Chapter Text
Foosha village. A pretty quaint town, if Edwina was to be honest. It was pretty idyllic, no one would ever suspect it was the hometown of the current ”Most Wanted” man on the planet.
Or the future Pirate King. Presumably, that is. They had no idea if the kid was even born yet. Dragon, however, was active. Especially at the moment. The spike in activity could mean many things, Alexia had said, which was why they were on Dawn Island.
It was supposed to be recon. They were supposed to get in, get out, and leave the kid be if he was born.
There was a change in plans.
Maybe Garp let something slip. Maybe Dragon's actions were more extreme than usual and had set something off. Maybe Sengoku's hypocrisy was just a bit stronger. Maybe the wrong person had heard Garp mention his grandson and knew of Dragon's true name.
Whatever the reason, The Informant was getting pestered about the existence of Monkey D. Dragon's child.
And they couldn't have that.
The Informant always gives out correct information or doesn't answer. There's no in-between. That was the image her sister had cultivated. She used this to her advantage with a vengeance.
“Don't be an idiot, Dragon would never give his child to a Marine to look after, even if he had one!” was the official opinion of the World's Greatest Information Broker.
And it was 100% a lie.
As was proven by the toddling barely 1-year-old that Makino was taking care of.
So, change of plans.
The Ouroboros Pirates had apparently come to raid the entire island.
This was going to be hectic and would take much planning.
First they had to find the other two kids.
It wouldn't do to deprive any of them the brotherhood they could have, after all.
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Never before had they used their Entertainment Company for recon quite like this. It was a disguise, yes, but usually it was an on-and-off switch kinda thing, not a thin veil over their piracy. But this time, it was less about not letting people know they were outlaws and more about mapping out the island and finding kids. They recorded guard shifts in High Town, found which mansions belonged to which families, combed the forests until they found the Dadan Family and used the week to see if Ace had a certain routine. Turned out that the boy was awfully predictable once you spotted the patterns.
Sabo, meanwhile was very obviously a miserable only child, still. They had seen him at exactly one of their performances and he'd since then been confined to the manor by his disapproving sperm donor. The man had no appreciation for Nightwish, what a tasteless brute. At least Sabo had savoured the sounds of symphonic metal. Honestly, many songs by the band were a good fit for the boy and the man he would, could, become. Give me truth. Hard to light a candle, easy to curse the dark. The nightingale is still locked in the cage / The deep breath I took still poisons my lungs.
So many.
Too many.
It would be a crime to leave the child in a rotten place such as High Town. Oh, the normal people were fine, it was just... the Nobles. The high-ranking people poisoned everything beneath them until you couldn't tell where the corruption started or ended. Few were left untouched, and fewer remained as such.
Sabo was a beautiful sunflower growing among weeds. He would be choked to death before he made it into adulthood should he not be re-planted.
The son of the late Pirate King was a wild child, already running through the forest, hunting. He had yet to venture to civilization, had yet to be confronted by drunkards immersed in propaganda and old grudges. There were no guarantees, however, that the boy hadn't already been poisoned by thoughtless comments by his guardians or the old man that had left him there.
Ace was a wild child and a wild card. There was no telling whether he was a one or a fourteen.
He had to be snatched to curb any suicidal thoughts or toxic self-hatred. No child should hate themselves the way Ace was capable of if left to his own devices.
Luffy was a happy child. A happy, lonely child. A happy, lonely, loved child. Ignorant of the last fact for the moment.
The babe had been left in the hands of a bad guardian by a father who knew to fear for the life of an innocent soul. A man who decided to trust in a father who had already failed his offspring and would fail every single grandson he acquired. Dragon was foolish, but he was desperate.
A single parent can't lead a revolution.
The leader of a revolution cannot raise a child.
Being the most hated man alive painted a target on the back of anyone associated with him-
Except one.
Garp was immune.
And as such, the child of Dragon the Revolutionary had been left in the care of Garp the Hero.
In theory, a foolproof plan.
In practice...
They had already spotted more than one suspicious person lurking around Makino and her charge. Luffy was eager to reach out to others, but was not given the chance.
He needed to be taken to protect him and to give him all the love. All the love.
Dragon wouldn't have anything to complain about.
But there was a very high chance that the Ouroboros were about to become the no. 1 targets of one Garp the Fist.
It wasn't like they could avoid that, though.
The Ouroboros were about to adopt three children and no one was gonna stop them.
Oh, and also rob the so called high-born of High Town blind.
This was gonna be fun.
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Bate Entertainment left Dawn for all to see.
Then the Ouroboros Pirates made landfall.
They struck in the dark of the night. Most of them in High Town. First silently, then causing a ruckus as soon as most of their business was already taken care of.
Lisa scaled the outside wall of Outlook Manor as the first explosions went off.
Leo set off an airborne sleeping-agent before striding into the Dadan Family's hideout.
Alexia entered Party's Bar like a ghost and snuck up above the establishment, where the two residents slept, and slowly, carefully, lifted the tiny bundle into her arms.