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“Are you sure that you have everything?” Makino asked, smiling at them.
“Yeah, we're sure. We made sure to pack lots of meat! And some books on navigation, of course. Got our medication, too.”
“Well, in that case, be good!” she replied, giving the youth a big hug. “You three be good, and don't forget to write. You hear me there, Sabo? I expect letters, or I'll be sending Garp to check on you.”
Ace and Luffy pouted even as Sabo chuckled over it. “We will write when we can. Tell Dadan and the others bye for us?” He answered, hopping onto the skiff and shoving off. None of them were much for long goodbyes. Especially not when there was adventure to be had, after all.
I don't want to do this, guys! Ace ignored the whine in his head as he made made his way up the mountain. He was sure Sabo would be able to calm Luffy down, he was always better at it.
“Why the hell did the guy have to pick the top of a snow covered mountain on a winter island, anyway?” he muttered, pushing his way through hip deep snow.
Because it's cool! Luffy cheered, distracted at least temporarily as he looked around. I don't see why you're complaining, it's not like you get cold anymore. Sabo added, possibly a tad bitter that Ace was the one meeting with Shanks first.
“Look, you want to walk up the mountain you’re welcome to it.” Silence answered as he reached the cave, though that might have been to the sudden tension of having a whole crew belonging to The Red Hair Shanks glaring at them. He felt Luffy curl up smaller, like that would help him go unnoticed. Shaking off his dry humor at that he shifted their bag and walked into the cave. “Mind if we join you?”
“Well, it depends. You here to start something?”
“Not really. Just thought we should introduce ourselves.” Ace ignored the man off to the side that mouthed 'we’, they were used to that reaction from strangers. It was almost as common as the flash of pity in Shank's first mate's eyes. It pissed Ace off but Sabo reminded him they should expect it by now.
“Trinity, isn't it?” Shanks asked, putting his drink down and waving them closer. “Funny, you don't look crazy.”
“We're not.” He replied, dropping his bag. You should tell him! “No. Bad idea.” Luffy I thought you didn't want to talk to Shanks? I don't want to, but…!
“Right.” Shanks chucked, angering Ace as he eyed the lanky teen up and down.
This had been a dumb idea, scowling he knelt and pulled out the battered straw hat from his bag, slamming his preferred cowboy hat onto their head. He didn't care that everyone in the cave had gone hostile and still, not with Sabo tugging for control.
“Where did you get that hat?” Shanks growled out, standing with his hand on his hilt.
He stood, glaring at Shanks. “Look. We just came to thank you for saving our little brother when he was a kid.”
“ Where did you get that hat.” Shanks repeated, eyes narrowing dangerously. “That hat belonged to a very important friend of mine and…”
Sabo shoved him over before huffing and running a hand through their hair, knocking the hat off. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot. Let me start again.” He bowed low, dark hair sweeping forward to cover their eyes momentarily. The action caused Shanks to pause. “I'm Sabo. You already met Ace. Sorry about him, he has a bit of a temper.” I do not! “You do, too now shut up.” Shihihi, Ace got yelled at. “We both wanted to find you to thank you for what you did. Protecting our little brother, Luffy. We really appreciate it. So thanks.” They stood, not exactly sure what to do when Shanks started circling them.
“You really are crazy.” Someone commented.
“ We're not. Trust me, Jiji had enough doctors check.” Sabo replied, looking at the man with dreadlocks Yassop and shrugging.
The first mate Benn, I told guys this! Took a drag on his cigarette “And by Jiji you mean….?”
“Oh come on! Shitty Gramps! You know, Garp?” Ace spat, really, Ace? “What, this is stupid! We did what we came for, let's go!”
“Interesting.” Shanks wasn't glaring anymore, but Ace didn't like how he was looking at them. “Especially since everyone knows Garp's grandson died, along with two other brats--”
“Brothers.” The three of them answered, scowling.
“--when the Marines came calling.” The Yonko narrowed his eyes, “So start talking.”
What the hell happened? How the fuck am I supposed to know, I was out cold, too, ya know! We got kidnapped, I think. By mister mustache guy. Ace let out a groan as he rolled off of the bed they found themselves on. “For the last time, his name is Whitebeard.” He muttered as they made their way to the door. Sabo was pleased to note their injuries had been bandaged while Ace was more curious as to why they weren't restrained. Not that it would work.
Pushing the door open might have been a bad idea as the sunlight temporarily blinded them, making their head ache. Lovely, a concussion. Sabo offered dryly as Ace made note to try and stay awake until the pain faded. Luffy offered to stay up instead since he usually had trouble sleeping anyway. He let their gaze skirt around the deck, looking for a way off as he stumbled more than walked out into the sun.
“Oh, look who's up, Marco!” He ignored the two approaching as Sabo looked up, checking the flag for confirmation.
“Yep. Kidnapped.”
“Hey--!” One of the strangers sputtered indignity.
They ignored him of course, now looking for a life raft or something. “Why is he called 'Whitebeard’ though? That's stupid! He has a mustache not a beard!” The youngest grumbled. “Because he just is.” Sabo replied, frowning when he couldn't spot a lifeboat. “Even his flag has a mustache!” Luffy huffed, throwing their arms up in annoyance. “He's right, it is pretty stupid.” “Not helping.” “It's true and you know it!” “Look for a way away from the kidnapping pirates before we mock their name, please.”
“Oh man, he really is crazy.” One of the people now watching stage whispered to another.
Ace snorted and regretted it after the stabbing head pain. “That's what everyone says. So why not do yourselves a favor and let us off this ship. Trust me, it'll save you a lot of trouble later.”
Marco had been watching the kid as he explored, obviously looking for a way off the Moby Dick . Honestly the brat didn't look like much but Oyaji saw something in the youth Marco hadn't. Which was why the kid wasn't going to be leaving any time soon. “Oyaji says you're staying,” he informed the brat.
Who just snarled wordlessly in return, before going back to looking for a way off. Marco knew it was a waste of time. After some time the brat started talking to himself again. “No, that's a bad idea.” He spat, glaring at nothing with his arms crossed momentarily. Then he was shaking his head, “That's a worse idea.” He started walking again ad Marco followed.
As they reached where Thatch was standing by the room that had been given to the kid he nodded to his friend, letting him know he didn't think the brat was going to be the type to try and swim to shore or some such shit. Devil fruit or no, there had been people in the past who had tried it when confronted with Oyaj and they'd all seemed a hell of a lot more sane than their new brother.
The teen ignored the exchange if he'd even noticed it, so caught up in talking to himself. “It could be fun. How is this fun? Well, not yet! But it could be.”
“Uh…” Thatch cleared his throat, offering a weak smile when the new brat looked at him. “You ok there?”
“No. You kidnapped us. Why would we be ok with that?” the youth spat, eyes a stormy blue.
“Well, Oyaji wants you to join and---”
“No.” Stormy eyes turned murky for a moment before clearing to a surprising blue that stood out even more with the dark hair, even with the streaks of gold that could have either been a fashion choice or a sign someone had been out in the sun too long. Marco was leaning towards the latter himself. “Look, let me be clear: we won't join you. We don't want to, we don't have to, and we sure as hell don't need to. So tell your captain he is wasting his time and let us go.”
“See, he really doesn't think it's wasting his time.” Thatch replied with a grin, “He likes you, kid! I mean, going after Jinbe like that wasn't smart--”
“He was fun. These guys are strong, too. It could be fun-- we're not staying just so you can beat people up. Either of you, stop encouraging him.”
“Do you talk to yourself often?”
The teen let out a sigh as he opened the door to the small room they'd been given, “You're not the first assholes that thought you could keep us. They're all dead and we're still free. We're not staying.” The door banged shut, muffling the apparently one-sided conversation still going on.
“Well. He's pretty interesting.” Thatch laughed. “Bit crazy, though.”
“More than a bit, yoi.” Marco frowned, wondering why the Trinity Pirates they'd caught trying to rescue their captain hadn't mentioned it. The young power house had a reputation for being a bit odd but there was odd… and there was bat shit insane. Still, it wasn't his place to decide if the brat was staying. “I'll go let Oyaji know he's up.”
Luffy was bored. Ace and Sabo had retreated, arguing about what to do next. Since they had a concussion -- mustache guy hit hard! -- one of them had to keep their shared body awake, and since Luffy didn't really care what they did next he'd volunteered. Except unlike on their own ship there was nothing to do . At least with their crew someone was usually around to entertain the youngest Captain.
Or from the crew's perspective entertain the Captain. The three of them had agreed it was too much trouble to explain their situation. Besides, there were people who they'd grown up with that still didn't believe it. Luffy didn't really care because he had his brothers, but he knew it upset them.
He mentally prodded his brothers only to be gently nudged away. They weren't arguing anymore but now they were planning. That meant Luffy was on his own for at least another hour. Which was fine; they weren't leaving him out of it, just covering all the boring bits. Still… “We need to eat.” He told them. Shit, right. Ace agreed. How late is it? Luffy reached out, feeling about with Haki to see what was going on. “Late, but there's still a bunch of people. We missed dinner.” We can't eat with them, you know that. But there's nothing to hunt on this damn ship, either, Ace. Well, he can raid the pantry.
“I can do that!” Luffy agreed, hopping off the bed and pulling his straw hat out of their bag and putting it on as he slid out of the room. Makino had been the first person to really believe them, and she'd come up with the awesome idea of using their hats to help people tell who was who. She, Dadan, and Shitty Gramps hadn't needed the visual cue but it had helped. Especially when talking to the mayor or some of the bandits. It had hurt when they hadn't recognized they were talking to Luffy, not Sabo or Ace. Even though he loved his brothers and the three of them were more than alright with their situation sometimes Luffy missed being separate. If only so people would stop getting them confused. But if they were separate, they'd be dead. This way he and his brothers were alive and safe, so a little annoyance was worth it to Luffy.
Pushing those thoughts to the side he followed his nose to where the kitchen was. Even with dinner over there were a bunch of people still there. Probably cleaning or maybe getting ready for the next meal. Luffy didn't care, he just had to avoid them, and he was good at that, not as good as Sabo, but he'd learned a thing or two. Crouched low he slunk behind counters and tables, avoiding the line of sight of the other crew. His plan was simple; get into the pantry, grab some smoked and dried meats, maybe some cheese and bread, and make a run for it.
Thatch hadn't been surprised when the new guy hadn't joined them for dinner. It often took a few days for new recruits to feel comfortable eating with the crew. He had been planning to bring the brat a plate later, but it looked like he wouldn't have to.
The cooks were more than used to the odd brother attempting to sneak in in order to grab a late night snack. Which was to say they all noticed the brat even before he slunk into the kitchen. When his brothers looked towards him Thatch shook his head. Normally he wouldn't allow pilfering -- it messed with the food available to the whole crew -- but he was interested in seeing what the kid would do.
So his brothers returned to work while he watched the brat slink around counters, doing a decent job of staying out of the line of sight. He avoided the fridge, which was where Thatch had been expecting the kid to go. Instead he moved unerringly towards the pantry. Given the brat's claim that he'd killed other crews that had expressed an interest it was a move Thatch found worrying. He followed and watched, ready to put a stop to him.
Entering the hall he caught the brat ducking into the pantry. Impressive, the kid moved fast, and looking into the pantry itself relieved him of the worry that the kid was trying to poison them all. No, it was definitely a good old fashioned food run, even if the whole smoked ham was a bit overkill. In the long run, harmless though, so he let the brat slip away. Thatch would give him a bit and then go and check on him, since he had forgotten to get something to drink. That ham was salty and he was sure the kid was going to regret it.
Luffy was definitely enjoying the meal, even if it wasn't as fun as eating with Sabo and Ace. But they were still busy. Sabo wanted to sneak off at the next island and Ace wanted to kill Mr mustache so the argument had started up again. Luffy didn't know why they couldn't do both, but he figured they would figure it out soon enough. It just meant he was a bit lonely eating.
Or he had been until the bread hair guy opened the door. “Want some company?”
Luffy blinked, chewing slowly. He could use the company but Ace and Sabo didn't want to be friends with this crew. Swallowing he shrugged. “Ok. But we won't be your friend.”
“That's a shame. You seem like a cool guy. I'm Thatch by the way,” the man said, letting himself into the room. He held out a bottle which Luffy took cautiously. A sniff told him it was beer, and he put it to the side for Sabo. “Don't like beer?”
“No, it tastes funny.” The youngest replied, nudging his brothers. “You're lying. You don't think we're cool. You think we're crazy. That's okay, most people do.”
“Well, you do talk to yourself, Trinity,” Thatch replied, sitting on the chair as Luffy had taken over the bed. His brothers were now paying attention, and Sabo thought this guy wasn't too bad. Ace hated him, but Ace hated most people when they first met them.
“No I don't.” Luffy answered.
“I saw you.”
“No,” he said, finishing the ham. “I was talking to the others.”
“What others, Trinity?”
Sabo took over, amused by the guy. “Nice try, but you haven't earned that information.”
Thatch leaned forward, “And how do I go about earning it?”
“Simple.” Sabo smirked, drinking the beer. “You don't.”
“I thought you didn't like beer?”
“Actually I love it.” He grinned blandly at the man's confusion. “Well, if your only reason for coming was to try and make friends, you're better off leaving now. We don't need any friends, especially not ones who are a part of the crew that kidnapped us.”
Marco was being to think that bringing the brat on board was a bad idea. He was all around prickly, for one thing. For another, he was definitely insane. That was Marco's conclusion as he watched the brat go sailing over the railing, Namur jumping in a second after him.
In minutes his brother was dropping the brat unceremoniously on the deck.The kid was hacking and coughing, probably inhaled quite a bit of water if Marco had to guess. Not that he was surprised, Oyaji hit hard enough to knock the wind out of any seasoned fighter, let alone some upstart rookie.
“This wouldn't happen if you'd stop trying to kill the old man. Screw off, asshole. Gah, that was scary, we could have drown… let's do it again! NO!” The teen finished, coughing.
The first division commander felt a swell of pity, one he quickly squashed. If Oyaji wanted this brat to be one of their brothers he wasn't someone to pity. No, the only pity he should feel is at the kid being Oyaji's punching bag. “You must really like being beat up, yoi.”
Storm gray eyes glanced at him, “Fuck you, I almost had him that time.”
“Sure.”
“He's right, mustache guy saw us coming,” Trinity said, grinning before scowling, eyes flashing from gray, to murky brown, to blue at an impressive speed. Marco had seen many hazel eyes but this was new. They settled on a startling blue. Trinity grinned up at him, “Wasn't his best plan.” He held out a hand.
The first division commander helped the teen stand, mentally filing away the comment. He'd only ever heard Trinity speak with 'I’ or 'We’ when talking about himself. This new way, 'his’ made him wonder. Was the teen just hearing voices, or was there more to it than that?
Trinity laughed, pulling off his shirt and squeezing the excess water out. The sound was light but not infectious as Haruta had described it. “Looks like we won't be needing a bath.”
“You realize falling into the ocean doesn't count, yoi.”
The boy winked turning to hang his shirt on the rail to dry. “I know, but the others think it's good enough. I'll grab a shower later. We need to get the salt out of these clothes, too. What a pain,” the teen said, humor in his voice.
Marco wasn't really paying attention to his words. Instead his focus was on the impressive tattoo spanning the young man's back. He had heard from the nurse who had patched the brat up originally that there was a tattoo, but it was more impressive than he had expected. “Had to hurt, getting a tattoo that large and colorful.”
The boy shrugged, looking over his shoulder with gray eyes, “Dying hurts more.”
Marco raised an eyebrow at that as the teen went back to watching the waves. Youngsters could be so dramatic, he thought.
“It was important to us. Besides, it didn't hurt that bad, shihihihihi...so it was worth it.”
Feeling his own tattoo, Marco found he understood as he leaned against the railing as well. Even if he wasn't sure what the meaning was behind the interlocking letters, he understood very well how such a thing could be important.
Thatch couldn't believe it. Teach had attacked him. Had betrayed the crew. All over a devil fruit Thatch would have gladly given him. No, instead a man he had thought of as a brother had literally stabbed him in the back. Worse he was gloating over it as Thatch lay there dying. He had screamed for help, but with the storm in full swing it wasn't surprising no one had heard.
It hurt more, thinking about how his family would blame themselves. Would they realize what happened? Maybe… maybe there was a way to leave them a message--
“Knock knock. Are we interrupting something?” Thatch tried to turn his head, someone was standing in the doorway. One of Teach's men?
“Who the hell are you?” Or not.
“Ace.” Came the reply, boots shifting to where Thatch could see them. He knew those boots… “Damn, you really are a scumbag, aren't you?”
“Zahahahaha, I wasn't expecting to have to kill another one of my brothers but--”
The voice… changed somehow, “That's not going to be a problem. Because you can't kill us.” He felt more than saw Teach take a step back, surprised over something. “And we're not your brothers.”
“Who… what are you?”
Thatch blinked, sure he was seeing things. Those boots belonged to Trinity, he was sure of it. But the man wearing them was blond , for all that he wore the same grin. “You want first crack, Ace? Nah, Luffy knew this guy was shit from the start. Let him. Really? Awesome!” Another blink and now the man had dark hair and was at least a head shorter, he was gone before Thatch could notice anything else.
He couldn't move, not with the dagger in his back. But he could hear the fight. The sound of flesh on flesh as the stranger laid into Teach. He must have blacked out at some point, because when he came to the air was thick with noxious smoke and three strangers where kneeling before him. “Wh--?”
“Not now, Thatch. We are trying to figure out what to do about that knife in your back.” The blond spoke.
“I don't see why we can't just pull it out--” one of the dark haired ones said, reaching out only to be slapped away by the third.
“No, he could bleed out if we do that. He's not us.”
“Well, could you cauterize it?” The blond asked.
There was a snort, “Again, not us. It's too close to his spine, Sabo. I could risk paralyzing him at the least. He needs a medic.” The two speaking looked over at the third, wordlessly communicating for a moment. “Don't get caught.”
“Fiiiine!” He huffed, standing. Thatch noticed then they were all wearing Trinity's clothes, and when the guy turned he assumed they all had the same tattoo. “Bring help, don't get caught. You better not let him die, he makes good food!”
“Of course not!”
“Luffy.” The blond spoke, expression serious. The one about to leave paused. “Ten minutes.”
“Right. I'll be back! Don't die bread-guy!”
Thatch let out a wet chuckle, “Bread-guy?”
“It's your hair. It reminds us of bread,” the other dark haired one replied. “And don't lie. You can't hold this ten minutes.”
“I can if I have to, Ace. I won't let him die, and I can't lose you both. Not ever. So I'll hold it.” The blond replied in a low hiss applying pressure to the wound and causing Thatch to grunt. Louder he continued, “He's lost a lot of blood. Don't let him pass out, idiot.”
“I’m not stupid , asshole. You, don't fall asleep or I'll kill you myself.”
Thatch let out something that could have been a laugh, “Your bedside manner sucks.”
“Yeah, well it works. Besides, if you die all that hard work is for nothing.”
“Hard work?”
“Yeah, kicking the traitor's ass.” The younger man gave a dangerous grin. “He might not survive, sorry.”
“No s-skin off m-my back.” He choked around the sudden pain as the blond adjusted pressure. “Oyaji might be mad.”
“Tough. Old geezer had enough time to deal with it. I mean, not exactly the guy I wanted to kill--”
“You never wanted to kill the old man, don't lie you adrenaline junkie.”
“But it'll do.”
“Who are you?” Thatch asked as the conversation petered out.
Before either could answer there was a shout coming from down the hall followed by the sound of running feet. As the smallest slid into the room Thatch noticed what looked like dried blood on his bare chest. “Here they come!”
“About time, get over here!” The other two hissed at the same time.
Then the strangest thing happened. The moment the three of them touched they blurred and suddenly Trinity was there, looking ready to pass out. “Wha--?”
“He went this--” and then Marco was there, “Thatch? What happened?”
“Funny story…” he began as Marco pushed the younger pirate out of the way.
“Tell me later.” Marco turned back to the hall where some of their siblings were just standing. “Don't just stand there, someone get a medic!” Thatch let out a sigh as he finally lost consciousness, typical mother hen Marco having to give all the orders.
Marco watched as their guest slept, propped up against a wall with a small pillow wedged between Trinity's head and the wall. It was poor comfort, given the fact the young pirate was currently sleeping in a holding cell, seastone handcuffs locking his arms behind his back.
As far as Marco was concerned it was a necessary precaution. Some on board were already calling for the teen to be tossed overboard and letting the sea finish what Oyaji refused to. Marco understood the feeling, two of their brothers were in the infirmary and might not recover. One the victim of what seemed to be a monsterous beating and the other stabbed in the back. The crew wanted someone to pay for it.
And someone would. But Oyaji hadn't been convinced Trinity was to blame. Honestly Marco had to agree with him. When he'd arrived he had seen the brat trying to help Thatch. Something that saved his best friend's life, according to the nurses. Despite the fact Marco could have sworn he had been chasing Trinity down the halls. Something he couldn't have been doing since Trinity was helping Thatch. It didn't add up about it at all, and Marco wanted answers. So he was willing to hear their guest out on what had happened.
“Well, this is lovely.” Trinity sighed, open on his eyes but otherwise not moving.
“Are you surprised, yoi?”
A sarcastic smile, “Not entirely unexpected. I have to admit, the seastone cuffs are unappreciated.”
“Effective, though.” Marco offered a smile of his own, “You didn't tell us you had eaten a devil fruit.”
“Why would we tell you anything? You kidnapped us,” Trinity replied indignantly. “Besides, I thought freezing up in the water was a bit of an obvious tell.” The older pirate inclined his head, acknowledging the point. That was why they had decided to use seastone after all. They stared at each other for a moment. “You going to try and kill us now?”
“Depends, yoi. On what happened.” He replied.
“What do you think happened?”
“I'm not sure, yoi. All I know is that two of my brothers are in the infirmary fighting for their lives and you are somehow involved.”
“Damn, thought we killed that fat bastard.”
Blue eyes narrowed, “So you're the one who attacked Teach.”
“Obviously.”
“Why?”
“Never liked the guy,” was the flippant reply. It wasn't a lie exactly, the teen had made no secret of his dislike.
“And Thatch, yoi? Did you stab him?”
“Of course not!” the other snapped indignantly. “We like bread-hair -- his name is Thatch -- a lot! He feeds us!”
“Then what happened?”
Stormy eyes met his, a frown on the teen's face. “No. You won't believe us anyway so there's no point. Just wait until Thatch can tell you. We can wait.”
Marco frowned slightly at that, worried about the implications. If Trinity was implying what he thought the rookie was, Marco couldn't blame the brat for keeping quiet. No one would want to believe one of their brothers was a traitor. It was almost unheard of with the Whitebeard crew. Marco remembered the last one over a decade ago and how hard it had been for the crew. The brat was right; none of the crew would take the word of a rookie who had been trying to kill Oyaji over one of their brothers. Which was why Marco was actually inclined to believe it had happened. Trinity had nothing to gain by lying. Still, there was another mystery to solve. “Thanks, yoi. For helping Thatch. The nurses said you probably saved his life.”
“So he'll make it?” There was genuine worry in Trinity's voice.
Marco nodded, “He should, barring infection, yoi. Even then, the nurses are optimistic. Too stubborn to die.”
“Heh, we can relate.” The teen relaxed.
“I'm curious, though. How you were helping him when I could have sworn I was chasing you in the halls… unless there's someone else on board?” The captive refused to meet his eyes. “You need to tell me if there is, yoi.” Marco urged, “If there is and they get caught by the crew right now, I can't promise their safety.”
Warily Trinity looked at him. Marco refused to fidget under the intense stare, fully serious in his concern. If there was a stowaway they'd helped save his brother's life. He wanted that person safe, no matter what some of the crew thought. Oyaji felt the same, of course. Especially since this person might not have been involved at all with the apparent attack. As the seconds dragged on Marco waited for the teen to come to a conclusion on if to trust him or not. It occurred to him that he was asking a lot, especially from someone who had obvious issues about trust. At long last the teen sighed, internal debate apparently over. “Don't worry about it. You can't catch someone who isn't there.”
“So it had been you.”
“.... We won't say more. Not until Thatch is better.” So Thatch knew something, or had seen something. That was good to know.
“Alright, then. Someone will be by later with food. I hope you can understand our caution in this matter, yoi.”
“Of course.” Marco turned to leave, pausing when Trinity spoke again. “You might want to check for that fruit Thatch found. We didn't have time, and well… it would be a shame if someone had eaten it thinking it was pie filling.”
Marco felt his heart drop as he nodded before continuing out of the holding area. He would check Thach's room first, because he knew exactly where his brother would have hidden the fruit. And then…. Then he'd be making sure that Teach wasn't going anywhere before Oyaji got to the bottom of this mess.
Luffy watched the crowd carefully as they were lead out onto the deck. Ace and Sabo didn't trust this crew. Luffy didn't trust them either, but he didn't not trust them. It was like the bandits; he trusted they'd listen to their captain. Old-man Mustache was trustworthy even if he had kidnapped them. Ace and Sabo were still bitter about that so Luffy was the one to talk to the captain.
He wasn't nervous, even if a lot of the crew were watching them with angry eyes. They were used to that. People had been giving them that look since before they'd become one. The only one he needed to pay attention to was the old man, anyway. At last they stood before the captain's chair. Their guard tried to get them to sit but Luffy wasn't having it. Eventually they gave up, shooting him a warning look he ignored.
“Do you know why you're here, brat?” Old man Mustache -- for the last time, Whitebeard -- asked.
Luffy met the captain's gaze calmly, “Either someone died, or someone woke up.” Rolling his shoulders up and around he used their natural flexibility to bring their arms in front of them. It was more comfortable.
“Aren't you a cheeky brat!” The man didn't seem surprised by the move, so Luffy grinned at him. After a moment Whitebeard spoke, “Thatch woke up last night.”
“Good.” Now Luffy sat. He liked Thatch, and he didn't think the man would lie. They couldn't care less about the other guy.
“Cheeky and bold. Tell me, brat, aren't you worried? By your own admission you attacked one of my sons. I may have overlooked your attempted assassinations on me, but what makes you think I'd overlook this?”
“Do whatever you want about it.” Luffy shot back. “We promised to live without regrets and I'd do it again. So if you're gonna kill us, do it already!”
“Gahahahaha! So determined to throw your life away. Foolish brat, you did me a favor in catching that traitor in the act. I'd have preferred if you had reported it, but the fact remains you saved one of my precious sons.”
“So… you're not mad?” Ace asked, surprised. Usually people got mad at them over the smallest things.
“Not at you.” Whitebeard confirmed. “However, I do have questions.”
Sabo took over, offering a sardonic smirk, “Of course you do. Unfortunately for you, I promised my answers to Thatch , not you.”
“Well then…” a pained voice began as people parted out of the way, “It's a… good thing… I talked Marco into helping me.”
“You should still be in bed. You look like shit.” Sabo informed the man.
Thatch laughed at him before turning to his captain. “Oyaji. I see you started without me.”
“The brat is right, you should be in bed.” The captain replied, taking a sip from his tankard. “I thought your young friend would like to know that you were awake is all.”
“You could have sent Marco to tell him. Or told him in private instead of this… inquisition.”
“Actually, I think we'd have been a lot more nervous if he'd called us in for a one on one…” Sabo tried to point out. They both ignored him of course.
“It's not an inquisition. I just have a few questions for the brat. He's not in any trouble.”
“Damn right he's not in trouble!” Thatch spat, glaring at the crew in challenge. When none of the crew would meet his eyes the wounded man continued. “He saved my life and stopped a traitor! We should be thanking --”
“We'd rather not be thanked.” Sabo said, cutting him off. When Thatch looked at them they shrugged, “We did it because we wanted to. Helping you was important, too. But honestly we were planning on killing the bastard sooner or later. It's a shame he survived, but that's a D for you. Bunch of cockroaches.” I feel like we should be insulted. Shihihihi, we're like super beatles! Sabo ignored them, turning his attention to Whitebeard. “But since we're not in trouble… mind taking these off?” He held up their arms.
Whitebeard nodded and Thatch snatched the key from one of the other crew to unlock the cuffs himself. “I'm so sorry about that.”
“We kind of expected it, honestly.” He replied, rubbing their wrists. Thanks to Luffy it wasn't too sore, but the skin felt cold and chapped. They'd need to rest and regroup soon. Accepting the hand Thatch held out he allowed the pirate to pull him to his feet. None of them were happy about keeping their promise, but they were men of their word. “So… you had questions?”
Newgate watched as his son interacted with the brat. He could easily see that Thatch trusted the young pirate, despite the number of questions his son had about what had happened that night. Questions that really did need some sort of answer. Whitebeard didn't think for a moment the brat had been involved with Teach's plan, especially given the beating he had delivered. It didn't mean he wasn't curious about what exactly had happened. The Grand Line was full of unique individuals and something told the old captain this brat was more… unique than he had originally thought.
After a moment the brat offered Thatch a smile that was more of a grimace. “I'm sure you have questions…”
“A ton!” Thatch said, throwing his arms up before blanching. “Owww… Marco why did you let me do that?”
Marco rolled his eyes but Whitebeard could see he was pleased to see Thatch's usual exuberance. “Don't do that then, yoi.”
Before Thatch could begin asking questions -- a few of which Whitebeard might have suggested -- Trinity cut him off. “So. Before we answer these…” he made a face “questions. I have a story to to share.”
“A story, brat?”
“Yes, a story.” Trinity gave him a cool calculating look before looking around at the rest of the crew. He raised his voice, talking to all of them now, “I'm sure some of you know parts of it of course, so I hope you'll humor me. It's … not something we generally … talk about. Which is why we -- shut up you promised -- fine! But this is a bad idea -- are only going to do this once .”
The teen waited until everyone quieted down before beginning. “There's an island in the East Blue, home of the Goa Kingdom.” Whitebeard hid his frown behind his tankard. The name was familiar and he didn't think he would like why. “On that island there were three boys. The 'monster trio’ everyone called them. They were pretty strong, especially by East Blue standards. The boys, brothers in all but blood, who basically did whatever the hell they wanted…of course nothing lasts forever.” He paused here, looking contemplative.
“What's that got to do with you beating up Teach?” someone shouted.
Trinity glanced at the crowd. “Gol D Roger had a son, you know.” It seemed like a change of topic except now Whitebeard knew where he had heard of Goa before. Apparently some of his sons also had made the connection as the laid back atmosphere became tense. “Hated the very idea of his father of course. But the Marines didn't care about that when they came. They didn't care that the youngest brother didn't even know he had a father, either… he never came to see what happened to his son so really he's probably the worst father out of the two of them… as for the third boy, well. His family disowned him once it got out he'd been tainted by the sons of Roger and Dragon. Something that was supposed to be a carefully guarded secret . Until someone ratted us out.”
“Were you close?” Thatch asked, full of sympathy. Understandably so, given what they'd heard. The Marines hadn't wanted to do a buster call, given the nobles on the island. So instead they had sent Akainu and half of the island had burned instead. It was still considered a victory by the world government though, because they'd killed the son of Roger and Dragon's boy, who up until then no one had known about. Rumors had said a Noble's kid had been helping them, so naturally the Marines had put him to death, too. The world had gleefully celebrated the cold blooded murder of children. Of course Trinity would be affected by the loss of his friends in such a tragic way.
The young pirate let out a parody of a laugh, “Not as close as we are now.” He looked at Marco, “Sorry in advance, we haven't quite worked out how to do this when not fighting.” He said before throwing a punch.
Naturally Marco caught it and tossed the brat on his back… or at least he tossed something as the teen turned quick as a whip aiming with a debilitating kick that was also repelled, sending two forms rolling away. Marco looked a bit ruffled as Newgate watched three pirates dressed in identical clothes dusted themselves off and stood a bit apart.
One of the dark haired ones spoke first, a fierce frown on his face as he crossed his arms. “I’m Ace, and if you fucking betray us I'll fucking burn the lot of you.”
“Real nice, Ace,” the blond said. He was smiling though his eyes were almost as cold as the other young man's. “Sabo. Middle child and usually the voice of reason.”
“Also the idiot who ate a devil fruit because he didn't want to share, shihihihi.” The last spoke with a wide grin.
“I don't want to hear that from you, you ate one because you thought it was a dessert !”
“Yeah, well... I'd have shared!”
“Bullshit, you don't know the meaning of the word!” Ace shot back.
“Do too! I just don't like to.” The third pouted. “I'm Luffy and I'm gonna be King of the Pirates! With my brothers of course. See, I can too share, Ace, you big meanie!”
“Uh…” Thatch said intelligently earning a smirk from all three.
“That's an interesting devil fruit you have there,” Newgate acknowledged. “Splitting yourself into the form of your dead loved ones--”
“No, actually.” Ace spoke, “If that was the case I wouldn't have my fruit, and neither would Luffy.” To demonstrate he held out his hand, a ball of fire floating above it as Luffy tugged his cheek past normal limits. “Sabo's fruit is just weird. ”
The one called Sabo nodded, “As far as anyone can tell it's supposed to let the user absorb... something. We're not quite sure actually since the fruit it looked like didn't sound like it could do this.” He flapped his hands at the others, “But Akainu showed up and well. If we had to die, it wasn't going to be alone.”
“And then we woke up all stuck together, shihihi! It's a mystery!” Luffy cheered. “Except now Sabo's able to make us separate for a bit.”
“It's kind of sad that it's been so long and Luffy's 'it's a mystery’ answer is still the best we have,” Ace said to Sabo who just shrugged.
Now seeing them interact it was obvious to Whitebeard they really were three separate individuals, though he did confirm it with his Haki. They felt intrinsically different, not something that a copy would be able to pull off. It was definitely a mystery, though at the same time it explained a lot about the brat called Trinity. Newgate let out a booming laugh, “When I decided to take you in I didn't know I'd be getting three sons, not one.”
“You kidnapped us!” They snapped all at the same time. He wondered how they'd learned to adjust to being stuck in the same body, let alone become such a formidable force that even he had noticed.
“Think of it as more of forcefully adopting you brats.” He grinned down at them, because he wasn't letting them go now. It wasn't only that they had saved his son, or that he thought they might benefit from having a family. No, it was because he knew they were going to go far, and he wanted to see it.
The three shared a look, “Hell no!” They shouted, bolting for the side of the ship. As he watched them merge back into Trinity he couldn't help but share a look with his commanders. They were unruly snot nosed brats-- but they'd come around eventually. The best ones always did in the end.