'm horrible!"
He found himself being held at arm's length, Cora-san staring right into his eyes, face serious. "You're just a kid, Law. You're not horrible, you're special. I'm just trying to give you the space you need to realize that…"
Law didn't hear him, "Cut them off, please- I can't… you don't even look at me anymore and it hurts but every time I try-"
"Law. Trafalgar!" Corazon shook him slightly, causing his wings to flap out in surprise as he stared at the man in a daze. "What did you do?" the former pirate asked worriedly, eyes scanning the boy's whole body carefully in a way he had been careful not to do while his ward was awake since they'd arrived. When his gaze spotted the missing feathers - gaping holes to his eyes - he frowned, realizing what he'd been doing. "Why?" He asked, fingers reaching out to brush lightly against the damaged wings. The boy shuddered and pressed against him, a broken sob escaping his lips.
"It hurts, Cora-san." Came the sobbing reply, and Corazon stopped touching the wings instantly. Instead of the child calming down, Law whimpered into his shirt, once more tense and shaking. "Just cut them off!" He choked out, unable to express properly how good it felt to have Cora-san hold him again - touch his hideous wings - after so long with no contact. If having them cut off was the price he had to pay for things to go back to the way they were, he'd gladly do it a thousand times over.
Carefully at first, then more confidently Corazon ran his much larger hands down the lengths of the wings. The man sighed, "I wasn't trying to hurt you; just give you space. I'm sorry."
Sabo held Luffy as close as he dared, keeping a close eye on where their master sat on his chair. The man had an unpredictable temper and sometimes seeing the three of them attempting to offer comfort to one another or care for each other's feathers was enough to earn punishment. It made him so angry, being unable to stop the man when he'd yanked out the feathers at the tips of Ace's wings. Worse still was when he'd done it again the next week when the feathers grew back. Ace had been in a daze for hours afterwards, wings shuddering. Even now, a day later, they drooped low behind the bench they were forced to sit on all day like a perch.
What frightened him and Ace the most was Luffy. Their little brother was starting to grow in colored feathers - red ones here and there mixed in with the gray - and neither were sure what the man called Doflamingo was going to do about that. To think that before all this the three of them had been looking forward to seeing what color his wings would be. Someone entered the room, causing all three boys to flinch, wings rustling uneasily at the sight of one of the many pirates working under Doflamingo. This time it was just the woman with the creepy glasses, but even still Sabo glared at her, warning her with his eyes to say the hell away from his brothers. He was sick of being tormented by all of them. She just smirked at him before continuing over to Doflamingo and presenting him with a small chest.
"Young Master, this might interest you."
"Oh?" The tall man put down whatever it was he'd been reading and opened the box, a wicked grin blooming across his face at the contents. "Which is it?"
"The Mera Mera no Mi."
"Excellent." When Doflamingo looked up at the three of them, Sabo thought maybe he was trying to shield the wrong brother. The way their master was looking at Ace made his feathers stand straight up. Ace snarled when he was grabbed, wings flapping futilely as he was carried by his arm towards that chair. He knew better than to protest at this point, they all did. At best it fell on deaf ears; at worse, it encouraged Doflamingo to hurt them more. Sabo could only watch, clutching Luffy to his chest as the man shoved what could only be a devil fruit at Ace. "Eat."
Ace turned his head away.
The man's grin became a little sharper. "Eat it, Sun."
"No." Ace growled out, wings flaring slightly even as his eyes widened in fear.
When Sabo saw the vein in Doflamingo's forehead twitch, he quickly shoved Luffy's head against his chest, blocking the sight of the man grabbing a delicate wing and wrenching it the wrong way. Ace opened his mouth in a wordless shriek but before any sound could escape, that horrible fruit was shoved into his mouth. "Eat. It." The look on Doflamingo's face was murderous now. Sabo shivered as he watched his brother choke down the fruit he knew tasted nasty. When he was done, he was dropped.
In seconds Ace became a burning patch on the ground. "ACE!" Sabo shouted.
"Interesting." Doflamingo commented, apparently unconcerned by this. Sabo wanted nothing more than to get down from their stupid perch and go to his brother. He cursed the chain that kept him in place. It felt like an eternity but was only seconds before the fire went out. He stared in shock as Ace moved weakly, kicking uselessly at the woman who placed another cuff on his leg, earning a whimper. "Very good, pet. You'll learn how to control it."
"A-Ace?" Luffy whimpered, peaking out from Sabo's chest. Sabo tensed as Doflamingo's eyes landed on them, and he tightened his arms around Luffy, trying to hide him.
It didn't work. The man carried Ace by one of his wings, the very one he'd wretched so badly earlier, before dumping him on the cold stone bench and latching his chain to the wall again before turning his attention to them. Even knowing it was futile, Sabo tried to hold onto Luffy only to have him ripped from his arms. He knew what was coming, and, judging by Ace's weak attempts to reach out for Luffy, he did too.
Doflamingo didn't say a word the whole time. In a way, it made it much worse since there was nothing to drown out the sounds of Luffy's screams as the man pulled out feathers by the handful from both wings. Whole clumps from the bottom halves, gone, leaving bleeding wounds where the quills ripped against the delicate skin. By the end, Luffy was nearly silent, the half-noises somehow worse than the screams. Still, Doflamingo was silent as he dumped the boy on the perch, not caring as Luffy almost slid right off. If Sabo and Ace hadn't been ready to grab him, he would have landed on the floor. Hugging his brothers close, Sabo promised himself that he'd find some way to get them out of this.
"Hard to port! Prepare the cannons but don't fire!" Shanks shouted out.
"Are you sure of that, Captain?" Roo called out, eyeing the fast approaching marine vessel. His concern was understandable, it was Garp's ship. There had been a time when the crazy marine would have just given chase for a while and then fallen back, the whole thing more of an elaborate game than anything else. But something had changed recently, and Garp had been going after any pirate that crossed his path with the tenacity of a bulldog. The fact the man had been trailing the Red Force for the last day testified to that.
Shanks eyed the fast approaching vessel, taking in the still cannon ports. "Aye. Don't fire. The old dog hasn't made an aggressive move on us yet. Let's not antagonize him, Roo."
"Coming up on a sandbar, Shanks." Benn pointed out, "He might be trying to ground us first."
"Not his style."
"If you say so, Captain."
Ten minutes later he came to regret those words when Garp's vessel rammed them, driving them up onto the very sandbar Benn had warned him about. A quick glance showed his first mate was smirking as he prepared his flint lock. "Not a word."
"Didn't say a thing."
"Sure you didn't." He mock pouted. "Prepare to be boarded!"
"Aye!" His crew shouted in reply, brandishing weapons as they prepared for a full on marine invasion on their ship.
They stood at the ready, tense and waiting as the marines remained on their ship, equally tense but not attacking. It had to be the oddest standoff Akagami had ever been a part of. Even odder was when the first one to risk boarding his vessel was a bare slip of a boy. Everyone instinctively lowered their weapons at the sight of the poor brat's shaking. Shanks thought his glasses were going to shake right off. He could understand it, they were scary Pirates…. and there was Garp. Weapons went back up and the boy cowered behind the large, glowering man.
"Garp, what the hell are you doing on my ship?"
The man said nothing in reply, just stood there glowering at him for a moment.
Shanks lowered his sword. "If you're not here to fight would you kindly get the fuck off the Red Force?"
"I tried to tell myself that if he hadn't met you-" The man began, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a battered straw hat.
"Why do you have that?" Shanks' body went cold. "Where's Luffy?!"
Garp ignored him, fingering the red band, "It's not true though, is it? He was… special. So special. I should have - it was those damn pirates! Scum."
"HEY!" Shanks snapped, "I am a pirate!"
Benn put a hand in front of him, preventing him from attacking the obviously upset marine. Not that Shanks was really going to. He thought of it, though. Benn spoke up once he was sure Shanks wasn't going to attack. "Which pirate scum?"
"Doflamingo." The word was spat out like a curse. "And I can't touch him-! He- and I can't even avenge-!" Garp actually started to cry. Every single one of the pirates on the Red Force shifted uncomfortably. Garp was not the type to cry. Something was very, very wrong.
Shanks sheathed his sword before cautiously approaching the marine. "What happened, Garp?"
Instead of a direct answer he was handed his old hat, Garp still too busy crying to form words. He took it, confusion and worry growing as he forcefully pushed down the growing sense of dread. He shared a look with Benn.
"Sir?" A voice squeaked out from behind Garp. A glance had the boy flinching back slightly before he squared his shoulders and risked peaking out again.
"And who are you, little one?"
"Coby, Sir." The boy stood a little taller as Shanks knelt down to his level.
"Can you tell me what's going on here, Coby?"
"Garp-san wanted to return that to you…" Coby looked down, "I joined him after… but the crew says it was horrible, Sir."
That sickening feeling of dread grew. "What was?"
"The ship that was carrying his grandsons was attacked on it's way to Marineford by Do-Do-Doflamingo." The boy swallowed, looking at the floor. "There were no survivors."
Shanks looked down at the hat in his hands, feeling tears prick at his eyes. His Anchor- gone. Looking at Garp, he could easily see how destroyed the man was. Even if he hadn't agreed with Garp, it was obvious the man had wanted nothing but to protect the little idiot. It was obvious who was to blame. Doflamingo. "I'll kill him." He swore, hearing his crew mutter their agreements. Luffy had been a little ball of sunshine, and for that man to have snuffed him out like that… He placed the hat on his head, a reminder to himself of the broken promise and who had broken it as he made his new promise. "I won't rest until he's avenged, Garp. I swear it."
The marine nodded before turning and leaving, the small boy following in his wake.
Ace growled wordlessly at the man who was balanced on a ladder, unhooking their chains from a wall. He'd hoped with their so-called master away for God knew however long they'd be left in peace but apparently that was too much to ask for. Worriedly he glanced down at Luffy lying limp in their little stone bed, head in Sabo's lap while his other brother ran a hand through his damp hair. He'd barely said more than a few sentences since that bastard had gone to town on his wings. Sabo said it was shock - that he'd be alright - but he wasn't getting better. Ace was scared that his little brother was going to die and these bastards were fucking moving them!
"GO AWAY!" He snapped out when the man yanked roughly on the chains connected to his manacles.
"Tsk. Stubborn little slave, aren't you?" the man grumbled back, adjusting his grip on the ladder and reaching down to where another stood, taking the pole he was handed. Ace's wings instinctively mantled. "Yeah, you know what this is, don't you, you little shit?" The pole's tip danced with sparks. "Move it, Sun."
"NO!" He hunkered down lower, trying to shield his brothers. Almost instantly his back arched and he had to bite back a howl of pain.
"I don't have time for your disobedient shit! The Young Master wants you sent to Dresserosa, and you're holding up departure!"
"I. Don't. CARE!" Ace growled out before the pole tip touched him again, this time right in the neck. The next thing he knew he was being hauled out of the stone nest none too gently and tossed down to the man waiting below like a sack of grain.
"No! No, no, PLEASE! You can't- Luffy's sick-!" Sabo's shouts caused Ace to whine, still unable to move properly.
"His name ain't Luffy no more, you shit. Now come on out of there! Your master wants you three. Don't make me zap you, too, Sky."
"No-don't! Please! I'm coming down- just don't hurt L- I mean Cloud. Please, he's sick."
Ace still could barely move when he saw the man carry his youngest brother down with much more care than he'd ever expected. It frightened him how worried the man looked as he held the limp form of his brother, opting to carry him to the ship as Sabo helped Ace along. He was so scared for Luffy. Sea voyages when you were sick could kill a person. He shared a look with Sabo.
"We'll get out of this, Ace. I promise." The blond swore, a glint in his eyes. "I won't let anything happen to Luffy or you, I swear." Tentatively Ace nodded. He believed his brother.