Chapter Text
When Sabo died, Luffy was devastated. He'd never lost someone like that before, but he’d never had brothers before that either. He still had Ace. Ace, who raised him, who cared for him, who kept him safe.
Ace who was dying in his arms because he took a hit meant for Luffy.
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Luffy had always thought that he was strong, that he could take on anything the world threw at him. But then Sabaody happened. And he lost his crew. And now he was losing the last brother he had. All because he was too weak to stand up and move. He was too weak to save his brother;he was always needing saving .
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“Thank you, for loving me!”
louderlouDERLOUDERLOUDER
As Ace went limp in his arms-
Something snapped.
Luffy could hear someone laughing. Why was someone laughing? Why were they laughing when Ace was dying because of him? Why did he feel so light? Drums pounded at the back of his mind, and he realized that the laughter was coming from inside of him. The pressure that had been rising his chest had been laughter .
He was laughing while his brother was dying .
It bubbled in his throat, passing his lips before he even realized it. His skin crawled, a shiver working up his spine, down his limbs. His skin felt like it was being clawed at and caressed at the same time. He felt so light, like something that had been weighing on his shoulders suddenly lifted and all he could do was laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh–
Why was he laughing, why was he laughing, whywashelaughing–
He was laughing but he could feel nothing, crying but feeling nothing .
No joy, no pain, no sadness.
His brother was dead and yet he could feel noth-
Then his eyes focused on something in front of him, and everything came rushing back. The Admiral in front of him still had his fist raised, his face a mixture of shock and awe..and fear.
Good, good, good, goodgoodgood.
He should be scared, he should be afraid, he should know that he was nothing and that Luffy Nika everything.
Luffy Nika threw his head back and cackled. His tears didn’t flow down his cheeks like they should have, but instead rose, just like the steady fury rebuilding itself in his chest.
Luffy didn’t know what compelled him to raise his fist to the sky Nika did because Nika knew how to be strong , he knew how to destroy , but then there was a bolt of lighting in his hands and all Luffy could feel was rage.
His own laughs were the only thing he could hear as he brought down the bolt of wrath on Akainu's head. The man dodged but Luffy wasn’t worried, there was nowhere the insignificant mutt could go that NikaLuffy wouldn’t find him.
Slowly, Luffy rose to his feet. Then he rose higher, higher, higherhigherhigher–
His laughter boomed throughout the shocked silent battlefield. People fell over from how it shook the Earth, some prayed, some passed out, others did nothing but stare up at the giant he had become.
NikaLuffy paid them mind, his eyes locked on the magma Admiral. He was still laughing as he threw another bolt of lighting down, and yet again the man dodged. Luffy would have scowled in annoyance if he could get rid of the grin on his face.
He needed to get closer. Wanted to see the look on the mutt's face when he realized that he was going to die.
He willed himself to get smaller, and suddenly he was.
He stood facing down the Admiral who had murdered his brother.
His laughter seemed to get louder.
Then he went silent.
No one spoke.
No one seemed to be breathing.
“You…What are you?” The mutt asked, as though he had the right to ask Nika Luffy anything.
The voice that came out of Luffy’s mouth sounded like his, but not, all at once.
“W e ’ v e b ee n ca ll ed ma ny n a mes , mutt, ” Nika Luffy giggled, his voice edged on deranged, hysterical, “ B ut w he re y o u wi ll b e go in g, none of them will matter.”
With that Nika Luffy decided that Akainu had breathed long enough, and lunged.
Everything after that was a mix of red and his own laughter ringing in his ears. But it didn’t really sound like his laughter, it sounded too loud, too rough, too much. His arms didn’t feel like his arms, his legs didn’t feel like his legs, his body didn’t feel like his body. His mind felt fuzzy, like it was shoved full of cotton. His thoughts didn’t match his actions, it was like he wasn’t in control.
He loved it. He hated it.
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Luffy shot up, his chest heaving, every breath pained. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pounding in his head, why did his head hurt so much? Why did his chest feel like it was on fire?
What? Where…Where was he?
What happen-
Laughter.
Ringing in his ears.
ACE IN HIS ARMS–
Luffy’s eyes shot open as everything came back to him, a horrifying rush of images. Thats right…Thats right!
Luffy swung his head from side to side, trying to spot his big brother, ( alive oh god please be alive he didn’t know if he could take if- ) but instead all he saw were wires and some of the stuff Chopper kept locked away for one when one of them was really really hurt.
There was no one else.
More importantly, there was no Ace .
Luffy’s mind was a jumble of rage, confusion, desperation and fear.
He fell off the bed he had been laying on, and stumbled to his feet. His body slammed against the door, barely able to hold himself up. Luffy took a hold of the handle and yanked it downwards, but it didn’t move.
The door was locked, he realized. Rage bubbled up as he realized that he had been trapped in this room all by himself.
The roar that tore itself from his throat sounded inhuman, like a wounded animal. Maybe because that was what Luffy was. An animal. He raised his fist and pulled his arm back.
The only thought running through his head was that he needed to find Ace.
He tore through the door, then limped down the metal hallway, past a shocked polar bear and two other humans. He raised his fist once more and tore through one of the walls keeping him enclosed.
Luffy stood in all his bandaged glory, and surveyed what looked to be a beach.
Absently, he noticed Rayleigh speaking to Hancock, and if he had cared about anything else at the moment he might have noticed the look of fear on the Pirate Empresses face. His eyes bypassed a spotted hat and what looked like a pineapple, there were some others around, but Ace wasn’t there .
A familiar pressure started to build, and wisps of pure white clouds started to appear in his peripherals, then someone was in front of him, an ugly round scar in the middle of their chest.
Someone seemed to be talking to him but he couldn’t make out what they were saying over the sound of blood rushing in his ears.
“-uffy! Cal….kay….ack to me….I’m…ay….Ace.”
At the sound of his brothers name, everything seemed to come back into focus. Slowly, he tilted his head up, his eyes misting as he laid eyes on the familiar soft smile of his older brother.
“Ace…?” he croaked, his mouth was dry and icky. Ace nodded, and took a hold of Luffy’s hands, placing them over where his heart was pumping alive , a steady pulse of blood cells working. Luffy didn’t know what face he was making but it made some of the tenseness in Ace’s shoulders ease.
“That’s right baby bro, is me, can you take a deep breath and calm down for me?” he soothed, his tone one that Luffy hadn’t heard in years. It was the same one Ace used when Luffy was throwing a tantrum or was having one of his freak outs. Luffy let out a whimper, and used the last of his strength to throw himself at his brother. Ace held him to his chest, petting his hair and running a hand up and down his back.
Luffy drifted off to the sound of Ace’s soothing tone humming a lullaby from Dawn island.
The ringing had stopped.