Chapter 7- Dawn Island Pt I–The Dawn of the End

Six Years Earlier, East Blue

Morning dawned over the vaulted towers and turrets of High Town in the Goa Kingdom. It was an auspicious day, one that the entire kingdom had been waiting for on bated breath. Today, their fair island would get the enormous privilege of being visited by a god. Everyone was excited by the very notion of his arrival.

Well, almost everyone.

Some were excited for very different reasons.

Goa Kingdom aristocrat and Gray Terminal miscreant, "Outlook" Sabo stood at the mast of his small boat ready to head out to the open ocean. He had gotten up at the crack of dawn, his plans already drawn and put into motion ever since the night of the great fire when he had woken up on the steps of his parent's house.

And so, with a bit of prep work, getting supplies and access to the harbor while his parents and Stelly had been getting ready for the celebration, Sabo had been preparing to finally leave this rotten kingdom for the last time.

He'd timed it just right! His little boat shouldn't even be noticed while all the celebrations were going on for that stupid World Noble.

He looked back at all the people cheering in the harbor as the land of Goa Kingdom shrunk further and further behind him. A heaviness fell over his chest, his heart feeling ripped in two.

No…

Three…

He didn't care a single iota for all those idiots on the pier. His sorry excuse for "parents"...the monster who they had the gall to call his "brother"...all of them.

They could all burn in Hell for what they had done to the people of Gray Terminal. For what they could have done to his brothers if they had been there. (He was sure that Ace had enough of a danger sense to have gotten Luffy away from there and kept him safe.)

No, his heart lay elsewhere on this island, far in the forest, in the place he truly called home. Sewn together with two others so tightly that the further away he got the more pain he felt.

Oh, Ace!

His headstrong, emotionally-stunted twin star, who still had so much to give, if someone took the time to look past his prickly walls.

And Luffy!

Their hyperactive ball of sunshine that had forced his way into their lives and their hearts, who was both the weakest and strongest of them all.

He wished so much that he could go home again. To be with his brothers—his real family—again!

Sabo slapped both of his cheeks hard and turned away from the island to only look out to sea. No, he had to protect them in the only way he could. He would gladly accept this pain now if it meant his brothers could live and be safe.

He hoped they had gotten the letter he had sent them and that Ace wouldn't be too pissed at him. Oh, he definitely expected to be given a solid right hook, and endure drowning in Luffy's happy crybaby tears, when they met again—and they would meet again!—but it was an easy price to pay to protect them.

He easily handled the wake of the huge galleon ship that was entering the harbor, moving the rigging in order to keep his small vessel from jostling around too much. He shielded his vision from the sun and looked excitedly to the horizon. The grin that appeared on his face could have rivaled either of his D brothers for how wide and bright it was with anticipation. He was going to be free! Finally! He was going to explore every inch of the seas and write all about—

"Sabo!"

He instinctively jerked around at the sound of his name. That—was that, Ace?

The thought was barely out of his head before he felt the shockwave of the impact.

BOOM!

The wood of the boat exploded into so many splinters and Sabo instinctively guarded his face, even as he was rocked off his feet onto what was left of the deck. Shakily, he fearfully put down his arm to suddenly find the remains of his damaged boat engulfed in flames!

Oh no. No!

He struggled to get up, hissing as he felt shards of wood tear into his flesh where they had lodged themselves after the explosion. He stubbornly ignored that, however. He had to save his boat! He would sink and where would that leave him?!

Thinking fast, Sabo reached up to remove his coat jacket in an attempt to put out the hungry inferno. But even as he moved to take it off, an intense feeling of danger filled his body causing him to shudder. What the? It was almost as if…

A voice even louder than the blazing roar of the fire reached his ears from the shore.

"Move, Sabo! JUMP!"

The blond felt his body instinctively move at the sound of that voice. He didn't even need to think about it, so much was the owner of that voice ingrained into his psyche. His brain had barely registered that Ace was here and—what was Ace doing here? —that his legs were already moving, the burning sting from his injuries be damned. Even as his feet left the deck, and he jumped into the water, he could feel the wind part as an artillery shot came towards him almost simultaneously.

BOOMMM!

The explosive impact destroyed what was left of the small boat and Sabo could feel the searing heat on his back as he was thrown below the waves. The fire scorches his clothes but the damage is quickly extinguished by the harbor's cold waters. He's thrust far under the water, away from the fire and falling debris. Something he wouldn't have been able to avoid if he had ignored his twin's warning and stayed in the doomed vessel for but a second longer.

Quickly, he reorientated himself underwater and used the glow of the fire and the movement of the debris to guide him to a safe place on the surface. What happened, the reasons why, and who was responsible are questions bubbling up in the back of Sabo's mind, but for now, his only goals were: 1) air, 2) finding his brother, and 3) stopping his ears from ringing. And if possible, in that order.

He pushes through the water and distantly he can see a dark figure coming toward him. Even as he came closer though, his vision of the figure began to waver.

Hmm, why were his eyes getting so shadowy?

Sabo tried to shake his head to clear it, only to feel a dull pain ring through his body. Looking down, he was surprised to see a dark stream of brownish-red oozing out and dispersing into the water around him.

It was originating from his chest.

In the back of his mind, Sabo realized that somehow he must have been hit during one of the explosions. He was bleeding out, and bad. However, the shadows that had been blurring his vision had grown, and he had only a few seconds to panic before he blacked out entirely.

Ace felt his heart pound in his chest from his position on the far side of the harbor. He had come to High Town desperately in search of medicine and fresh bandages for himself and Dadan after the fire. After having stolen enough supplies, placing them in a torn haversack he had found in an Edge Town alley, he had been heading back when he heard the commotion.

Curious and on high alert, he had followed the noise until he reached the harbor. A large crowd of what looked like the entirety of the upper crust of High Town had gathered there and were cheering, waving flags, and celebrating. Ace sneered in disgust at the lot of them as he kept to the outskirts of the crowd, staying unseen and in the shadows.

Look at them all.

Celebrating when not long ago, just outside the city people had lost their homes and their lives. While he felt a twinge of guilt at his part in the conspiracy by helping to place the bombs, he knew ultimately this was Bluejam and those rich noble jerks' fault and that they had been the ones behind the fire.

He was able to find a vantage point to see what everyone else was looking at. His eyes grew big at the sight of the giant ship making its way into the harbor. It didn't have a jolly roger of course, so it wasn't a pirate ship. But still seeing such a large ship was always cool. He wondered who was on it that had everyone so excited.

Ace continued to watch for a few more seconds, he really didn't have time if he wanted to get back to Dadan and then to Luffy. A smile tugged at his lips at the thought of their little crybaby, and how he must have cried himself to sleep by now. Luffy could be an annoying, irritating tear fountain, but he was their annoying, irritating tear fountain. He and Sabo would have it no other way.

Thoughts of his twin—little!—brother soured his mood immediately. He reluctantly looked over the crowd with hidden expectations, wondering if he was out there with his real parents. Did he miss them? Did he even remember them now that he was back among the nobles? Would he even—

"Look there! That little fishing boat is trying to cross the World Noble's path. What arrogance! Someone should call the guards at this outrage and arrest him!"

Ace turned at the words of the nobleman below him and looked to where he was indicating.

He smiled at the small little boat that was crossing the much larger ship's path. It looked like an ant standing next to one of those large beetles that Lu always got distracted by when comparing the two. He wondered what the little guy was thinking, sailing out during…

Wait…

What?

Ace pushed himself higher on his vantage point to get a better look. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the black flag that waved proudly from the little ship. A jolly roger? What kind of pirate was sailing off—

His thoughts screeched to a sudden stop as he was finally able to make out the symbol on that flag, as well as the glimpses of blue, black, and white from the boat's sole occupant.

Eyes wide with shock, Ace unconsciously made his way down and forwards toward the water's edge. He wasn't even aware of the people he bumped into or the cries of outrage as he made his way through the crowd. He had eyes for only one thing.

But no…he couldn't have. He wouldn't.

It can't be him.

He wouldn't just up and leave them.

Right?

But the closer the 10-year-old got, the more certain he was to the realization of the identity of the young boy on that ship. A boy who was both his best friend and his cherished brother. But…

"What the hell, Sabo?"

His voice was quiet, but his mind was anything but as he watched his idiot of a brother sailing away. He had so many questions in his head about what was going on and what was happening right now and…why was Sabo leaving? He could only stand there in shock.

A little bit of him was happy that his brother still held to his dream to go out to sea. And yet another darker part of him felt that all too familiar feeling of abandonment rising up and rearing its head. If Sabo wasn't happy with his family—which was probably obvious in hindsight, stupid Bluejam getting into his head!—then why hadn't he come back?

Why hadn't he come home?

Ace had been staring after the boat, but a glinting flash out of the corner of his eye gratefully distracted him from the growing pain in his chest. Looking in that direction, he saw a man on the deck of the large ship holding a large gun and pointing it down at the little boat. As he followed the intended trajectory, the horror at what was about to happen overtook him. Ace felt his heart drop to his feet, he was unaware that he had shouted Sabo's name at the top of his lungs on instinct.

What were they doing?

Were they going to…?

No, they couldn't!

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the explosive sound of a gunshot echoed loudly across the harbor. As if it was a punch to the gut, Ace felt the air knocked out of him as he watched flames explode from out of the little boat. He ran to the end of the harbor, dropping everything as he looked for a good place to jump into the water only to find that the rocky outcropping was not suitable for diving. Damn it!

Looking back up, he could see that the ship was still able to float but for not much longer. The entire vessel was ablaze. He watched Sabo's face as he panicked. He could hear the bastards in the boat ordering another shot, but this time his "big brother switch" turned on and he steeled himself.

Punching Sabo's lights out for this stupid stunt could wait till later. Right now he had an idiot little brother to save.

Switching to the ultra pissed no-nonsense voice he used to make sure Luffy moved out of the way of lethal danger, he yelled as loud as he could across the harbor to get the blond's attention.

"Move, Sabo! JUMP!"

Simultaneously, he kicked off from the pier and into the water, running across the hard stones, ignoring the biting pain on his bare feet as he looked for the drop-off point.

The next explosion took the rest of the boat, but Ace didn't care about that. His eyes were watching the boy who had jumped at his warning, no questions asked. He watched the concussive force throw him across the water's surface and then down into the depths.

Finding a place he could properly dive in himself, he swam quickly over to the wreckage site.

Reaching the scene, he was surrounded by bits of blazing cloth, wood, and other jetsam, and yet not a blond head bobbing up anywhere. Where was Sabo? Why hadn't he come back up?!

Moving beneath the surface, Ace swam to where he had seen Sabo fall. Seeing his form in the water he moved towards him, only to become alarmed at the fact that he wasn't moving! The red tint of the water that was surrounding him also was definitely not a good thing.

Coming up to him, he grabbed the other boy around his chest and pulled him up to the surface. Sabo's head lolled to the side while in his hold and Ace couldn't quite tell if he was breathing. His clothes had been torn to shreds and he could see a large splinter of wood lodged in the left side of his torso. Blood was oozing slowly from it, bright red now visible without the water's filter.

"Sabo! Come on ya idiot, wake up!"

There was no response, but rather than give in to the fear that threatened to bubble up, Ace did something he rarely did. Taking a breath, he pushed back his emotions and tried to calm himself down. Sabo needed him. He needed to get him to a doctor and right now, rage and panic would not help him.

Securing his hold and making sure his brother's head stayed afloat, he swam back to the shore. Though it was hard going, he made it to one of the closest piers and got them both up onto dry land.

He at once leaned over and leaned against the other's nose and mouth. Relieved to find that he was still breathing, if very shallowly, Ace began to check over all the other injuries that he could see.

Thankfully not too many burns, and the few he could see were small and negligible. There were quite a few lacerations on his arms and legs, even some shards of wood still embedded in his skin. By far the most worrisome was that chest injury and of course, the fact that Sabo had yet to wake.

Hands suddenly grabbed him roughly, trapping his arms behind him!

"Hey, what the heck—let go!"

A city guard similar to the one who was restraining him, grabbed Sabo by his collar and yanked him up from off the ground.

Ace yelled angrily, trying to yank his arms away, "Let him go! Can't you see he's hurt?!"

But his resistance was to no avail, he was weak from his wounds and tired from swimming so far. The guards roughly pulled up both boys, one unconscious and bleeding and the other completely pissed off.

They were brought to the center of the pier just as the huge ship was coming into port. Both boys were dropped to the ground, the guards' rough hands kept them from moving, though that wasn't much of a problem where Sabo was concerned. Ace felt his worry intensify the longer the blond lay there motionless. He tried to go to his side, but the stupid guard yanked him back, cuffing him hard in the head.

"Sit still, ya brat! You're in enough trouble as it is!"

Ace bared his teeth in anger, "Don't you see he needs help?! Someone get a doctor!"

He looked pleadingly at those who were gathered around them, but he was either ignored or given cold looks of disgust. Silver eyes flashed and a vein began to throb against his forehead. His anger and frustration doubled to new heights. Stupid stuck-up noble bastards. But just as he was about to go into a tirade that would make a pirate sweat. Trumpets sounded and everyone began to bow and kneel on the ground.

What the? What was going on? Was the king on his way or something?

If possible, the soldier pushed his face even further into the dirt, so much so that Ace had trouble seeing the bowing crowds beginning to part as—something?—someone was coming closer.

Confused as he was at what was going on, his eyes kept flickering back to his little brother, trying to assess Sabo's condition and make sure he was still breathing. Please let him be okay.

Why couldn't these idiots do something right for once and get Sabo some help? The blood soaking his front made it obvious he was hurt bad! Why couldn't they see that? Wasn't he one of them?

Gritting his teeth, he tried to make some kind of plan.

Screw them all. It didn't even matter, Sabo was his responsibility and he wasn't going to shirk it again. He'd find some way out of this, get Sabo to a doctor, and he would be fine and home with them in no time. Ace would allow no other outcome. It would be a miracle if he could ever erase the image of Sabo's motionless, limp bleeding body from his brain as it was.

Giant baby brown eyes that were nearly brimming over with tears appeared in his mind's eye, and he gripped his fist even harder.

Luffy was probably back at the bandits' hideout worried sick, flooding the place with his tears even though he'd insist that he wasn't a crybaby. Ace had to get back. And he was bringing Sabo home—alive.

A hard footstep came down close to his head, but Ace couldn't see who had arrived with the guard pushing his face so hard into the ground.

"So this is the filth who dared to save the trash that had the gall to cross MY ship?" A sniveling voice reached Ace's ears.

Trying his best to turn his head and eyes to the side, he was able to get a glimpse of the person everyone was in such a tizzy over. And honestly, it was the most bizarre person he had ever seen. Wrapped from head to top in a weird white suit with what looked like a fishbowl on his head? A man was standing there, with the most arrogant, smug look he'd ever seen, even among the elite of High Town. His hair was ridiculous and his skin looked like it hadn't seen the sun in years. It was such a strange, sickening sight that if the circumstances hadn't been as dire, Ace knew he would have cracked up laughing.

As it was, he could only grit his teeth in anger as it was obvious that this was the man that had ordered them to blow up Sabo's boat, probably even doing the deed himself.

Some official-sounding voice addressed the fishbowl man. "We're dreadfully sorry that you were offended by this gutter trash, my lord. We'll be sure to get rid of them for you. You need not dirty your hands on such riffraff."

The other sniffed pompously before nodding, "Make sure that you do."

Fishbowl guy began to walk out of his view, and Ace breathed a sigh. If all these officials could leave and he was just left with the guards, he was sure that he could find an opportunity to—

C-c-click!

The sound of the hammer being pulled back on a pistol echoed loudly in the air and shattered Ace's train of thought. And the next snidely words froze the blood in his veins.

"However…this one had the audacity to deliberately dodge my shot. I will deal with him personally."

Unable to move, the raven-haired boy could only watch in slow motion as a cocked pistol was pointed at his brother's chest. Not one person stopped him. Not one person challenged him. This man was about to murder an injured child in the street and not a single person was making the smallest move to stop him.

Ace had never known such fear before. He would lose his brother and there was nothing he could do. Even if he had the strength to fight off the guards, he would never be fast enough to prevent the bullet's path. The shot would kill him for sure. Sabo would die.

In the next second, he would lose him forever.

No…

Please no…don't do this…

Don't do this!

Don't take him from me!

No!

"NO!"

Ace was shocked out of his cold despair by an outcry in the crowd. He quickly flickered his eyes over to Sabo and nearly cried a gasp of relief to see that his chest still was going up and down with breath. He was still alive! He had been given a chance!

The fishbowl man's, as well as everyone's attention, was drawn to the person who had cried out and the crowd parted quickly to reveal the culprit. Revealed was a noblewoman with strawberry blond hair, dressed like the others in a ridiculous get-up for the celebration.

The best way to describe the look on her face was one of "indecisive horror". She wanted to stop what was happening before her, and yet at the same time, couldn't believe that she was having this emotional response. Ace didn't know what to make of her, but it was the first nearly appropriate response that he had seen thus far, and so he didn't quite mind her.

She also was a great distraction as he worked to subtly shift his body out from under the grip of his capturers.

However, the man that stood next to her, violently shushing her and holding a hand clasped hard over her mouth, was a figure that he knew quite well. The bastard that had threatened his and his brothers' lives and had forced Sabo to leave with him. The pompous-looking fool who supposedly was Sabo's father and yet was someone his twin feared and hated. Despite the pinch they all were currently in, Ace couldn't help his mouth curling up into a snarl at merely the sight of the insect.

Noticing that everyone's gaze was on them, Outlook III quickly pushed his stupid wife into a low bow along with himself, his other hand grabbed onto Stelly who had been trying to disappear into the background, and pushed him to a kneel.

"My humblest apologies, your greatness! Please forgive my idiot wife for her outburst. She's only a woman, after all, emotions going all about the place you know. The sight of you carrying out your heavenly justice caused her to become hysterical. Please proceed as is your right."

Ace couldn't believe it.

After everything the man had done to rip Sabo away from them…after all the talk about him being Sabo's father and that giving him "parental rights" or whatever…after all the threatening he had done to him and Luffy and Sabo…

After all that, he was now willing to just let this man kill him? To murder his son without a thought or a care?

At least the woman (who he guessed was Sabo's mother) had shown at least some notion of struggling against the idea. She was quiet now and there was probably a ton of indecision there, but at the very least she had spoken out for her own flesh and blood!

His own blood was boiling in rage and his voice carried over the murmur of the watching crowd.

"HOW DARE YOU?!"

A sudden hush came over as everyone watched the drama play out.

"You lying, cowardly, spineless, gutter snake! You did all that to take Sabo away, and now you leave him to die when it's convenient for you?! It was YOU who claimed he was your SON!"

Outlook III sniffed in disdain, "Shut up you worthless rat, I've never seen that boy before in my life."

Ace was seething. That son of a cheap whore!

He was about to launch into another litany of rage-filled diatribes, when he heard voices speak out from the crowd.

"Hey, he's right! I recognize that boy."

"Indeed, Lord Outlook brought him over to our soiree just the other evening!"

"He had his son over too on a playdate with my Ferdinand, bad influence he was!"

"I saw that boy just the other day walking with Outlook to the park, that's his son Sabo!"

"Yes, I've seen him too!"

More and more voices denounced the sniveling popinjay of a man, and Ace could only spitefully smirk at the fact that as horrible as these people were, their hatred for one another had done the man in. Even as he tried to deny them all, one could tell that he was basically just grasping at straws at this point.

The little snot-nosed brat standing next to him also tried to move away, from the couple and get lost in the crowd, but he wasn't quite able to do so before the man grabbed his collar. The wife seemed to have no such energy in her, still only kneeling on the ground with a blank hollow stare on her face. Ace felt a bit bad for her, though Sabo hadn't spoken kindly of her. Perhaps there was just a bit of motherly instinct in there after all?

Nevertheless, they were serving their purpose and he continued to subtly shift and wiggle his body in order to get enough room to escape. He's almost gotten out from under—

BANG!

The loud sound of a gunshot rang through the air, jarring Ace and suddenly causing his heart to jump into his throat, before falling down to the pit of his stomach. Trembling, he slowly looked up, petrifying fear shuddering his movements, afraid of what he would see.

However, when he looked back to where his brother lay, he nearly fell over with relief. Sabo still lay where he had been dragged, alive and whole…well, relatively, considering his injuries. But if it wasn't Sabo who had been shot, who had? And where had that fishbowl head guy gotten off to?

Looking around, he finally found him, and indeed he was the one holding the smoking gun. But when he followed the trajectory of the barrel, his eyes widened to behold the fact that Sabo's dad…the hypocritical, horrible bastard that he was…was lying on the ground—dead.

The accusing crowd had gone into stunned silence. Crimson blood oozed onto the cobblestone and spattered onto the remaining boy and woman, who could only look upon the cooling body with horror. Ace glanced back to the man responsible, who sneered in contempt, waving his hand at the family as if they were no more than insignificant flies.

"How dare he lie to me, Saint Jalmack? Lying to the face of god?! What presumption. Kill the rest, let that be a lesson to all surrounding peons. Display their bodies for all to see."

Fishbowl man's men brought out their own guns to carry out his order, and it was at that moment that Ace coldly began to understand. Whoever this man was, it wasn't simply that he looked down on people like him and even Sabo, but even the nobles of Goa kingdom were beneath him. Everyone was beneath him. And what's more, everyone else seemed to agree with him. He could do whatever he wanted to anyone and no one was batting an eye. No one stopped the man, no one moved to help them.

The snot-nosed noble kid was screaming and babbling and begging for mercy, claiming that he never knew the family, that he had been adopted—no! kidnapped!—and that he had nothing to do with anything!

He tried to run away, but the crowd seemed to close ranks fast and he couldn't press through them. A man in black closed in on him.

BANG! BANG!

He was dead before he hit the ground.

Sabo's mother had yet to get up from the ground, she only continued to look at her slain kin, paralyzed. Soon she too was looking down the barrel of a gun.

Tears had already started when her husband had been killed, but Ace was surprised that she didn't scream or go into desperate hysterics like the boy (her other son, he presumed?) had, instead, she continued to cry silently.

Her eyes glanced over towards Sabo and for a moment, all he could see was sadness and regret.

BANG!

And then, nothing.

Ace was no stranger to death. He had killed his share of animals (both the four-legged and (ever since Luffy) the two-legged variety). And it wasn't unusual to sometimes come upon a dead body in Gray Terminal. However, such cold, cruel summary executions were not something he was used to seeing. And while he felt little sympathy for the trio, no one should be killed so meaninglessly.

He knew without a doubt that Sabo was next, and if he didn't act now, he wouldn't have any chance later. All the excuses he had made to himself and to Luffy when Sabo had left to go back to his family, disintegrated into dust. Sabo had no one else, his birth family had been killed just moments ago. And they had been utterly useless anyway. None of these morons were going to do anything. It was just him and only him that could save Sabo's life. In a way, Ace preferred it that way. They had grown up rough, tough, and on their own, only able to depend on each other. It seems that that had not changed.

Finally finding his leverage, he slipped his hand free and pulled hard on the guard's lower leg, making him unbalanced. The man yelled out, but most everyone was distracted. It took little time for him to slip free and clock the man hard on the head before running off.

Screw all these people and screw this weird horrible fishbowl saint man. He just needed to grab Sabo and get him out of there. He could get Sabo a doctor in Windmill Village. Moving quickly around the other guards who yelled out in alarm and outrage, he dodged them with ease. The fishbowl man was moving back to Sabo and was between him and his brother. Well, everyone else here might be afraid of the clown, but he held no such presumptions. No one was going to stop him from saving his brother.

Not this time.

"Get out of my way!"

He moved to push the ridiculous man out of the way, when a blur came out from the side and tackled Ace to the ground. The boy was thrown several feet before skidding to a stop, adding skinned shins and arms to his growing injuries. A foot held him down, grinding his face once again into the dirt.

The man who held him down was different than the stupid city guards or even the other men who were part of the fishbowl guy's party, his presence just a little more sinister and strong.

He was dressed all over in black, with a white tie and a bowler hat on his head. His face was shadowed, but dark eyes could be seen peering at him from under the brim. His pose was relaxed, despite the recent action, and he almost seemed bored. Ace growled and tried to move, but the man smirked and just increased his pressure.

"Scrappy little street rat, aren't ya?"

St. Jalmack raised an eyebrow, looking down at Ace once again, his nose high in the air. "Hmph, the audacity. First, he has the nerve to save the little guttersnipe who dared to cross my path, and now he tries to outright assault me?!"

A sudden evil smirk sprouts to life on his ugly face, "I know! Guernica, force that little cretin to watch as I kill his little accomplice! And then when it's done, while I go up to the palace, drown the little rat in the ocean… slowly, of course."

Current CP-9 agent and CP-0 agent-in-training, Guernica gave a slightly bored sigh before bowing his head low, "As you wish, my lord."

Ace had never known such hatred before for anyone. Even Sabo's dad paled in comparison to this monster. He launched into a rage-fueled litany of curses and expletives, but the man who held him down kicked him hard in the face before pulling him up by his neck and placing a hand over his mouth. "You're too young to have such a mouth, kid. That's a Celestial Dragon, learn some respect. Or at the very least, shut up and appreciate the time you've got left."

Ignoring his words and despite the pain, Ace instinctively bit at the man's palm and was surprised that he didn't even flinch. Instead, his grip over his face became even tighter, and he forcibly turned his head over to where Sabo lay. The fishface celestial dragon, or whatever he was called, was reloading his gun, chuckling maniacally.

The dark-haired boy swore, twisting and wriggling his body, trying to get free, biting down on the man's flesh until blood began to drip from the man's flesh, but nothing worked. Rather the man simply clicked his tongue before tightening his grip on Ace's face and neck, until the boy could barely breathe and his jaw felt like it was about to crack.

If he could break his body to get to Sabo, he would. Though he was pretty sure, he wouldn't be coming back from a broken neck, and no other part of his body had enough reach.

Damnit! Why was he so weak?

He was no closer to saving his brother than he had been before! Stupid guards…stupid nobles…the whole darn kingdom could go to Hell!

Why was everything falling apart around him? Ever since Sabo had been forced to leave them, it had been one thing after another.

Hadn't the world punished him enough? Why did it need to take and take and take?!

Ever since he had decided to open his heart to two others, he had decided that this was forever. He couldn't go back to how it was before. He had smelted his soul to them irrevocably.

And yet he couldn't prove his bond when it mattered?

Was he so pathetic, useless, and worthless…that he couldn't keep up his tiny family together?

If he could make them turn their guns on him to spare Sabo's life, he would do it in an instant. He deserved the world's scorn, but not his brother. Please not him.

He would do anything… anything!

Whatever it cost, if he could just—

"A..Ace?"

A frail, barely audible voice cut through all of the boy's inner thoughts, and Ace's world narrowed to just his little brother's pain-wrecked body. His eyes trembled showing a rare vulnerability that he normally would never let others see. Even his own brothers would usually be kept at a distance. But this time, he met Sabo's bleary blues head-on.

His brother's sight was weak, he could tell. He was barely conscious but awake! Yet, even in that condition, Ace recognized the look that he gave, as well as the tone in his weak voice. It wasn't one that he had often heard or seen from the blond. His brother was calling for help.

His help.

That cry dispersed all the doubt and insecurity that had been trying to crowd in and overwhelm Ace's mind. His head was suddenly clear and his pupils constricted to the point that they were tiny pinpricks of black in a sea of molten silver.

Unknowingly a pressure had been subtly building up inside him, but it now made itself fully known. Ace briefly thought the feeling was familiar, but the thought left him just as quickly as it had come. That wasn't important right now.

His brother was going to die and he needed him.

If he had had the mind to reflect a bit more about the strange feelings that were coming over him, he would have realized that this wasn't the first time he had felt thus.

A mere three days earlier, on the night of the Gray Terminal fire, something very similar had come over him before.

When a different boy was in danger of death, and when he had also fallen to despair and helplessness.

The pressure that had built up inside of him then, had eventually exploded in a burst of power affecting almost every person within 10 feet of him.

His desperation to save his brother come manifest.

This time was no different. Rather, instead, it was much more intense. But none of that was known to Ace at the time. No, his mind could only think of one thing.

He would not let Sabo die.

His eyes could only watch as the hammer of the gun was pulled back and it seemed as if at a funeral's pace, the barrel was raised. The distance and the blond's previous wound made it so that a kill shot was guaranteed.

Just stop…

~"What kind of a question is that? Of course, I want you to live, ya idiot! Who asks someone a question like that anyways…"~

Stop it…

~"Ace! Luffy! Let's go out to sea someday! Let's get out of this country! So we can be free!"~

Stop…

~"But please don't hurt them! Please! Please, they're…they're my…precious brothers!"~

"STOOOOOOPPP!"

And from there, the force that had been building in a subtle crescendo hit its climax and then some.

Every barrier inside of Ace was shattered at once and exploded out with such violent force, that several blood vessels in his body burst causing tiny streams of blood to drip from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

The wind howled around him and the smell of ozone was heavy in the air. The immensity of the power that flowed from out of him, dwarfed that of when he had instinctively released it to save Luffy the night of the fire.

Ace didn't hold his own life to be worth all that much, but his brothers were different.

They were priceless.

No one was hurting his brothers. He had taken on the role of protector and his fidelity to it had become near tangible.

No one was taking Sabo away from him again, not even a god.

Guernica, being the closest and trained in haki had noticed the shift in the boy before anyone else. But also being this close, and not having much experience with the rarest of the three types of haki, caused him to be woefully unprepared for the massive onslaught that came his way once the boy screamed out.

His resistance held for about 5 seconds longer than anyone else, but in the end, he fell to his knees and onto his back unconscious.

Ace was finally free, but he barely noticed. The power released from him was too strong. It spread out from him, undulating like a shockwave. A tsunami of Supreme King haki manifested, spreading out for meters in all directions.

Line upon line of the crowd fell over onto the ground, foaming at the mouth. Many, their eyes rolling up to the back of their heads, leaving them white and empty as they lose consciousness. Aristocrats, bourgeoisie, merchants, and poor alike, went down. Among them, the prime minister and the king himself were caught up in the wake, and not least of all—the Celestial Dragon, St. Jalmack—all knocked out cold from the force of the impact.

Never had such a vast amount of untrained power been felt in Goa Kingdom, shocking a land where the term "haki" had never even entered the vernacular.

Yet, untrained it was, and young was its vessel. After spreading in a radius of hundreds of meters, finally, it began to ebb its flow. The far outskirts of the crowd had escaped its wrath, but they quickly ran away in fear and confusion, not knowing what had occurred.

Among them, a bandit who had been watching everything from afar with dread, was both shocked and alarmed by what he saw. He had felt the very last traces of the strange power, and even that had caused him to be a bit woozy. As the remnants of people dispersed, leaving hundreds of people senseless on the ground, he could only look at the boy who had been at the epicenter of it all.

The kid had finally seemed to come out from whatever hold he had been under, because he quickly scrubbed at his face before scrambling up and over the few bodies that were in his way to get to his brother's still form.

Dogra clenched his hands, sweat dripping from his brow. "Oh Ace, what have you done…?"

Ace felt drained and disoriented from whatever it was that happened, but his mind was still singularly focused.

Get to Sabo. Make sure that he's okay. Escape from here.

He didn't even really see where he was going or was even quite all that aware of everything that had happened around him. He had the wherewithal to know that both he and Sabo were free and out of immediate danger, but his tunnel vision only saw his brother.

He mindlessly kicked at the CP-9 agent that had been holding him and got to his feet, before running headlong to the other, even stepping up, on, and over the portly World Noble to get to his target.

When he scuttled to Sabo's side, the boy's form was still, but one quick check saw that he was still breathing and had only been knocked back into unconsciousness. Wasting no time, he gather his younger twin back into his arms, shuddering as he was finally able to hold him close.

For a few seconds Ace, just held the other to him, hugging his form tightly. He had come so close to losing him…to losing both his brothers in only a few short days.

He normally wasn't a huggy guy. And he was never the one to instigate it. (It wasn't even until Luffy that he'd had his first hug in his life!)

Yet, he could do nothing here but hug Sabo's limp body to him in relieved desperation. Sabo wasn't dead. He had been able to save him. There was a chance for things to finally go back to the way things were! To have a home together again!

Shaky, clanking footsteps startled the black-haired boy from out of his thoughts. His protector side once more roared back to life. Now that Sabo was firmly back in his grasp, he wasn't going to let anyone take him away again!

Checking on his brother's wound briefly and seeing that the bleeding had thankfully slowed down, he pulled the blond up onto his back. His sharp dark eyes finally looked around, measuring up his enemies.

A few soldiers were coming towards him, their pikes lowered and aimed at him as they carefully–fearfully–advanced forward.

"Y-You a-are under arrest…put your hands in the air, you monster!"

Ace's eyes narrowed. He wasn't a stranger to being called a monster or a demon, but he was confused by the guards' cautious approach. They were actually afraid of him! But why?

It was only then that he noticed how they were approaching, and how they seemed to have to lumber over these lumpy obstacles in their way. For the first time, with his mind clear and his desperation finally receding, he really took a good look around him.

Silver eyes widened to the size of saucers. What in the world?

For as far as he could see, there was a field of bodies lying still across the pavement and cobblestone. Men, women, children, mostly all nobles, the king, that bastard that had nearly strangled him, that fishbowl-wearing monster, ALL of them were out cold, many white-eyed and foaming from the mouth.

"I said 'hands up', demon spawn!" One of the guards yelled at him angrily, distracting his shocked eyes from the fallen crowd.

Alright, forget that. Think about it later. You've gotta get Sabo out of here first.

There weren't that many soldiers, and they had to get around all the bodies. Even with Sabo on his back, he was lighter and faster and he knew how to get out of the city. It should be a snap.

However, the moment he tried to stand up, his legs buckled and fell out from under him!

What the?

The boy unknowingly had been running on adrenaline since coming out of his stupor, and it had decided right about now to run out. Trying again, only resulted in the same.

Frustrated with his own body, Ace bared his teeth at the soldiers keeping them to his front and making sure Sabo was always out of their line of sight. They wanted to see "demon spawn"? Let them try to hurt him or his brother again and they would see one in action!

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something hurled through the air and landed in front of him. Gas exploded from out of it distracting both the guards and the boys and smoke quickly clouded the entire area!

Ace was left coughing from the smoke bomb and he was quickly disoriented as to what was going on. Was this an attack? Where was the enemy? Where were they going to come from?!

A pair of arms suddenly came from out of the smoke, scooping up both Ace and Sabo, before speedily fleeing, quickly jumping over unconscious bodies and making their way to the alleyways of the city under the bomb's cover.

The raven-haired boy's first instinct was to instantly kick and punch at the person holding them, but the muffled voice that spoke to him and the slightly familiar outline of the man stayed his hand.

"Ace! Sabo! It's me!"

It was still hard for Ace to see, but he was beginning to recognize the face of the bandit masked with a bandanna.

"D–cough–Dogra?" Ace coughed out, "What are you doing here?"

The man looked down at the two boys for a moment before continuing his escape out of the city. "I came here looking for you and the boss after you two didn't come back from the fire."

Ace blanked for a bit, having totally forgotten about Dadan in the chaos. He had been trying to get her medical supplies before the whole incident with Sabo went down!

"Dogra! The old hag! She's—"

The bandit shook his head as he quickly made his way out of the relatively empty streets of Central Town and into Edge Town. "Don't worry about the boss. I found her and some of the other guys got her back to the hideout. She said you went into town, and so I left to find you."

Ace breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that was one less thing on his mind. But it was quickly crowded out by others.

"Dogra, we've gotta get Sabo to a doctor! He's hurt bad! And is Luffy okay?! He was hurt before, but I trusted you guys with him. He's okay, right?!"

As they got through Edge Town to the city walls, Dogra began to breathe a bit easier. There were few soldiers around, so finding a way through the gates was easy. He tried to calm himself along with the anxious boy.

"Luffy was fine when I left him. The wounds weren't bad. We bandaged him up and had to make him stay there since he wanted to come after you and the boss."

Ace let out a relieved breath once again, "Good."

"When we get to the forest, I'll stop for a moment and look at Sabo." Dogra had seen the attack and reckoned the boy could have just as easily been killed by such an explosion. That he had lived was nothing short of a miracle. And then there was what happened afterward… in both situations, if not for Ace…

He glanced down at the black-haired boy for a moment, a mixture of bewilderment, awe, and even a little fear coming over him. Dadan had called the boy a demon child on more than one occasion and Dogra hadn't quite believed her…and yet…

What kind of power did he have that could take out even a Celestial Dragon?

"Hey, Ace?"

The boy had been examining the unconscious blond to see if he would wake up again soon. "Hmm?"

"What did you do to all those people at the harbor ceremony?"

Ace's eyes wavered a bit before looking away, "Not sure. It's only happened once before and I don't even know why then either."

"This has happened before?!"

"Well, only once, okay! During the fire, right before you guys and the old hag came. When Bluejam and his jerks were gonna kill Luffy, I just snapped! And everyone but Bluejam fell out."

Dogra gritted his teeth. This was a lot bigger than simply a small group of riffraff pirates. Either Ace had discovered some new magical power in the last few days and was inexperienced with it, or he had this kind of power all along, and the day of fire had been but a crack in the dam, one that was spreading rapidly.

Whatever it was, it was growing and it was dangerous.

He hoped that now that they had gotten away, they could avoid whatever the fallout was going to be from the day's events.

However, even as he crossed the desolate, burned-out ruins of Gray Terminal into the forests of the mountain, for some reason he couldn't seem to rest easy.

Taking a last glance over his shoulder to the city that he'd left far behind and the lack of pursuers following. The lack of bird song and the change of pressure in the air, along with gathering clouds over the area, only served to increase his feeling of foreboding.

It felt like a storm was coming.

Out at Sea, Heading West of Dawn Island

Monkey D. Dragon stood at the stern of the Wind Granma, his hand lightly grasping onto some nearby rigging as the ship sailed away for Dawn Island. If he wanted, he could probably just make out the outline of the Celestial Dragon's ghastly large ship. He had seen it quite well enough though when he'd gone on his own to watch the ship's arrival.

The Celestial's arrival was just as disgustingly pompous as one would expect, but he had watched on just the same.

In the middle of all the proceedings, an incident had occurred with what seemed to be the boat of a small boy who had fancied himself a pirate. The Celestial of course decided that the boy had offended him in some capacity and decided to fire artillery are the child.

Horrified, Dragon had been about to intervene, but thankfully, he hadn't had to. Another boy, about the same age as the first, had jumped into the water to save the other, who had abandoned ship before a second round turned it into fiery splinters.

He wished he could say that he was surprised at such a senseless act of violence. He hadn't been able to see details, but the child who had "offended" the World Noble couldn't have been that much older than his own son!

But sadly, he wasn't surprised and he'd seen much worse in his lifetime. It only provoked his ire all the more. Just more kindling to add to the fire for rebellion within his soul.

Seeing that the boys were making their way back to land and that they would probably be fine as long as they stayed low and out of sight, Dragon had departed back to his own ship. He was late, and they had to make tracks and disappear to their next destination along with the refugees they had rescued from Gray Terminal.

But even as the island grew smaller behind them, the man's dark eyes stayed on it. Not for the Celestial ship or even anything that was in Goa Kingdom proper…but rather for the small village that existed far to the west of the kingdom's High Town.

Zephyr winds blew softly, ruffling the edges of his cloak and the wild dark locks of his hair. The salt of the ocean was strong as the waves crashed lazily against the ship. He could see far in the distance the outline of a large windmill, the blades moving slowly in their eternal rotation. His eyes and face for once, lost a bit of their edge, a small amount of its hardened sternness melting as his thoughts were on more pleasant if bittersweet thoughts.

A soft footstep behind him broke through the quiet, but the taciturn leader wasn't the least bit bothered. He knew who it was, how long they had been there, and that they had only made a sound in order to be polite.

A calm voice spoke in low tones, "Did you go to see him?"

Dragon didn't pretend to misunderstand whom the other was referring to. The man, one of his closest confidants, was no fool.

"No," he answered quietly, "There's no point…"

"I don't know if I would say that…" The much larger man came up to stand by his side. "Even though I know I can't be with my child, the simple sight of her soothes me."

The Revolutionary leader sighed, before glancing up at his comrade meeting his calm eyes from under the brim of his hat. "You got a chance to raise your daughter, Kuma. Even if it was for a short time. I made an active decision to abandon my son. He doesn't even know me. I…I have no right to see him…"

Bartholomew Kuma looked back at him quietly for a moment before raising an eyebrow, "But is that what you really want?"

Dragon's hand clenched the rigging tightly and he looked away back to the sea. "It's never been about what I want. You know better than anyone, what we have had to sacrifice."

Kuma hummed thoughtfully. He knew exactly what his commander was feeling, he had sacrificed much in his life, and would have to sacrifice even more if his future plans were to pan out. However, that wasn't something to think about now. Right now, the man next to him didn't need the advice of a revolutionary, but a friend—a father to a father.

"I know, Dragon. As you said I know better than anyone. And because I do, I can also recognize a father that still loves his child, no matter how many years have come and gone."

Dark brown eyes snapped up at him deliberately, "I never said that was in question."

"Did you check if he was okay after the fire?"

This time those dark eyes wavered a bit. "He's living far from Gray Terminal in my hometown village. He wouldn't have been anywhere in the vicinity."

"You're telling me you came all this way, went on all these solitary jaunts to who-knows-where while we were here, and not once did it cross your mind to check on him?"

This time Dragon didn't respond. He didn't have to.

Of course, he had thought about it. Many times. But his duty had to come first, and Luffy didn't need a perpetual stranger looking after him.

Aaaannnnd he had circled all the way back to the beginning of the conversation once again. Sigh.

Squaring his shoulders, Dragon took a deep breath before allowing all traces of vulnerability to bleed out of him. The cold, calm, collected visage of the supreme commander of the Revolutionary Army returned and he turned away from the ocean view.

"We've got work to do, Kuma. I've made my choices, you've made yours. We just have to live with them. You know that."

Kuma watched his friend silently walk away, before looking back to Dawn Island's outline. Curiously, despite the clear sky, there looked to be the beginnings of storm clouds gathering overhead. Now didn't that feel a bit ominous…

He admonished quietly "Also know that if you don't find some way to balance those two halves of you? You're going to regret it."