One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.

-Chapter Thirty-Three-

"So sorry, but this is the day your luck runs out!" Scorpion nervously shouted in an attempt to sound brave. "All those heroic songs and tales your supporters flatter you with ends today!" he proclaimed.

"Please stop it—turn back" the older one of the two boys desperately pleaded.

"This is so exciting" Luffy grinned. "Ace, this is a serious fight, so don't pull any punches!" he strictly ordered.

"I wasn't planning to" Ace said. "But, before we fight, there's something I want to know..." I blanked out at that moment—not really all that interested in the fight between the two men. Quietly did I fiddle with mine and Zoro's intertwined hands, lifting them up as I uncurled my fingers away from his so that our hands were now pressed flat against one another.

"Your hand's big..." I muttered, almost amazed by the size difference.

"Nah, yours is just tiny" he shook his head, though was clearly just as impressed by how much larger his hand was compared to mine as he curled his fingers until they overlapped with the tips of my own.

"Ready? Here I come!" I jolted at Scorpion's shout, now dragging my attention back towards the fight about to take place. Jumping from the ostrich's back, Luffy was quick to remove himself from the fight just as the man started digging around inside his bag. Pulling something out, he quickly began to put it together with amazing speed as Ace started to rush toward him. "You're finished—ah!

"Crap! Crap! Crap!" he cried out when the net he had shot at Ace was suddenly thrown back toward him by a burst of flames. "Ow! Hot! Hot! Hot!" he wailed, already dropping to the ground as he started to roll around in a desperate attempt to cool down the burning hot metal that was wrapped around his skin and put out the small flickering flames that littered the net. His ostrich seemingly tried to try and help him in putting out the flames by stomping on him...

That, or it just felt like stomping on him.

"Whoa! Ace just threw the net right back at him!" Usopp awed.

"I guess I should be thankful! If defeating you were easy it wouldn't be much of a victory!" Scorpion laughed, jumping back up on his feet.

"Yeah, well you have some skills yourself" Ace grinned.

"I'm glad you approve because this fight isn't over! Popo—the compressed extinguisher gun!" Scorpion demanded as the ostrich quickly brought over to him a rather large box. "Special compressed air gun filled with extinguishing foam!" he boasted as he popped open the box and pulled out what appeared to be a decently sized gun.

"Um...what...?" Zoro questioned.

"Where does one even get something like that?" I inquired with a raised brow.

"Does it work?" Sanji asked.

"Don't be fooled by the foam, this bad boy packs enough power to blow a hole right clean through you" Scorpion grinned as he took aim right at Ace who quickly dodged out of the way the minute he shot at him.

"That's a powerful gun" I whistled, impressed by the hole that was left behind in the rock where Ace once stood.

"Yeah, no kidding" Zoro nodded.

"It was a nice try, but you never had a chance, my friend" Usopp almost smugly remarked as Ace socked the older man right in the stomach, causing him to drop to the ground in agony.

"I expected as much—you lied about beating Blackbeard, didn't you?" Ace asked. "You figured using his name would draw me out into the open, am I right?" he assumed.

"That's right, a clever discreet" Scorpion groaned, giving a pained laugh. "I say that that first round was a draw, now it's time to get serious" he coughed, already starting to pick himself.

"Stop! You can't beat him, father!" the eldest of the children suddenly cried, shooting right out from behind his hiding place alongside his brother.

"Did he say father?" Luffy asked.

"Son, I'll be fine..." Scorpion weakly reassured, owlishly blinking as the gears in his head now started to churn before he jolted in realization.

"Stop the fight!" the brunet cried, he and his brother now running to their father's side.

"Chip? Dip?" Scorpion questioned, utterly baffled by the sight of his children.

"Uh...those are quite the names you got there..." I remarked, scratching my cheek. "Did you happen to be hungry when you came up with them?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Father!" both boys cried as they crowded around their father.

"You don't have to do this, father! Fire Fist Ace is too strong!" Chip whimpered.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at home?" Scorpion frowned. "Why did you leave the Badlands?" he asked.

"Please, we understand now what you've been trying to teach us—this battle is too much for you, you got to come home!" Chip begged.

"Don't be silly! Remember boys, I'm the world's greatest bounty hunter after all!" Scorpion laughed. "If I said it once, I said it a million times, I've fought the toughest men around and bested everyone!" he boasted.

"Dad, you don't have to lie" Dip said, causing the man to deflate.

"You found me out!" Scorpion suddenly laughed before heaving a tired sigh as his shoulders slumped and his gaze became downcast. "The truth is, I'm a terrible liar and a terrible father to boot" he confessed. "But there is one thing that's true, and if you remember nothing else I taught you, remember this—even the most insignificant person can rise to challenge the world's greatest hero if he believes in himself, that is the entire reason I did this, to show you boys to follow your desires" he explained. "Men need dreams, goals that burn deep inside the heart like an internal flame, this is what substance us all—ambition always challenges what others say can't be done even if it seems impossible, believe and life will deliver paradise!" he laughed. "Forgive me, but the only way to make you see this truth was to put my life on the line.

"My sons follow your heart!" he proudly proclaimed.

"Wait, father!" Chip begged, trying his hardest to stop the man from doing what he was about to do.

"Watch and learn! Witness your father's unconquerable spirit!' Scorpion declared. "So long as I hold onto my dreams, I won't back down—do you hear me, Ace? Popo, the bazooka!" he ordered as his pet brought him exactly what he asked for. "Prepare yourself, this is the end!"

"I won't let you do it—we need you!" Chip cried, he and his brother wrapping their arms tightly around their father's waist the second he lit the fuse of the bazooka.

"Get down, take cover!" Scorpion scolded, trying to shoo the boys away so they wouldn't get hurt.

"We understand! You had to leave us to make your point, we get it, father!" Chip cried harder. "Dip and I won't give up on our dreams, just like you said, now please listen to us and stop fighting! Come home—we need you home, that's our dream!" he begged.

"We're sorry, daddy! Don't be mad at us anymore—we'll be good, I promise!" Dip sobbed. "I won't complain ever again!" he promised as if that had been the reason why their father had left them. "I'm scared, daddy! I want to go home!" he cried, tightening his hold on his father. "Please come back!"

"I love you too, boys!" Scorpion suddenly cried, recklessly dropping his weapon and letting it go tumbling down the sand dune behind him as he dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around his children. There was a loud explosion from behind them, most likely caused by the bazooka that had been dropped just mere seconds ago. The impact of the explosion resulted in the destruction of the rock wall behind the family of three which sent an avalanche of rocks tumbling toward them much to our horror.

"Gum Gum—" Luffy stopped the second his brother rushed by.

"I got it" Ace grinned, shooting a burst of flames out of his arms and knocking away the falling debris. Sand and dust were kicked up into the air, sending all of us into a coughing fit.

"Daddy, wake up!" Dip suddenly cried out the moment the dust settled and he spotted his father sprawled out over the ground.

"Father!" Chip fearfully screamed, already assuming the worse just like his brother as he quickly crawled to his father's side.

"Please get up!" Dip whimpered.

"You kids' alright?" Ace asked.

"Help, Ace!" the younger of the two tearfully pleaded.

"Scorpion—hey, are you still alive?" Luffy asked, squatting down in an attempt to get a closer look at the older man.

"Ha! Don't be stupid, of course, I'm still alive!" Scorpion coughed with a grunt. "You think I'd die and leave my sons behind? Scorpion's not going out that easily!" he boisterously laughed as he sat up.

"Gave me quite the scare there" I sighed in relief as the others nodded in agreement, their shoulders slumping in relief as well upon seeing the man still alive and kicking.

"I love you, you boys are my life—I was foolish" Scorpion confessed. "Now come on, let's go back home" he smiled as he wrapped his arms around his crying sons who frantically nodded in agreement.

"Yeah!" they both sobbed.

-Later-

"Well then" Ace said, fixing his bag on his back as he prepared to take off.

"You're not really going to leave us, Ace, are you?" Chopper sadly asked.

"Yeah, it's going to feel pretty empty without you here" I said, aware of how silly that sounded with how large of a group we already were, yet meaning it all the same. I had gotten used to his presence.

"Yep—seeing how it's been confirmed that Blackbeard isn't in Alabasta, I have no reason to stick around" Ace nodded.

A/N: Enjoy

Please Review, Favorite, and Follow