Our Future Wings - Chapter One: Impromptu Fatherhood

A/N: Contains spoilers up until chapter 1093.

Inspired by "Dancing With Butterfly Wings" by Ateez.


떨리는 순간 꿈들을 쟁취해, uh (hey)

느낄 수 있다면 손을 뻗어 힘껏

Translation:

"At the moment of trembling, get the dreams (Hey)

If you can feel it, reach out as far as you can (Woo)"

- Mingi, in Ateez's "Dancing With Butterfly Wings"


As the translucent ceiling panels rained and shattered around him, Roronoa Zoro removed Wado Ichimoji from his mouth and allowed himself to breathe.

"Fifteen minutes until self-destruction," echoed the intercom, as an identical message glowed in neon signs around the laboratory. The building continued to quake around him, and more debris fell. The wall where he and his opponent had pummeled through was the least stable, the cracks and fissures multiplying like abstract branches that would eventually lead to its crumbling.

Sheathing his last sword, Zoro assessed the situation.

First off, physical injuries. The sleeves of his new coat were shredded, with some of Lucci's scratches reaching his skin. It appeared that Dr. Vegapunk's patented clothes were highly durable. However, a more prominent gash was on his left side, which was bleeding. Fabric could only shield so much from devil-fruit and haki-based attacks.

This was nothing. Minor wounds were a minimal price in exchange for this victory to the man who almost took Robin from them—the man whom only Luffy could defeat. Yet here, after a semi-intense battle, he had claimed his victory from Rob Lucci. The Leopard devil-fruit user definitely had become stronger, but he was nothing compared to his last foes on Wano.

"It would be great to take the No. 2 of an Emperor," Lucci had said at the beginning of the battle.

The CP0 agent lay unconscious, fully de-transformed from his awakened leopard form. Several gashes crisscrossed the man's body, and blood pooled near his left ear. The swordsman heard rushed footsteps and turned to the source of the noise. The two stared at each other, and Zoro reached for his swords, in case he would transform into the colossal giraffe. He heard the other man utter a curse, shaking his head.

Although he was panting, Kaku wasted no time gently picking up his partner. Zoro watched him, allowing the other agent to retrieve him. Although there was a chance that Kaku would still retaliate, everyone's priorities were on evacuating the island first.

Zoro saw the conflicting emotions that were obvious on Kaku's face. Looking back, Kaku seemed surprised at Lucci's assassination attempt, only to stab Stussy, who blocked the attack, instead. No doubt that he had been kept in the dark about their mission. If they weren't enemies, Zoro might have felt pity for the man.

"This isn't over, Strawhat Pirates," he said. With that threat left hanging in the air, two retreated, hurrying towards the exit.

Next, location.

Zoro and Lucci's duel had been led away from the main heat of the battle, where Luffy had hopefully finished fighting Kizaru. A giant "B" was plastered on the wall, right over the exit where the two just left. Earlier, they were in Building A, so it had to be the building next door, right?

All he had to do now was navigate out of this blasted place. He just had to follow the signs on doorways that said "EXIT". If he was still stuck indoors (not lost), he would just cut a pathway straight through, and he'd make it outside eventually. The place was going to blow anyway.

Taking a different route than the CP0 agents, in case he ran into more annoying opponents, he went in the opposite direction. It's not like he wouldn't be able to take more people, but he needed to get back to the others as soon as possible.

Perhaps that was the wrong decision.

Instead of reaching towards an exit, he seemed to enter deeper into the laboratory.

"Intruder alert!" blared a robot, before Zoro cleaved it in two. Security laser guns stationed in the corners pointed towards him, and he dodged the red beams, cutting them as he made his way through and turned right through another open hallway. "Thought they'd be deactivated," he muttered.

What was it that Lilith woman said during their tour? Something about this being a weaponry building?

"Ten minutes until self-destruction."

Right, he had to get the hell out of here.

After making more wrong turns, Zoro decided now was the time to do Plan B, cutting his way through.

Perhaps that was another wrong decision.

Slicing his way through a wall, instead of a floor, the swordsman was greeted with open air, and found himself free-falling, the floor approximately three storeys below. He yelled as he made his impromptu way down, due to the natural force called gravity.

Swearing while dusting himself off, Zoro assessed the situation once more.

His side was still bleeding, but his coat seemed to have strong absorption, acting as a bandage. Hopefully, it was sterile. Zoro could hear the little doctor screaming about developing an infection.

In the centre of the room, was a large computer, its screen taking up two-thirds of the wall. It also displayed the countdown, ticking away the seconds. A yellow triangle with an exclamation mark blinked in the bottom left corner.

Surrounding the computer, to Zoro's realization, were rows and columns of large containers along the walls. Many of them held glowing green liquid, with various deformed lumps of mass. Only the last two rows at the top had nothing in them. Almost all of them had taped shut with bright yellow tape, with the words "TERMINATED" in bold black letters.

Zoro was not one to feel squeamish, as the experience of a pirate at sea exposed him to violence and many inhumane horrors. But something about this place just felt so…wrong.

Ignoring the unsettling feeling in his stomach, he went to the computer. Maybe there was a map or door switch that he could access. The witch would be so proud.

Lifting the mouse (he had no idea why it was called that, it looked nothing like the small rodent), he attempted to mimic what he saw Atlas do earlier.

He must have clicked the wrong thing because the yellow triangle expanded into a new message. Alongside it, was a picture of his face from two years ago, on that fateful day in Sabaody.

Well, that didn't help. Now, he just felt more unnerved. Why the hell did Dr. Vegapunk have data on him?

"Project No.8 - S-Hunter still in progress, three months until completion. " the computer said. "The chance of success is 30%. Would you like to extract before self-destruction?"

Meanwhile, the bottom row of pods began to whir on the conveyor belt, as one sealed pod made its way to the middle.

"S-Hunter…?" Zoro said aloud.

The Seraphims from earlier all had codenames. The one that looked like their current helmsman was called S-Shark. His mentor/rival's clone was called S-Hawk.

"There is no way…"

The swordsman felt the blood draining from his face, coursing through his veins, and seeping into his coat. He raced to the pod, jabbing at the crack with his sword until it released open on its own.

Zoro didn't know what would have happened had he never fallen into this room.

Inside, there was a small boy, around the age of four to five. His spiky white hair was uncombed, and although his black wings were fairly small, he was definitely a Seraphim.

What frightened Zoro, though, was that the kid's face was a mirror of his own, save for the two visible crimson eyes that were now glaring right back at him.

"RAWR!" the clone demon screamed, and it leaped from the pod, sinking its teeth into Zoro's left shoulder, causing him to yelp. He tried to tear the boy away from him, without causing him harm, but the brat's grip was strong.

The two fought and stumbled around the laboratory until they arrived at a hallway that led to a promising exit. It had a glowing red sign that said so. Yet Zoro paid no heed to it, focusing on the problem at hand.

"Were all the Seraphims bloodsuckers?" he thought. "But Stussy doesn't seem to be one, so maybe it was all of Dr. Vegapunk's clones? Or were all Lunarians just flying vampire demons?" Zoro didn't recall King ever resorting to this method of attack.

Or maybe this clone was just a menace of his own.

Still reeling from the shock and processing his thoughts, Zoro tried his best to separate the little demon from his neck. Maybe he should just knock this kid out and carry him.

As if he sensed his intentions, the Seraphim stopped biting him, releasing himself from his shoulder and immediately crawled his way to the swordsman's back. Zoro spat back curses, as the clone bit his fingers when he tried grabbing him off.

"Five minutes until self-destruction."

Zoro started moving away from the exit area. Noticing the direction they were heading, the kid paused his onslaught, surprising the swordsman. Seeing that he was caught off guard, S-Hunter took advantage of that. He leapt up, swinging him around, hissing.

"Dumb," he said. "You. Dummy."

He started aggressively headbutting his back, forcing Zoro to turn around and move forward. After a forceful bite on his buttocks, they unceremoniously crashed through the door, and the chilly air of the island greeted them.

Zoro finally managed to grab him off his back, but the Seraphim wrapped himself around his right arm, giving him a pointed look.

"Must. Retreat."

"Get off my arm, you're gonna slow us down!"

"No."

And the child bit him again.

"One minute until self-destruction."

Luckily for the two of them, Zoro spotted Sunny. With no choice, the swordsman let the kid nibble his arm and sped his way to the Straw Hats' ship.


As soon as he landed on the Thousand Sunny (thanks to Luffy's usual retrieval, which involved being suddenly manhandled and flying through the air at superman speed), he grabbed the scientist with his left arm, much to the horror of the passengers.

The ship had departed from Egghead Island, while Atlas steered one of their submarine vessels next to them.

Zoro stared menacingly at the scientist, while the little devil continued to hold onto his arm for dear life, his small incisors breaking into his skin.

The other surviving Vegapunks aimed their weapons at him, as did the other Seraphim, but Luffy flailed at them to stop and turned to him.

"Ahhhh Zoro!" he yelled. "Don't cut him up, we just saved him!"

His captain appeared to have already been treated, a few bandages wrapped near his elbows, and a few around his fingers. Right now, he just stared incredulously at his first mate, and his eyes went comically wider when he spotted the gremlin.

"Aah! It's a scary Zoro-baby!" he shouted.

Behind him, Usopp and Chopper also screamed.

"It's not a scary Zoro-baby!" Usopp shouted. "It's a scary Zoro-child!"

"Zoro!" the reindeer cried. The doctor was focusing on the first mate's left torso. "You're bleeding!"

Ignoring them, Zoro glared at Dr. Vegapunk, who was trembling.

"What did you do?" he demanded, lifting his right arm with the Seraphim.

Beads of sweat began to form on the old man's face, and he nervously chuckled.

"After the success of the warlords," he began to ramble. "My next project was making new ones for the worst generation. But we ran into an issue. You see, there are not enough DNA samples for you lot- well, I had Bonney, but I promised Kuma never to clone his daughter-"

"I said, what do you do?" Zoro repeated.

The scientist yelped, speaking faster.

"Kuma did gather enough blood samples after your encounter at Thriller Bark," Dr. Vegapunk continued. "And you are the only normal one- ah! Not to say you don't have extraordinary strength and skill, but considering how everyone else has devil fruit powers or isn't human-"

Dr. Vegapunk took a glance at the Seraphim.

"Alas, he's quite premature, plus he isn't perfect, and it seems the ruckus out here has damaged his wings-"

The kid clamped down harder, drawing more blood. Zoro ignored the pain, gripping Dr. Vegapunk with his lab coat.

"Old geezer. Did you clone me?"

He gulped, but quietly nodded, confirming it.

"Yes. It's not a successful version, but he was made with your DNA."

Zoro let the man go, and Dr. Vegapunk fell to the floor, wheezing. He quickly ran to join the rest of the Seraphim, telling them to not go into attack mode, as their current orders were to protect Vegapunk.

"Oi," he said. "I need help getting the brat off me."

He glanced at his fellow crew members, but none of them made a move, unsure of what to make of the scene. Zoro heard faint snickering, and in the corner of his eye, saw S-Hawk. But the Mihawk clone stopped as if he had never been laughing at all.

The door leading to the kitchen swung open, and the last person Zoro wanted to witness this situation stepped out.

"Why the hell is it so noisy out here?"

Sanji, wearing the checkered blue and white apron, was balancing a stack of trays with his right hand, which were plated with freshly baked pastries. The man appeared to have no injuries, but Zoro knew that Sanji would rather live a hell on earth than not make sure the crew was well-fed. His eyes trailed to Zoro, and to their new guest, who was now also eyeing the cook.

A wave of understanding went through Sanji's eyes, and he calmly approached the two. Zoro could have sworn that the man was trying hard not to laugh.

"Ah, glad the marimo didn't get lost," the cook said, scoffing at Zoro. Then, in a more gentle voice, "And who do we have here?"

Zoro expected the little demon to fly at Sanji's head, maybe tearing out a lock or two of his hair. Not that he would let it happen. For longer than five seconds. Ten seconds. A minute. Or well, before things got life-threatening.

To his surprise, Zoro felt him loosen his grip, and the kid removed his mouth, a mixture of drool and blood now on his arm.

"Although he is a moss head," Sanji continued. "I don't think he tastes good now, does he?"

He picked up one of the pastries with the red filling and reached out to offer it. "Come and try this strawberry Danish, kid."

With his free hands (his legs remained wrapped around Zoro's bicep), the Seraphim plucked the pastry and took a bite. The stars in his eyes began to dazzle.

"Yummy."

He shoved the rest in his mouth, chewing aggressively as Sanji offered a second, then a third.

Right as he finished the last one, S-Hunter yawned and flung himself onto the cook's left shoulder, surprising the both of them.

Upon hearing the small snores, they realized that he had fallen asleep.

"My my, I think he likes you!" exclaimed Dr. Vegapunk.

Nami and Usopp immediately shushed him.

"Oi, cook," Zoro whispered. "What did you put in them?"

"Nothing, idiot." Sanji chuckled. "The kid is just having a food coma."

"Huh. Guess your shitty cooking is good for something for once."

Sanji glared at him, as he adjusted the seraphim's weight on him.

"If I wasn't carrying food and this kid right now, I would have kicked you through the upper deck," he growled. "That's not how a person says 'thank you.'"

He rolled his eyes. "'Course the neanderthal doesn't know basic manners."

"You wanna fight, dart-brow?!"

"Unless you wanna wake your brat up, you better shut the hell up!"

"HE'S NOT MY-"

"Shhh Zoro!" hissed Usopp.

Zoro went to give him the finger, only to realize that several teeth marks were cascading around his knuckles.

Sensing the conversation coming to a close, Sanji began to make his way to the other guests.

"Oi, where do you think you are going with him?" Zoro demanded before he could stop himself. He just didn't expect the cook to still carry him.

The cook paused, frowning as he adjusted the child on his shoulders.

"Are you telling me that you wanna take him?" he questioned.

"Hell no."

"Then why ask?"

"Fuck you."

"That's what I thought. Dumbass."

Zoro decided to let him go, while Chopper went to drag him to the infirmary to treat his wounds. Silently, he hoped the kid would drool more on the cook's expensive suit.


On the deck above the foremast, Sanji watched as Jinbe gave a vivre card to S-Shark, along with a small robe, similar to the one he wore.

Earlier, while he was approaching the door, planning to spoil the women with the delectable desserts, the cook had overheard the conversation between the swordsman and scientist.

"Alas, he's quite premature, plus he isn't perfect-"

"It's not a successful version-"

It would be an understatement to say that it had struck a nerve.

"Goddamn, what the fuck is it with these scientists and their obsession with perfection?" Sanji had thought. Toying with the lives of innocent children in the process without giving a damn about the children themselves. Discarding them once they had no purpose.

Then again, perhaps Dr. Vegapunk had more humanity in him. He did spend the past few hours manually deactivating the hierarchy control programmed in the seraphim individually. Or at least, the four that were with him. Unfortunately, the remaining three warlord clones that were not present were still in the hands of the World Government.

After he had finished, the seraphim were no longer subservient to anyone. In other words, they had free will.

"S-Hunter doesn't have to go through this process," Dr. Vegapunk had explained. "He never reached full maturity, so the next stage of programming the command controls could not take place. Even as he is now, the government would have no use for him. He's too weak in comparison to his older siblings."

Sanji had to keep himself from kicking the scientist in the head.

Currently, S-Bear was playing with Bonney in the sub with the rest of the Vegapunks, while S-Snake continued to stalk their captain around the ship. It seemed, like Boa Hancock, she had also had a crush on him (something that Sanji would never understand). Near the stairs, S-Hawk was having a quiet conversation with Zoro.

Meanwhile, upon waking from his self-induced food coma, S-Hunter had attached himself to Sanji. At first, he thought the boy wanted more food, so he brought out some shrimp dumplings to feed him. The child did eat them, but he continued to follow him around as he gave the other guests food, and did not ask for more. Strangely enough, the marimo-clone had taken a liking to him.

Currently, the child was watching the swordsman and S-Hawk's conversation, as the two were chilling on the lawn deck. S-Hunter's face was almost unreadable, except his right eye twitched, which Sanji knew was a habit of Zoro's when he got annoyed.

"This should take you to Fishman Island," he heard the helmsman tell the younger clone. "Tell King Neptune that the Straw Hats sent you there, okay?"

S-Shark nodded robotically. "Yes, sir."

The fishman shook his head. "Kid, that wasn't a command, er, well it kind of was." He sighed, gently placing his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Look," Jinbe said. "You're free now, but it isn't safe here. Just go back and tell them you're my clo-er, my son? That would be easier to explain than the cloning."

"Shall I explain if I have the time, sir-"

"Dad. Call me Dad."

The child tilted his head and nodded again.

"Shall I explain it to them, Dad?"

"Alright, but do it privately with just the king."

"Understood, Dad." And Jinbe smiled, gently tousling the child's hair.

After that quiet exchange, Sanji noticed that the younger Zoro Seraphim had been observing the conversation as well. Sanji couldn't get a good read of the kid's emotions, but the current expression on his face reminded him of the marimo.

The same expression, when he resolved to do something, and that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Alright," said Dr. Vegapunk. "We'll meet up with everyone on Elbaf after we return Bonney to Sorbet Kingdom and S-Shark to Fishman Island." He gestured to the seraphim to follow him. "S-Snake, S-Hawk, S-Shark, S-Hunter, let's go."

After fist-bumping Jinbe, S-Shark grabbed S-Hawk by the shoulder, who quietly looked at the swordsman, and awkwardly waved farewell, as they stepped into the submarine.

S-Snake pouted, twirling a lock of her luminous white hair, but listened. The girl winked and blew a kiss in their captain's direction before joining the other two.

However, S-Hunter made no move to follow the rest of his older siblings, with the same look on his face that Sanji had seen earlier.

He went to stand in front of him and stared straight at Zoro.

"Stay. Here."

And he plopped down, crossing his legs and arms.

"EHHH?!" everyone exclaimed incredulously.

"Hey, Little Zoro, don't you want to go with your friends?" asked Nami, who crouched next to him. The beautiful navigator carefully rested her right hand on the child's shoulder, as if to coax him. S-Hunter paid no heed, not breaking his gaze.

"Yeah," agreed Usopp. The sniper shakily reached to pat the clone's other shoulder.

"Evil-uh Small Zoro," he continued. "The seas are for the strongest and bravest-YEOUCH!" he yelped as S-Hunter snapped his teeth, nearly biting his fingers off. Nami also flinched, retracting her hand, and the two cowered behind Sanji.

"Want to stay." He pointed to the swordsman. "With Father."

The swordsman sputtered indignantly. Sanji thought he heard S-Hawk snort through the submarine's intercom.

"Oi kid, I am not your-"

The little demon hissed, and scooted behind Sanji, glaring.

"I want to stay here," he repeated. "With Father."

Sanji didn't know if his head was in the right place at the moment, or if he was only projecting onto the kid. A fucked-up childhood in the Vinsmoke household did shit to a person, and while he was better, he never exactly recovered from the experience.

To him, it looked like the poor kid just wanted to be acknowledged by someone. And unfortunately, that person happened to be the shitty swordsman.

Most of all, the kid was lonely.

So logic be damned.

"We'll take him," Sanji spoke.

Several of his crewmates wheeled to face him, the swordsman in particular looking like he was experiencing whiplash.

"Sanji-kun?" Nami asked surprisingly.

Zoro stood up abruptly, causing Chopper to snap at him.

"Don't fight! You're still injured, stupid!" the reindeer cried.

He ignored him, climbing up the steps and walking towards Sanji.

"Oi, shitty cook, don't make decisions on your own," he growled.

"No," said Sanji affirmatively.

He stood in front of S-Hunter, shielding him, and glared at the green-haired man, igniting his right leg.

"I said we'll take him," he repeated.

Zoro followed suit, unsheathing Wado Ichimonji. Their crewmates started shouting, telling the two to calm down.

"Luffy, do something!" Nami yelled. Their captain, who sat far across them on the masthead, stayed quiet, watching Sanji and Zoro.

Sanji looked at him pleadingly.

"Luffy, please, let me take care of him."

"Don't I get a say in this?!" Zoro yelled. "He's the one that's fucking cloned after me!"

"I have to agree with Zoro," said Jinbe. "Are you sure this is a good decision? A pirate ship is no place for a child."

"Perhaps," mused Robin. "But he is no ordinary child. After all, he is a pacifista, and the clone of our future greatest swordsman."

Another snort came from the intercom.

"A very scary pacifista," muttered Usopp. The sniper fiddled with his slingshot nervously behind Nami, no doubt reliving the moment he almost lost his hand.

"Pretty super," said Franky, giving a thumbs up.

"He could one day kill me in my sleep," added Brook. "Oh wait, but I'm already dead. Yohohohoho!"

Dr. Vegapunk laughed, making eye contact with the cook.

"It appears S-Hunter has taken a liking to you, Blackleg," he said. "Did you know Lunarians can feel intent without needing Haki? He knows you're a good man, that's why he's sticking with you and your crew. Kid trusts you."

Sanji bit back a response. "Probably also because he doesn't trust you," he thought.

The scientist turned to Luffy. "As long as you guys are okay with him, I don't mind if he joins you. Despite his shortcomings, he's still a highly intelligent individual. He also probably has the directions to Elbaf, if the GPS installed in him works."

The Straw Hats began to murmur amongst themselves. Was it okay to bring a kid on the ship, even if he happened to be a super weapon? What if pirates attacked? Was he expected to help defend the crew or hide? Did Franky or S-Hunter shoot the better laser beams? Sanji had no clue how that last bit entered the conversation.

Only their captain remained quiet, sitting on Sunny's head as he watched the situation unfold. His right hand rested beneath his chin, thinking, as he looked again back and forth, between Sanji, Zoro, and S-Hunter.

"Hmmm? Hmmm. Hmmm."

Then, he smiled and leapt to the others, patting S-Hunter's head. Unlike Usopp, he did not snap at the rubber man's sudden contact. The boy's eyes only intensified when he looked at Luffy, but the rest of his poker face was unchanged.

"Okay," said Luffy. "Let's keep him!"

Sanji breathed out a sigh of relief. Beside him, Usopp and Nami's jaws dropped, while Brook's did, literally. Jinbe, Robin, and Franky only seemed slightly amused at the situation. Meanwhile, Zoro was turning different shades of red, and the blond could imagine steam popping out of his ears. Chopper screamed something about high blood pressure.

"Luffy!" the first mate screamed.

"Nope, Zoro," he said. Then, the rubber man grinned.

"Captain's orders," he added cheekily. "And I think two Zoros are better than one, don't you?" Laughing, he went back to the masthead.

Zoro groaned, exasperated, and stormed off, avoiding eye contact with the cook and the kid. He made his way to the crow's nest, most likely to sulk in his own ways. Which would be exercising in near-death conditions.

"Zoro no!" yelled Chopper, and the doctor ran up after him.

"Okay, that settles everything," said Dr. Vegapunk. He took one last look at S-Hunter, who remained silent.

"Thank you Straw Hats, and we'll see you all in Elbaf!"

"Bye old man!" shouted Luffy. "See you there!"

With that, the old man went down the hatch and sealed it, and the vehicle submerged deep into the ocean.

The rest of the Straw Hats dispersed back to their own devices, with Nami muttering about stupid idiots, and Usopp wondering aloud if Luffy was treating S-Hunter like one would with a vicious pet. Brook began fine-tuning his violin, and Jinbe went downstairs below, most likely to meditate.

Sanji caught Robin's eye, who smiled at him. She gave him a mysterious knowing look as she followed Franky, who was preparing the rest of Sunny's repairs.

Only Sanji and S-Hunter remained, and for a while, neither of the two spoke.

Finally, the kid quietly tugged the cook by the pant leg, catching his attention. He looked down at the kid, whose poker face was still there.

"Thank you, Dart-brow," the child said.

And he too left, following where the swordsman had gone.

Sanji sighed.

He reached into his side pocket for his lighter and lit a cigarette. A puff of smoke escaped from his mouth, which was a sharp contrast to the frigid air. It did little to ease the amount of stress that he got himself into.

This was going to be a long journey.


A/N: So far, the only highly unrealistic thing about this fic that comes to mind is that Zoro knows the word "absorption".

Other than that, I hope the characters aren't too OOC. Let me know what y'all think. I cannot promise consistent updates, but I will do my best and edit here and there. Please be gentle with me, but more importantly, I hope you guys like it so far~

See you in the next update!

- V