"Usopp!" Luffy said, standing over a bloodied Law, who struggled to stand. "Do you have the Seastone?"

"Right here!" Usopp rushed forward, taking aim with his slingshot, and fired a pellet. The bullet hit Law square in the nape of his neck, exploding into Seastone-laced ropes which wrapped around Law's neck. He scrabbled at the ropes with incoherent cries before his body morphed and shrank until there was nothing left but a splotchy, spiral-covered, heart-shaped fruit, the ropes collapsing around it.

Luffy picked up the fruit. "I gotcha," he said, staring at it. "Come on."

"Yeah," Usopp said. They hurried down the empty street, pulling their hoods back over their heads, and reached their dilapidated house.

"You're back!" Chopper exclaimed, looking around the corner. He moved aside so he wouldn't bump his antlers into the frame and trotted out. "Where's Law?"

Luffy held up the fruit.

"What?" Chopper said, staring. "But . . . were you attacked?"

"No," Usopp said. "I mean, yes, but it wasn't the police or anything. We need a Seastone box, quick."

"A—" Chopper's eyes widened and his voice wobbled. "You mean—"

"Hurry!" Luffy snapped. Chopper nodded and hurried away, returning with Franky and the small box. Luffy set the fruit inside and Franky snapped the lid shut.

"I'll give this to Robin," he said, turning away. "Explain when we're all here."

"Well?" Nami said when Luffy remained silent. The gang had gathered in the living room, if one could even consider it fit for living. "What happened?"

Luffy slammed a fist into the floor, making everyone jump. "He was corrupted."

"Excuse me?" Jinbei said, leaning forward. "How did it happen?"

"I don't know!" Luffy exclaimed. "We were walking, and he just, out of nowhere—"

"He was losing his balance," Usopp said. "And he was really quiet and weird, and when we asked if he was okay, he—he came after us, and we had to—"

"I thought the lad was acting off these past few days," Jinbei murmured, folding his arms.

"This is alarming," Robin said, placing a hand on her cheek. "If Law could become corrupted after all this time out of nowhere, what does that mean for us?"

Brook shivered, though he had no skin. "I don't want to think about that, Robin-san!"

"But we have to," Luffy said, looking up again. "If it could happen to Law, it might happen to us. We thought we were immune, but if we're not . . . it'll be up to the rest of you to find a cure."

"Luffy, I don't know if we can do it without you," Nami admitted, pale. "You devil fruit users are some of the strongest people here, and Chopper and Robin are a big part of the team to find the cure in the first place."

"Nami-san, don't worry, this guy and me can take care of things," Sanji said, trying to pat her shoulder. She moved away and he patted her chair instead. He gestured to Zoro. "The two of us together more than make up for just Luffy, and I'm sure we can all pitch in for Robin-chan and Chopper."

"Yeah, don't you underestimate us," Usopp said bravely. "And don't underestimate yourself."

Nami smiled weakly. "Right."

"Any news?" Usopp added, glancing at the newspaper.

"The government passed a law to increase their weaponry," Zoro said. "You know, to . . ."

"To take down the devil fruit users," Franky finished.

Chopper whimpered. Robin picked him up and put him in her lap. "But—but if they'd only understand how much research could be done—!"

"And they didn't need an increase in weaponry to publicly execute Ace," Luffy said, the temperature in the room dropping by ten degrees. "Are they desperate?"

"Probably," Robin agreed. "As for research . . . I suppose the military scientists think that studying a devil fruit that won't reform into its user is easier than studying one that will. I hate to say they're right, but . . ."

"There wasn't much other news today," Sanji said when she didn't continue. "Some protests saying the corrupted users should be kept safe instead of shot on sight. Some college-degree talk show host making jokes about the whole thing. The kingdom of Alabasta said they want to find a cure, but Seastone is rare in their country, so they have trouble subduing the users."

Robin sighed and stood, still holding Chopper. "Let's go back to the lab and run some tests on Law."

"Right," Chopper and Jinbei said. Jinbei stood and followed them out the door.

"This is so bad," Usopp said, falling onto his back and staring at the ceiling. "We thought he was immune like you guys, but now he's corrupted, and we don't know if it was in him from the start or if it just happened, and—"

Nami kicked his shin. "Go help out in the lab. Those three need those questions the most, and you need something to do."

"Right, right." Usopp scrambled to his feet and stumbled out the door.

"Luffy-san, do you want to do anything?" Brook asked Luffy, who was staring into space. "I could teach you to play chess."

"Chess is boring," Luffy said, his stupor broken as he blinked and frowned at Brook. "The pieces should be able to move wherever they want."

"Well, we could play something else," Brook said lightly. "I found a Pictionary game under the stairs yesterday."

"Yeah," Luffy said, smiling. "That sounds great!"

"I'm in," Nami said, stretching and standing.

"Me too," Sanji and Zoro said together.

"Me four," Franky said, raising a hand.

"So, what's Pictionary?" Luffy asked as Brook went off to get the game.

With Zoro, Sanji, and Franky on patrol for news of attacks from corrupted users and to search for non-corrupted users, Luffy was bored once again staying in the house.

"You don't wanna be out there anyway," Nami said, making tea over the old gas stove. "It's going to rain later."

"But it's not raining now," Luffy said, draping himself upside-down over a chair. He crashed to the ground and picked himself up, shaking his head.

"Do you want any tea?" Nami asked absently.

"What kind is it?"

"Orange pekoe. Black tea," Nami clarified when Luffy frowned. "Found it under the sink. I'll add sugar if you want."

"Okay then," Luffy said, smiling.

"Why don't you go check on our scientists while it's boiling?" Nami said, turning the kettle this way and that.

"Yeah! Be right back!"

Luffy left the kitchen and ran down the hall, opening the door to the laboratory to find Jinbei leafing through a book and Chopper waving his hands, trying to find his words while sitting on Robin's lap, Usopp kneeling next to them. Law—rather, Law's fruit—sat on the Seastone platform to prevent reforming.

"Nothing so far," Jinbei muttered. He looked up. "Ah, Luffy-kun, is something wrong?"

"Nope. Just bored. What're you doing?"

"I thought I'd double-check solar maps from one year ago," Jinbei explained, holding up the colorful patterns in the book. "The corruption happened unusually quickly all around the world, so it would make sense if the trigger was something that would reach every part of the world within a day."

"Uh-huh," Luffy said, already losing interest. "So it's a mystery?"

Jinbei sighed. "Yes."

Luffy glanced at the tank full of water with the corrupted devil fruits sitting at the bottom in so many shapes: One like a bunch of bananas, one like a pineapple, one like a cantaloupe, and more. He wandered over to Law's fruit and stared, frowning.

"What's up, Chopper?" he asked, noticing Chopper's verbal struggle at last. He leaned on the Seastone platform. "Is something—"

His body morphed and shrank as it transformed into his spherical violet fruit. Usopp looked back and groaned in frustration while Robin smiled, shaking her head. After a few seconds, the fruit itself morphed and grew until Luffy was back.

"Honestly, between you, Chopper, and Brook, we can't let any of you out of our sight," Usopp scolded. "What if that happened in a fight?"

"Sorry, sorry," Luffy said with a laugh. "Anyway, Chopper, what's wrong?"

Chopper clutched the brim of his hat. "You can experiment on me!"

"What?" Usopp said after a moment.

"If—if I ever become corrupted," Chopper said. Jinbei looked up from the book. "If that happens, you—you have my permission to do whatever you want with me, if you think it'll help find a cure."

"Oh, Chopper," Robin said, hugging him.

"Because—because Law didn't ever say if we could or not, because we didn't know it was gonna happen," Chopper continued, starting to cry. "So if it happens, you can do what you need to."

"You're a good man," Jinbei said, closing the book. "That's very brave of you."

"The same goes for me," Robin said, holding Chopper through his emotional distress. "If I ever became corrupted, you can do what you need to. Dissect my fruit, inject it with things—"

"Robin, you're making it worse," Usopp snapped as Chopper cried harder. "Chopper, it's okay, we won't do those things unless we run out of options."

"It's fine," Chopper said, hiccuping.

"Well, you can do the same to me if you want, but be careful," Luffy said. He almost touched the Seastone platform again, but aimed for the table at the last second. "I bet Law would've said the same, you know."

"I know," Robin said. "But we never talked about it beforehand, so we shouldn't."

The kettle whistle sounded from the kitchen.

"Is that coffee?" Robin asked.

"Tea," Luffy said.

"I want some," Usopp exclaimed. Jinbei, Robin, and Chopper decided to pass, so Luffy and Usopp abandoned the laboratory to find Nami.

"Both of you?" Nami said in exasperation. Brook was already at the kitchen table, enjoying his own cup. "Next time I want to know beforehand how many people in this house are going to have some."

"You didn't tell us you were making tea," Usopp pointed out, sitting at the table with Luffy.

Nami pretended not to hear him. "It's fifty dollars a cup," she said, pouring Usopp one and holding out Luffy's. He stretched out his arm and grabbed it from the table while she set down Usopp's in front of him.

"Thank you," they said together, sipping it. On cue, rain sounded from outside.

"Such a lovely sound," Brook sighed. "I do wish I could swim sometimes."

"Me too," Luffy sighed.

"Me three," Usopp said. "I mean, I wish you two could swim. Then we wouldn't have to dive to the bottom of a pool to get your fruits every time you fall in."

Luffy laughed. "It happens a lot, doesn't it?"

"More than it should! I swear, eating a devil fruit just makes you more prone to falling in the sea. Maybe we should be researching that first!"

"Could the corruption have something to do with the ocean?" Nami wondered aloud, sitting next to Usopp after adding powdered cream to her tea. "I'll ask Robin later."

"I want credit," Usopp said, folding his arms. "I—"

A phone ringing interrupted him and the room went dead silent. When it rang again, Luffy jumped to his feet and ran to the living room, seizing the red phone from off the wall. Only one group of people had their phone number.

"Hi," he said into the speaker. Someone answered. "Koala?" he said in surprise. Nami, Usopp, and Brook came out of the kitchen to eavesdrop. "Hi! Is Sabo busy? He usually calls first." He listened intently, his face going slack. "What?"

The front door opened; Zoro, Sanji, and Franky entered and were about to speak when Nami shushed them, pointing to Luffy.

"Are—no way—no way. Are you sure?" His hands balled into fists. "Yeah. Yeah, of course we'll keep an eye out. You too. Thank you."

He turned around, pale. "Sabo got arrested," he announced with no prompting.

"What?!" Usopp and Nami shrieked.

"By whom?" Brook exclaimed.

"How?" Franky exclaimed.

"Who do you think?" Luffy said, falling down into a sit. "The police caught him trying to take in a corrupted user, and they turned him over to the military for breaking threader law."

"Federal," Nami said, staggering to a chair and sitting before she could faint. "The most they can do is throw him in jail, right?"

"Who knows?" Sanji said bleakly, going over to her. As she ducked away from every comforting pat he tried to give, he continued, "If his arrest isn't broadcasted, they can do what they want."

Franky swore under his breath and leaned against the wall. "Did Koala—was it Koala?—did she say anything about their research?"

"Nothing," Luffy said, staring at the wall.

"So, they haven't made any progress, either," Brook concluded.

"Speaking of which, I'll tell them about Law," Usopp said, going to the phone. He dialed the number and waited. While he spoke to Koala about the situation, Nami sat up.

"We probably don't need to worry," she said, slapping Sanji's hand away for good. "They might know where he's being held. And Luffy, your dad's a user himself and a master criminal, so I'd bet they could break in and bust him out."

"You think so?" Luffy said, brightening.

"I'm sure of it," Nami said, though the quaver in her voice told everyone but Luffy that she was also trying to convince herself.

"I'll go tell Robin-chan and the others what happened," Sanji said, leaving the room as Usopp hung up the phone.

"Koala says hi to everyone," he said. "And she says that something similar happened to one of their teammates."

"Who?" everyone said together.

"Emporio Ivankov. She said no one thought about it at the time, but their corruption happened about a week or two after the global catastrophe. They're gonna run some extra tests on their fruit to compare it to others."

Franky folded his arms, scowling. "Guess that's just more proof any of you could get corrupted down the line."

"You guys have to tell us as soon as you can if you start feeling weird," Nami said, standing. "Even just a little bit. That way we can revert you to your fruits to study you as soon as possible."

"Right," Luffy said. Brook nodded.

"No news from patrol," Zoro said, rubbing his temple. "I'm gonna go nap. Wake me up for dinner."

He hung up his hoodie, shaking off extra water, and kicked off his shoes, trudging away.

"Nothing?" Chopper said, seeing Luffy staring at the phone again.

Luffy shook his head.

"A week is a long time to go with no news," Robin remarked, moving a chess piece. Chopper looked at the board and cried out in dismay. "Of course, they could be busying themselves trying to break him out."

"Maybe," Luffy said, spinning around and falling into a chair. He looked out the window. The rain hadn't let up all week, and had turned into a storm that morning. "I just want something."

None of the news channels nor the newspaper had said a word about Sabo's capture, not even in vague terms, leading to only more worry in the small house.

"Checkmate," Robin said with a smile, knocking over one of Chopper's pieces. Chopper sighed and put his head on the table. "That was a good game. Want to play again?"

"Later," Chopper said, looking up. "I'll beat you for sure one d—"

A yell outside interrupted him. He, Robin, and Luffy looked out the window, alert, but when nothing else happened they looked back at each other.

"How about checkers, then?" Robin suggested. "Or we could draw s—"

Another yell interrupted her. The three of them stood and hurried to the window, looking outside. A figure was staggering down the street, wearing a very familiar cloak and top hat.

"Sabo?" Luffy whispered. He grinned. "Sabo! That's him!"

"Why would he come here instead of back to his team?" Robin wondered.

"Guys!" Chopper yelled. Zoro came downstairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and Nami and Jinbei emerged from the laboratory. Usopp and Franky came out, covered in dust from searching for work tools throughout the house, and Sanji and Brook came out of the kitchen.

"Sabo's out there," Luffy said, pointing to the figure stumbling down the street. "I dunno why he came here. Maybe it wasn't safe to go back to his team?"

Without waiting for an answer, he ran for the door and flew outside in the rain.

"Sabo!" he yelled while his friends watched from the window. "Hey! Sabo!"

Sabo looked up, eyes darting this way and that. His arms hung limply by his side and his footsteps were awkward and uncoordinated.

"Sabo?" Luffy said, slowing to a halt in front of him. "You escaped on your own? Why're you here?"

"Where's here?" Sabo said, his words a string of mumbles. "Where am I? Who am I? What did you do?" He clenched his fists. "What did they do, Koala?"

"Koala?" Luffy repeated, taking a step back. "Sabo, it's okay, it's me—"

Sabo lunged for him. Luffy jumped out of the way, and Sabo spun around, staggering.

"Ivankov, get Dragon," he slurred. "Old man, you love Luffy more than me, don't you?"

"Sabo," Luffy whispered. "Sabo! What happened to you?!"

"Sabo? Sabo," Sabo said. "Sabo's not here."

"You . . ." Luffy covered his mouth. "You ate a . . . Sabo, did they do this to you? Did they? Which one? Which one did you eat?"

"I ate up your soul," Sabo said, his words still barely comprehensible as he dragged his fingers down his face. His shoulders began to smoke, and to Luffy's horror, his hands went up in flames. "They stole my soul!"

He rushed forward, flames blazing on his body like a wildfire, and he tackled a stunned Luffy to the ground.

"They killed me, Luffy!" he screamed, unseeing eyes darting every which way as if he was asleep. Rain fell upon Luffy's face and surrounded Sabo, the flames burning bright regardless. "They killed me before I could kill them! But I'm back, Luffy!" He slammed a fiery fist into Luffy's chest, and Luffy's head tilted back with a strangled cry of pain. "Your big brother's back from the dead!"

"Sabo," Luffy croaked, looking up at him. Sabo's face went up in flames, obscuring his features, and hands sprouted from Luffy out of nowhere, pushing Sabo away. Robin hissed in pain as the flames reached her arms, and the phantom limbs vanished. Luffy's friends had finally run outside to help.

"Luffy-kun," Jinbei said, holding out a hand. "Can you stand?"

Luffy moved nothing but his head, turning it to stare at Sabo, who rolled around on the ground as if trying to put himself out.

"Hack!" he shrieked. "Go get Koala! Pops, you were the best father a guy could ask for, you know?! Where's Kuma?! Dragon!"

He leapt to his feet, but Zoro, rushing forward, cut him down with a fierce slashing attack. The cut went right through Sabo's fiery body, as did Sanji's kick, leaving Sanji trying to blow the flames out on his leg.

"Damn Logias," Nami hissed. She waved a hand around to check the temperature of the storm and used her Clima Tact to create a small storm above Sabo, helping to keep his flames to a minimum. "Jinbei, get Luffy inside!"

"Of course!" Jinbei scooped up Luffy, who struggled to escape. "Let's go, lad."

"No," Luffy said hoarsely, staring in horror. "Sabo. I need to . . . Sabo . . ."

"You don't have to watch," Jinbei said, turning Luffy away from the fight. "Please."

"But—Jinbei, lemme go!"

"We're going inside," Jinbei repeated, holding Luffy to him like a kitten. "Luffy-kun, for once, please listen to us."

Luffy clutched at Jinbei's robes so tightly they might have ripped as Jinbei ran him indoors. Once inside, Jinbei had to keep a strong hold on Luffy to prevent him from running back outside.

"Usopp!" Zoro exclaimed, brushing rain-coated hair out of his eyes as he attacked Sabo one last time. "Now!"

Usopp fired his slingshot—missed—adjusted for the wind and rain—and hit Sabo.

Sabo laughed deliriously as the Seastone-laced ropes wrapped around his face. "Kill me," he slurred, his words ever more muffled with the ropes crossing around his mouth. "Kill me again, Luffy, kill me—"

His body morphed and shrank until nothing remained but a round orange fruit, tainted with blue and violet splotches among the flame-like scales. Zoro picked it up, keeping the ropes tied around it.

"Come on," he said. He glanced up and saw Luffy's struggles against Jinbei weakening, his body going limp. "We'd better get him into the tank."

The rain had stopped at last, leaving soggy streets and the usual puddle in the bedroom upstairs. The gang was crowded in the living room. Chopper sat in Robin's lap, tears dripping down his face while she stared at the floor, rocking him in her lap. Nami was curled up on her side in the chair, finally allowing Sanji to rest a comforting arm around her shoulders while he crouched on the armrest. Zoro sat on the floor next to Robin and Chopper, arms folded, and Brook was perched on the mantle above the blocked-up fireplace, his thin frame allowing for such a seat. Luffy's legs were drawn up to his chest as he stared into space blankly, and Jinbei sat next to him, cross-legged. Usopp sat on Jinbei's other side, leaning against his massive body.

The click of the phone being hung up made everyone but Luffy look over at Franky.

"So . . . she's upset, obviously," he said. "But she's glad he's somewhat safe. She said we could keep him here if we wanted, but it's up to us."

"They can have him," Luffy said, voice still hoarse. He didn't bother to clear it and didn't look at anyone. "They're his team."

"We should run at least a few tests before giving him back," Robin suggested. "This is a completely unique situation. A person consuming a corrupted devil fruit after its original owner was . . ."

"How did that happen?" Usopp asked, blinking hard and shifting his legs.

"Maybe he was trying to escape," Zoro said. "And he saw Ace's fruit—"

"He didn't," Luffy said, face hardening. "He wouldn't have. The military must've force-fed it to him. Sabo would never do that on his own."

"You don't know that," Nami said, leaning back against the chair, not caring that she was squashing Sanji's arm between her back and the cushion. "Sabo missed Ace as much as you do, Luffy. For all we know, the temptation was—"

"He didn't!" Luffy yelled, glaring at her. She flinched and Sanji scowled at him. "He couldn't've," Luffy said, sagging back against Jinbei, going limp. "He'd never . . ."

"Never mind how it happened," Franky said, sitting next to Zoro and lifting his hands. Chopper climbed into them and Franky set him in his lap. Robin shifted her position. "It's over and done with. We'll ask him how it happened when we find a cure."

"If we find a cure," Zoro said.

"It's bad luck to talk like that, Zoro-san," Brook said delicately. "Please be optimistic here. It may turn out to be nigh impossible, but every event that occurs has an inverse. A deflated balloon can be reinflated, a cup of tea can be reheated, and though it would take a team of a thousand, even a mixture of differently-colored sands can be reorganized into like colors."

Zoro shrugged, unable or unwilling to argue.

"Luffy?" Sanji said, looking at him. "Do you need anything?"

Luffy shook his head.

"I'm starting dinner soon. What do you want?"

"Not hungry."

Sanji sighed, lips pressed together. "I can't accept that. I'll bring you something later."

Luffy didn't answer. Jinbei stood, scooping up Luffy and making Usopp fall onto the couch.

"I'm taking you to the bedroom," he said. "You get some rest and come down when you're feeling better."

Luffy hid his face, curling up into a ball. Jinbei left to take him upstairs. The sunset, made pale and greyish from the rain, shone through the windows.

"Okay, well," Usopp said, picking himself up from the couch. "Robin, Chopper, Brook, do you mind if we check your fruits?"

"That's a good idea," Robin said. Chopper hopped off of Franky's lap. "A weekly checkup for all of us might be best. Better safe than sorry."

"Great idea, guys," Nami said, sitting forward and releasing Sanji's arm. He rubbed it, circulation returning. "I'll come."

"I'll get started on dinner," Sanji reiterated, going to the kitchen. "Hey, mossy, come help."

Zoro grumbled something and stood, following him. Usopp, Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Brook made a single-file line heading to the laboratory, and Franky disappeared again to continue hunting for tools.

"There's no shame, Luffy-kun."

Luffy didn't turn around. He had gone from being curled into a ball in Jinbei's arms to being curled into a ball on his bed. The sunset glinted off the puddle in the room, casting light on the walls.

"He's your brother," Jinbei continued. "And the fruit he ate . . . no one would blame you for being so upset."

Luffy curled in tighter on himself.

"I know it's been a hard week," Jinbei said. "Take as long as you need. We'll cover your shifts until then."

Luffy nodded.

"Do you want me to stay here?"

Luffy shook his head.

"Tell us if you need anything," Jinbei said, standing, "or even if you want to retreat to your fruit. We'll understand."

He turned away, heading out the door. Luffy trembled in bed, silent tears running across his nose and dripping onto the musty sheets. A gleam of sunset bounced off the puddle into his eyes, and he squeezed them shut, his world going dark.