He ran ran ran through the dark dark dark, his breath too lean, his heart heart heart hammering like falling rocks-
"Sogeking! Where are you? Hey! Who's that yelling like me?"
His voice echoed- choed- oed- back to his ears. He was alone.
Underground.
Alone.
A sudden panic crossed his mind as he pounded onwards in this dark - so much like the sewer full of nuke-roaches where he'd completed his manhood test. Would they still be alive when he got back up? Or would their bodies be dismembered and strewn across the desert when he finally tasted sunlight again?
D. Luffy shuddered as the dark caressed him. This had not been one of his finest thoughts. He should not have left his crew behind, but...
"They're strong enough."
It was important to say that to himself. They were strong enough. Hell, Zoro was at least as strong as his captain - maybe stronger. Sanji was faster and way more clever - if he ever dropped his 'commandments' on using his hands, he'd be lethal to the rubber man. Sogeking was a blur when he wanted to be, bobbing and weaving and sucking up damage like a sponge until he could make his "one shot, one kill" victory. Nami was far too cunning and sneaky to even get into a fight she didn't think she could handle - plus her lightning was getting so strong that he was starting to feel it. Doc Chop had saved them from all sorts of stuff, making him uncomfortably aware of the fact that the reindeer could easily dissect any of them. Robin had been a top-ranked, Rad Line-notable assassin - she could kill him with a branch in his throat before he could even wake up. Franky would outlast him for sure - uranium-steel alloy bones and a nuke core made his destruction pretty much impossible. And Bones - well, Death had come for B. Bones and coughed him back up - Luffy was certain that Death found him tasty enough to swallow.
'Ace was strong enough too...remembe-'
Luffy slapped himself across the face. Hard. And again.
He breathed deeply, turned his ear to the sound of his own voice - less rough, a bit innocent, not madmadmad and badbadbad and sadsadsad. The sound of his own voice yelling at someone or something to bring his big brother Ace back right now.
"Oi! D'ya hear me? Gimme back my brother!"
"Ace is my bro! I saved him from the marines and I'll get him outta here too!"
The voice was saying everything that Luffy wished he could have said to Ace - for Ace. Sure, he didn't know what these 'marines' were and Ace sure as hell wasn't his brother (that was just nasty, man!), but he still found the emotions roiling through the challenging, braying voice to be every bit as familiar as his own.
So, he ran on.
[~~~]
Sometime before the gang hit the Chasm - that's what they had started to call it, that long ridge of nothing that rode high at the end of what used to be Costa Rica - sometime before that, they all met Ace.
Everyone had wondered about 'the most wicked man' of the East after meeting his young- well, all bets were still on lover, so that's what they went with. People always wondered what sort of bastard it took to put a leash - real or otherwise - on Luffy. Obviously he was a truly badass motherfucker, because no-one else alive had managed to cage their captain, but was that literal? Was he ugly? Hot? Was he totally stupid and moronic outside of a fight, like their captain? Was he a glutton, like Luffy? Was he a mutant, being in the Wastes so long?
So many questions were floating in the air about this mysterious Ace. Unfortunately, those questions never got answered - at least, not in the normal way.
[~~~]
"No. It's not him. It's some other poor bastard from Uncle Whitehorn's gang."
Luffy took down the desiccated, decapitated, highly tattooed, decidedly normal, male human body that had been strung up on cross of steel girders and riddled with so many bullets that it could only have done in by a Brotherhood of Steel firing squad. He carefully removed the skin from the rest of the body - something that none of them thought he even knew how to do, seeing as how Luffy would eat almost any shit with the fucking fur and teeth and feathers still on - then burned the body in the largest bonfire the Vault-suits had ever made. They'd used up almost all of Sanji's cooking wood to do it - and the Duck had made Luffy find a replacement for every branch burned, best believe it - but for one of Uncle Whitehorn's gang (May the Wastes cover his bones - that man was the second greatest raider ever!) it was the least they could do.
None of the others ever knew what he'd done with the skin. And, when Luffy went off from camp at nights to beat off and cry in equal measure, he made sure no-one could find out. He would be very careful to roll the skin as small as possible after a night spent caressing the faint "ASCE" on the left arm and curling up on the large, purple, horned silhouette on the back.
[~~~]
Luffy ran on in the dark - sometimes he swore that he heard Rozo and Sanji calling for him, but he ignored those phantom sounds. The only thing he needed to listen out for were Sogeking and that voice that was himself and yet not-
"Luffy~! Hold up!"
Screeching to a halt, the irradiated rubber man turned everywhere looking for Sogeking, blatantly ignoring the fact that the darkness was virtually impenetrable. After several seconds of useless scanning, even with eyes stretched widely and rotating his neck 720 degrees, he started to shout out for his sniper.
"Sogeking! Where are y-?"
BAM!
"Oh ow...fuck me, why the hell am I always jumping from so far up?
Stars spun in both men's eyes until Luffy was finally able to pull himself from under the crumpled body of his complaining, long-nosed sniper. After shaking his head clear and feeling the large knot on the back of his head, Luffy turned to hug Sogeking tightly, tears of relief streaming down his face.
"Uwaaa! Sogeking, what the hell, man? Why the hell did you save me like that? You swore you wouldn't try to kill yourself, didn't you? Don't you ever do any of that crazy ass shit ag-"
Something made Luffy pause and look - really look - at the long-haired, nut-brown, yellow glowing body in his arms. He screwed his eyes into a contemplative scowl while his pinkie massaged his frontal cortex via his nose. After a moment of careful scrutiny, Luffy wiped a large booger off on his half-boot.
Then he began smacking the shit out of the marksman.
"You- ain't- Sogeking! You're- fuckin'- Usopp! Where tha- fuck is- Sogeking? Who- told- you- to fuck- with my- bitch's body, huh?"
Usopp returned each and every punch thrown, then scratched and bit Luffy as hard as he could before the overpowering rubber freak could beat him to Death. He'd already had more than enough of that particular mind-fucker, thankyouverymuch!
"Hey, ease off and go fuck yourself!" Usopp snapped, reaching the end of his tether. "Sogeking wanted to save your motherfucking life so I helped him, to do what? Get fucking trapped in his half-dead body? Leave him to help my crew and drink some weird, wormy liquor with Death? Hell no! Death is on my captain's ass and you are going to help me get to them."
"Like hell no!" was what Luffy was about to scream. What he did, however, was shut up, because the barrel of Sogeking's own weapon - Kabuto, the rifle that had been pieced together with Spiral Batts found in the remains of the crashed flying vault they'd ventured through shortly after Robin'd joined them - was now tucked neatly under the rubber man's chin. Anyone and everyone with an interest in living knew that the sharpshooter's fingers had hair-trigger reflexes - no matter who was in his head.
'One shot, one kill'
"Like I said," Usopp growled, "You're going to help me save my Luffy. I'm not that different from Sogeking when it comes down to the important stuff."
Luffy gave the sniper his wall-eyed look, his pinkie finger absentmindedly beginning to stray to his nose until the barrel of the rifle pressed a little harder into the skin under his jaw. The Vault-suit captain grunted in acknowledgement of the threat, but his eyes had gone elsewhere, flitting over the sniper's self-illuminating body.
Sogeking - no, Usopp in Sogeking's body - the marksman's legs were horrible, mangled lumps of flesh and bone, bloodied and dirtied by the extensive distance that he'd already dragged them through the cave, as rough as the cavern bottom was. Usopp noticed the glances; he briefly studied the gory disfigurement that his glowing body (why the hell was he glowing?) highlighted, then shrugged in dismissal.
"S'not like I can feel anything down there anyway, but it does make it a bitch to go where I need to and bring Sogeking's body and gear as well. So hurry up and haul me up!"
Luffy nodded mutely while the marksman slowly removed the rifle. Turning, the Vault-suit captain stooped down to let Soge- Usopp- climb up on his back. The rubber man carefully wrapped his hands around the battered flesh that had once been knees, then waited for the sharpshooter to pull up the deadly rifle into his ragged, shaking hands and brace it on Luffy's shoulder.
"...Who we aimin' ta kill, Usopp?"
As Luffy started to jog forward again, Usopp rummaged through the fanny pack that Sogeking kept his ammo clips in. He then cocked and loaded a clip into the rifle's chamber with disturbing familiarity before responding.
"Anyone or anything that stands in the way. Including - especially - Death. Not that way, Luffy! First, what we're gonna do is get the rest of the cre- gang. It's about time you trust our strength and stop doin' so much shit on your own."
[~~~]
As D. Luffy ran, the other spoke. He spoke of a different world, covered in water, not sand, and islands, not craters. He spoke of another him, with a different quest - a different goal. He spoke of those who gathered - of like (Nami and Money, Sanji and Food, Brook and Music) and unlike (What the hell would Robin be like with flesh? Zoro with only one head?). He spoke about their triumphs (the thought of another ArlongWapolMoria made his head spin) and their failures. As he listened, Luffy found himself wondering why he and this other captain had always insisted on running ahead alone when everyone that Usopp spoke about was at least as strong and resourceful as he - they - any Luffy was. As the sniper wept while relating how he'd almost lost his captain - and his captain's adopted brother - Luffy's face fell into that deadly blankness that usually meant that someone would die for making him think. What he thought and what he did, however, were completely different.
"Sogeking has been trying to stay in your world 'cause your Kaya's alive. That ain't right."
"I know! Now tell him that!"
"It ain't right but I'd prob'ly do the same thin'. So would Sanji. Prob'ly most of the crew would, if just- If just ta know that Vivi was alive, somewhere. Or Zeff. Or Ace."
Usopp stopped his ranting abruptly. He knew that this Luffy spoke the truth; he knew, from the few glimpses he'd had outside of battle, that their world was diseased and shit-faced and palsied and dying.
He knew that. He wished he could save them, but now that Death could find Monkey D. Luffy and, through his stupidity, locate Ace and Sogeking - chances had never looked slimmer.
And, as selfish as it was, he didn't want to be split between two Luffys anymore.
He didn't want to rely on Sogeking's innate courage anymore.
He didn't want to have nightmares of Moria and his underground cavern filled with toxic waste on top of his own nightmares of Thriller Bark. Or horrors born of electric shock from two versions of Enel. Or terrors from being battered by two four-ton bats.
He just wanted there to be one of everything, so he could be sane again.
Yet, despite his desperate wishes for normalcy, for clean, sober, not-madness, he would be damned - to Hell and back! - before he let his twin's dimension die without his say-so. Even if his twin's secret musings and guilty confessions were the same as his - that his captain didn't really need him...
"If I trust ya, Usopp, can ya help me - us Vault-suits - get our Sogeking back? I think us Luffys need our sharpshooters - the right ones - a whole damn lot more than we ever thought."
Usopp stared at the faint outline of the back of Luffy's head. Was this captain actually-? Could he really be-?
Hiding a small, tremulous smile, the sniper snorted and grumbled out an agreement. Wait till Sogeking heard this!
[~~~]
Zoro waited impatiently as Rozo and Sanji tried to pick up Luffy's trail again. At first, Sanji had been able hear Luffy's voice as his Capitan called out for the Vault-suits gun-master, but now they were forced to scour the ground for clues and sense where the young rubber man had bounced off to. It was annoying - annoying to know that Luffy still couldn't rely on them; wouldn't wait on them. Didn't trust their strengths to combine.
Sanji needed to pull his head out of that sort of thought. Luffy was what he was - impetuous and over-confident and prone to forgetting the others as his sheer strength powered him ahead. It was up to them to keep up, not for the Capitan to wait up. Snapped out of his reverie, the Duck noticed something very odd about him - the darkness! It wasn't as suffocatingly dark as it had been a few moments earlier! His good eye darted around for the light source, which ended up being the last thing that he'd suspected.
"Oi, Madweed - qu'est-ce que c'est? Sometin' be lookin' wrong dere wid yer blade- "
Zoro grunted questioningly, then grunted louder in amazement. On his hip, his tribe's nanoblade was glowing, brightening by imperceptible degrees as Rozo picked up on Luffy's direction going forward and Orzo watched for the others that should be coming behind them at their garbled request.
"Quelle merde! Is dat ting glowin'?" Sanji panted out, bent double as he resisted the urge to flap his wings - arms - to cool himself. His shoulders burned where the glider's straps had dug into his flesh and his nose was choked with the smell of burnt feathers. His half-boots definitely had in a hole that exposed one of his already leathery flat feet to every pebble and thorn on the ground beneath them. His cigarettes were killing his breathing, but the nicotine pumped him up faster than the adrenaline roaring through his body; the combination'd made him feel like a damn mutant until they stopped to ascertain the trail.
"Dat's strange as hell, man," Zoro muttered as he pulled the blade from its clear casing. "Wadou, whatcha tryin' ta-"
"Run!"
The faint cry echoed through the chamber behind the two men. The very slight sounds of scrambling could be heard if they strained their ears - the voice had sounded like Doc Chop's.
"San... ...ro, ke... ...unnin'!"
"Dat be Nami's voice," Sanji stated with conviction, pulling out his 'special' cig collection - Madweed Bombers. The dangerous stuff that doped him high as a kite, but made his synapses so many times faster. His own creation. The Duck slipped one between his clenched jaw and struck a match with his ragged thumbnail. "Fil d'salope, quelle merde font-ils now?
"Son of a ho, bros, move it!"
"Por favor, hombres, run!"
And suddenly, Franky and Doc Chop could be seen bounding around a corner, led by B. Bones whose fleshless legs were a blur of motion. Robin was on Franky's back and Nami was scampering on all fours next to the reindeer - a form of running she detested unless speed was of absolute importance. Behind them, the gang's lieutenant and sergeant could sense something big moving in the darkness.
Eating the darkness.
"Fuck!" Sanji quacked loudly, grabbing hold of Rozo's hair and yanking him around to see the commotion. "Madweed, we'd best t'be gettin' da fix on da Capitan, now!"
The triplets' faces blanched, then Zoro was brandishing Wadou above his head. Suddenly, Sanji could see the way - a faint trail of blood with a half-boot print pounded irreverently through it.
"Ici! Dis way! We got da trail!" Sanji squawked as he waved the others in front of him, before collaring the belligerent, self-sacrificial lieutenant in a ruthless headlock and dragging him along until he got the idea and ran on his own power. Cupping his hand around his mouth, Zoro tried to warn his captain and sniper of the danger, even if they were too far ahead to hear.
"LUFFY! SOGEKING! INCOM-!"
The horrendously loud retort of Kabuto as it blew a large chunk out of the presence so close behind the Duck's back set Zoro to wailing - his ears still hadn't recuperated from the sonic boom earlier. Even Sanji was brought to tears as his ears started ringing, almost drowning out the rest of gang's cheering and whooping. Despite all of that, nothing could stop them from grinning like lunatics as Luffy's voice called to them from the darkness ahead.
"Come on! We've got plenty more ass-kicking than me 'n' Sogeking can handle ahead - too much ta worry 'bout dis petty shit! Let's go, Vault-suits! I need ya now!"
And suddenly, despite the deep permeation of dread crawling up his back, Sanji was filled with joy - his captain finally, truly needed them! Nami's toothy grin, Zoro's howl of elation, Franky's loud sobbing, Robin's eager rustling of leaves, B. Bone's insane laugh, Doc Chop's lowing of glee - Luffy actually did need them! To be needed at last by someone they loved so much made them ridiculously overwhelmed with an emotion they'd rarely felt in their puny, hard-scrabble lives.
Giddily happy, the Vault-suits ran on.
[~~~]
"Ow, ow, ow, zehahahahahaha! Dat waren't no leetly bee dat hit me, dat waren't, waren't it, Augie-boy. Almos' toooo bad I kiltcha already! Doan matter none doh - me's da Void. Dis be my world. Dat D. boy 'n' his gang be da last, den all da Wastes be mine!"
[~~~]
Author says:
French swearing time!
Qu'est-ce que c'est - What is this/that?
Quelle merde! - I'm hoping it still means "What shit!"
Fil d'salope, quelle merde font-ils? - "Son of a bitch, what shit are they doing now?"