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Devil Fruits. They granted normal humans, normal creatures extraordinary transformations and abilities, things that you would only see in your dreams. Luffy had eaten one when he was a kid, on accident. No one ever told him that there were Devil Fruits that could only hurt other Devil Fruit users.
“LUFFY! HELP ME PLEASE SENCHOU— CAPTAIN… Captain, please I can’t do this Captain I’m scared—“ Nami was pierced through the forehead, a spear flying through the air and puncturing her head. Luffy shook as he watched Nami’s body drop to the floor before denigrating. This didn’t hurt. Not physically, at least. The only pain he felt was the tears burning in his eyes and the shaking and stiffness in his body.
He was captured by not a pirate crew, but by a band of Devil Fruit users who allow others to test their Devil Fruits on others for either bartering or berry. He didn’t know how long he had been in the facility, or just who was putting him through this, he didn’t even know if it was real . He didn’t know what was happening anymore. He just wanted to return to his crew because fuck— A child’s brains were shot out of their head and splattered against his face, sliding down until it hit the floor with a meaty thunk.
Luffy didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing him cry, although that wasn’t even what they were aiming for. They just wanted to test their Devil Fruit. Words and sounds started to echo through his mind, surrounding him with flashes of dark and eye-grating colors. Images of children’s mutilated and tortured bodies, images of his nakama’s eyes scooped out, bodies sliced apart, burnt, massacred, ruined , defiled . Tears streamed down his face As the image broke apart and his crew kicked down the door, Zoro appeared with his one sword—
The world glitched out. They must’ve realized that Zoro wields three swords, not one. Luffy stared at the ground blankly from where he was tied and wondered if his life could be the same after this.
The image reloaded in. He was in the Merry, the waves gently rocking the boat, the sun beaming down on him gently— “You’re so beautiful, Senchou—“ Luffy jerked, stiffening when he felt hands creep up behind him, touching his waist. It was Usopp. “You have such a pretty face, Lulu.” Nami. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to block out the sound of them talking, the sensations of them feeling up his body and whispering to him sweetly, he didn’t want to be touched they weren’t his crew, they weren't real, they aren’t real they’re fake they aren’t real they aren’t real they aren’t real they aren’t—
“You’re such a fucking failure, Captain, you can’t even help out your nakama? You’re ignoring us?” Zoro. Tears slipped past his closed eyelids and rough yet long and thin hands lifted up his chin. Sanji.
“Open your eyes dear, look at us! We’re your crew, we’re worried about you, Senchou.” Don’t open your eyes . He didn’t want to. He was scared of what he would see, he wanted to go home— “ You’re so beautiful, Senchou,” How could he bear to see them again when he would only be thinking about this moment? About all the things he’d seen in his time here, the images of their decapitated, scattered bodies with limbs torn off, sawed off slowly, still alive and breathing, a bag over their head as they yelled for their Senchou. He couldn’t help them. He couldn’t even help himself .
“Open your eyes.” Ace? Luffy whined, a fresh wave of tears coming on, yet he kept his eyes firmly closed. Using Ace? His dead brother? How low could they drop? Why would they do this?
“Otouto… your body has mat—“ Luffy gritted his teeth together. Sabo ? Why do they keep doing these types of scenarios? Anything else but this. He doesn’t want their memory defiled in his mind, not like what happened with his nakama, please, mercy—
“Stop it…” His voice said weakly, dried tears making his face feel sticky and dirty. “Stop it, please…” Sabo’s gloved hand caressed his face, wiping away a stray tear. “Oh, Lulu… don’t be sad, you’ll get used to it.” He didn’t want to get used to it, he wanted to leave . Ace removed his straw hat from his head and Luffy felt a painful jolt in his heart. “You won’t be needing this, Lulu.” Luffy bit his lower lip to stop it from trembling.
“M…My hat…” He muttered quietly. The scene shifted and Luffy slowly opened his eyes. He was at the Grand Line, and Shanks’ ship was docked to the side, and Shanks was looking at him and—
“Where is it?” He felt his heart drop. “Where did my hat go, Luffy? Don’t tell me you lost it. You were supposed to keep it safe. Do you not remember our promise? You said you would return it to me.” Shanks held strong eye contact the entire time. Luffy felt a knot build in his chest and a painful twinge in his throat.
“Useless. You don’t deserve to become Pirate King.” Luffy’s eyes widened and he shook. He started struggling in his restraints. “STOP IT! LET ME GO!” The scene shifted. Luffy was back in Makino’s bar, in one of the storage rooms. Shanks was right by him and there was the younger version of himself—
“I’ll be gentle with you, baby.” Oh my God not Shanks not Shanks, not him not him no no no no no no no no no — his younger self whimpered and Luffy felt bile building up in his throat, stinging as he lurched over as far as he could and hurled . He continued to do so until he was dry heaving, the soft smacks and sobs of — “STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE GET THIS AWAY STOP IT!!” He shouted, his voice cracking as he kicked his legs and tugged his arms. He fucking hates sea stone.
“LUFFY!” His eyes snapped toward the sound of his first mate’s voice, the wall was caved in and he held his two swords, another gripped in his mouth. “ZORO! YOU GUYS CAME!” Usopp backed up into the room, shooting toward their assailants who attempted to stop them. “HURRY, UNTIE H—“ Luffy moved eagerly in his restraints before stopping and going stiff as Zoro was shot through his chest. Two more bullets quickly followed, one flying into his brain and the other to his neck, causing his head to fly off with a large splatter of blood. It rolled before stopping, facing Luffy’s direction. His eyes were wide and horrified. He cough, he fucking coughed how did he do that what the fuck was going on was this real? What’s happening, what’s going on is Zoro dead? Where’s Nami? What’s happening? He's so scared he just wants to leave and go back to his crew and cry in their arm— “Open your eyes dear, look at us! We’re your crew, we’re worried about you, Senchou.” — Oh my God… He laughed a bit, breathlessly, his eyes were wide and his pupils shrunken in. He giggled a bit. His lip trembled as he started crying, his head hanging. The scene faded out. It was black.
A new scene started to fade in. Luffy was trembling. It stopped abruptly, the somewhat familiar dingy gray cell fading back in. He dug his hands into his palm. He could feel . Was this real? Someone stood at a podium, they looked panicked at a door, holding their hand out as if about to use their Devil Fruit before being swiftly smashed by a sword. Zoro dropped down in front of him abruptly. Luffy blinked at him. Was this real? He couldn’t tell. Only time would tell, he supposes.
Zoro raised an eyebrow when Luffy remained silent as he untied him, but he didn’t say anything. Who knows what that psycho did to his Captain while he was bound. Zoro untied the last knot and his Captain fell forward, not even stumbling. Zoro caught him quickly and Chopper faced into the door.
“Zoro! We gotta get going!!” The reindeer looked at Luffy with a great amount of concern, and Zoro could see it in his eyes that he wanted to sit their Captain down right now and give him a full examination, but time didn’t allow for that.
“He didn’t even try to walk Chopper, tell Usopp or Nami to cover for me, if he’s hurt we don’t want him hurt worse.” Chopper nods swiftly and Zoro runs out with Luffy in his arms. Nami, twirling her bo staff sharply, jabbed and swatted at any enemies that targeted the retreating pair. He ran out of the main entrance, Sanji hot on his heels soon taking the lead, they both raced toward the Merry as Usopp scooped up Chopper onto his shoulder, Nami pulled Robin along quickly, and Franky gave Brook a lift which caused him to laugh. The facility was blown to bits, chunks of the building shooting up and embedding themselves in surrounding buildings, some crashing into the ocean.
“WE MADE IT!” Usopp cheers soon quiet when he sees Chopper leading Zoro, who was holding Luffy, into the Med bay. “…Oh. What happened to Senchou?” Nami shrugged, flipping her bo staff behind her back. “Zoro looked worried… I’m sure Chopper will find out and he’ll tell us after. He looked fine, and his eyes were open, he just…” Nami struggled with how to word what she saw on his face.
“…He looked out of it. Like he was just, somewhere else or thought this was a dream or something.” Robin hummed and Brook slowly dropped his shoulders, “So… no music, yohoho? I can see that this isn’t a good time for it! But I don’t have eyes, yohoho!” Nami shook her head, “No music, Brook.” Franky pumped his fist into the air, “SENCHOU WILL GET BETTER FAST!! SUUUUPERR FAST!” Robin shook her head fondly. Sanji sighed from where he was, leaned right by the door to the Med bay. He pulled out a cigarette and flicked his lighter a few times before tucking it away. What happened in that facility? He looked over at the smoking facility as the ship slowly sailed away. It faded to black.