A/N: I have a small announcement to make. I'll put it in the end notes.
Warnings: PTSD, mention of past aggression.
Chapter 7: Welcome to Marine Ford
Sengoku was overworked. Honestly, these days, it felt as if the only things that kept him going were the rice crackers he compulsively ate as he tried to keep the world from exploding. If anyone wanted to see the Marine fall, all they would have to do was to close the rice cracker factory. That would make the system crumble, for sure. Ah! Didn't think about that, right Dragon?
Between the never-ending wave of piracy initiated by the late Pirate King, their current actions taken against the Revolutionary Army, and the negotiations he had to prepare with the Whitebeards, he had little time to take breaks. And to top it all, the Celestial Dragons were constantly nagging him about their bananas.
Yes, Sengoku was tired and fuelled by his precious rice crackers. Rice crackers that were now conscientiously stolen and eaten by one Monkey D. Luffy. If he hadn't been the one who orchestrated his capture, he would have sworn it was one of Dragon's plan to cause his demise.
He needed holidays...
He had known, the instant the two Monkeys had entered his office, that he was in for a tiring conversation. The kid was the spiting image of Garp. Having to engage with one was already a challenge, but two...
They were barely three steps in, when the boy had launched himself to his goat in a squeal of glee. The poor animal hadn't had the time to register what had happened before it was pulled into a weird noodlely hug.
"Devil fruit?"
Garp had let out a noncommittal grunt.
His friend had never told him the brat was a devil fruit user, though judging by his reaction it wasn't something new to him. The fruit seemed to give the boy some flexibility and a stretchy quality. A paramecia, or a logia maybe?
He had decided to put the matter aside. He'd have time to ask about it later.
He had coughed into his fist while Garp had berated his grandson over being rude by storming into the office. As if the man had any room to talk. Then his friend had had the audacity to take Sengoku's bag of rice crackers and shove it in the boy's hand as he had kitten-carried him to a sit.
Thus his blood pressure progressively rising.
He sighed. Some things just couldn't be helped.
"Welcome to Marine Ford, I am the Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"I am Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna be the..."
The kid, who had straightened in his seat as he introduced himself deflated suddenly, head dropping until the brim of the straw hat he adorned hid his face. Had he seen this straw hat somewhere? Anyway, Luffy seemed to have resigned himself that whatever he wished to be in the future wasn't in the picture any more. It was a good thing, though he felt a tinge of sympathy for the boy. As a man, he recognised how disheartening his fate was, but as the Fleet Admiral, he had made his choice. It was his duty to keep the world order, and he intended to do so, even if it meant the loss of an innocent child.
Still, it made for a sad picture. Might as well get it over with.
"From now on you will be in the care of the World Government. As such, all your movements will be monitored. You are not permitted to leave the ground of Marine Ford unless it is under the instruction of an Admiral or myself. You are not to have any contact with your father, Monkey D. Dragon, or anyone related to his organisation, the Revolutionary Army. Break any of those rules and you will be incarcerated."
Big brown eyes met Sengoku's. The kid wasn't crying, so that was good. He had been scared to see him break down, but his gaze held determination. The Fleet Admiral just hoped it wasn't the determination to escape. It would only make things painful for both of them.
"I trust that Garp will show you around. You will be living with him."
His friend nodded and put a hand on Luffy's shoulder.
"From what he told me, you have no knowledge about the Revolutionary Army or your father, but I still ought to ask. Do you have any information about him or his organisation?"
The kid shook his head. Sengoku sighed, exhaustion clinging to his bones.
"Well, that is all I needed to say. Before I let you go and settle down, you'll have to visit the infirmary for a check-up. You can wait in Garp's office, I'll send a nurse to get you."
He watched the two people in front of him. Garp seemed fairly surprised about this doctor's appointment but didn't object. Luffy was showing some sign of stress but nothing abnormal for a kid. Good, it was an important step of the plan. He knew his friend wouldn't have stopped them from enacting it, however keeping him in the dark was easier and safer.
"Luffy, come."
His friend led his grandson out of the office without a glance towards him. It was to be expected. The old monkey would need some time to forgive, but he would eventually.
He spotted his rice cracker bag abandoned on the vacated chair and went to retrieve it.
It was empty.
"Damn it!"
—
"Monkey D. Luffy?"
Luffy raised his head towards the door. A short man dressed in a white coat, long curly sandy hair pulled in a bun, was looking at him. He had thick round glasses perched on his nose and thin tight lips. He reminded Luffy of some frog or a lizard. Maybe he had a super long and sticky tongue that could catch food from afar. That would be awesome. He had tried it once, but his own tongue wasn't sticky so it didn't really work. Well, it kind of worked, cause Ace was too disgusted by the coating of saliva in his plate to finish it, so Luffy had ended up eating it. Afterward, he had had to promise to never do it again. Maybe he just lacked practice. Oh! Maybe Lizard-Guy could teach him? But first, he really needed to know...
"Do you lay eggs?"
"What?" A chorus of voices answered.
Lizard-Guy coughed into his fist.
"I'm supposed to bring you to the infirmary for a check-up, please follow me."
Oh right, that's why they were waiting in the office. He went to the man, and his Gramps made to follow, but Lizard-Guy raised a hand to stop him.
"No need to come, Sir, it won't be long. I'll bring him back when it's over."
His Gramps looked as if he wanted to object but didn't. Instead, his eyes searched for Luffy's own, silently telling him to be careful.
Luffy wasn't sure why. He didn't see any danger. He didn't know what a check-up was, but he knew that infirmaries were where you went when sick or hurt. The doctor would pock you here and there, ask if it hurts, put a bandage, then give you a candy. Since he was neither sick nor hurt, he guessed that they would just give him a candy.
After being led through several corridors and a flight of stairs, they arrived in a room lined up with chairs, some with marines siting on them. At the end of it, a lady in a white coat was reading some papers behind a desk. She briefly looked at the new arrival then went back to her task.
Lizard-Guy headed towards a hallway to the left of the desk without stopping, and they were met with a series of doors. He stopped in front of the second one and knocked before opening it. It revealed a bright office, with a clean wooden desk, shelves full of folders and weird instruments, and something halfway between a table and a bed. A man was looking at them, a folder open in his hands.
"Doctor Gilbert, I bring you young Monkey D. Luffy."
"Ah, yes! Thank you Thomas, I'll call you back when we're finished."
Luffy was lightly pushed inside, and the door closed behind him.
"Please, come and sit down. I promise I don't bite." He said warmheartedly.
They both took a sit on either side of the desk, and Luffy started to look around, wondering where the candies could be hidden.
"I'll ask you a series of questions, so that if you get hurt we can treat you correctly, okay?"
Luffy nodded. The doctor took a folder and opened it in front of him.
"You are Monkey D. Luffy?"
"Yes"
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
The man raised an eyebrow but made no comment, just writing the information on his paper.
"You are from Dawn Island, in the East Blue, correct?"
He just nodded.
"Have you ever been sick before?"
"No, I'm never sick cause I eat a lot of meat."
"Er... Right... Have you sustained grave injuries?"
"What?"
"Did you ever get hurt badly?"
"Oh, well..." He raised a hand and started to count with his fingers. "There was that time when I fell down a ravine, then when the pirates hit me with spiked gloves for hours, the time the Grey Terminal burned, the time I fought a bear alone, the time the Tiger Lord took me by surprise..." He raised a second hand. "The time-"
"Stop, that's... Tell me if there were any after-effect to these injuries... Does it still hurt? Did you lose some abilities?"
"No, I'm fine now."
The man didn't look convinced but didn't press it.
"Do you know what blood type you are?"
"What?"
"No, then. I'm going to weigh and measure you, then I'll draw some blood to test it."
He went to the other side of the room and made a sign for Luffy to follow. After making him walk on a scale, he took his size, then put a chair in front on a white wall and asked him to sit. Next to him, he put a large snail facing the wall. Luffy wondered what was going on. In his back he heard the curtains being pulled and the room was plunged into semi-darkness. The doctor fumbled with the snail, and moving pictures were projected on the wall while sounds came out of the snail's mouth.
Luffy's attention was immediately captivated by the moving pictures. It was the story of a hero named Sora, fighting an evil army. But what was really cool was the awesome robot helping him, and he also had a gull friend! He could walk on the water too!
Enthralled as he was, he barely registered the doctor moving about him. He felt something sting the crook of his elbow, but at the same time Sora was parrying a vicious attack from Stealth Black. He did, however, let out a yelp when he felt a sharp pain on his left upper arm.
"Ouch!" He glared at the doctor just in time to see him throw away a syringe with a large needle.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."
He was going to argue, but Sora let out a battle cry and he realised, with horror, that he was missing out on all the action. Now the robot was hurt and the gull was nowhere to be seen. The whole army was facing the hero. The situation was desperate. But Sora didn't give up. He attacked his enemies relentlessly.
Something brushed against Luffy's neck, and he heard a metallic click. The cold and light pressure of steel rested against his skin. He reached with his hand to investigate and found a smooth metal ring. He tried to look at it, but it was too tightly wrapped around his neck. He could just slide two fingers underneath. He searched for an opening, but it was as if the metal were of one piece, he couldn't detect any dent in it.
He looked at the doctor who was patiently watching him experiment with his new accessory. Luffy furrowed his brow.
"What is it?"
"Nothing for you to worry about young man, it's just something to keep you safe."
He pulled on it, trying to get it off.
"I... don't want... it! Take it... off!" It wasn't breaking.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. It was a direct order from the Fleet Admiral. »
He wasn't listening. The doctor let him struggle with the collar until Luffy was on the floor panting. He had somehow managed to stick his arm between the metal and the neck, and was now trying to pull it out.
Once the doctor had helped him disentangle himself, Luffy noticed that the moving pictures had stopped playing.
The curtains were pulled and the man went back to his desk. Luffy didn't see any point rising from the floor, so he stayed there, spread-eagle.
"Now there is one last thing that I need to talk to you about."
Luffy let out a grunt of acknowledgment.
"I received a word concerning some incident that may have occurred during your trip to Marine Ford..."
The doctor waited, as if for an answer from Luffy. But he hadn't asked any question, so he just got silence.
"Now, I know that it might be uncomfortable for you, but I'd like if you could tell me what happened with the marine who hurt you."
"Which one?" He knew which one. He just didn't want to talk about it. He was ashamed of himself. Disgusted with how weak he had been. Meany had been right, nothing happened, no one had to know.
"The one who took you to your cabin the first night you tried to escape, then went back a few days ago leading to your second escape attempt."
"Oh... This one." He stared at the ceiling unseeingly.
"I will not force you to talk, but depending on what he did I might need to examine you... I'm going to ask you simple questions. Did he hit you?"
"Yes"
"Where?"
"The face, the..." He stopped himself. He had been hit in the stomach too, but he didn't want to take off his clothes in front of the doctor. "Just the head."
"Okay. Now, did he touch you in a weird way?"
The face of Jerk came dancing in front of his eyes, he could feel his hand caressing his face, his stale breath wafting over him. But the voice he was hearing, the words pronounced, were Porchemy's. He let out a strangled noise, unable to repress it. Breathe in, hold, and out. He was safe. It was over. It was before. Breathe in, hold, and out.
The doctor waited until Luffy's breathing had evened out before talking again. His voice was calm and neutral.
"Can you name or point at the places he touched you?"
Luffy took in a shaky breath.
"Hair, and f-face." He felt cold. Why was he so cold? His teeth were chattering.
"Nowhere else?"
He shook his head, not trusting his voice.
"Did he take your clothes off?"
Again, he shook his head.
"Did he take his clothes off?"
Another shake of the head.
"Alright, I think it's enough for today." Luffy heard him close his folder. "How about I put on a second episode of Sora, Warrior of the Sea, while you eat some candies?"
Luffy's torso shot up brusquely as he cried.
"There are more of it?!"
The doctor laughed at his antics.
"Yes, of course! Several seasons, even."
"Yeaaaaay!"
And so he watched a new episode, while eating chocolate toffees. And it was a great one. And the toffees were delicious. He had no problem focussing on the story. Nope. He didn't think about Jerk or Porchemy any more. It was all in the past, so he wasn't thinking about it. He felt great, thank you very much.
A/N: Thank you for reading!
Small announcement: I'm going away from civilisation for a month and a half (not exactly sure, maybe less, maybe more).
Next week I'm leaving for an adventure (quite literally)! I'll be on a road trip throughout France, hitchhiking from North/West to South/West, then South/West to South/East, while visiting friends and family members. I have no idea how it's gonna work out, where I'm going to sleep, or when I'll be able to charge my phone. Therefore, there's a big chance I won't be posting for a while. So, if you're wondering why there's no knew update, just know that I didn't abandoned this story, I'm just probably sleeping in a bush or something, pondering over my poor life choices...
On an other note, I binge-watched the Netflix version of One Piece. There is conflict in my heart... I was really prepared to hate it, but it turned out better than I thought. It's not great, but it was a challenge to adapt, especially Luffy's attacks. And I'm not a fan of the characters' development, or their relationship, it seems a bit forced. But it felt like watching a fanfiction, and you could feel the love for the original work throughout the details. The amount of thought put into the decors, the costumes and the casting was amazing. And can I say how much love I have for Koby? And Helmeppo was just insufferably perfect.
Did you watched it? What are your thoughts?
Anyway, until next time mes petits lapins!