Chapter Text
Chapter 2,
The grass was blowing through the waves of the wind, towards the sky ocean which smelt like freedom. The birds singing their morning melodies. The trees swaying according with the ocean breeze.
Then he saw them. Two young boys. One with raven black hair, they had freckles that danced all over his face, their grey fiery eyes that screamed with rebellion and a fight.
Another boy who stood next to him, proud ready to fight with his beaten up pipe and with his toothy grin. He was a blonde boy who was somewhat always wearing a top hat. His eyes screamed with excitement, his eyes also screamed for freedom.
He has never seen them before in the day, but he’d always seen them in his dreams. But he never knew why. Never knew why it was always them, young boys he’s never met? He wondered if they were important to him. Luffy looked around, around the cliff, the cliff that smelt like the ocean, the cliff which showed what little they’ve yet to see.
He looked back to the two young boys. He saw how they smiled at him, their smiles were warm and enchanting. As soon as they smiled at Luffy, they ran.
They ran and ran and ran.
“WAIT!” Luffy called out for them chasing after them, but it felt as if he always a step behind. As he continued to chase them he realized that the birds who were singing were suddenly dropping. He stopped chasing them for a moment as he saw more and more birds falling and then just stop moving.
As they continued to fall onto the grass that still blew towards the sea, he realized that not just the birds were suddenly dying. But the trees. The trees were slowly withering. Luffy looked around again as he was trying to understand what was happening around him he saw how the trees were dying, they were all dying.
He walked a bit closer to one of the trees that was withering. He saw how the bark of the tree was almost burning? The ashes flying with the wind. He brought his hand closer towards the almost ruing bark of the tree, as he drew his hand closer and closer.
He stopped. The forest was gone. He wasn’t with the young boys no more. He wasn’t on the cliff that screamed for him. Not anymore. He was in a lab?
“Hello there!” A voice calling out stated out loudly.
Luffy looked around the little white lab he was in. Trying to find the voice that had called out for him. But he never did find anyone who could’ve said anything, so instead he tried to find a way out of here. He tried to get up to get a better view of the entire lab, but he couldn’t.
“Don’t worry young one!” The voice still continued.
“This will all be over in just a few! Now just sit there and watch!”
“This will hopefully be the last time as well…” the voice this time whispered almost as if Luffy shouldn’t have been able to have heard him saying this.
‘Last time? What does he mean by that? Has he done this before? And to who?’ Luffy wondered constantly until he tried to move. He felt something tugging on him, on his legs and on his his wrists. Luffy looked down and as he looked down he saw how there had been leather restraints on him, he had tried to use his rubber powers to break free from said restraints but for some reason they didn’t work. This terrified poor Luffy.
But that wasn’t all he noticed, he also noticed how small his hands were how much shorter his legs were. And most importantly, he noticed that everything somehow grew? No. It didn’t grow, he was the one that had somehow gotten smaller, or more like he was younger. But he didn’t linger in this thoughts for long as then he heard the loud energetic voice come back, but it wasn’t like before it sounded sadder, disappointed. Almost like disbelief.
Before he had began to speak Luffy could hear the sigh of disappointment within the empty white lab. As Luffy once again tried to find where he was in the moment and also to find the voice he then felt something being put on top his head. It was a headgear that heavy and contaminated with wires in and out of the object that was currently sitting on Luffys head. “ I’m so sorry young one.” The mysterious voice was apologizing?
Why?
It confused Luffy much more than he thought. And while he thought more and more about why he was in the lab? what had happened to the two boys he had seen earlier? As he looked up he realized that there was now a more visible window on the top of the wall that he had been current facing.
He saw what looked like a scientist with an apple on his head? He saw the scientists face. His face was covered with defeat. He looked so sad. As he continued to observe the sadden scientist he saw how there was a lever there a huge one that was red. Luffy saw as the person who was viewing him way out of reach brought his hand closer to the lever.
“Please let this work..” The scientist hopefully let out.
As the apple wearing scientist pulled the lever all Luffy could feel was pain over and over and over. It was almost never ending.
“ACE!” Luffy called out for his brother.
His eyes frantically looking for a way to stop this pain which almost felt like it was gonna make his head explode into a million pieces. He saw how the other person face looked with sadness and with shock, he tried to reach for the lever to stop the bleeding pain that kept growing within Luffys head. But before he could even touch the lever the lab was engulfed with blue like flames.
As the flames grew in size, it had also grown closer towards the him. Luffy struggled against the restraints but it failed, time after time, after time. He never could get away from the flames but just as the flames spread out and almost devoured him.
He woke up.
One thing that he kept from the dream he had, was only a question.
‘Who was Ace?’
Luffy shot up from the bed he was currently in with a gasp, it was almost as if he hadn’t even been breathing the entire time that he was dreaming.
‘ What the hell was that.’ Luffy can feel the cold sweat that had been forming from even before he had woken up.
He put his hand on his chest. Luffy could feel his heartbeat, it was beating incredibly fast and was getting faster and faster.
‘Where the hell am I?’ Luffy wondered as he started to frantically look around the room until he heard a voice calling out to him.
“Woah, woah. It’s ok Luffy.” The voice reassured him.
Luffy looked towards the man only to realize it was one of the Whitebeard commanders.
Luffy brought up his eyes to the commander, he saw how sad they looked. Besides the person in the room with him he saw that the room that they were currently in and it was mostly empty. Beside it having a huge desk on the side of the room and a small drawer next to the bed he was currently laying on.
“Where am I?” Luffy asked the man who was still standing in front of him.
Ace saw how different his brother was. He saw how more scars and almost fully healed bruises covered his entire body, he saw how much more older Luffy looked. He looked at his younger brother who was currently sleeping with sweat still dripping down his face. Ace just sighed as he got up to change the towel on Luffys forehead.
“What happened to you…..” Ace whispered to the boy who was currently breathing loud and fast, the brother who forgot him, now sleeping in the guest bedroom of the Moby Dick. Ace put his hand through Luffy’s hair. He walked back to the chair as he felt tired and just wanted to sleep, this entire day has been crazy for him. He sat down to the chair with a sigh as he slowly brought his head to rethink about the events that had occurred during this entire day.
Well he found out his younger brother who had always talked about becoming pirate king somehow became a marine, how Luffy for some reason forgot who he even was! Luffy. Forgot him! He just couldn’t believe it! Maybe something happened to make his little brother forget him but still, he couldn’t believe the last brother he had completely forgot him.
As Ace felt his eyelids become heavier and heavier and about to succumb to the sleep which was pulling him, he was jolted awake as Luffy shot up and took in a huge gasp.
He jumped as he saw Luffy who was breathing in deep long breaths and sweat still covering his face was looking around the room, Ace felt a little smile tugging on his face. Seeing his younger brother after 2 years of leaving Dawn island to become a full fledged pirate captain. Well pirate since he joined the Whitebeards, but that was a story for another time.
That was until he remembered that Luffy was now a marine! A marine captain! Luffy! And how he had also forgotten him…
Ace’s face darkened a little after remembering that last part, but he tried to forget about it, he started walking up to Luffy who was still currently looking around the room with a bit of worried face and his hand current also resting on his chest, he tried to walk a bit slower that he wouldn’t scare him, but that obviously didn’t work in his favor.
As Ace reached the bed he put his hands up “ Woah, woah. It’s ok Luffy.” Ace tried to reassure him but he didn’t really think it was going to work. I mean he was fighting him, and then he had passed out so he somehow convinced Marco to allow his younger brother to stay on board the ship, and also promised that he’d do his 4 piles of paperwork that was currently untouched. He saw how Luffy turned towards him and saw how his younger brother was looking at him while slowing eyeing him.
“Where am I?” Luffy asked Ace with a little bit of confusion and a bit of annoyance in his voice.
“ Well you’re currently in the Moby Dick!” Ace excitedly replied as he put both of his hands in the air.
‘The Moby Dick?’ Luffy wondered why he was even the Emperor’s ship in the first place. As he tried to recall the events that had happened before he had ‘fallen asleep’ his head started pounding.
“Ugh.” He let out a painful noice as he reached for his head which felt like it was going to explode.
As the pain got a little more manageable he sighed. “ And why am I even on the Moby Dick?” Luffy questioned the man who looked a bit hesitant with a now sitting frown plastered on his face. Luffy looked down towards his hands only to see that they had been cuffed with sea stone bracelets, he could already feel him himself being much weaker than before but now he’s feeling heavily annoyed with this new information. Ace could hear the annoyance from the question.
“ Well you did pass out while we were fighting. “ Ace answered back.
“And about the cuffs, Marco wouldn’t allow you to be in the ship if you didn’t have then on. So I did the best I could.” Ace shrugged with a sigh as he explained the situation to Luffy.
Ace tried to figure out what Luffy might’ve been thinking after telling him that he’s basically like a prisoner on this ship. But all he could see on his younger brothers face was annoyance and a glare for him.
‘Why did they even bring me here! We’re enemies!’ Luffy kept wondering why the commander uh, second commander of the Whitebeards was trying to help him. It baffled him. He just couldn’t understand why would a random guy he barely met yesterday trying to ‘help’ him?
The tension in the room was incredibly thick, until Ace decided that he was gonna break the silence.
He had brought his head when he had seen the glare that his younger brother gave him.“Luffy….” He paused for a moment to look back up at Luffy.
“Why did you become a Marine?”
As soon as the words left Aces mouth Luffy could see the sadness in the commanders eyes.
The marine sighed before answering “I’ve always wanted want to become a marine, pirates are disgusting people who do whatever they want without thinking of the consequences.” Luffy instinctively reached for his hat to feel a bit of comfort from the hat he’s had since, what felt like his entire life.
After a second of silence Luffy looked up towards the commander, he was a bit shocked to see the shocked expression from him.
“B-but you always said you wanted to become a pirate, you would always say how free you wanted to be?” Ace told his as it was a fact that everyone knew, even the marine captain.
This shocked Luffy, he didn’t expect for some pirate on an emperor’s ship to tell him that he wanted to be a pirate.“Why are you acting like we’ve met before?” He had hoped that it would help clear things up, maybe he thought the second commander had mistaken him for someone else?
But things didn’t go as he thought. He thought that the answer he gave the commander whole help him understand that he had the wrong person, but the only one who got it “wrong” was him. Ace stood up quickly with his bright orange hat covering his eyes, making his face look darker. He walked a bit fast towards Luffy. Luffy didn’t even time to think clearly.
As soon as Ace reached his bed within arm distance, Ace grabbed Luffys head and pushed it down towards the wooden floor with haki empowering his strength even more.
After a few seconds of silence and the dust from the hit slowly disappearing, Ace finally spoke from his sudden blindness of rage.
“Why are you saying that!” Ace asked Luffy with such anger, the question had sounded much more like a demand.
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU!!” Luffy at this point was getting heavily annoyed. First he had the SECOND commander of the whitebeard pirates talking about “I’m your brother” and “why don’t you know me?” He had never seen this man until his bounty picture.
“YES YOU DO. DO YOU NOT REMEMBER DAWN ISLAND? DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER SABO?” Ace sound angry but also pleading, he hoped that this was just a prank and Luffy never actually became the captain of the damm marines. He hoped the last brother he had left wouldn’t forget him. If he did...
Then the last brother he had was now missing.
Missing in his own body.
“What? I’ve never even heard of this so called”Dawn Island”?”
“Who the hell is sabo?” Luffy at this point was getting irritated. He thought that maybe the commander thought he was a different person but this, this was getting out hand.
First, Ace denied Luffys answers. Then, Ace SLAMMED Luffys head into the floor? And now he’s asking random questions like it should be as easy as answering “what color is the sky.”
Ace’s face went pale.
How could Luffy not even know the place the where he met his idol, the place where he met his two older brothers. How could he not even remember Sabo? Ace was at a loss of words. He couldn’t even believe what had came out of the his own brothers mouth.
The door slammed open “ Ace are you ok I heard a loud crash!” Marco called out, he thought that maybe the marine somehow did something to Ace despite his seastone cuffs. But instead the only he saw was a big dust cloud near the floor with the marine in it and Ace’s hand on his head.
“Ace why don’t you calm down a bit?” Marco hoped he could try to ask Ace why he decided to slam the head of the marine he practically begged Marco to let stay on the Moby.
Ace slowly got up and as he did, his hat slid down his face as he brought his head down.
Luffy could also be seen getting up rubbing the sore spot that would definitely be leaving a bruise.
“Ace?” Marco asked before he saw Ace slowly turning around walked brushing past Marco, not before stopping a bit then leaving him and a caption of the marines in an awkward silence.
But before Ace left them alone he whispered one sentence to him.
“I just can’t anymore..”.
Then he left leaving them both in a room of silence.
Marco just sighed again. He truly was worried for the youngest of his brothers. But he just couldn’t understand what their relationship was with each other. Marco just hopes that Ace is okay and nothing too serious had happened. But he himself didn’t even believe that. He had heard many shouts before the hit, he only wish he could have heard what they were even arguing about.
As his gaze was brought back towards the captain who was still rubbing a bump that somehow grew fast. He once again sighed as he looked at him, and as he did he noticed how many other injuries he had. Injuries such as fading and very pigmented bruises that colored his arms and bruises like a painting. He saw how he also looked very young, very young to be a captain and being very reckless as he is.
“What?” The captain shouted out as he just stood in the place where the once unbroken bed once was.
Which reminds him, he needs to get a new bed.
“Nothing.” Marco told him as he looked back towards the hallway that Ace had disappeared to.
Luffy now thought that everyone on this cursed boat was insane. All he wanted to do right now was just to take a long sip from a bottle of alcohol, any at this point. He just wanted along big sip to flow out the complex situation that he was forced into. Luffy sighed as he turned his head towards the first commander, he wanted to ask if he could get some. But he wasn’t so sure if they’d even give him any, however it didn’t hurt to try.
“Hey!” Luffy called towards Marco who was still standing and looking to where the second commander has left from.
“What?” He responded back as he turned his body now facing Luffy.
“Do you have like anything to drink?” Marco just raised his eyebrow at the marines question.
‘Is he really asking me for alcohol?’ Marco thought for a moment before Luffy interrupted his line of thought.
“Like sake or just like anything you got, somewhere laying around? I’ll gladly take it.” Luffy really hoped that he could at least be able to get SOME liquor he really needed something to help him forget this entire situation.
But before Marco could even answer Thatch came along with some plates in his hands.
“Hey! I brought some food since- where’s Ace?” Thatch question as he looked around the room finding that Ace was missing and how the captain is now on a broken bed.
“Hey! Big hair! Got anything to drink like booze?” Luffy thought that he’d try to ask him since he brought like food so he lit be the chef of the Moby. Maybe he would get him some.
Thatch just looked at Marco, and he just shrugged.
“Uhh yea we do.” Thatch just responded with a bit of hesitation. Why was a marine asking if he could get something to drink from a pirate? Wasn’t he scared that they might’ve have poisoned the drink, I mean they wouldn’t but shouldn’t he be scared of the possibility?
“Should we give him any?” Thatch leaned toward Marco and whispered in his ear while he continued to looked at Luffy.
“I mean he isn’t a prisoner Ace practically begged for him to stay so I guess. Plus isn’t it also dinner?” Marco said with a sigh as he saw how the marines face lit up at the thought of getting some booze.
“Well okay! Come on I’ll bring you to the mess hall.” Thatch said as he was already leaving the room with the plate n his hand.
‘Finally can’t wait to actually having something looking forward to.’ Luffy thought as he got up from the floor quickly. He stumbled a bit feeling the drawing power from the seastone cuffs that had been forced onto him. Luffy rolled his eyes in frustration remembering the cuffs. “ You better hurry up!” Thatch yelled out once he realized that the marine wasn’t even following him.
‘Oh well. The booze better be good.’ Luffy thought as he followed Thatch towards the mess hall. As they continued to walk towards the mess hall Luffy finally realized how big the Moby truly was. Sure he was on the Moby before to fight, but this time he wasn’t going to fight anyone and this time he was also getting a better view of the gigantic ship.
Luffy could hear the loud cheers and utensils hitting the plate as he got closer to what he was thinking to be the mess hall.
“Ok so the hall is right around the corner, and since you are technically staying here as “guest” you’ll be eating at the Commander’s Table.”
Luffy just nodded his head as he saw Thatch turning the corner. As soon as he entered the hall, it got quiet.
So quiet you could hear everyone breathing.
Everyone just froze.
Every utensil stopped.
A marine just walking around the Moby like it was normal.
Luffy hated the stares.
The stares that judges you.
“Why’s a marine captain here?”
The stares that wouldn’t stop.
“Isn’t that the guy that Ace was fighting?”
They just kept starringstarringstarringstarringstarring-
“Come on don’t fall back now!” Thatch yelled out as he was already at the commanders table.
Luffy shook his head for a brief moment. ‘Just ignore the stares and then you can drink it all away.’ Luffy thought as he followed Thatch to the Commander’s table.
As soon as Luffy arrived at the table Thatch slapped him hard on his back.
“Gahh, don’t worry bout them! They’re just curious! Just sit down, I’ll start bring in the food for you guys!” And with that Thatch left heading for the kitchen while leaving Luffy alone in an awkward position with the commanders.
The commanders saw the marine walking with Thatch as they were eating their meals.
“Isn’t that the marine you were fighting earlier?” Izou asked as he stopped his fork an inch away from his mouth.
“Huh?” Ace looked up from his mountain of a meal with rice all over his mouth.
“Turn around Ace.” Haruta added with a sigh as he also wondered why they were allowing a marine to come aboard the Moby, let alone letting them stay on their ship.
Ace took a big gulp from his gigantic bite of food, he then turned around to see his younger brother and Thatch. His eyes softened. He also saw how uncomfortable Luffy looked, it was off to see him look so uncomfortable around new people he’s never met. He would always remember how Luffy would always be so excited to meet new people, he always remembered how much Luffy wanted to be friends with everyone.
“Ace?”
“Huh, oh yea.”
Izou and Haruta both glanced at each other.
After Luffy finally came to the table and sat down next to Ace. Sitting down on the table he saw Ace, Izou, and Haruta sitting down eating their meals. Well they were eating their meals.
Noticing the awkwardness of the situation Izou was the first one to speak up.
“This is quite the guest you brought on board, Ace.” Izou said as he put his head on top both of his clasped hands.
“Yea, he’s my brother.” Ace responded back hoping that Luffy would say anything.
‘Brother?’ Luffy thought as he turned to his head to look at Ace with confusion all over his face.
“I’m n-“
“Thatch!” Ace called out completely cutting off Luffy.
Thatch was walking to their table with 2 giant platers with plates covered in food.
“Ace! Here I brought you some more food, and for our guest here!” Thatch excitedly said as he was placing Aces and Luffys plates down.
“Thanks!” Ace yelled out before he started stuffing his face once again almost forgetting his younger brother is there with him, but not forgetting what he’s forgotten.
“And before I forget here’s your “drink”!” He brought out a big cup of liquor.
Luffys eyes visibly lighten up at the mention of his drink.
“Thanks!” Luffy said as he started to take a big sip of his cup.
‘Thank god. I was almost gonna go crazy!’ He thought after finishing the first big sip from his cup.