Well, it's about that time, everyone! Bring the marshmallows because it's time for a bonfire!

Chapter 3: Gray Terminal Ablaze! Rescues and Revelations from the Revolutionary!

In the months that followed, Luffy and his new friends Ace and Sabo became inseparable. Anytime that the young boy wasn't dragged off to be trained by Garp, reconnecting with the people of Foosha Village, or hunting the forests for fresh game, he was spending it with his sworn brothers. Ever since they snatched a bottle of sake and traded cups, they now considered themselves as genuine family.

And with that, the three became known throughout Gray Terminal. Ever since they chased out Bluejam, they were met with smiles and praise. And as more and more ruffians were chased out of their turf, their reputation only grew. Curly Dadan also appreciated the lack of competition as every other bandit group was chased off of Dawn Island, and now it was perfectly clear any calling of them "brats" was purely to maintain her image. The one time someone tried breaking into their house and pointed a gun at the boys, she chased him for miles until he couldn't run anymore and beat the tar out of him.

Now, as the sun set over the crest of another day, the three brothers were just relaxing in Grey Terminal. Now that they had millions of beris to their name, what were they going to do with it?

"Hey, what were you guys gonna do with the money from that first pirate?" Luffy asked. His brothers blinked in surprise. Any question of spending money with him was always answered with "Buy lots of meat!"

Ace scratched the back of his head. "Well, we were gonna buy our own ship…"

Luffy gasped. "Really?! That's sounds awesome!"

Sabo shrugged. "Yeah, but it was pretty stupid. We'd have to hire a crew, and no way anyone would follow us the two of us. "

The younger boy had to nod. That was exactly why Shanks wouldn't let him join his crew, there was no place for kids on a real pirate ship. Luffy then blinked again, "Wait, you want to be pirates too?"

Sabo quirked an eyebrow. "What's gotten into you, squirt? You aren't this smart."

"HEY!"

All three got a laugh out of that before Ace admitted that they were actually planning on running away from Dawn Island altogether. Luffy was stunned, but both brothers assured him that that was the past. Now even Garp couldn't drag the two of them away from their little brother, Luffy grabbing his hat and swearing he wasn't crying.

After that, the three went back to laughing as they thought of much more tantalizing options for their treasure. Luffy, of course, wanted all the meat he could buy although he at least added a cooler to store it all in. Sabo and Ace bounced around the more fanciful ideas. A giant mansion, their own personal yacht, hiring an actual chef…

But in the midst of their daydreaming, Luffy noticed two guys in raggedy clothes lugging a huge barrel around. And rather than carry it away, they set it down and began tinkering with it in the middle of the terminal. Sabo and Ace followed his eyes and all three looked at each other. This was way too suspicious.

"Hey! What are you chumps doing?!" Sabo yelled, making both men scramble and run away leaving the barrel behind alongside a bottle of kerosene and rope. Ace grabbed a crowbar from a nearby trash pile and pried the barrel open to find it was stuffed with black, granular dust that smelled like metal.

"Gunpowder…"

"WHAT?!"

"Keep it down, Luffy!" Sabo clamped a hand over his little brother's mouth, "Did you recognize those two?"

"Un-ugh."

"Those were guys from the Bluejam Pirates. And if the two of them are here then I'd guess the rest of the crew is up to something. It couldn't have been meant for us, they aren't that stupid…"

Ace just looked confused. "Well, this doesn't make any sense. It can't be because of anything in the Terminal, all of this stuff is junk. So, who'd want to blow it up?"

Luffy and Ace couldn't think of anything or anyone, but Sabo went green in the face. He suddenly dashed off through the terminal towards the walls of Goa. The other two stared in surprise before rushing after him. Several people raised eyebrows but nobody stopped them as Sabo rushed up to the entrance of Edge Town and dashed under the legs of the guard. Ace and Luffy didn't stop either, the latter tossing him aside when he tried to block them off.

If the group were famous in Grey Terminal, they were infamous in the criminal-filled outer ring. The boys had frequently come in here busting heads, pulling raids and stealing goods including the sake they shared when they became sworn brothers. By this point, they were smart enough to get out of their way so Sabo had a clean shot through the shanty town and up to the inner wall that led to High Town.

"Sabo, stop!" Ace yelled, "You can't go in there!"

"Trust me, I don't have a choice!"

"Hey, hold it!" Two uniformed officers in grey barred the way but Sabo rushed through his legs. The duo tried to stop Ace and Luffy only for the Shiva-kid to nail them both with gut punches that sent them flying.

In direct contrast to Edge Town, High Town was filled with opulence and wealth. All the lords and ladies were dressed in their finest getup even on a typical evening, and nearly every street corner had both a uniformed policemen and a rifle-toting member of the kingdom's military enforcing the peace. And sure enough, all of them started rushing out from hiding to surround Sabo along with Ace and Luffy behind them.

"You all need to get to Grey Terminal!" Sabo yelled, "There's some nutjobs planting bombs out there!"

"Yeah, they might come in here next!" Ace tried to insist only to get the butt of a musket to the back of the head. Luffy leapt in to attack only for one guard to dump a bucket of water on him.

"H-huh…?" he muttered, his eyes suddenly drooping, "Salt water…? Why do you…?"

"Luffy?! What are you all doing?!"

"Exactly what they were hired to do: dispose of filth." The guards parted to let through a boy their own age with auburn hair cut into a bowl shape, a fine white dress shirt with a red bow tie over it, and a smug grin on his face that made the brothers squirm.

"Sterry?! What are you talking about?!" Sabo gaped.

"Get your ears cleaned, you reject. These fine men were paid to keep the riffraff out, and last I checked that included you, traitor."

"Huh? What's this jerk talking about?" Luffy grumbled only to be pinned to the ground and felt something clamp over his wrists. The boy suddenly felt all his strength fade.

"Oh, did my dear adopted brother never tell you? Sabo was born here, to the nobles of Goa Kingdom. But for some insane reason, he chose to run away and swore he wanted nothing to do with us. I was adopted specifically to take his place and carry on his family name, and we're all much happier for it."

"Wait, what?!"

"Luffy, listen, I never told you because I didn't want you to think I was like these assholes!"

"He's right, Luffy, I met him when he first ran away. The whole reason we robbed that pirate ship was so we could afford a boat of our own to get him away from these creeps!"

Luffy's eyes bolted open before that same horrible weakness overtook him. He tried to pry his wrists apart and break the cuffs but it was like to trying to move boulders… For other people, that is.

"What did you do to Luffy?!"

"Oh, those are special Seastone cuffs designed to restrain freaks like him. Word does travel back here from the slums, you know. We won't be letting some abomination wreaking havoc around here."

"Sterry, please, just let him go. Mom and Dad want me home, right? Then I'll do it, just call off whatever's going on in Grey Terminal and let my brothers go-"

"'Brothers?' These aren't your relatives. Every idiot knows that blood ties are what truly matters. These nobodies have so thoroughly poisoned your mind that you've forgotten even that!"

Ace and Luffy tried to argue only to get rifle-butted in the head so hard they both fell limp on the concrete. Sterry grabbed his "brother's" face and gave him a look of pure condescending pity. "You had many chances to make amends Mother and Father and live the good life. You don't get to scurry back here with your tail between your legs when you feel like it! You want to live with the cockroaches, then you can be exterminated with the rest of them!"

Sabo's vision went dark thanks to a blow to the back of the head. Sterry smugly grinned as all three were tied up in ropes and dragged off to be tossed back into Grey Terminal. His parents would be delighted to hear that the plan to clean up Grey Terminal for the visiting World Noble would go off without a hitch.

That is, except for the fact that all of this was being watched by someone from the alley. Someone who promptly ran into a house and switched on his Transponder Snail.

"Get me to Dragon, NOW!"

"At ease, we're well aware of the situation in Goa…"

"It's Luffy! He's being dragged out to Grey Terminal into the path of the explosions!"

"WHAAAAT?!"

"Sir, I watched them put Seastone cuffs on him and then tie him up. The bombs are set to go off once the sun sets!"

"Say no more, I'll be there! Karasu, get in here!"

Dragon was soon whisked away by a cloud of soot, arriving just in front of Grey Terminal right as a deafening explosion rang out. Fires began to crop up like weeds along the trash piles, people screaming in panic as their homes were annihilated.

"Luffy!" He unleashed all of his Observation Haki, tuning out the smoldering flames and shrieks to find his son's aura. It was dim, but he could feel something off to the west. He dashed through the stampede of people and around tumbling pyres of garbage to find a young boy trying to slowly wriggle away from the wreckage.

"NO!" Dragon rushed in, slashing the ropes open and ripping the cuffs off with his bare hands. As soon as he was freed, the young boy's eyes snapped open.

"Whuh?! Who are you?!"

"That can come later! Garp taught you Haki, right?"

"Y-Yeah!"

"Luffy, grab Ace and Sabo and get out of here! I'll try to get as many people out of here while you get your brothers!"

The thought of those two in danger soon blocked out all other questions. Luffy remembered everything his grandpa taught him about concentrating his will and focusing it out and soon he could see not only the people fleeing the burning town but also their terrified auras. But amongst all of the chaos he felt two familiar wavelengths.

"Hang on, guys!" Luffy transformed into his half-Shiva form and rocketed off as fast as his feet could carry him. He soon found Ace still unconscious inside an old oil barrel and later caught Sabo from falling off a dilapidated shack in the process of burning down. With his brothers safe on his shoulders, he bolted out of Grey Terminal and waited on the clifftop where Ace first showed off the place months ago.

"Ugh, my head…" Ace groaned, "Luffy, why are you blue?!"

"Oh, good, I thought I was just going nuts," Sabo sighed.

Luffy crushed them both in hug before he turned to see several people charging into the fire and then returning with people over their shoulders or in bridal carries. Several others were treating the injured with burn ointments and gauze in makeshift medical tents now scattered along the terminal. He could even make out a woman in bright red shouting into a megaphone that seemed to be cheering on the others.

"Who are those people?" Ace asked.

"My life's work." All three boys yelped in surprise as they turned to find a towering man with jagged black hair, red diamonds tattooed on his face, and an aura so intimidating about him that made even them nervous.

"Huh? Are you all some kind of pirate crew?" Luffy wondered, flinching back when the man's face broke into a sinister grin.

"Heh, oh no. We're far worse than pirate crew, at least that's what I'm told…"

"Okay, asshole, we could've ust been barbecued! Stop speaking in riddles and tell us, dammit!"

"You really are your father's son, aren't you?"

Ace suddenly broke into a cold sweat despite the fire raging behind him, making Sabo and Luffy wonder what this guy was talking about.

"And you, Sabo, you shouldn't feel responsible for this. Your parents are far from the first corrupt nobles to come out of Goa."

"Wha?! How the hell do you know that?!"

Luffy's fists tightened. Now that he had his strength back, he wasn't going to let this guy mock them. Before he could even take a step forward, though, the man before them kneeled down to properly look them in all in the eye as he stared at Luffy in particular.

"Tell me, Luffy, how's your grandfather doing?"

"HUH?! How do you know that?!"

Ace and Sabo stepped in front of their younger brother. They might have lost their pipes when they were dragged off but they wouldn't let some creep hurt him. The stranger reached into the black shawl covering his body and pulled out a small golden locket from one of many pockets before handing it to Luffy. The boy took it and opened it, before gasping at the inside.

The picture inside showed the man before them but with an honest, content smile on his face. Next to him on a bed was a sickly woman with hair as dark as his. In spite her bag-riddled eyes, she looked like the happiest lady alive as held a swaddled baby close to her face.

"Um, who's the kid?" Sabo said from over his brother's shoulder.

"That was the day you were born, Luffy…"

All three glanced up and saw that fearsome visage was gone. A grizzled hand moved to Luffy's shoulder as his eyes began to water. "I can't tell you how happy I am you're safe… Son…"

"SON?!"

Luffy then looked again at the picture, then up at the man before them. The man who just risked being burnt alive to save him, and gave him the opportunity to save his brothers. The little boy's eyes suddenly flooded over.

"I have a dad!" he shouted before rushing to hug him, the man wrapping his arms around his son.

"Yes, Luffy, and I can't tell you how sorry I am that we had to meet like this. I would've raised you myself if not for my job."

"Your job?" Sabo then looked down and saw the people still tending to the injured citizens of Grey Terminal now gathering outside the burning town to make sure no one was lost, "You're a fire fighter?"

"No, this was all an operation we had planned for weeks. My agent here reported how the nobles of Goa were planning on destroying the Terminal as a means to impress a visiting World Noble tomorrow. Belo Betty was supposed to lead the operation, but the minute I heard my son was endangered I rushed down here to save him."

"Wait a minute, 'agent?' You mean a spy you have here?"

"Wow, my dad is awesome!" Luffy cheered, still hugging the man's side.

"You'd be surprised how few people think that, son. Especially when you have this…" He reached into another pocket and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper. Sabo unrolled it and went blue in the face.

"A bounty poster?! And for HOW many beris?!"

"Oh, come on, how bad could it OH MY GOD, I DIDN'T KNOW THEY COULD GIVE THAT MUCH CASH!" Ace balked.

"That's what you get when you're the most wanted man in the world. Leading the only group who directly opposes the World Government will do that to you."

"Wait a minute, WHAT?! You're with the Revolutionary Army?!"

"The who?"

"Luffy, don't you read anything?!" Ace face-palmed, "The Revolutionary Army are the guys the newspapers always report on, interfering with the government and trying to get islands to leave."

"Oooooh… That sounds awesome!" Luffy then took the poster and was amazed. The confident grin on his dad's face even as the poster read, "'Revolutionary' Dragon – 6,666,660,000."

Dragon took it back and answered the questions all of them had for the past hour now: what the heck was going on and what was he doing here. Since Sabo had officially left home months ago, all he could do was guess. But he couldn't have imagined just why his folks were fire-bombing thousands of innocent people.

According to Dragon's agent stationed among the elite, the nobles of Goa received advanced word that a member of the World Nobles wanted to visit the kingdom. So, in order to impress the visitor, they decided they needed to "clean up" the region by destroying Gray Terminal and the vagabonds who lived there. The Bluejam Pirates, still named that even after their captain was executed by the Marines, were contracted to place bombs all around the slums and incinerate the trash and the undesirables with it.

"WHAAAAAAAT?!"

"Indeed, it's a disgusting, inhumane idea," Dragon sighed, "I wish I could say I was surprised."

"What the hell is wrong with these people?! What makes this 'World Noble' so damn special to deserve all of this?!" Ace ranted, flailing his hand at the smoldering wreck that was the terminal.

"The World Nobles are the descendants of the original founders of the World Government, twenty families in all. They are also called the Celestial Dragons to represent their magnificence."

"That's totally stupid!" Sabo complained, "If these nobles are just the great-great-whatever grandchildren of the founders, then they haven't done jack shit! They don't deserve any special titles or being worshipped like this!"

"Wait, why hasn't anyone called the Marines?" Luffy wondered, "Grandpa would knock this Noble jerk out if he heard about this."

Dragon could only grit his teeth, looking down at his child with pity. "I'm afraid there's a reason for that. The Marines are completely obedient towards the World Nobles, serving their every whim. They are completely above the law, given carte blanche by the very system they founded to act however they wish."

Luffy's jaw dropped. "HUH?! That… That can't be right! But Grandpa… He… He knows…?"

"About this specifically, hard to tell. But yes, for all his prattling about 'justice' the old codger serves them all the same. His only recourse is to refuse the Admiral position at every turn since being one means being the Nobles' personal attack dog sicced on anyone who dares dispute their actions."

The young boy slumped to the ground, completely baffled. He never wanted to be a Marine mostly because he just thought they were stuffy and overbeating. But hearing this? That all their talk about protecting the innocent and locking up pirates meant nothing when they let something like this slide?

"Man, what an asshole. Now I doubly don't wanna do a thing that geezer says."

"I already hated my parents for trying to run my life but this?! Were they in on this?!"

"Unfortunately, yes. Reports show that Outlook III and Didit were among those who paid off the pirates for this operation. Apparently, they hope to be granted the status of Celestial Dragons themselves by currying one's favor."

"Oh, as if living in a fucking mansion with a private staff wasn't enough?! They already have billions of beri to throw around whenever they want! They even have that jackass Sterry to be the son they want! How greedy can you get?!"

Before Dragon could say more, one of his men ran up to tell him that the evacuation was complete. They had saved as many people as possible, with only a few critical injuries. The man stood and raised his hands to the sky, a blue glow beginning to imbue the clouds. He was so busy meeting his son that the mission slipped his mind.

The three brothers watched in awe as the clear knight sky was suddenly blanketed by heavy clouds crackling with thunder. With a bolt of lightning, a downpour of rain washed over all of Goa and doused the raging fires. Cheers rang out from the impoverished people, thanking the forces above for hearing their plea and saving them before the whole place was razed to the ground.

Once his hands dropped, the storm vanished in minutes and the man let out a long breath. "Sorry, had to take care of that."

"WHOA! That was amazing!"

"My Storm-Storm Fruit allows me to control the weather in my immediate vicinity for around ten miles. Now then, is there anything else you want to know?"

Now that the danger had passed, the boys were curious. What did the Revolutionary Army do? Did all of them have Devil Fruit powers? Did they have anyone stationed at Foosha Village? Luffy was touched to hear that indeed an agent was stationed in his hometown and gave reports about the young boy's status every few weeks.

"Really?"

"Yes, Luffy. If I could have raised you, I absolutely would have. But there's no place for a child in my line of work. I figured you at least deserved to be somewhere safer than our base."

"But I have my Devil Fruit now! I can help you!"

"Hehe, that's true, but you're still too young. I want you to choose your own path in life, and that takes time to figure out. Speaking from experience, sometimes you can wander very far down the wrong road before you make the right decision."

Luffy mulled over that before Dragon turned to leave. Someone in Goa will have no doubt noticed the sudden rainstorm and he needed to make himself scarce. He did have one last gift to give. He handed his son a small leather-bound black book, warning him to never let his grandfather know about it.

"Thanks, Dad! I love you!"

Dragon's face lit up in a smile. "I love you too, son. I have no doubt you'll make your mother and I proud."

A sudden gust of wind whipped around him making the boys shield their eyes. When they looked again, Dragon was nowhere to be seen.

"Luffy?"

"Yeah, Ace?"

"Your dad is awesome."

Luffy could only grin at that as the brothers finally returned home. Dadan all but crushed the three in a hug, swearing that it was only because Garp would have her head on a platter for letting anything happen to Luffy and Ace. She was especially confused with Sabo only for him to point out his parents were the ones who almost sent him and his brothers to a fiery grave.

Even Dadan couldn't turn him away at that point, warning that he'll have to share a sleeping space for the time being. While the older boys fell asleep immediately, Luffy was too curious. He opened his father's present and was immediately met with a warning.

"'The contents of this book are highly classified. Only a Vice-Admiral or an official member of the Cipher Pols are allowed to learn the Six Powers. Any unauthorized personnel must turn this book into their CO and report for questioning. Failure to do so will result in an immediate dishonorable discharge and being arrested for high treason.'"

"Six Powers? What are those?" He read on, amazed to find that the book contained a series of martial arts techniques that sounded downright impossible. Jumping off of the air? Tightening your muscles so hard you became bulletproof? Poking someone with the force of a bullet?!

"Wow, thanks a lot, Dad! These techniques are super cool!" he said to no one, placing the book under his pillow as he slept. He knew he'd have to practice these in secret when his grandpa wasn't around but that was okay with him. In one day, Dragon saved his life, showed how much he looked out for him, and actually listened to him and make his own choices. Between this and his brothers being okay, he slept like a rock and dreamed of all the exciting adventures he'd have once the time was right.


The next morning, the three brothers watched from above Grey Terminal as a huge yacht pulled into the Goa Kingdom harbor. They just had to see what all the trouble was for. Sabo looked through a telescope to see none other than his parents and Sterry front and center to greet the visiting World Noble.

Sabo almost had to laugh when he spotted the man himself, a rotund man dressed in an elaborate white suit that covered him from neck to his ankles with his wrinkled head encased in a glass cube. He also touted a massive rifle, more like a bazooka made out of wood.

"Seriously, what makes him so special?" Ace asked, "Why is he even here? It's not like Goa has much to offer someone with money like that."

Luffy just curled his fists. He did get some small reprieve when Sabo reported that the noble laughed at the idea of making anyone else a Noble and Sterry outright had to run away to cry somewhere. But still, this was it? This slimeball was worth pleasing by torching innocent people?

"Hey, Luffy, what's wrong?"

"I hate him…"

"Yeah, he seems like a real ass. You think he has his head closed off so he doesn't have to breathe the same air as us 'commoners?'" Ace chuckled only to notice the younger kid wasn't laughing.

"I swear I'll never be like that. The Nobles, the Marines, the asshole pirates like that Bluejam guy, or that asshole bandit. All these jerks who think they can do whatever they want and screw with other people! It makes me sick!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there," Sabo said as he noticed the Noble getting back on his boat, "You almost sound like Dragon. I thought you wanted to be a pirate."

That really did make Luffy stop and think. He still wanted to have adventures with a crew of friends, exploring all sorts of different islands. But his father showed him another idea. Taking down tyrannical assholes like this. He didn't have to start with the government, as tempting as that sounded. There were tons of criminals and pirates who terrorized people and made their lives Hell for no reason.

"Can't I be both?" he asked with a giant grin, feeling like a genius for coming to such a conclusion. Ace and Sabo just laughed. Of course he would think something like that! Then again, there were pirates like Shanks that didn't tolerate jerks throwing their weight around so who knew? Luffy had plenty of time before he set off. For now, at least the three still had each other and that Noble would never bother them again.

And it just so happened that, as the luxurious boat was pulling away, a deafening explosion filled the air! The Goa aristocrats watched in terror as the yacht exploded and immediately started sinking beneath the waves. Luffy, Ace and Sabo all cheered, as did many of the survivors of Grey Terminal in secret.

The next day, the World Economy News reported on the "engine malfunction" that almost cost Saint Jalmack his life and how the Marines had to swoop in and save his life. The brothers knew, however, that it was all thanks to their friendly neighborhood revolutionary who also helped liberate several of the "esteemed guests" of the Celestial Dragon escape their cuffs and shackles. Luffy could only wonder if he could be as amazing and cunning as his dad someday.

So, good news, Sabo never gets shot down! Better news, Luffy gets to meet his dad! And best of all, he gets handed the Six Powers! Don't ask how Dragon got that book, it would jack up the age rating of this fic. Next time, we get to see Luffy take the last steps he needs to before he sets out!

Thank you all so much for reading! Feel free to leave reviews along with any questions or comments.