Chapter 9 – What Goes Around Comes Around
Several hours had passed since Marco had confessed to Luffy and during that time Ace and Sabo had tried to kill the first division commander a total of twenty-three times. In the end Marco had finally lost his patience and with the help of several commanders - who weren't laughing while the brothers tried to kill him - tied the two brothers to the mast using seastone cuffs.
Currently Luffy was sat in the Galley enjoying a large dinner absently listening to the chatter around her while the commanders talked about mundane things. What many of the crew found funny was that if they listened carefully they could pick out the shouted curses from the pirate brothers that were still tied up on the deck. Luffy chuckled as she heard the latest load of death threats and profanities her brothers were shouting out at the top of their lungs. Marco however, who was sitting a few seats away from Luffy had a very different reaction. After trying to avoid serious attempts on his life for several hours the commander was a little worse for wear and had a whole new respect for just how protective the two brothers were over their sister. Marco had underestimated their teamwork and how they had fought in perfect unison when trying to kill him, the commander only avoided their attacks but he had had to work in order to avoid both of them. After fighting together for so long Ace and Sabo knew exactly how the other fought and were able to work off each other in order to take down stronger opponents. As a result, Marco's clothes were somewhat torn and burnt and his hair stuck out in even more angles than before.
What hadn't helped was the incessant teasing that the crew had put the division commander and the former Marine through. The worst one was Thatch who had gone round the ship singing at the top of his lungs, "Marco and Luffy, sitting in a tree. K.I.S.S.I.N.G~". Thanks to this the entire crew had found out about the development with the newest member and their division commander and had bombarded Luffy with highly embarrassing questions since Marco was busy trying not to get killed by Ace and Sabo. Luffy had finally lost her temper when she kept being interrupted during her lunch and had told the crew in no uncertain terms that the next person who kept her from her lunch would be thrown overboard. Thus Luffy was able to carry on eating in peace.
Thatch strolled over to where Luffy was eating and sat on the bench next to the former Marine, propping his elbows on the table.
"So…" He asked after being quiet for several minutes, "What are you going to do now that spring has come to our resident bird boy?"
Luffy threw Thatch a glare so venomous that it made the battle hardened commander flinch and back away a few inches from the teen. Picking up her cup of juice, Luffy chugged it down before she answered.
"How the hell should I know that? This is the first time in my life that someone has confessed to me. You're meant to be Mr. Popular with the ladies you tell me what I'm supposed to do." Luffy dipped the hat on her head to hide her eyes but the confused scowl on her face was plain to see.
Thatch raised his eyebrows at the teen with a smirk playing with the corner of his mouth. It was a new experience for him to see the usually cool headed Marine so confused and flustered. Thatch's small smirk turned into a full shit eating grin as he thought about all the fun he was going to have with the two in the next year, this of course included all the pranks he was going to play to make the two new lovebirds very awkward.
"Well…" Thatch answered after a few moments, "You have a year to get to know each other, you might as well take things slowly." Of course, Thatch had absolutely no intention of letting Marco and Luffy avoid each other. He was going to push them together and watch from the sidelines, laughing his guts out, as he watch the awkward new couple try to get out of the situations he planned for them without dying from embarrassment.
Luffy scowled at Thatch, she didn't have to read his mind to know he was up to no good, especially when he had a huge grin on his face. With a long sigh, the girl knew that the next year would be filled with embarrassing situations, most of which would have been the result of one of Thatch's pranks.
"Fine, but you get to deal with my brothers when they see me and Marco together." Luffy told Thatch holding her fork threateningly under his nose
Thatch paled, he hadn't expected that his brilliantly concocted plans would bite him in the ass so soon. He did not want to deal with the wrath of two over protective brothers who would find out that it was him pushing their precious baby sister onto a 'perverted old man' as they had dubbed Marco in one of their many rants.
Luffy smirked when she saw Thatch's pale face and got up from the bench to carry the many plates to the large sink next to the kitchen so that whoever was on cleaning duty could wash them. Looking over her shoulder she saw Thatch had a queasy expression on his face as he stared blankly into thin air. Luffy felt a little guilty for threatening to sic her brothers on Thatch and went back to the table and tapped the commander on the shoulder.
"Hey, are you up for sparring with me a bit? I didn't work up a sweat when I was fighting Marco earlier and I want a good workout."
Thatch gave a small smile at the teen before nodding and standing up, "You know your brothers are probably going to try and kill me as well when they see you sparring when you're meant to be resting." He told Luffy with a smile as the two made their way up to the deck.
Luffy chuckled, "Nah, they've probably passed out from exhaustion and lack of air after trying to kill Marco for several hours then swearing up a storm while chained up with seastone."
Both pirates laughed as they walked across the deck and saw that both Ace and Sabo were soundly asleep while tied to the mast. A snot bubble could be seen coming out of Ace's nose while Sabo's hat had fallen off while the blonde was leaning against the mast, dead to the world. The crew that were on the deck would occasionally look at the two tied captives and chuckle to themselves, both impressed and amused at the antics of their two youngest siblings.
Luffy and Thatch both smiled as they walked past to a quiet corner of the deck so that they could spar in peace and not get in any of the crew's way. Thatch took out his two swords while Luffy got into a fighting stance.
Seeing that both of them were ready Thatch smiled at his opponent, "Remember, this is just to get us to work up a sweat. Don't go overboard like you did with Marco, I don't want your brothers after my head as well."
The two didn't move for a good minute before lunging at each other. Punches, blocks, slashes, kicks, lunges and dodges were performed with almost perfect synchronisation. It was the first time that the two had fought each other yet they were both familiar with how they should move, in attacking and blocking. The former Marine fought with precision and grace that showed the rigorous training she had undertaken over the years, both with her brothers while growing up and later with the Marines when she had been captured. Thatch's fighting style was a little rougher but it showed his experience that he had gained through his years of fighting.
Whitebeard who was sitting on his throne absently sipping on his usual bottle of sake watched the two, silently impressed with his youngest daughter. Her previous battle with Marco had clearly shown that she was strong but the captain could see her skill as Luffy exchanged blows with Thatch. Whitebeard had been slightly worried about the two since they were both technically meant to be resting but after watching them for several minutes he could tell that there was nothing to worry about. Their sparring had also drawn the attention of the other crew members on the deck who absently watched them as they set about their individual tasks.
After about half an hour the two broke apart, both had a light sheen of sweat covering their bodies and they were panting lightly. Thatch grinned broadly as he sheathed his swords and stripped off his shirt as he watched Luffy popped open the buttons of her cardigan and used her straw hat as a makeshift fan to cool herself down.
"Not bad kid," Thatch said with a wide grin after a few quiet moments, "You're almost on the same level as us commanders. Give it a year of training and you'll be able to give Marco a run for his money." Luffy gave the commander a wide grin in response before Thatch continued speaking, "You better hit the showers, ask any of the crew and they'll point you in the right direction."
Luffy turned to the equally sweaty commander, "Aren't you going to get a shower? If you don't the crew will pass out from the smell."
Thatch threw his sweaty shirt at Luffy which she dodged resulting in the shirt hitting the deck with a wet splat. "Cheeky brat, I'll get a shower as soon as I've woken up your idiot brothers."
Luffy smiled and made her way below deck so that she could ask the nurses where the women's bathroom was and to borrow a towel and other necessities. Watching the teen leave Thatch's grin grew, it was time for him to put his first prank of 'embarrass the awkward couple' into action.
Thatch crouched next to the two pirate brothers and started poking them awake. Ace's snot bubble popped as her came into wakefulness while Sabo blinked up at Thatch trying to clear away the grit in his eyes.
"Rise and shine you pair of sleeping beauties, time to get up." Thatch grinned manically at the two chained pirates and held up a key which he had stolen earlier, Ace looked up hopefully while Sabo eyed the key and the pirate holding it suspiciously.
"What do you want?" The blond questioned suspiciously
Thatch's expression took one of fake hurt, "How cruel of you to be suspicious of you new big brother. I just came here to give you two a deal, I'll let you go if you swear not to try and kill Marco for the rest of today and to limit your attempts to assassinate him to only once a day. If you agree I'll unlock the chains and let you have something to eat."
His answer was a pair of rumbling stomachs from the brothers which caused the older pirate to chuckle. Bending down Thatch inserted the key into the cuffs and chains which popped open, releasing the bound pirates.
Ace and Sabo stood up, stretching out sore muscles after being chained up for several hours. Sabo bent down to pick up his hat and after dusting it off a little placed it on his head, Ace yawned widely, stretching his arms over his head popping his joints. Once both had shaken off their tiredness they turned to Thatch, with a large smile the commander led the way to the galley.
"So, what do you feel like eating?" Thatch asked over his shoulder
Sabo just shrugged while Ace grunted rubbing his eyes. Their response made Thatch chuckle, since the brothers looked like two children who had just finished being told off and were trying to show they didn't care. Thatch chuckled 'That's actually not too far from the truth' he mused to himself.
Marco paled as he say the three pirates enter the galley and half stood up from the bench in preparation to run should Ace and Sabo attack him again. The two brothers glared balefully at the phoenix but Thatch's deal and their own empty stomachs took priority over another attempt to kill the perverted geezer. The brothers filled their plates with as much food as they could before sitting down at one of the many tables and started to devour their meal. While this had been happening the galley had been completely silent, the Whitebeard pirates had watched with baited breadths to see how the three would act after numerous assassination attempts only a few hours ago. Once it could be seen that the two new members were settled eating their lunch a collected sigh was let out from the watching pirates. Some were disappointed since they could see their commander being chased anymore while others were relieved that they could finish their meal in peace.
While eating Sabo glanced around the galley, trying to spot their wayward sister since the blonde figured that where there was food Luffy was bound to be as well. Sabo craned his neck, "Where's Luffy?" he asked absently as he tried to look around the entire galley.
Thatch grinned, "She's helping the nurses move some supplies into one of the storage rooms." He lied smoothly, "If you want I can take you too her once you've finished eating, what do you say?"
"Thank you." Sabo said bowing his head slightly, while Ace copied the gesture but his mouth was too full of food to allow him to talk without him spraying if he tried.
Once the two finished their many plates of food the three stood up, Thatch made his way over to Marco and leaned on the table while Ace and Sabo waited for him.
"What are you scheming?" Marco demanded as soon as Thatch had made it to his table.
Thatch held his hands up in surrender, "Calm down pineapple head, I just wanted them to get something to eat since you could hear their stomachs growling from across the deck. I made them promise that if they didn't try to kill you for the rest of today I would feed them."
Marco sighed, and rubbed his face with both hands, "Great, so I have what's left of today not to worry about them aiming for my head next, and tomorrow along with the rest of the year, will be exactly like this morning. Just brilliant."
Thatch grinned and wagged his finger under the blonde commander's nose, "Nuh uh, listen and be amazed my feathered brother. Your brilliant younger brother and genius commander has managed to negotiate that the two brats can only try to kill you once a day! Well, what do you think of the amazing me?"
Marco cocked his brow at his fellow commander, "You seriously think they're going to stick to stick to that?"
"They will if they want to get fed." Thatch replied with a wide grin, "Now that we don't have anything left to worry about, let go!" Thatch grabbed Marco's arm and dragged him to where Ace and Sabo were waiting by the door, earning both the commanders a glare that could peel paint. "Alright kiddies, let's go find Luffy!"
Thatch led the small procession down the hall below deck, which consisted of Marco being dragged along as he stuttered protests, Sabo following behind the commanders with a faintly amused look as he watched Marco and Ace who alternated between smirking and throwing death glares at the blonde commander.
After ten minutes of walking Thatch came to a sudden stop and slapped his forehead, "Shoot!" he cried out suddenly, "We went too far and passed the storage room, where Luffy is."
Sabo looked amused at the brunette's antics, "If you want I can teleport us there if you can tell me which door is for the storage room. I pretty much remember every door that we passed on the way here."
Thatch grinned and Marco had a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach telling him that whatever was about to happen was definitely not going to be good.
"Do you remember the red door that we passed?" Thatch asked Sabo, who nodded in return, "Can you teleport us inside?"
Sabo grinned "Sure, that easy to do."
Marco was desperately trying to remember any red doors along the corridors that they had walked but his mind was coming up blank. He knew that he needed to find the answer if he wanted to escape from whatever Thatch was planning.
"Okay, let's go." Sabo said as he held out one of his hands to Thatch as the other held Ace's arm. What the blond sibling didn't expect was for Marco to be thrown towards him as he was preparing to teleport the moment his outstretched hand had made contact, thus teleporting himself, Ace, Marco who been thrown at him and Thatch who had been grabbed by Marco after he had thrown the blonde commander at Sabo. The last part had not been part of Thatch brilliant plan. The result was all four landing in a pile just inside the room with the red door.
Groaning Marco got up from where he lay on top of Sabo, who's eyes were spinning slightly from his impact with the floor. Marco saw Ace on his hands and knees rubbing his head while Thatch looked like he was going to be sick, which made the phoenix curious and looked around.
The reason for Thatch's look became immediately apparent.
The four of them were surrounded by the semi clothed and naked women of the Whitebeard Pirates. What drew Marco's attention however was the completely naked form of Luffy in front of him who was steaming slightly and had droplets of waters run down her body. Marco swallowed thickly and felt blood begin to dribble out of his nose as he felt his eyes roam over the woman in front of him as she stared back at him.
"Ladies, thank you for the view!"
Thatch was the one to break the pregnant silence. Marco closed his eyes as he knew that all hell was about to break loose. Within the split seconds he had before the women in the room attacked Marco grabbed Ace around the arm and Sabo by his coat collar and bolted out the door. Running at a dead sprint while dragging the two teens with him Marco headed for the only safe haven that he could think of that the three could hide in till things calmed down.
Oyaji's room.
Banging on the door Marco didn't wait for a reply before dashing inside and slamming the door behind him. Panting, Marco collapsed on the floor, before looking at the two brothers that he had taken with him when he ran. The commander knew that he didn't feel a single bit of regret about abandoning Thatch and wished that he could join in the beating that he knew that his idiotic brother would be currently getting for tricking them into teleporting into the women's bathing room.
Ace looked dazed as he crouched on the floor from where Marco had dropped him, Sabo lay on his back with his hand over his eyes.
"What the hell just happened?" Ace asked after he had caught his bearings
Marco swallowed, he had a good idea of what would happen if he told the over protective sibling that he had seen their baby sister in all her naked glory. The commander had no intention of dyeing just yet so he decided to throw his brother to the wolves and hope that he could save his own skin.
"Congratulations, you two have just been pranked by Thatch-yoi. The door that he asked Sabo to teleport behind was for the women's bathroom. Let's just hope that they'll direct their fury at Thatch and we'll be able to stay hidden till they calm down-yoi."
Both the pirates brothers nodded, since they knew how much shit they would be in if the residents of the bathroom not only realized that Thatch wasn't alone but that they had teleported with him. 'I also hope that they never find out that I saw Luffy naked' Marco added to himself as he recalled how good the former Marine had looked and that he would be able to enjoy his memories later when he was in the safety of his own room. He could only hope that Luffy kept silent about how he had been there.
All three men let out a long sigh and resigned themselves for the long wait in Whitebeard's empty room before they dared to even peek out outside. Marco leant against the door and decided that he was going to get some much need sleep, Sabo watched the commander between his fingers from his position on the floor while Ace did the same. The siblings came to a silent and mutual decision. The commander had saved them from the wrath of who knew how many irate women which had earned a few points for him in their book. Settling down the two siblings decided that they would get some sleep while they waited for things to calm down.
…
Ace was woken with his stomach rumbling, telling him that dinner had already passed. Yawning widely, another loud rumble came from Ace's stomach causing Marco and Sabo to groan as they woke up and a deep chuckle to come from somewhere deeper in the room. Ace started as he made out the large form of his new captain lying on the huge bed hooked up to various pieces of medical machinery while sipping on a large bottle of sake.
Ace was shocked. He hadn't even heard or realised that the old man had entered the room, looking at Sabo's equally shocked face the younger brother realized that he wasn't the only one. Marco on the other hand didn't look surprised at all as he rubbed the grit from his eyes while standing up to stretch after sleeping in an awkward position.
"Gurarara. Dinner ended an hour ago, but I'm sure the cooks will give you something if you tell them that you missed dinner." Whitebeard told them with another amused chuckle.
The three pirates nodded and made their way out of the door before they stopped when they heard Whitebeard call out to them. "You might want to check out the deck. You'll see something amusing."
Throwing their captain confused looks the three made a detour to the deck to be met with a crowd of very amused pirates surrounding the mast. When Marco, Ace and Sabo caught sight of what had gathered the crowd all three had to clap their hands over their mouths to hold in their laughter.
A gagged Thatch had been tied upside down to the mast. He had been stripped down to his boxers which were a lurid pink. The fourth commander's usual pompadour hairstyle had been taken down and was tied into numerous braids that had also been dyed bright pink and sparkled with glitter. An added insult was that the braids had been tied with girly hair bands that made any self respecting man cringe. Thatch's face had been drawn on with marker pen and he now sported a curling moustache, a large black eye patch over his left eye and thick, fake nose hair had been added as a final touch. What was most prominent was the large message painted in pink on the commander's chest.
'I am a pervert. Do not feed me!'
Ace gave up holding in and bent over double laughing as he clutched his sides, while Sabo and Marco tried to desperately hide their laughter behind their hands. They managed to stop when they saw Luffy come from behind them and gave the three an icy smile that made the temperate drop several degrees.
"I won't tell anyone that you were there as well," she told them sweetly, "however, should anything like this happen again then you will be going Thatch on the mast. Understood?"
The three men nodded their heads fervently as they watched the former Marine make her way back below deck.
"Remind me never to piss off your sister-yoi." Marco told the brothers in a soft voice.
Ace looked at the commander pityingly while Sabo patted Marco's shoulder in a comforting manner.
"You have no idea." They told the commander in unison, which made the battle hardened pirate gulp in fear.
