One Piece: My Version
Chapter 3: Father
(Hikari island, Fuschia Village- A few months later)
It was currently nighttime, with a full moon and every kid was tucked in and off in dreamland.
Well all except one…
A certain straw hat wearing, 7-year old Luffy was training to become as strong as possible so that when he was ready, he would head out to the Grand Line and fulfill his dream to become the next Pirate King. After Shanks left, his grandfather came a few days later, outraged that Shanks was here and that he had inspired Luffy to become a pirate instead of a marine. But seeing as how he needed his grandson to be strong regardless, he decided to let him stay at Mt. Corbo with Dadan the mountain bandit, but Luffy hated bandits, thinking back to Higuma.
Soon enough Luffy met Portgas D. Ace. The two got off on the wrong foot, until one day he followed Ace into the forest and found him talking to another boy his age wearing a big hat. His name was Sabo, Ace's best friend. When Ace and Sabo caught Luffy spying on them, they tied him to a tree and plotted to kill him, only for a large man from the Bluejam Pirates named Porchemy caught the tied up Luffy and took him to the Gray Terminal a.k.a. Garbage Mountain while Ace and Sabo ran away and hid. Later they trailed behind and found Luffy tied up to a pole and Porchemy interrogating him about the stolen treasure Ace and Sabo stole from them. When the boy lied, Porchemy started torturing Luffy by hitting him with a large hammer, which proved ineffective due to Luffy's rubbery body. Then he tried spiked gloves and that did the trick. He continued to beat him up for hours until Porchemy decided to kill him. Then Ace and Sabo rescued him and left Porchemy to die at the hands of Bluejam.
After that experience, Luffy joined up with them and they got to be the best of friends. The trio got to making a name out of themselves within the city of the Goa Kingdom; from dine-and-dash to pranks. Sabo to enjoy himself the most. But one day, a nobleman wearing a similar hat to Sabo's called out his name. Later, the two D's found out Sabo's true lineage as the child of a noble family in the upper city. Sabo admitted how he was ashamed of his heritage because of how they acted to people they deemed lower than themselves and that all he wanted was to be free and to write a book about the world. But to his surprise, Luffy and Ace didn't care about that. It was then Ace came up with an idea. By exchanging drinks of sake, they would become brothers so as long as they carry this bond, it doesn't matter where they are in the world. Over the next few months, the newlyfound brotherhood did many activites such as sparring, hunting and the usual pranks. But one day, Sabo's father had found them and to make matters worse, so did Bluejam. It turned out that the nobleman hired the pirates to bring back Sabo and kill Ace and Luffy. Sabo begged his father to spare them, and he accepted, much to D brothers' protests. Then Bluejam inducted them into his crew and forced them to carry crates over to the Gray Terminal. They never saw Sabo again after that day.
Later that night, When Bluejam told them that they had been carrying explosives to destroy everyone in Garbage Mountain, they were horrified and went to stop him, but the pirates restrained them and left them to die in the soon to be inferno. When they escaped, the fire had already spread to most of the Gray Terminal, limiting their openings of escaping from there. Eventually, they found one, but were halted by the remaining Bluejam Pirates plus Bluejam himself. Apparently he struck a deal with Sabo's father to set fire to the Terminal, only to be betrayed by the nobleman when the gates to the city closed, leaving most of his crew to die except for him. He threatened to kill the two boys if they refused to reveal the location of the treasure. Naturally Luffy refused, but Ace said he would tell him if it meant Luffy's safety. Once he told him, Bluejam broke his word and had his men attempt to kill Luffy. This made Ace furious and with one powerful yell, they were knocked out, leaving him, Luffy and Bluejam. Luffy noticed that his older brother could do that strange power Luffy could do. Bluejam nearly killed Ace, until Dadan and her bandit crew came to the rescue. Ace told them to take Luffy and run. Luffy didn't want to leave his older brother, but Dadan wouldn't hear it. Instead Ace stood behind and Dadan with him to confront the pirate, not noticing a huge storm cloud appear out of nowhere in the night sky.
Two days passed, and Luffy was worried sick for his older brother and Dadan. Then Ace came back carrying a wounded Dadan on his small back. Luffy cried happily for Ace's safe return. Later on, one of Dadan's bandits came in, panic and sorrow crossing his face. He told all of them that while looking for Ace and Dadan, he went into the city and spied Sabo on a small boat sailing off, but sadly, he didn't make it far as his boat was shot down by the Tenryūbito(Celestial Dragon or World Noble) Saint Jalmack. His body wasn't found and all that was left of the burning wreckage was his torn hat. Ace furiously goes out to try and find the bastard to avenge Sabo, but Dadan forbade it, saying that they would doom everyone. Luffy was crying again and so was Ace after reading Sabo's farewell letter. Luffy told Ace not to die to which he replied that he wouln't leave his crybaby little brother alone. They would stick together, train together, and grow together as pirates. After all, pirates are all about freedom, not marines.
It had been a month since the Sabo incident, and the two brothers vowed to get stronger so they would set sail together. They also made a promise to their fallen brother that they would live their lives no matter what, and never pray for death. They took that promise very seriously, especially Ace.
Now he was in the middle of a forest trying to improve his new powers, to which he found was very difficult to manage. Ace had gone out to hunt something something big and gather some fruit.
Once his grandfather, Monkey D. Garp, tossed him deep into the dense part of the forest, he would not only have to survive, but he had to train with his Devil Fruit powers and his Haki, it wasn't easy because of the Yami-Yami no Mi's gaping weakness; the user becomes a black hole that draws everything in, including physical attacks. So any damage done to the boy would double the pain. Another weakness was that this particular Logia fruit had no limit to its element. It was pure, infinite darkness generated from the user. But because of the gravitational effects, the user could very well destroy him/herself from the inside-out without intense physical training to control it. Thankfully that's where the super endurance from the Gomu-Gomu no mi came in. Every part of the user's enitre body, down to the cells, becomes an extremely durable rubber body. Utilizing this, the negative effects of the Yami-Yami no Mi were rendered ineffective. In short, Luffy was a very lucky little boy to have that much power.
So far he had learned a lot about his powers; for example, with his darkness powers, he learned how to attract and suck in a ton of objects like wildlife and nature and then turn that vacuum of space into an exploding dark bomb upon regurgitating them. Also with his stretching powers, it was able to make his attacks pack a lot more potential energy into them.
Now his Haki abilities were by far the hardest. It took him nearly half-a year before he could harness that power he used to frighten the Sea King away. Ace on the other hand had more of a knack at controlling it better than he did, but probably because he trained longer than Luffy before they met.
'Oh… before i forget.' Luffy thought. He quickly ran to his rather poorly-made lean-to. Inside he found a large bag of fruit and meat.
He ran as fast as fast as he could until he reached the edge of the forest, which led to the seashore.
Luffy placed the sack down, enclosed his hands around his mouth, preparing to yell.
"OOOIIII! RYOKU!
At first there was no sign of life in the calm waters. But upon closer inspection, Luffy noticed the surface started to ripple. Afterwards the surface broke through and a familiar serpent-like Sea King made itself known.
Its red eyes darted from left to right and then downward to see a little boy. He contemplated on eating him, if it wasn't for the moonlight illuminating the boy's features.
Once he noticed the scar underneath his left eye, he immediately recognized Luffy.
He lowered his head down to Luffy's level and gave him a giant lick with his tongue, signifying that he was his master.
Luffy giggled a bit. "Good boy, Ryoku!" he petted the sea monster on the snout causing it to blow mist out of his nostrils.
Now what most people thought impossible, Luffy actually managed to not only tame the same Sea King that tried to eat him and Shanks, he also made it his first nakama, so he would definitely come with to the Grand Line. Luffy forgave Ryoku as he only did what was in his nature, and soon they became inseparable even if he lived on land and the Sea King lived in water.
But, not only did Luffy train, so did Ryoku. Every day he would find some whirlpool to swim against, to improve his speed and he would also find some large rock formation to smash against, improving his strength.
"Ewww!" Luffy couldn't help but laugh as the water/snot covered him. He then remembered what he came here to do. He grabbed the large bag and brought it up to Ryoku. The sea-dragon sniffed it for a second and realized there was food in that sack. "Open wide!" exclaimed Luffy. And he did so, revealing 3 sets of razor sharp teeth. Luffy tossed the bag into Ryoku's giant maw and closed with a resounding *SNAP*.The boy could hear his pet crunching and chewing all that food with delight.
After his meal Ryoku brought his head down allowed Luffy to hug his snout, causing the sea monster to purr.
Then he heard something snap in the shadows close-by to Luffy's position. Ryoku snarled so that Luffy could hear him. The boy looked confused until he saw Ryoku baring his teeth at what was behind his little master.
"Anyone there?" questioned Luffy. He could tell that the figure wasn't Ace since the footsteps were heavier.
"Why are you out here training all by yourself?" asked a masculine voice that was in the shadows of the trees. The voice was both strong and calm at the same time.
Luffy gave a large, monkey-like grin to the shadows. "I'm training so that I can go to the Grand Line with a pirate crew! I'm going to be the next Pirate King!" the boy exclaimed.
The voice chuckled. "Well, you don't hear that every day."
Luffy looked perplexed. "Who are you?"
Then a man walked out of the shadows, causing Ryoku growls to get louder, but his little master stroked his the side of his snout, telling him to calm down.
A tall figure appeared out of the shadows so Luffy could see him better. Once the figure stepped out, the moonlight gave Luffy better vision. He noticed that the figure had green cloak on but the hood lowered. He had long black hair, naturally spiked back like a lion's mane and had what appeared to be tribal tattoos on the side of his face. He had a more of a sinister look on his face but softened a bit when he saw Luffy.
"Monkey D. Dragon. I'm your father." answered Dragon with a smile on his face.
Luffy widen his eyes at the enigmatic man in front of him. "I have a…. father?" he spoke in disbelief.
Dragon laughed a bit. "Everyone has a father, Grandpa Garp didn't tell you? I'm a little surprised. That man has a big mouth."
Luffy's giant smile never left his face. "SUGEI! I never knew I had a Dad!"
Dragon raised an eyebrow at his son. 'I was sure that if I told him that I was his father, He would get angry at me and demand to know where I was at. I guess he's not like Ace.' he thought before something with killing intent came towards him. Dragon sidestepped out of the way, dodging the assailant's attack. With an outstrecthed hand, he grabbed the person who attacked him by the scruff of the shirt. He wasn't surprised when it was Ace trying to attack him.
"Oi teme, let me go!" Ace was wriggling from Dragon's grasp.
"Hello Ace." said Dragon. This caused Ace to stop struggling.
"How do you know my name?" the older D asked suspiciously.
Dragon turned his head to Luffy then to Ace.
"We have much to discuss, but first, do you two have a place to stay?" he asked.
Luffy nodded. "We live up here in the mountains with Dadan."
"Who is Dadan?" asked the patriarch.
"A mountain bandit."
"..."
'I'm going to kill you Garp...'
Dragon walked up to his child, but not before attracting the growls of Ryoku, who still didn't know who this man was. But one look into Dragon's leer said otherwise, causing the serpent to back down. The revolutionary leader placed the older brother down and knelt to give Luffy and Ace a big hug; something he always regretted during his time away.
"I'm home, my sons." he spoke softer.
Luffy was pushing back the tears stinging the corner of his eyes. It had been 7 years since his birth since he had seen his father. And while he had questions about his disappearance, he was glad that he was here. Ace on the other hand was having trouble processing these new emotions. He had never been held like this before; being wanted and loved. This intimidating man that was hugging both him and his little brother like they were his long-lost sons.
Luffy pulled back first and smiled. "Let's go, tou-san! I can't wait to show you the house."
Then Luffy started to run home, Ace following in step. Dragon smiled and followed them both. They definitely had a lot to talk about.
When they got home, Dragon took note of the boys' home. It wasn't bad, considering it was home to mountain bandits. The second the doors opened, a tall overweight woman with a masculine face appeared in the doorway, she did not look pleased.
"Ace, Luffy, you little brats! I told you two not to stay out this late!" she bellowed.
Luffy pouted. "But Dadan, we found my dad!"
"I don't care if you- wait, what?" Dadan's tirade ceased, confusion took place of her anger. She glanced in Ace's direction, giving him a look that demanded to know what his little brother meant. Ace gestured with a head-shrug to the person behind them whom Luffy referred to as his father. Dragon popped out of the darkness in plain sight.
"Dadan..." shakily whispered one bandit.
"It's..." added another.
"Dragon..." Dadan finished.
The World's Most Dangerous Man, Leader of The Revolutionaries and the prime enemy of the World Government, Monkey D. Dragon a.k.a Dragon, was standing before them. The bandit family gulped, all the color drained from them.
"So you're the bandits that have been charged with taking care of my sons?"
Dadan hesitated, but answered. "Erm...Uh...Yeah?"
'Oh we're jacked now...' thought Dadan.
Dragon's grim stare never left his face as he examined the person before him that had been raising these boys for a time.
"Thank you."
That expression of gratitude caused the bandits to face-fault.
Later after the boys went to bed, he sat across the table from Dadan.
"You're probably wondering why I'm here?" he told the old woman.
"Well that's the understatement of the year! The World Government wants your head!" she half-shouted as to not wake up the boys.
"What you don't know is that I came here a few months ago, when the fire broke out in the Gray Terminal."
A dawn of realization hit Dadan. "It was you! You were that 'cloaked figure' everyone in the Terminal kept saying about that saved them from the fire!"
Dragon nodded.
"Well, not that we're not grateful for that, but, why are you here now?"
In another room close by where the boys were supposedly sleeping, the D brothers were eavesdropping on the conversation.
Luffy turned his attention to his older brother. "Hey Ace, why do you think dad might be here?"
Ace however, wasn't paying much attention to his younger brother. He was still a bit doubtful that this man he had never seen before in his life was his adoptive father. As far as he knew, Garp never mentioned anything about Luffy's parents, which struck him odd because he had no trouble in telling him his own. And now, this mysterious, and possibly dangerous man wanted by The World Government had come to this place just to visit his sons? And what's more he didn't know how to react to Dragon calling them both his sons. He never had a father before, could this be an opportunity for him to have one?
the freckled boy was brought back to reality when he heard Dadan's outburst.
"WHAT?"
"You want to take the boys so you can train them?" Dadan yelled indistictly.
"Yes. Garp isn't bringing out their full potential because he's fearful of their futures. But I'm not, I will take my sons somewhere hidden nearby the island and train them to bring out their full potential so that when they set out to world, they'll be ready." he responded calmly. 'Especially when the time comes for the World Government to fall I'll need their help.'
"And what about Garp? I'm pretty sure he's not gonna take to kindly to you being here let alone take the boys to boot camp!"
"You let me worry about Garp. I'll deal with him, and your deal with him will remain unchanged."
Dadan gave up. There was no arguing with the 'D' Family that was for certain, so she had no choice but to comply.
"Okay, fine. I'm already in it deep anyway." she resigned.
Dragon gave a nod of thanks before shifting his head to the open doorway where Luffy and Ace were spying from.
"And I think I'll give the boys the good news." he said, before getting up from his seat and made his way to their room. He heard cluttering sounds before entering, and saw the boys 'sleeping'.
"Luffy, Ace, I know you two are awake. Please... let me get a better look at my sons."
The boys stepped out into view. Luffy looked up astonishedly at his father, feeling a sense of pride that his father was very strong. Ace on the other hand, was a bit skeptical about the whole situation. The Revolutionary Leader knelt down to face his sons eye-to-eye.
"How about it boys? Do you two want to get stronger?" he asked them seriously.
Luffy nodded fervously. Ace still didn't trust him.
"Why do you want to help us? You haven't even bothered to show up until now, so why the hell should we trust you?" yelled Ace.
Dragon expected this from Ace. He knew the boy needed a parental figure; one to look up to with pride and to support and encourage him. But first, he needed to prove to his sons that they can trust him, and the only way to do that is to tell them the truth.
Dragon's grim expression returned when he answered. "Boys… understand this… the World Government is after me."
Luffy was confused. "World…Government…?" hearing the name of the establishment controlling the world for the first time. Ace on the other hand looked perplexed.
"The World Government practically rules the world, but they follow somewhat of a dark and twisted version of justice and kill anyone; be them pirates, people or one of their own marines. Why? Because they believe they have the power to judge right from wrong."
Luffy looked horrified. "That's terrible! But…What does that have to do with you?" he asked his father.
Now this was the part where the dad would boast to his sons about his achievements.
"Very well Luffy, I'll tell you two about it soon enough. But first, there are a couple of things you need to be aware of in this world. First off is, the age we live in now is the Age of Piracy, which means that being a Pirate is the worst thing you can be or do. The World Government controls everything. They control the Marines and the Shichibukai (Seven Military Seas). They are one of the main obstacles that stand in the way of anyone from becoming the next Pirate King as it would upset the balance of the world." explained Dragon.
Luffy gave him a smile. "Really? Well then… I'll just have to kick their asses!" the youth exclaimed as he pumped an arm.
After listening to his step-father's explanation, Ace felt conflicted. He wanted to pay the government back for killing Sabo, but he didn't want to give up his dream of being a pirate.
Dragon sensed Ace's confliction. "You both have strong ambitions, and that's how I was able to find you. Now then… it was during that time that I created the Revolutionaries Organization. Our goal is to destroy the World Government and let the world finally be free from its shackles. Things are already running smoothly. The reason I've come here, is to help make you stronger my sons, that way in the future you two will be ready for the world."
Luffy jumped for joy. "Yatta! I'm gonna to get stronger!" he cheered. Dragon smiled then turned to his adopted son.
"And you Ace? What is your desire in this life?"
For once, the boy was dumbstruck. Originally, his ambition was to be made known in the world, but the reality of it was that he didn't want to just be free, he wanted to be loved. All of a sudden, he felt a familiar fueling desire burn within him as well as a familiar power he used on Bluejam. Ace scrunched his eyes closed and voiced out his ambition.
"I WANT TO BE THE PIRATE KING TOO!" he kept his eyes closed, anticipating what both his father's and brother's reaction would be. When he slowly opened them, he was surprised to see Luffy grinning at him and Dragon smile with fatherly pride.
"B-But Luffy, being Pirate King is your dream right?"
His response was hug from his sibling. "This is great! Now I have the best rival I could ask for, my brother!"
Ace felt tears well up as Dragon pulled his sons in for another family hug. This time Ace didn't react awkwardly. Instead he accepted the love his family was giving him, filling the void in his being and answering the question that haunted him.
'Should I have been born?' Ace now knew the answer to that question and for the second time since Luffy, Sabo and him became brothers...he was truly happy.
After the little family moment, Dragon stood up. "You boys should get some sleep. You're going to need it for tomorrow."
Luffy hopped into his own bed, sleep beginning to overtake him. "G'night tousan." he yawned.
Ace did the same and shared a smile with the man he acknowledged as his father. "Goodnight...dad."
Dragon nodded to both his sons. "Goodnight Luffy, Ace." he said before stepping out of their room and closing the door behind him. The revolutionary noticed all the lights were out now. The bandit gang went to asleep already.
Once he left the house at a reasonable distance, he took out a Den Den Mushi and waited for someone to pick up.
"Yes sir?" spoke a feminine male voice. (You know like an okama would speak)
"Ivankov, I want you to come to the East Blue and also bring Inazuma here with you as well." ordered Dragon.
"East Blue? You said that we were going to stay away from that for now."
"I'm going to be training my son, but I need you two to help me do this." explained Dragon.
"Oh, that's right you have a little boy of your own; ~how kawaii~!" Ivankov squealed.
Dragon rolled his eyes.
OK, we will be there in a couple of days Dragon."
"Good, and be sure to bring the equipment I requested for Luffy his brother Ace." said Dragon.
"He has a brother…?" inquired the Queen of queers.
"Yes, now can I count on you to train them...?" he asked, beginning to lose his patience.
"Not a problem."
"Two more things, Ivankov; Keep a low profile upon arriving in Fuschia Village, and…" ordered Dragon.
"And…?"
This time Dragon was deadly serious when he spoke into the Den-Den Mushi.
"DO NOT, come to Luffy dressed the way you usually do. I don't want a traumatized son to deal with. Wear something humanely casual, or there'll be hell to pay; do I make myself clear?" he spoke in a deathly serious tone he uses on his subordinates or his enemies.
Dragon could see his Den-Den Mushi quaking with fear as Ivankov spoke.
"O-Of Course… Uh… Ivankov out!"
Dragon hung up. He titled his head up to see the brilliant, starry night sky. Not a cloud in sight. He began to ponder on his reaction upon meeting his children. He noticed that Luffy had an mixture of aura around him; the kindness from his mother and the headstrong 'D' attributes from his side. Ace's aura was like a fire similar to his biological father but at the same time he was different from him. Dragon knew he would do right by his kids; he would be a father to them and give them the support that a father could give to his children.
"I swear this on my life... once the world's problems are resolved, the world will change for the better. Everyone will live in a world of freedom and equality. I not only make this vow to the unjust people of the world we live in now, but to my family and future generations. Wherever winds of change may come, it will happen."
Dragon would make sure of that.
Done!