Chapter 13
"Alright... What happened to the apartment?" Nami couldn't help but ask, watching as Law just slumped to the ground, looking just about done with everything.
To be fair, she couldn't blame him.
They had arrived back to Law's, Eustass', Ace's and Luffy's apartment only to find it burnt to the ground. The fire long gone and it all sealed off with police tape. Luffy was laughing, relieved that he had brought his precious hat with him while Ace was staring, eyes wide and mouth gaped open.
"All of Luffy's stuff was in there..." Ace mumbled, horrified.
"And wasn't yours Ace?" Nami asked.
"Thankfully it's mostly at Pops' manor and Smokey's." Ace managed, still horrified. "Did Kid try to cook again?"
"He knows better, besides he had Killer supervising him." Law sighed. "This isn't good. All of my things were in there and I can't afford a place now that I don't have a job."
"You could come back home with me Law." Lami said smugly but he seemingly ignored it.
"Was this something to do with Doflamingo?" Nami hissed. "Because that's twice he's done this now!"
"Doflamingo would have made it more obvious that it was him." Law pointed out. "Also Luffy-ya, Cyborg-ya, Killer-ya and Eustass-ya were all in there."
"OH CRAP!" Luffy cried out. "FRANKY NO!"
"FRANKY!" Usopp sobbed, collapsing to his knees.
"NO FRANKY!" Chopper instantly joined in, the three balling their eyes out.
"I DIDN'T SAY THEY WERE DEAD!" Law snapped before slumping over. "Jeez, I don't have the energy for this crap... Robin-ya, how's your tongue?"
"Much better thank you. Still feels a bit strange though." Robin chuckled smoothly, which relieved Nami. "Have any of you checked your phones? Perhaps one of them contacted us."
"Mine was in there." Ace groaned.
"Yours was ancient anyway." Nami huffed, it had been, the thing might have been older that Chopper from the looks of it.
"Bepo was also meant to be guarding the house. I wonder where he is." Law said, looking concerned.
"You look more concerned about Bepo than you do about your Lord." Nami noted.
"I am."
She twitched, Luffy was still crying and it was beginning to piss her off. "Luffy! Franky won't be dead! None of us sensed him getting cut off remember?!"
"Oh yeah." Luffy, her stupid Lord, instantly perked up.
"H-He's not dead?" Chopper sniffed.
"Of course not!" Usopp instantly beamed. "I always knew he'd be fine!"
"You did?!" Chopper gaped.
She groaned and immediately turned away to her mobile, getting it out and ringing Franky. She huffed when the idiot picked it up with a cheery greeting as she put it on loudspeaker.
"You moron! How could you not send us a text telling us what happened?!" Nami interrupted the greeting.
"Sorry Nami-sis! I didn't actually know the apartment was burned down, I took Kid-bro and Killer-bro to see my workshop so we could fit his arm on properly! Bepo was meant to keep an eye out for us!"
"So Bepo should be around here somewhere then?" Law mused as he climbed back to his feet.
"Law? You're alright aren't you?!" Eustass was on the phone now, much to her surprise.
"I'm fine. Just tired." Law grumbled, eyes searching the street around them.
"BEAR! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Luffy yelled.
"STOP SHOUTING!" Nami snapped, whacking his head. "You're giving me a headache!"
"There he is." Law sounded fond as he pointed a few streets down, a huge white bear curled up on a bench, fast asleep apparently. "Bepo!"
Bepo instantly woke up, apparently not to Luffy's screaming, but to Law's weak shout. Bepo rubbed at his eyes as he walked over to them, looking half-asleep much to Law's amusement, who was smirking fondly at the sight.
"Sorry Law. I fell asleep waiting for you to come back." Bepo mumbled out drowsily.
"The apartment was on fire yet you fell asleep?!" Kid shouted over the phone.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't shout at Bepo stupid Eustass-ya."
"Want us to come over there Nami-sis?"
"No. We'll come to you. We have a few prisoners by the way. The hospital was a complete nightmare and we had to fight them all." Nami sighed, not even surprised that it came to that.
Luffy had been there so of course it did.
"Do you know what happened here Bepo?" Law asked.
"A weird group came here, they asked one of your neighbours about you and Ace!" Bepo said before apologising.
"Uh, what are you apologising for?" Nami couldn't help but ask.
"It's fine. Do you know who they were Bepo?" Law asked.
"He told your neighbour that his name was 'Teach' and that he was an old friend of Ace's. He was a pretty big guy with black hair oh! And he was very tall! Towered over everyone!" Bepo explained. "So did most of his friends actually..."
"Teach?! That bastard?!" Ace snarled, earning another apology and a glare from Law.
"That's the guy you're after, isn't it Ace?" Nami asked before frowning at Law. "What would he even want with you?"
"I stole two of his guy's souls remember?"
"It was very reckless of you! You got yourself corrupted! You're a light being Law! You have to be more careful!" Chopper huffed.
"A 'light being'?! He crushed two souls!" Usopp whimpered.
Lami scowled. "It was certainly careless."
"Fucking heck, the bastard went and destroyed our apartment?!" Kid cursed on the phone. "I'll kick his ass!"
"Have you even recovered yet Eustass-ya? You better be drinking plenty of water because I don't have the energy to help you regain your blood. I'm barely able to walk about right now." Law scowled.
"Go to fucking sleep then!"
"Not in the middle of the street where we apparently aren't safe. Blackbeard might still be lingering nearby."
"Shit! How did he even know where we lived?! I never told him where!" Ace cursed. "Law do you have your phone?"
"Here." Law passed it over without any argument while Ace typed in a number and walked away, Luffy thankfully sticking close to his side, looking very worried.
Ace returned to their side quickly though, looking puzzled. "Nobody's answering. I tried calling the manor but no one picked up... I even tried Marco's mobile but he isn't either..."
"Somethings wrong here." Nami frowned as Ace returned the mobile to Law.
"We can go check up on them." Luffy suggested. "Maybe someone broke the big pole again?"
"That tends to happen a lot." Ace agreed. "Last time it was because Jozu chucked Haruta at it for dying his hair neon pink and throwing glitter over him."
"Well be careful anyway. I don't like this." Nami said, feeling uncomfortable. "Franky, we're coming to you got it?"
"I'll set up here then!"
.::.
Ace panted as they finally arrived after running straight for the manor, or well, Luffy throwing them in that direction a few good times until they reached the forest area where the manor was held on the hilltops. He was horrified at the sight of the gate torn down, their main entrance destroyed as he rushed in, Luffy's panting following behind.
Ace froze at the sight of the manor pretty much wrecked and the sound of fighting reaching his ears. The sight nearly made him see red but he managed to keep his composure, knowing that his little brother was behind him.
"The moustache guy is under attack?" Luffy frowned as he reached his side.
"Yeah, but by who?" Ace bit his lip. "Who would be able to do this much damage in our own home?"
"That is quite the fair question." A voice called out, startling both him as Luffy.
The Fallen Angel, Laffitte was drifting down from the sky, his wings nearly sending a shudder down his spine. He felt nervous and wondered if this was how he felt, how much pain a light being like Law had been in when he saw those wings? Felt their corruption?
"I've been waiting for you Ace." Laffitte greeted him with a nod. "My Captain has asked me to come collect you. I hope you will come willingly."
Ace clenched his fists at that, shaking. "Teach. Teach is attacking Pops?!"
"Yes indeed. We're putting our plan into action now and our Captain would be very happy if you joined us willingly Ace. Will you join our clan?"
"Like fuck I will!" Ace snapped, letting his fire flick out. "And there's no way he'd ever beat Pops!"
There's no way he could. The others had to be alright. They just had to be.
.::.
"I'm not impressed with the places you keep taking me to brother." Lami Trafalgar sneered while Kid finished fiddling with his new robotic arm.
"This bitch your sister Law?" Kid asked, earning a scowl from both Trafalgars.
"Don't call my sister a bitch."
"Don't call me a bitch!"
"Jeez, you're both noisy." Kid grunted. "Go sit down and shut up woman."
He smirked when Lami hissed at him but obeyed with a struggle. Law was glowering at him for the order and probably the insult too but he ignored that and instead examined Law's condition, seeing how tired his lover, well maybe lover, was.
There was a fucking lot he and Law had to talk about but now probably wasn't the best time. Law looked dead on his feet so Kid beckoned him over, earning another glare in return but thankfully the quack doctor listened and sat down next to him.
"You look like shit." Kid chuckled.
Law raised an eyebrow at that. "Thanks for the compliment Eustass-ya. I'd like to pay you the same one."
"I lost a lot of blood okay? Don't blame me."
"I've spent all day healing you guys and then getting my heart abused for it."
Kid blinked at that. "Uh, your 'heart abused'?"
"It's a long story but basically Vergo got ahold of my heart and kept crushing it." Law muttered, slumping against his flesh arm. "So be good and stay still while I shut my eyes for a bit. My head is pounding."
"Oi Chopper, all I have to do is feed the Pervy Cook?" Zoro asked, the blonde Vampire was slumped over his shoulder, his other hand holding a dark haired girl who he vaguely recognised.
"Oh shit! Ain't she a police officer?! She tried to arrest me!" Kid cursed.
"It's fine." The Spirit Healer at his side dismissed. "She's under Lami's control right now. After a bit of rest I'm going to see if I can restore her soul to it's original state."
"What do you mean?" The redhead asked.
"Lami's developed her Spirit Healer abilities to the point where she can change a soul. She's obviously made Tashigi-ya loyal to her or Doflamingo and changed a few core aspects of her personality." Law explained, his eyes still closed. "I should be able to fix it. I've never done anything like that though so it's difficult to tell."
"Well just don't do anything too risky. You're exhausted." Kid point out, earning a smirk.
"Aw, you worried about me?"
"Shut it." The Human Lord grunted, running his hand through Law's hair.
"Sanji's been drained of most of his blood. It looked like Caesar was experimenting with it." Chopper explained to Zoro quietly. "He should regain his strength after you feed him though."
"Right. I'll go wake up the Prince of Dumbass Kingdom then. The moron's always needing saved." Zoro grunted as he carried the Vampire off, confusing him.
"How's Roronoa going to revive your Vampire? The guy's a Werewolf, ain't their blood poisonous to Vampires?" Kid couldn't help but ask.
"You don't know? Cook-ya and Zoro-ya are mates." Law said. "They've been bonded for several games now."
"Seriously? Holy shit, never knew." Kid blinked, a bit surprised. "So all their arguing is like sexual tension or something?"
"Probably."
.::.
The battle had been a nightmare. It had killed Marco inside when he felt the connection to their father die, their Pops remaining on his feet as those disgusting pigs shot and stabbed him, all together like the cowards they were.
Fucking Teach. He was going to kill him. He was going to tear him limb from limb then chuck those to the bottom of an ocean somewhere to never be found again.
His head would go on a spike though and he would jam it in front of the manor as a god damn symbol.
Marco paused in his flight, he had been searching for any injured brothers or sisters that could have been scattered about. It had been just over an hour since Teach had attacked and still they were trying to recover all their family. The sight of a straw hatted boy lying on the ground near the gates though nearly made him cry out in terror.
Luffy was here. If Luffy was here then where was Ace?! Luffy wouldn't have come here alone unless something had gone terribly wrong!
He flew down, landing beside Ace's little brother and shaking him roughly, trying to wake him up. Luffy gave a groan in return, beginning to thankfully stir as he struggled to sit up. He blinked at him for a moment, his eyes glazed over before widening, his head spinning round quickly, as if searching-
No. No Ace hadn't been here. Luffy couldn't be searching for-
"ACE?! ACE WHERE ARE YOU?!" Luffy bellowed, on his feet immediately, pale and horrified.
He grabbed the kid's shoulders immediately. "What happened?! Was Ace here?!"
"Y-Yes! We came to say that stupid pie guy burned down our flat because no one was picking up the phone!" Luffy cried out. "But this weird wing guy blocked us off and did something... My head went all fuzzy and I don't remember much?"
The kid sounded confused as he tilted his head, as if considering something making Marco curse.
"Did he have dark wings? Did they feel horrible?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Yeah! And when he spoke to me my head went all fuzzy and Ace screamed something... I... I think I punched him..." Luffy looked so confused making Marco curse.
"That was Laffitte, if our intel is correct he can hypnotise people. He probably got you to help him attack Ace." Marco stiffened. "You said they burned down your apartment? But you weren't there?"
"No, we were rescuing our friends from Doflamingo."
"This was a trap." Marco muttered. "This wasn't about bringing us down... This was about drawing Ace out because they couldn't find him..."
"We have to find him! If they hurt him-"
"I doubt they will do much. They want to use him to find One Piece." Marco pointed out.
Luffy shook his head. "But Ace doesn't know where it is!"
"Teach might if he's taken Ace." Marco grimaced. "Either that or he just felt it was better to secure Ace now. It doesn't matter though, what matters is getting him back."
Luffy's expression darkened. "They won't take his freedom away. I refuse!"
"We need to get into contact with your men and talk to my family." Marco sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Ace should be safe for now but we need to find him quickly."
"Why can't I just go now?!"
"Do you know where he is?"
Luffy faltered at that, blinking before his shoulder's slumped. "Uh... Nope?"
"Exactly." Marco scowled.
.::.
"What was the point of all that?" Shiliew asked with a sneer as he followed his Lord down the stairs, displeased about how they wasted their time. "You only attacked Whitebeard to take his powers? Not to destroy his army?"
Teach laughed. "Did you really not wonder where Laffitte went to? He went and collected something for me while Whitebeard's sons were distracted with the death of their 'precious father'."
It was so stupid how loyal they were to him. Whitebeard was an old man, well and truly past his time. He had never won a single game and he always died every single round, leaving his 'poor' children behind, sobbing their hearts out everytime. It was funny how many times that had been repeated. It was like a curse the old man had, to die in front of all of them.
Shiliew's eyes narrowed. "He 'collected something'?"
Teach only opened the door to the cells, grinning at Laffitte who tipped his hat in respect, a grin on his face as he eyed Shiliew. "You're still underestimating the Captain, Shiliew? I might need to cut your throat if you keep that up."
"Now, now, none of that." Teach chuckled. "He didn't give you too much trouble I take it?"
"A fair bit but Whitebeard's death had shocked him. His brother managed to land a good hit on him after that." Laffitte drawled, moving aside to show a very familiar pair of eyes glaring at him, instead of warm and friendly like they used to be.
Ace was covered in bruises and cuts, though the one swollen on his temple appeared to be the worst.
"Hello Ace." He greeted cheerfully, happy to see the kid again who glowered at him and jerked against the shackles tethering him to the metal bed.
"Teach you son of a-"
Teach tsked. "Ah, ah, don't be rude. I tried getting you to come with me the peaceful way but you just kept refusing. It was rather hurtful Ace."
"So you have me kidnapped instead after you murdered Pops?!" Ace seethed. "Oh and let's not forget Thatch either!"
"Ace relax." Teach implored, wishing his old friend would just calm down and see the bigger picture already, unfortunately Ace was always stubborn. "Accept my invitation, join my family. Stop fighting it."
Ace snorted. "You certainly keep picking the best times to ask me that Teach. Seriously, you know how to pick 'em."
Shiliew growled. "We're relying on this brat to take us to One Piece?"
His old friend frowned, puzzled. "I don't know where it is. You know I don't."
"We do though." Teach offered, making the boy stiffen, stunned. "Or at least we have a theory, one you can confirm the closer we get. If I heard right, the closer you get the easier it is for you to sense it."
"And what's not to stop me from lying?" Ace raised an eyebrow. "Maybe point you in another direction?"
"You'll be too exhausted to even lie Ace." Teach said, shrugged at the glare he received in return. "It's your own fault, you could easily accept my generous invitation to join my family, to become one of my pawns and yet you have refused, repeatedly. I'll keep offering, but for now I think you could use a time out."
So with that he unleashed the darkness, quickly smothering the Vault Keeper with it to weaken him further, the seastone shackles would help with that too. Ace could barely put up a struggle, he was helpless now, so with a laugh he turned and left the kid behind in his cell, ready to set the next few steps of his plan in motion.
.:End of Chapter:.