Chapter 2: Big Brother?

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Disclaimer: One Piece is owned by Eiichiro Oda

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It was a bright and early morning, the sun was already raising high into the crisp blue and cloudless sky. The birds were chirping, the breeze slighting blowing. Nothing could ruin it…

"I told you already, Grandpa!" Luffy yowled. "I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

…Except for the sounds of a child screaming bloody murder.

"Pirate King my foot!" Garp retaliated, holding the child up by the collar of her shirt,, and with her feline features, she looked like a kitten being carried by the scruff of her neck. "Not only did you go and eat a Devil Fruit, but you have the gall to talk back to me in such a rude way? Luffy, you and Ace are both going to become the strongest marines that have ever lived when you grow up!"

Luffy wrapped her arms around a tree and dug her claws in, hoping to stop her grandpa in his tracks.

"Becoming friends with that damn Red-Haired Brat is completely unacceptable!"

The bark of the tree that Luffy was clinging to tore away as he gave her a yank.

"I don't wanna be a Marine!"

"You're either going to become a Marine or you're going to marry one!"

"Stupid old man!" Luffy screeched as she sunk her claws and fangs into Garp's leg.

"KORA!" Garp roared as he shook his granddaughter loose, holding her a little further out from his vulnerable flesh, "It was my mistake leaving you in that peaceful village."

They arrived in front of a wooden house in the middle of the woods. A stern glare from Garp kept her pinned in place as he pounded his fist on the door, "Dadan! Get out here!"

"So annoying!" A large woman with curly, orange hair came out with her eyes closed. "Who's the reckless daredevil?!"

"It's me."

She looked at Garp with wide eyes and began to back up, "G-Garp!"

"Eh?" two men, one small man and one tall man, came out from behind the curtain.

"You seem to be doing well," Garp commented.

"You've gotta be kidding me! Seriously, I wish you'd just leave me alone for a change! Ace is already ten, you know! I'm not sure that I'm going be able to handle much more of this! Take him back already, would you?!"

Garp laughed as he thought back to his adopted grandson, "He's already 10? Has it really been that long? How's he doing?"

"It's nothing to laugh at!" Dogra protested. "If he gets any wilder, we won't be able to control him at all!"

"Anyways…"

"Don't just change the subject like that!"

Dadan then noticed Luffy, who was running around examining everything she could get her hands on, "Sheesh, that kid's so distracting!"

Garp then picked Luffy up by the back of her shirt, and pulled out a back-pack filled with her clothes and the books Shanks had gotten her, "Take care of her too."

A look of horror spread across the mountain bandit's face, "YOU'VE BROUGHT ME ANOTHER ONE?!"

Garp nodded, "Now come on, Luffy. Say hello."

Luffy looked up, "Hey."

"Who's that kid?" Mogra asked, starching the back of his head.

"She's my granddaughter."

All three of the bandits had their eyes wide open, "WHAT?!"

"WE'VE GOTTA TAKE CARE OF ANOTHER ONE?!"

"GARP'S GRANDDAUGHTER?!"

All three of them answered at the same time, "Not happening!"

Garp loomed over them with his arms crossed, "Well, you have to make a decision. Live the rest of your lives behind bars, or raise this little girl. I keep averting my eyes to your crimes, which number more than the stars in the sky might I add!"

"That's blackmail!" all three of them cried.

"Well," Mogra began, "I don't wanna go to prison,"

"But sometimes, prison actually sounds tempting," Dogra continued. "Our hands are full with just Ace!"

"And now you want us to take your granddaughter too?!" Dadan finished.

Garp merely laughed her off, "She's adorable! What can she possibly do?"

Dadan stared at the man, "She's a little monster, isn't she?! Just like the other one!"

Meanwhile, Luffy was running around, taking in the forest, when someone spat on her. She cringed, wiping it off her face, "Ewww… Who spit on me?"

Garp looked up, "Oh, hey, Ace!"

"You came home, Ace?" the bandits also looked up.

Portgas D. Ace looked down at everyone, sitting on the dead animal he had dragged back through the forest back.

"That's Ace," Garp explained to the girl. "He's six years older than you. You're gonna live with him from today forward."

"EH? IT'S ALREADY DECIDED?!"

Luffy stared at the older boy. Ace glared in return. Garp noticed this and was across the clearing in a flash as he landed a punch Ace's head, "Remember brat, she's just a little girl. So be a gentleman and try to get along!"

Ace glared at the old man as he rubbed his head, the old geezer was apparently, to him at least, trying to saddle them with some snot nosed baby that didn't even look old enough to be out of diapers. It was almost as annoying as the Vice-Admiral's attitude.

"You think this is settled?!" Dadan cried.

Garp turned his head and glared at them, "What?"

The bandits paled and stood up straight, "We'll take care of her!"

"Good! And I don't want to hear about making her do the same things you have Ace do. That means no hunting until she's seven or eight, a reasonable amount of chores that a four year old can handle, and the properly portioned and balanced meals for a growing child until she's seven and it's okay for her to hunt. Am I understood" as Dadan and her men nodded rapidly, Garp grinned, "Then my business is done here! I'll come to visit when I have time."

"Um… What about child support?"

"Put it on my tab."

"This ain't no bar, y'know…"

"What was that?"

"You're always welcome here!" And with that said, the Vice-Admiral left.

Ace jumped down from the buffalo and walked towards the hut.

"Hey, Boss! What are we gonna do with another one to take care of?"

"Well, first let's have something to eat! Go cook something up!"

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Dadan looked down at the young girl, thinking over the situation that Garp had forced upon her. Apparently the girl had been living with the Owner of the Party Bar down in Fushia Village, so it was probably a good idea to head down there herself and talk with the woman. The next thing she observed was that the girl obviously inherited both her monstrous appetite and monstrous strength from Garp as she ate twice the amount that an average man would eat, though it was still less than Ace ate on average. Her strength had been discovered when Ace refused to drag the buffalo he had killed into the hideout, stating he had dragged it far enough, and Luffy had found out that it could delay dinner by a few minutes if Mogra and Dogra tried to drag it in. she had it in the hideout faster than it took for the two to get from where they had been standing to the dead animal.

Another thing she noticed was how close she kept her straw hat, as if she was trying to protect it from everyone. Dadan thought it was kind of adorable when Dogra tried to take it, along with her bag, to the area she would be sleeping in up in the attic. The girl had pinned her cat ears back as her tail bushed out. She had taken a swipe a Dogra as he reached for the hat, hissing as he jumped away. Dadan knew about the Devil Fruit and figured Garp probably didn't care enough to mention it. It made sense in a way, seeing as Garp had brought the girl to them with her tail and ears out like they were.

What Dadan didn't like was Luffy's attitude, and her mouth.

"Mountain bandits are stupid," Luffy stated as she looked up from one of her books.

"Shut it brat! We're already tired of dealing with the likes of you!" Dadan yelled at her. "If you don't like it here, get out and starve to death!"

"Calm down Boss," one of the bandits said, fearing Garp's wrath over Dadan's temper when it came to the tiny child.

Luffy stared at her recently emptied plate and then at Ace, who was stuffing his face with extra meat. "I'm still hungry."

"If you want more food than what we served you, you're going to have to earn it! This meat is from the buffalo Ace captured! He gives us some in exchange for a roof over his head and getting out of most of the chores that we would normally give him! Mountain robbers haven't been in shape recently, so having someone that can hunt for us is just as good," Dadan said as she chewed her chunk of meat obnoxiously. "You will have to do a lot of work tomorrow if you want extra food! You'll have to sweep the floors, help with the laundry and dishes, carry firewood, and anything else that's acceptable for a little girl like yourself to help with! As well as act as either bait or a decoy while we rob, steal, swindle, and murder people! And you must not tell Garp what you are doing here!"

Luffy tilted her head, "What would happen if I did tell Grandpa?"

Dadan's eyes dilated as she remembered Garp's threat, "You wouldn't!"

"Fine, you won't have to play bait or decoy, but until your old enough to hunt on your own you'll either be helping out with the chores here or we'll send you with Ace for the day."

"WHAT!" Ace shouted as his head shot up, "She'll slow me down!"

"THEN HELP HER GET STRONGER!" Dadan roared as Luffy blinked as the two went back and forth, "Besides, Garp told you to get along with her, which means you're the closest thing to being her older brother. You'll have to teach her the basics of fighting, hunting, and whatever else you do when she's with you."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't abandon her in the forest when you try to send her with me." Ace snarled as Dadan fell into a thinking pose.

"Whenever she's with you you'll be excused from all your chores and you won't have to share anything you kill for dinner."

Ace glared before he snapped his head to the side, "Whatever."

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One Week Later

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Ace turned around silently, only to find Luffy behind him. The girl had been following him around all week, and it was kind of getting old. Apparently the cat parts weren't for show either as she often skipped across things that were difficult for him to balance on to cross the more treacherous areas in the forest. He had managed to prevent her from finding his hideout near Grey Terminal, but it was a near thing.

"Hey Ace? Why are you so grumpy?!" Luffy asked, "Do you need a nap?"

Ace didn't reply, so Luffy continued. "Are you hungry? Or Bored? or…?*"

Ace kicked a tree twice, successfully smashing and knocking it over towards Luffy, who quickly dodged it with wide eyes. Ace turned and walked back towards the bandit's hideout, not bothering to check and see if she was following him. He knew she was there, she always was.

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"Ace? Why are you back alone?"

"Hmm?"

"Weren't you with Luffy? Where is she?"

"Hell if I know," Ace replied coldly.

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"Hey Boss! She's been missing since yesterday! This isn't good!" Dogra said.

"What was that?"

"Listen to me! Won't it look bad that she went missing the first week she got here?!" Dogra argued.

"Who gives a damn?!" Dadan replied, drunk. "If she dies, so be it! We can't do anything!"

"Garp is gonna kill us," Mogra said meekly.

"Tch. Why do we have to look after Garp's granddaughter in the first place? This isn't a daycare, dammit! He should look after his own grandchildren!" Dadan poured more sake into her cup and drank.

"So why didn't you tell him that?" Mogra asked.

"What was that?!" Dadan growled and Mogra looked away.

"We've already given up on looking after Ace. I don't care if she dies!" Dadan continued. "If so we'll just tell Garp it was an accident. Think what'll happen if the government finds out! He's the son of the devil, after all! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY WILL DO TO US?!"

"Calm down, Boss!"

What they didn't know was that Ace had been listening the whole time.

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One Week Later

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"BOSS!"

"WHAT?!"

"LUFFY CAME BACK ALIVE!"

"SHE'S STILL ALIVE?!"

Dadan stared at the relatively unharmed seven-year-old and gaped, "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!

"I was playing with the big stripy kitties," Luffy said with a shrug.

"You were doing what?!"

Luffy ignored them and skipped to her room to read her books.

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"Hey Ace!" Luffy called out, "Are you going somewhere again?"

Ace looked back to glare at the girl.

"Take me with you!" she beamed. "Come on, I want to watch you hunt again!"

Ace sprinted into the forest. Luffy's face fell as she ran after him, "Hey wait for me!"

"Hey Boss!" Dogra shouted. "She ran after Ace again!"

"DAMN YOU LUFFY! YOU HAVE CHORES TO FINISH!" Dadan screamed.

Luffy turned around, hopping backwards. She laughed mischievously and stuck her tongue out, "Don't wanna!"

"THE DAMN KID WON'T LISTEN TO A WORD I SAY!"

"Now, now, Boss…"

Dadan turned to Mogra, "Get your ass in gear and bring her back!"

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Stopped as she came across a huge trash pile. She had never followed Ace this far before, and she smelled adventure, "It's the end of the forest!"

She began to look around, "Where did ace go, I can't really smell him with all of this stinky trash around… I guess I'll run around until I find him!"

With a grin, Luffy dashed in to the new area, looking for the familiar mop of black hair.

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"Sabo!" Ace called out. "Sabo are you here?!"

"Ah," a voice answered from the trees. "Hey, Ace!"

"Sorry for being late!" Ace replied.

"With you being late, I already did the job in town!" Sabo grinned.

"Hm, I see," Ace grinned back. "Well guess what, so did I!"

Sabo counted the money Ace handed him, "Awesome! You got more than me! This is a lot of cash; how did you get it?!"

"I took them from a bunch of people near the gate," Ace smirked. "They might have been carriers for some merchant ship.

"Damn it," Sabo sighed. "You beat me again!"

"Who cares about winning? It's our stash of pirate treasure which we're gonna use one day," Ace grinned. "It's been 5 years since we started saving."

"Yeah! We're gonna leave this East Blue and go somewhere these people have never dreamed of! It's exciting just to think about it!" Sabo laughed as he opened the lid on their stash to add Ace's haul to it..

Ace looked at him, "Hurry up and close it; who knows who will see."

"I wonder how much we need to buy a pirate ship," Sabo wondered, looking at the money in his hands.

"Who knows. Ten million or a hundred million, maybe? But we still have a long way to go."

The a girl's voice suddenly spoke behind them, "Pirate ship?"

At the sound of a foreign voice, Sabo's eyes bulged and quickly closed the place where they hid their treasure.

"You guys want to be pirates?!"

Ace and Sabo looked down, shocked out of their minds. Luffy grinned, faking oblivion, "I do too! So Ace, is this where you come to every day?"

Ace and Sabo looked at each other and nodded, coming to a silent conclusion. They quickly climbed down the large tree, ran towards Luffy, and slammed their fists into her head. "Be quiet!"

They moved to tie her up to the tree, but Luffy's eyes went wide and watery. Luffy began to sniffle and hiccup as she rubbed her head, "Ace! That hurt! I'm telling Grandpa when he comes back!"

"Quite!" Ace barked, worry evident on his face, "And don't you dare tell Garp about this!"

Sabo just watched as Ace tried to get the girl, who was now wailing, as loud as she could, about how mean Ace was and how she was going to tell this 'Garp' person about it. Sabo couldn't tell if Ace was more worried about this 'Garp' finding out or being found.

"So this is the Luffy kid you were talking about," Sabo sighed.

"Oh? You told him about me?" she asked with a watery smile, to which Ace immediately replied, "I told him how annoying you are."

"He also told me that you're empty-headed," Sabo added.

Luffy began to cry again, "Why are you so mean to me today?"

"She must of followed my scent here, damn devil fruit. I thought I had lost her near the tiger den," Ace said to Sabo.

Sabo looked horrified, "The tiger den?! Are you nuts?"

"She usually plays with the cubs! She's enough cat that they don't care if she's there!"

Sabo shook his head, "Anyways, this is the reason I told you to live here with me! That way she would have never found this place! What should we do?!"

"She knows our secret," Ace began darkly. "If we let her leave, she'll tell someone."

"…Let's kill him," Ace concluded.

"Alright, let's do it," Sabo nodded.

They turned back to where Luffy had been crying, only to see she had disappeared. Sabo started to look around for her, But Ace knew better. He looked straight up to see the girl clinging to a tree as she looked more cat like than usual, "Get down here you idiot!"

"No!"

"Get down here right now!"

"Don't wanna!"

"You're over reacting!"

"IF SOMEONE TOLD YOU THAT THEY WERE GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU WOULD REACT THE SAME WAY MEANIE!" she yowled, the fur that had appeared on her body bristling angrily. "I DIDN'T THINK YOU GUYS WERE GOING TO KILL ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

"SABO! CLIMB UP AND GET HER!" Ace ordered.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! YOU DO IT!" Sabo shot back.

"I'VE NEVER KILLED A PERSON BEFORE!" Ace panicked.

"SAME HERE! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO IT!" Sabo panicked as well.

"Oh, I know!" Luffy called down, sounding a bit too cheerful. "How about you both don't kill me! Then everybody's happy!"

"SHUT UP!" they both yelled at her. Luffy paused for a second, before she began crying again, "DON'T KILL ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

"Hey, I heard voices from here! Children's voices!" someone yelled.

"Crap! Someone's coming!" Sabo cursed.

"Leave her for now! We have to get away from here or they'll find our treasure!" Ace said.

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"Those children Ace and Sabo you're telling me about are famous around here," a man said, "You're sure it's Ace that took your money, right?"

"Yes," a pirate answered. "I'm ashamed, but he got me by surprise."

"What a stupid child, to take money from our crew," Porchemy sneered. "If Captain Bluejam hears about this, he'll kill all of us!"

"Damn! I didn't know that those thugs were working for Bluejam!" Ace whispered. "I shouldn't have taken that money!"

"He has a real sword! That's Porchemy!" Sabo whispered back furiously. "Have you heard of him?! He's crazy! He skins the heads of his opponents while they're alive after you lose a fight with him!"

Slowing hiding behind the bushes, Ace and Sabo came to an agreement. "Let's just let them pass for now…"

Sabo made a noise of alarm, causing Ace to whip his head to the side to look at him, who in turn looked in the direction of where Luffy was supposed to be. "What the… Where is she?!"

They turned to see Luffy being held up by Porchemy. Ace facepalmed, while Sabo just stared in shock.

"Letmego Letmego Letmego!" Luffy screamed as she twisted in the pirate's grip.

Why did that idiot go to the enemies?! Ace and Sabo both screamed in their minds, eyes bulging.

"LET ME GO!" she yowled as she managed to turn enough to sink her claws in to his arm.

Porchemy winced, but his coat was thick enough to stop most of the claws, "What is this little shit?"

"Help me, Ace!" Luffy pleaded.

THAT IDIOT! HE SAID MY NAME! Ace and Sabo both ducked behind the bushes.

"Did you just say Ace?" Porchemy questioned. "Do you know him?"

"Yeah, Grandpa said he's supposed to be my big brother, but he's nothing but a big meanie!" Luffy sniffed, before she began to tear up once again, "Oh, but he did try to kill me just now…"

Ace clenched his fists, Damn it, she just keeps talking!

"I'm going to ask you one thing. Today, he took our money and ran away. Do you happen to know where it is?" Porchemy asked the 7 year old.

"No! They'll find our treasure!" Sabo cursed.

"That idiot better not say a word!" Ace growled.

"I don't know," Luffy shrugged, she hadn't been paying attention, "It was some big tree in the forest."

Porchemy stared at her before looking at the forest. The smallest tree he could see was as big around as he was. He then began to chuckle. "The brat doesn't know, fan out and try to find Ace and his little friend. It'll be easier to make him tell us then it would be to search each and every tree."

Ace and Sabo stared at their backs in shock. Did Luffy Lie or did she really not pay attention to where they kept it.

"I'll distract them, you move the treasure when they're gone. Grab Luffy when you do."

"Hurry!" Sabo said as Ace scrambled up a tree, "If they find this place, they won't only take what we stole from them; they'll take everything we've been saving up for the past 5 years!"

"What do we do with the girl Porchemy? I ain't ever seen a cat girl like her before," one man said as he leered at the girl, "Could be worth money."

"She's half feral with the way she's acting, better to through her back in the forest and forget about her," The man said as he followed through with what he said, tossing Luffy into the tree line. Luffy hissed when she landed on her butt, but the man just grinned, "Less trouble for us anyhow."

It was at that point the man Ace robbed noticed the boy looking down from a nearby tree, "Porchemy, there he is!"

The Pirates turned, forgetting about the cat-girl, and gave chase when Ace dashed away through the tree tops. Luffy watch before shrugging. Dusting herself off, Luffy skipped into the forest following the top hatted boy's scent.

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The sun was setting and the sky was a scarlet color as Ace and Sabo lay in a small clearing, panting from the efforts they had made to keep their treasure safe. They looked at each other with tired grins as Ace spoke, "We did it, our treasure is safe."

"What about that Luffy girl?"

"She'll wander around until she catches my scent or finds her way back to Dadan's hideout."

"That's heartless." Sabo replied.

"She's a brat."

"Am not!" a voice piped up as the two boys shot up, seeing Luffy. She was essentially back to normal, well, what Ace knew was normal for her with her tail and ears. She stood there with her hands on her hips as she frowned on them, "And I'm still telling Grandpa you were going to kill me."

Before Ace could start a fight with the girl, Sabo got between them, "Are you alright, Porchemy didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Nope!" She chirped, liking the new boy immediately. Even if he did hit her and tried to kill her, he was still nicer than Ace.

"Man," Ace groaned and plopped back down on the ground, "I have no idea what just happened, but there's no way Bluejam's men will ever forgive us! We're gonna be chased now!"

Luffy tilted her head, "Why is that bad?"

"GODDAMN IT! YOU!" Ace yelled at her, "THOSE MEN ARE CRIMINALS WHO EASILY KILL WOMEN AND CHILDREN!"

"Ara," Luffy blinked then a smile slowly grew on her face. "You were worried about me?"

She jumped on his back and rubbed her cheek on his. Ace reddened and tried to get her off, only to fail. He heaved a sigh and gave up.

"Shi shi shi!" Luffy laughed. "See! You can be nice if you try!"

"I WAS NOT WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Ace yelled, face crimson. "Why didn't you tell them where our money was?"

Luffy looked up, confusion on her. "I didn't know where it was."

'She really didn't know,' Sabo and Ace thought at the same time, disbelief clear on their faces.

"Why do you keep following me?" Ace finally asked.

"Because you're supposed to be my big brother," Luffy said with a shrug, "And I can't really go anywhere else or it'll make Grandpa mad."

Ace looked at her confused and Luffy elaborated, "I'm not allowed to go back to the village and I'm not particularly fond of the mountain bandits. If I didn't go after you, I'd be alone."

Ace stared at her with dark eyes, wondering where the childish Luffy he knew was. The one in front of him reminded him of, well, himself, "What about your parents?"

"Don't know."

Ace's eyes were glazed, as if in a trance, remembering his past. The people who told him that being his father's son and his existence was a crime.

"Huh," Ace let out a sigh. "But I hate spoiled brats like you, you know?"

"I'M NOT A SPOILED BRAT!" Luffy yelled at him. "I'M STRONG!"

"Strong? What's so strong about you? You're a little girl!" Ace teased.

Luffy saw red as she sock Ace in the stomach, lifting him off of his feet and knocking him across the clearing, "I'm strong like Grandpa!"

As Ace wheezed from the hit, Sabo shook his head. "Hey, by the way, you two, I have a little problem. I've lived in this trash heap all my life…"

"But from this day forward, Ace and I are going to have our lives targeted by pirates."

"I got an Idea!" Luffy exclaimed after a few moments, "We can…"

XxXxXxXx

Dadan gaped as she counted one extra head at the table.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MEANING OF THIS?! ACE! LUFFY! WHO IS THIS BRAT?! WHY IS THERE ANOTHER ONE OF YOU HERE?!"

"Yo!" Sabo slapped Dadan's hand in greeting. "You're Dadan, right? I'm Sabo!"

"Sabo?! I know that name! I've heard you're quite the shitty little pipsqueak!" Dadan snarled at him, trying to intimidate him to leave.

Sabo merely laughed at that, "Oh really? Well, I've heard that you're quite the shitty old hag!"

"DON'T BOTHER COLLECTING INFORMATION YOU DON'T NEED, DAMN IT!" Dadan yelled in outrage.

The three kids laughed in response and took off to the forest. Dadan sighed in resignation. 'Looks like there's going to be one more brat in this place.'

XxXxXxXx

For the next few months, it was going to be very lively in the mountain bandits' home. Luffy and Ace alone were bad enough, but now that there was a third, their lives were full of pranks, laughter, and yelling.

Sabo, Ace, and Luffy spent most of their time in the forest, training to become stronger and eventually, they became so infamous, their names reached the center area of the kingdom. In the future, these three children would be important in shaping the world. Today though, they merely laughed and ran as the mountain bandits chased them for spiking the food with hot peppers.

XxXxXxXx

Author's Note: Someone... help me... the bunnies are horrible beings of mass creation...