Chapter 6: Brothers? (pt 2)

"Ace! Where ar- ahh!" Luffy fell off of a pile of junk, having landed on an unbalanced piece of trash, Dori landed beside him roughly on the ground, "What's that?" he asked, while rubbing his sore head. Dori looked at the human skull a couple of feet away from where Luffy was sitting and paled.

"Th-that's nothing Lu, come on let's keep looking!" she told him urgently pulling him back up to his feet before calling out after Ace.

The two siblings continued to thoroughly search-"Ace! Hey!? Where did you go!?" "ACE! Where are you!?"-the terminal, in other words Luffy continuously poked his head into trash and Dori-much to her ire-had to 'get him un-stuck.'

"Thief!" Dori looked towards where all the noise was coming from; an ugly bald man was running away from the angry voices… the only problem was that he was headed right towards them.

"Gaki's!" he growled, "Get out of my way or I'll…" he pointed at them with a knife menacingly, Dori thought he looked like an uglier, more deformed version of Hunchback from Notre dame. Luffy tilted his head to the side cutely as Dori silently tugged him closer to her side.

"He went that way!" the man nervously looked back at the direction he was running from and glared at the two small children briefly before running away in fear. Dori and Luffy watched him run away before they looked at each other and shrugged and continued their search for the ever evasive Ace.

They passed by uncaring inhabitants of the terminal searching for discarded treasures until they reached the tree line of the jungle once more.

"Ah!" Luffy pointed excitedly at the retreating figure carrying a brown sack under one arm and lead pipe in his right hand making his way stealthily back into the jungle before he tugged on the sides of his straw hat and giggled triumphantly. Dori smiled as they raced after Ace, after all it had to be him, and she hadn't seen any other children in the terminal… besides what were the chances of another kid wearing the same grey elbow guard, bright red tank top and dark maroon shorts that Ace had put on before he left the bandits home that morning.

They hid behind some bushes, more like Dori pushed Luffy behind some bushes and told him to shut his trap, when they saw Ace climb up a tall tree and sit happily next to a curly blond haired boy who had a smaller brown sack next to him as well. Dori observed the new boy interestedly, 'So this is Sabo…' she pondered while looking at him. He was as tall as Ace and was wearing a dark blue collared turn coat that reminded her of the fancy jackets musicians would wear to a concert over a black tank top that had a single light blue streak on it, he had a weird white handkerchief(?) with a bunch of tears in it wrapped around his neck. He wore electric blue shorts that ended just above his knees and black boots that had small heels-she dubbed them pirate boots in her head-and a black worn top hat on his head that had blue framed goggles going around it, his lead pipe leaned on the massive trunk of the moss covered tree. She couldn't see his eye color from where she was hiding but she noted that he was missing one of his front tooth's… or was it chipped? She couldn't tell.

"Pirates! You guys! Are you going to be pirates!? I'm going to be one too!" Luffy screamed loudly while waving his arms around excitedly from right underneath the branch the two older boys were sitting in. 'Wait Luffy?' Dori's eyes widened as she looked at the now empty spot beside her and the seven year old being glared at by Ace and Sabo angrily, 'Fuck Luffy! Why can't you ever sit still and shut your mouth!' she bemoaned to herself.

The older boys looked at each other shocked and nodded determinedly before they climbed down the tree quickly, looking more like bugs than humans, and ran up to her idiot little brother who was still smiling happily at them.

"Be quiet!" they screamed in unison before hitting Luffy on the top of his head really hard, causing the seven year old to fall on his back.

"If he's here, that means that the other one can't be too far behind…" Ace said looking around. Dori sighed in defeat before walking out from behind the foliage raising her hands up in defeat.

"I'm here…" she whispered disappointedly, the two boys came up to her, most likely intending to subdue her like they had done to Luffy, "Ah, wait! Don't touch me there's something I have to do first…" she said while giving the stink eye to Luffy who was trying to sit up while rubbing his throbbing head. She walked up behind her brother and bonked on the same spot Sabo and Ace had hit his previously. "You idiot!" she hissed angrily at her brother who was once more laying eagle spread on the ground.

"Ace I didn't know you traveled this far every day!" Luffy said chipper, he had a wide smile on his face. On the other hand Dori was contemplating mass homicide from where she was tied to the tree next to him and had a dark scowl on her face, being tied up brought ugly memories up and she hated feeling like she wasn't in control.

"Shut up!" Ace snapped at him while leaning on his pipe. "Can't you be quite like your brother?" he said while pointing to Dori, said 'brothers' eyebrow twitched angrily, she literally shared a room with Ace and Luffy, how had he not realized yet that Dori was in fact female was beyond her…

"Is this the Luffy and Dori that you were talking about?" Sabo asked with his arms crossed on his chest and his pipe in his right hand.

Luffy perked up immediately "Ehh, you've told him about me and Dori?" he asked happily, definitely not picking up on the distaste in Sabo's tone like she had.

"I told him how annoying you are." Ace deadpanned.

"He also told me how you're empty-headed and that you're younger brother always has to save you." Sabo added, Luffy's smile didn't lessen and burst out laughing. 'Younger brother?' Dori scowled even more, she was not anyone's little anything, but she didn't say a word to correct them.

"Oh really?"

"You don't realize that we're dissing you, do you?" Sabo asked disbelievingly. Dori felt for him, Luffy was… well Luffy.

"They finally caught up, even though I didn't take any walkable roots." Ace told Sabo frustrated.

"Are you a friend of Ace's? Be our friend too buddy!" Luffy exclaimed to Sabo ignoring Dori's remark over how she didn't want to anyone's friend.

"Shut up! You can't call me buddy!" Sabo snapped thumping his pipe next to him as his left hand rested on his hip.

"Then what's your name?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Sa- I'm not telling you!" Sabo screeched after he realized that he was giving himself away, Dori smirked amusedly… too bad she already knew his name, not that he knew that. Ace glared at her questioningly, she answered with another smirk.

"This is why I told you to live here with me!" Sabo told Ace exasperated from having to deal with Luffy, "The daily round trip, training on the mountain road turned out to be bad! What should we do?" he asked Ace.

Dori petulantly responded, "You could untie us."

"They found out our secret. Luffy, especially, is going to tell somebody if nothing is done. His own brother can't control him." He sneered ignoring Dori completely, "We should kill them."

"Alright let's do it." Sabo agreed.

Luffy seemed to finally realize the predicament they were in and paled dramatically, "What!? Don't kill me! Help me! I don't want to die!" Luffy sobbed loudly in panic, his legs flailed hysterically. Ace and Sabo exchanged panicked looks as Luffy made more noise.

Sabo lunged at Luffy and grabbed his jaw, trying to silence the crying seven year old, "Shut up, you fool!"

"Sabo kill him already!" Ace snapped.

"What!? You do it!" Sabo snapped back panicked.

"I've never killed anybody before!" he shouted back at Sabo, just as panicked.

"Well you certainly tried to kill us multiple times!" Dori screamed at Ace angrily.

"Me, neither! And I don't know how!" Sabo shouted at Ace ignoring Dori.

"Don't throw me in water!" Luffy screamed hyperventilating as tears and snot ran down his face.

"You IDIOT!" Dori screamed panicked that the two ten year olds would actually throw her little brother in water.

"Okay! Let's head to the river!" Ace exclaimed relieved.

"Why did he tell us that!?" Sabo asked Ace only for Dori to answer him angrily.

"It's because he's an idiot!" Dori groused.

"Help me!" Luffy continued to sob while flailing his limbs.

"SHUT UP!" the three of them screamed.

Luffy, surprisingly, was silent for moment before he began screaming again, "I don't want to die!"

"Neither do I!" Dori screamed back at him.

"I hear a voice in the forest! A kid's voice!" a gruff voice shouted as an entire group of men began to enter the forest.

"Oh no, somebody's coming…" Sabo whispered nervously as he looked behind them.

"Set them free for now! We gotta move from here or they'll find our treasure!" Ace whispered back hurriedly as Sabo pulled out a switch knife from his cat pocket.

A relieved smile graced Luffy's face as they were let loose from the tree, Dori glared at them angrily as they quickly ducked under some bushes, "All you care about is your stupid treasure!" she hissed at Ace from where she was crouched next to him as the voices of the intruding men got closer.

"If captain Bluejam finds out about this he'll kill us all." A deep voice groused to the small group of men, he was an ugly tall muscular man with lavender locks that went down mid back, he was extremely pale and had pointed teeth that gleamed in the sun light. And despite the fact that she knew she'd never seen him before in her life, he looked like someone she knew, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Damn it! I didn't know that those thugs were working for Bluejam!" Ace whispered anxiously.

"You mean you stole your money from them?" Sabo whispered back furiously.

"I shouldn't have taken that money…"

"He has a real sword. That's Porchemy, he works under Bluejam. He's crazy, did you know that? He strips of your scalp after you lose a fight with him." he explained to Ace lowly. Dori gripped on the straps of her overalls, this was dangerous she did not want her little brother to be caught by the massive man like he was originally in the manga.

"Let's just let them pass for now…" Ace whispered back as the three of them carefully began to hide under the foliage.

"Oh? Where'd he go?" Sabo whispered confused. Dori looked up at the pirates in horror as Luffy's small body was raised off the ground into the air by Porchemy.

"Let me go! What do you want from me!?" Luffy flailed, not being able to dislodge himself from the big man's grip.

"How could he get caught!?" Ace and Sabo whispered simultaneously in shock.

"Let me go you bastard!" Luffy screamed angrily.

"Who is this little shit?" Porchemy asked curiously, not at all deterred by the glaring child.

"Help me! Ace!" Luffy screamed. "Help me Ace! DORI! Save me! ACE!"

"That fool! He's calling my name!" Ace whispered panicked, as the three of them ducked their heads even more.

"Help me Ace!" he continued screaming.

"Did you just call for Ace?" Porchemy asked, glaring menacingly as he brought Luffy closer to his face.

"So what?" Luffy glared back.

"You, do you know Ace?" he asked.

"I'm his friend!" Luffy said confidently, "Oh, but he did just try to kill me." He admitted sheepishly.

"That fool! He has such a big mouth!" Ace groaned.

Dori bit her lip in fear. She knew what her little brother would go through if she didn't do anything, but she also didn't want to rat out the two ten year olds beside her… Luffy would never forgive her if she did. Dori heard Porchemy begin to explain why they were looking for Ace, as the idiot had stolen money from them and they-naturally-wanted it back, they asked Luffy if he knew where it was only to have the seven year old give them the worst lying face ever and tell them he didn't know while whistling 'nonchalantly'. She slapped her face exasperated before squared her back in determination and began to crawl away to another bush far away from where Ace and Sabo were currently panicking, she then ran out from the bushes and began to hit Porchemy's leg angrily.

"Let him go! Let my brother go!" she screamed angrily as she hit him furiously.

Porchemy looked down at her angrily, before reaching down and grabbing her with the same hand holding Luffy and grabbing her.

"Dori!" Luffy exclaimed surprised that his nee-chan was now in the same predicament he was. Dori glared at him briefly before locking her angry eyes with Porchemy.

"Ah, another one. What about you? Do you know where the treasure is?" he growled.

Dori glared at him, "Why the hell would we know where your blasted treasure is? I just want you to let go of my little brother so we can go home!" she screamed, lying much better than Luffy could ever dream of doing.

Porchemy glared even more before chuckling darkly, "Alright, alright! It can't be helped that you two don't know." he said mockingly as he brought his ginormous sword behind him. "Don't worry I'll help you remember." He growled, smiling creepily at them.

Dori felt all of the adrenalin that had been running through her dissipate. She remembered now, she knew who he looked like. It was a face that she had been trying to forget since she arrived to the One Piece universe. He was identical to Demon Eye, the main tormentor that would beat her and Dylan when they were in the captivity of the Akuma Avu~enjā. She paled in fear and became lost her memories, her body went limp in Porchemy's grip and her previously determined yet fear filled eyes went blank until she looked dead, and her breathing slowed down significantly.

"Let us go you bastard! Put us down! Help! Save us Ace! Let us go you bastard!" Luffy screamed as Porchemy began the trek to his base

"Dori?" Luffy questioned concerned they were entering an ugly run-don shack when he noticed that his sister hadn't spoken at all on the way there. "Dori nee-chan are you okay?" he asked uselessly as he tried to shake his sister out of what he believed to be a daydream, when he failed to get a response out of her he began screaming angrily at Porchemy, "What did you DO! What did you do to my SISTER!"

"Ha, nothing yet brat." He snapped, "Sister? I thought she was a boy…" he smirked evilly, "That changes things."

Luffy glared at Porchemy as he was tied to a wood pillar, "Let us go! I won't tell you anything!"

Porchemy glared at Luffy angrily as he lifted a mallet bigger than he was precariously into the air, "You little shit!" he growled as he brought it down on Luffy's head.

Dori had been shackled standing up to the wall, but she just hung their limply her head rolling to the side. She looked-and felt-like she was dead.

The mallet bounced off of Luffy's head after a moment, "I told you that my body turned to rubber after I ate the Gum-Gum fruit!" he groused.

The men standing behind him were flailing about in panic before Porchemy told them to "Shut up! A Devil Fruit, ehh?" he pondered before chuckling, "Looks like you had a real one. Get me a pair of gloves." He instructed the men behind him.

"Ye-yes sir!"

They hung Luffy from the roof, he was five feet off the ground, and the entire time he looked at his sister in concern. Porchemy noticed where his concerned looks were shooting off to and smirked; he unshackled the girl from the wall but left the cuffs on her wrists and tied her limp body behind Luffy's with more rope.

"Listen, you little shit. The money that your friend Ace stole is very important to our pirate crew." He explained as he finished putting on his spiked gloves before roughly putting his left hand on Luffy's head, "And you know where it is. So I need you to tell us where it is." He said bringing up his balled right hand up to Luffy's face.

Luffy breathed in, "NO!"

Porchemy let Luffy and Dori swing backwards while he brought his right hand back and let it swing into Luffy's face as they swung forward towards him.

Blood flew from his cheek, his feet dangled from side to side from the force of the hit. "See you don't want to make a pirate mad. Our Captain Bluejam is very brutal!" Porchemy snarled.

Blood dripped down on the side of Luffy's face as tears began to accumulate In his eyes and his lower lip wobbled… then he sobbed hysterically, he flailed his limbs as if possessed, causing the limp Dori tied behind him to move erratically with him, while screaming "Ahhh! It HUURTTSS! I'm SCARED! Help us!"

Porchemy brought his right fist back and let it fly again, he struck Luffy once more, "Guys, go look for Ace and Sabo! We don't have time to stand around!" Porchemy instructed the horrified thugs behind him.

He brought his other fist back and punched Dori when the rope swung to reveal her tied to Luffy's back; she made no sound to indicate that she'd even been struck as the rope swung once more to reveal Luffy. Porchemy continued to hit the sibling alternatively as if they were a punching bag. He only stopped to ask if they felt like disclosing the whereabouts of the treasure. Luffy had stopped screaming from the pain he was receiving and hung limply much like his sister, the sun was setting, casting a golden shadow to befall the room. The rope holding up the sibling creaked with the strain of each hit.

Porchemy was drenched in sweat and panted tiredly, "Spit it out already!"

"P-P-P-P-Porchemy-san! It's no use doing it anymore!" one of the thugs stuttered out, he had been shielding his eyes from the gruesome sight of the tortured children for a while now and couldn't bear looking or hearing it go on any longer now, "The black-haired boy doesn't even have the energy to scream and more! And the girl looks even deader than before!"

Silent sobs and whimpers spilled out of Luffy's clenched jaw. Porchemy panted from the strain of having beaten them for hour's non-stop, "I bet they won't say anything and to be honest, I can't stand watching it-it-it's too cruel! Show some mercy!" the same thug continued.

Porchemy punched the now fallen thug in the face, "Look for Ace and Sabo if you have time to be worried for these gakis!" he growled out, "We're the ones that are in danger of death! Can't you see!? We're already too late to give that money to Captain Bluejam!" Porchemy turned back to the dangling children and began to beat them once more.

"Tell me where they are! Answer me!" he growled in Dori's face. Her lifeless hazel-green eyes locked with Porchemy's for the first time since he picked her up in the jungle.

"Dyl? Dylan? Why? WHY!?" she began screaming hysterically for the first time since her beating started, she snapped, "Ahhhhhhhhhh-" she screamed hysterically as tears streamed down her face, before her scream was cut off by another hit. She went silent once more, mumbling her twins name nonstop.

"You! Boy! Tell me!" he growled.

"I- I won't say!" he stuttered painfully.

"You little shit! Stop trying to keep a secret like a grown up!" he stopped beating them for a moment and he leaned heavily on his knees, before looking at them angrily, "Say IT!" he screamed.

"I- I won't say it! I won't say it! I won't say it!" He cried, tears streaming down his face began to fall to the ground, glistening as the sun's last ray's trickled over them. "I won't say it!"

Porchemy growled in frustration before he turned around, "Fine. Enough." He threw his spiked gloves to the ground and dragged his sword towards them. Luffy weakly lifted his head in pain to see the menacing man lift his sword.

"Then you die." He growled.

'NO! Not another one I can't lose another one!' Dori thought hysterically.

"ME!" screamed, "KILL ME! Let him GO! Let him GO!" she sobbed. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh-" she screamed as the sword swung.

The walls of the hut shattered as two lead pipes broke through the weak wooden walls. Dust billowed around the new entrance as the two ten year old boys screamed in anger. Dori and Luffy weakly looked at them in surprise.

"DON'T!" the boy's screamed in unison, raising their pipes into a fighting stance.

Preview:

They were all sprawled on top of each other in Ace's bedroom. It was hard to tell which limb belonged to whom as they had all cuddled up on top of Dori in their sleep, apparently Dori's Lullaby's were pretty affective in putting them all to sleep.

"Hey Dori can you pass me the soap-" Sabo began asking before he choked on his spit, his face reddening as his flailing limbs caught the attention of the other two boys, Ace looked at her in shock while Luffy was confused as to what the big commotion was about. "You're a girl!" Sabo finally choked out.

Dori tilted her head in false innocence and confusion, after all the boy's really should have realized by now. "I know, I was born this way." She informed them slowly as if talking to a pair of idiots, "Even Luffy could have told you that! Right Lu?"

"Unn, Nee-chan and I took baths together all the time in Fooshia Village… Hey Ace, Sabo why are you're faces so red?" Luffy asked innocently. 'Sometimes' Dori thought, 'I really love that boy.'

Author's Note:

Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying the Holidays! I know I am!

So remember this is the chapter I had to split in three…. Anyway (I'm going to advertise these every single time since this is the story that has the most fav's and follows) if any of you have seen bio or read my new story "Across the Sea we Found It" and "The Spare" (it's an OHSHC and Naruto fanfic respectively… no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit), you would know that I've decided that it's easier for me to update monthly since I'm busy with reality breathing down my neck…

This Chapter is Dedicated to: Tsukino Aisuru - A and KiraReaper for reviewing! As well as to all of those people who have Favorited and/or Followed! (There too many people to list!)

Anyway I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… and I'll see you next month!

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Love, Mara-Chan (o l l o)