Here we are again! Ace will show up in this chapter! ^^ Yay! And maybe some more background with the others. We'll see how that goes.
Disclaimer: I am only borrowing the characters of One Piece. I promise, I will give them back once I'm done.
Here the Chapter Starts
The sheer joy and excitement down below was almost contagious. Monkey D Luffy was running around with too much energy to be natural, jumping all over the place and being much louder than his usual boisterous self. Sabo had to grab him several time in order to attempt calming him, only for the cycle to start all over again. When he got close enough, Eustass would try to take a swing at him only for the young raven to dodge. If Coby didn't know any better, he would think Strawhat was made of rubber.
"Nose like a bloodhound, that one," Kaku chuckled softly with a shrug of his shoulder.
Despite it being his third day on the job, he still has to stick to the older guard until Lucci deems him ready to stand at his own post by himself and judge occurrences properly. His reactions. How he handles the inmates. Everything must be done a certain way or chaos will reign.
"What do you mean?" Coby asked curiously, though kept his eyes on the ruckus down below.
"They're bringing Portgas back today," he replied before they heard a door open. Coby, seeing that Kaku was keeping an eye on the prisoners, looked over.
Kalifa and Jyabura were escorting a young man with sun-kissed skin and dark raven hair, freckles scattered across his cheeks. Hanging by a tie around his neck was an orange cowboy hat, Coby thought he saw a couple of blue buttons on it though wasn't sure. Large red beads were around his neck as well. The only mark he could see on the man was a tattoo running down his arm spelling ASCE with the 'S' crossed out.
As the pair brought the man to the gate, all fell silent down below. Coby looked down to see everyone watching carefully, Sabo holding Luffy back. The younger was still excited enough to try and struggle out of the blonde's arms but was still held firmly in place. Jyabura took the lead down the stairs, Kalifa bringing up the rear. Once at the bottom, the man held his bound wrists out for Jyabura to unlock the cuffs. When he was free of the metal, he rubbed his wrists and stepped back, giving the two guards enough room to get back up the stairs without a problem.
"ACE!" Luffy cried out, flinging himself onto the other man and clinging to the older raven. Much calmer, the blonde brother approached, wrapping his arms around the two raven comfortingly.
"Yo, Portgas! Set anyone on fire in Solitary?!" Eustass barked out with a laugh.
Jyabura and Kalifa came back up the steps safely, closing the gate behind them. Nodding to each other, Kalifa walked off while Jyabura approached them. "Any problems bringing him back?" Kaku inquired.
"No, he behaved," Jyabura shrugged off. "Hasn't said a word except ask us how his brothers were."
"Well, small miracles," Kaku sighed gently, his shoulder shrugging.
Coby watched the groups below, observing Strawhat drag Portgas over to his group of friends. They greeted him rather calmly, a pat on the back or a hug from the women. Luffy clung to him like they were connected with super glue, refusing to release his hold. Sabo simply patted Luffy on the back and stood next to his brothers.
"We need to keep a closer eye on them," Kaku suddenly warned him, patting his shoulder lightly. "They get to go out to the yard today. Keeping them cooped up in here will result in a revolt."
"This is where you really get tested, kid," Jyabura added on with a sly grin. "Guarding the yard is one of the toughest parts of the job. They have more space and we're not a floor above them. We're right there with them and there's nothing between them and us except for a wire fence."
"And they can do a lot of damage as soon as they think our guard is down," the other finished darkly, crossing his arms.
Coby wasn't sure what to think of Kaku's shift in mood. It was like he was remembering a nightmare, his eyes dark and lips a tight line instead of the usual friendly smile he often offered. "Have you had a bad experience in the yard?" he asked before he could stop himself.
The lips got tighter, pressing into a firm line as the man tensed. "You can say that," he muttered lowly.
Coby spotted Jyabura trying to get his attention, waving his hand around before shaking his head and mouthing 'drop it'. He nodded, accepting that most guards would have horror stories they don't wish to relive. It was surprising to see Kaku suddenly so serious and withdrawn when he's been so open and friendly since the younger's first day. While he was curious, he won't press it.
Here is a line!
Watching over the inmates from the safety of the catwalks above was one thing. Watching over them on the ground with only a fence between them was another entirely, just like Jyabura warned him.
For the most part, the inmates were chatting with various others groups, playing basketball, or sitting at some nearby tables playing card games and smoking. It looked more like they were playing poker for cigarettes instead of money. Mostly, everyone was minding their own business, no caring that there are a few women among them. In fact, from Coby's observations, they were avoiding the women.
"Hey! Coby!" someone called out his name happily before Strawhat was suddenly in front of him, fingers clenching the around the wires of the fence as the raven beamed at him. "They already got you out here? Wow, Pigeon Guy likes you! Shishishi!"
"Um…" Coby wasn't entirely sure if it was okay for him to just talk with one of the prisoners. Looking around, he spotted Kaku leaning against the brick wall of the prison, as far from the fence as possible. Jyabura was walking up and down on side of the yard while Kalifa sat patiently at the side opposite of him. There are, of course, other guards because of the various criminals running around, but Coby never formally met any of them so he did not know any of their names. If anything happens, then they need to be able to control the crowd.
"What's wrong, short stuff?" another asked, Portgas appearing next to Luffy. "Afraid we'll get you into trouble?"
"I don't know if I'm even allowed to talk to you guys," Coby told him.
Sabo showed up next at Luffy's other side, looking him up and down before smiling softly. "I see the old man did a good job shaping you up," he commented. "I bet you were a scrawny little kid afraid of the world."
"You don't know me," Coby scolded in irritation.
"No way, the old man got a hold of you?" Portgas chuckled. "I didn't believe these two at first. Shows me." With a huge grin, he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you. The name's Portgas D Ace."
"He already knows, Ace," Luffy pointed out as he lifted himself up enough to plant his feet against the fence. "I heard Pigeon Guy tell him all our names."
"Hey, you can't do that!" the pink-haired guard exclaimed.
"Why not?" Luffy asked curiously, his head tilting sideways as he blinked owlishly.
"It's against the rules!"
"Rules?" Portgas scoffed with a roll of his eyes.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're locked up because we broke the 'rules'," Sabo explained. "So we don't really care for the rules of this place. The only reason we even behave is because none of us can take down Lucci. And if he goes down, then there's still the rest of the prison to go through, more guards, and guard captains. Then there are the wardens. So yeah, we behave enough to not piss off anyone we don't need to."
"I bet we could kick all their asses if we really tried," Luffy commented, swinging on the fence.
"Just get down!" Coby ordered, placing a hand on his baton as he stepped forward. So far, he has not had to use force on any of the inmates, but that didn't mean he wouldn't if he has to. He just doesn't want to if they would just listen.
"Come on, Lu, you're making him nervous," Portgas said, grabbing Strawhat by the back of his shirt and yanking him off the fence.
Luffy fell to the ground, landing on his back with an 'oof!' before snapping back up and rubbing the back of his head with a short laugh. "You know what?" he suddenly asked, grinning at Coby. "You seem like a nice guy. If you need help, let me know."
"Uh-oh, Luffy's adopted another one," Sabo chuckled softly.
"Well then, I'm going to go find Marco and let him know that I am not some drooling imbecile in a corner," Portgas laughed as he turned and walked off. "Later, squirt!"
"Who are you calling a squirt?!" Coby shouted after him, earning another laugh.
"Shishishi, Ace likes you, too!" Luffy declared with a bright grin.
Coby blinked in surprise before giving the raven a small smile. "I take it that's a good thing," he commented.
"Just means that you have quite a few of us ready to help you out if anyone else gives you a hard time," Sabo informed him. "Nice to officially meet you, Coby. Hope we can talk again. Let's go, Luffy. Kaku is starting to get a bit twitchy."
Curious, Coby sent a quick glance over to Kaku. The long-nosed guard was watching their interaction closely with a dark gaze, his hand resting on the handle of his baton. He looked ready to spring into action at the drop of a pin. It was a look Coby found off on the guard, so used to his friendly attitude. What happened to him?
"Let's talk later, okay, Coby," Luffy decided as he pushed himself off the fence then ran back to his group. Sabo followed after him with a slow shake of his head and a wave over his shoulder to the guard.
Here is a line!
"Looks like Strawhat-ya claims another one," Law commented as he turned back to his men, Bepo held tightly in his arms. "I wonder how that will play out."
"Not well," Shachi sighed lowly.
"Right, normally it's okay with others, but that kid's a guard," Penguin added on, crossing his arms. "It will only bite him in the ass later."
"Kind of like you and Killer?" Shachi threw at the other.
"Back off, I know what I want and I know he wants me, too. Deal with it."
"The both of you, knock it off," Law ordered as he got to his feet. "We probably should inform Eustass-ya and Killer-ya about this development." He started chuckling lightly, smile stretching across his lips. "But why ruin such a fun surprise?"
"We don't really have to worry about that kid much, anyway," Penguin pointed out. "We have one in particular to concern ourselves with. Blueno was back last night, late but back, so he'll be back tonight. That will make things a bit harder."
"We just need to sit and be patient," the Surgeon sighed happily, holding Bepo high into the air and looking into the glass eyes. "I am so glad to have you with me. We're going to have some fun tonight."
Here is a line!
"Coby, come here a minute," Kaku called him as he started for the locker room to change into his casual wear and head home. He hoped it wouldn't take too long or Helmeppo might think the criminals got loose and killed him.
Coming up to the other guard, he noticed a broad man with hair in the shape of horns, looking down at him blandly. "Yeah?" he replied.
"Blueno, Coby," Kaku introduced. "Coby, Blueno. He's kind of the one in charge of the night crew. Or more like, he's the hardest one to knock down so the inmates don't try anything."
"Kaku says you're learning fast," Blueno announced lowly. "Good thing. You have to learn fast with these guys." Looking to Kaku, he nodded before turning and walked away.
"Not a man of many words," Kaku informed him calmly. "By the way, I wanted to talk to you about earlier."
"You mean in the yard when Strawhat and his brothers came over," Coby murmured, lowering his head.
"You got lucky it was just them," the older guard scolded. "If that was Eustass coming at you, or Trafalgar, or any of the other inmates in the yard at the time, getting as close as you did could have been fatal. We've had some of the staff sent to the hospital because they got too close to the fence near a dangerous prisoner." He sighed, calming himself with a deep inhale before continuing a little softer. "You're still new and, like it or not, you're still a kid to us. And you're easy prey to them. Just be more careful, alright?"
Nodding, Coby accepted the scolding as well as made a silent promise. He hears something along the same lines every time he goes home, Helmeppo still paranoid that one of the inmates is going to grab him and snap his neck before anyone could defend him.
Smiling, Kaku patted his head. "Alright, get going. I make Lucci wait any longer and he'll tan my hide."
"Make him wait? Do you two live together?" Coby asked as he followed after the older guard out the door.
"Lucci and I are pretty close, he kind of took me in when we were in training together, despite being just a few years older," Kaku explained. "I never had anyone to look up to and no one to look after me. He became that someone. And half the time, I think he's training me up to match him so that he can quit worrying about me." Shaking his head, he grinned to the younger guard. "Go on. Get plenty of rest tonight. I feel like tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Coby nodded in acceptance, but looked over as the rest of the night guards went towards the cellblock. The only one he didn't recognize was a lean man with a mean look on his face. He figured that one was Nero, the trouble-making night guard that is driving the rest of them up the wall. A shiver ran up his spine as the man disappeared through the door, but the pink-haired guard brushed it off.
Here is a line
"So something weird happened," Coby admitted as he and Helmeppo were lounging in the living room, the television showing an old black-and-white movie that was hardly holding their interest.
"What?" the blonde inquired curiously.
"Well, Garp's grandsons came over to talk to me when they were out in the yard," he started. "They didn't seem so bad, but the youngest, Luffy… Well, the other two said that he was 'adopting' me."
Helmeppo shrugged. "Maybe he's like Garp," he offered as an explanation. "Remember how he was? We were just two runty brats with nowhere to go and the easiest to pick on. He 'adopted' us and now, well, here we are."
"Yeah, but I kind of wonder," Coby went on, bringing a knee up to rest his chin on that. "Luffy also said that Ace likes me, then Sabo said that if I needed help, they'll help me."
"That's reassuring," the blonde sighed in relief. "To be honest, with the dangerous criminals you're looking over, I was pretty worried about you. I even looked up old case files on some of them. Let me tell you, getting on their bad side is a death wish."
"Bring any home?" Coby pressed, stretching across Helmeppo's lap to the stack of files at the end table. "That them?"
"No, those are for a current assignment," the blonde denied, pushing Coby off of him and onto the floor. "Stop being so pushy."
"What is your assignment?" the younger asked curiously, climbing back onto the couch. "Nothing too bad, I hope."
"Don't know how bad it is going to be," Helmeppo sighed lowly, shaking his head while running a hand through his hair. "There's a new group in town, and from what we can tell, the leader of this group was a part of the Whitebeard Family. The old man is getting restless, too. We've had suspicious people coming into town, but we haven't made any arrests because none of them are doing anything illegal." Inhaling deeply, the blonde leaned back, tilting his head as far back as possible to stare up at the ceiling. "This could be a lot worse than we expect it to be."
"You're thinking they're related to Whitebeard in some way," Coby assessed, rubbing his chin in thought. "Kaku did tell me before they everyone at the prison is fully expecting Whitebeard to do something. We have two of his commanders locked up there, his first and second."
"Think they'll try to break them out?" the blonde asked cautiously.
Shaking his head, Coby sighed. "I don't know. Probably. Wouldn't hurt to have some extra eyes and ears out there. I'll make sure to tell Lucci so that he can alert the rest of the guards for suspicious activity."
"Just… I know I say this a lot, Coby, but if things get bad, you are going to get hurt or maybe even killed," Helmeppo pointed out, dropping a hand onto Coby's shoulder. "Try to be careful."
Nodding in response, Coby gave his roommate a r4eassuring smile. "I'll try."
Here is a line!
Penguin groaned as he curled into a tighter ball, Shachi sitting next to his half-sibling and rubbing his back. Law was standing by the bars, clutching Bepo to his torso tightly. "Hello?" he called out. "There a guard nearby?" He faintly heard a sound from Kidd's cell, snores from Strawhat and his gang, and the deep snores of the older brothers.
"What the hell do you want?" one of the guards sneered at him, stepping close to the cell.
Another groan slipped out of Penguin, his form shivering.
"He's sick," Law pointed out, nudging his head to his cellmate. "Possibly the flu. In which case, he requires medication or everyone, guard and prisoner, gets it. The last thing you would want here is an Influenza outbreak, so I suggest taking him to medical to be looked over."
"Or just leave him and let all of you bastards get sick," the guard, the hated Nero, snickered at them. "He can wait until the morning."
With a heave, Penguin pushed off of the bed, expelling his stomach's contents onto the floor into a disgusting pile of half-digested food and bile. "Pen!" Shachi exclaimed, dropping to the floor by him and rubbing his back.
Law stared curiously. Penguin was supposed to act sick, but that was too much to be convincing. Maybe he really is sick. Or he's… "Damn it, just get him out of here and treated!" Law snapped.
"That's disgusting," Nero scoffed as Penguin vomited again.
"He's sick, as you can very well see," Law snarled, hitting the bars in warning.
"Hey, back off!" the guard warned, striking the steel bars with his baton.
"What's going on down here?" another asked, causing Law to swear under his breath. So much for the plan, but if Penguin is really sick, that is more important than getting rid of a guard. Blueno approached the cell as the others were stirring awake from the noise.
"Penguin is sick," Law informed the larger night guard. "This bastard refuses to take him to medical. Look at him, his stomach's empty but he's dry-heaving still!" He waved a hand towards the hunched over form of Penguin, his body trembling as he continue to push anything out of his stomach, but nothing other than drool dripping from his mouth was coming out as he coughed harshly.
Blueno looked over them, suspecting that these three were originally planning something but it got out of hand. "Alright, we'll take him," he said, waving to Law with a silent signal to back up. The man stepped to the door, unlocking it easily and leaving the door open as he went over to Penguin.
"Shachi," the prisoner whimpered, reaching for his half-brother. "Shachi, no!"
"It'll be alright, Pen," Shachi reassured with a shaky smile, hand weakly grasping the flailing hand only for the other to be easily pulled away. "You'll be okay."
"Law, please! I don't want to go! Just treat me here!" Penguin protested, weakly struggling in Blueno's grasp.
"I can't," Law regretfully told him. "I don't have what I need."
"What the hell is going on over there?" Kidd's groggy voice reached to their ears.
"Penguin?" Killer came next. "Hey, what's happening? Hey!" A slam, hands against bars.
"I'm fine! I'm not sick! Just let me go! No!" Penguin protested loudly, legs kicking around until Kumadori came down and pricked his skin with a needle. "Stop it! I'm not sick! I don't need to go to Medical! Just put me back! Law! Shachi!"
Law's grip on Bepo tightened, his forehead to the wall as his eyes screwed shut. He would often insist to treat his own men, but this late at night with only a night crew to guard, they wouldn't let him out. Not a dangerous murderer like him. They would want at least ten guards in the hall and six inside Medical to make sure he didn't pull anything. Without those numbers, they won't let him.
Shachi pressed against his back, tucking his face into the tanned skin of his leader. "They're going to find out now," he whispered lowly, wrapping his arms around Law to keep himself from charging out of the cell.
"All we can do is hope for the best," Law told him lowly then punched the wall. "Damn it… Damn it!"
Here the Chapter Ends
A little shorter than usual, but I like building up suspense. Let me put it this way, here is a little hint. It has been foreshadowed here and there, very briefly. Go reread over the chapters and see if you can figure something out. And let me know what your theories are.
It's always fun reading theories. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong, and sometimes they're something I never even thought about. It's really fascinating how people react or what they think is going on, and I love reading them.
I'll see you guys next time! Maybe the next chapter will come out sooner. Maybe. No promises.
