Luffy changed his direction and began walking towards the restaurant with a small smile on his face. As he got closer to the restaurant a puzzled look appeared on his face because he could sense that there was some sort of confrontation going on in the restaurant. It puzzled him because he knew Ace wasn't the type to start trouble especially in a public place like this. He was also sensing another familiar presence, but he couldn't remember who or what it was. As he entered the restaurant, he saw a marine officer standing in the center of the restaurant looking at Ace while everyone else in the restaurant was off to the left trying to keep clear of the two powerhouses. Luffy looked at the marine for a few seconds before he recognized him as the marine captain from log town, Smoker. Luffy got an evil idea in his head and smirked before he quickly replied the smirk with an emotionless look and began walking towards Smoker. As he got closer Luffy spoke.
"Hey, Smokey," Luffy said getting Smoker's attention before he grabbed onto the collar of Smoker's shirt. "Bye, Smokey," he causes causing Smoker's eyes to widen just before Luffy took a big step forward and threw smoker through the wall behind the bar leaving a giant hole in its place. Everyone stared at the scene before them with eyes the size of dinner plates as they watched a kid just threw a marine captain through the wall. Luffy ignored the looks he was getting and began making his way to the bar where a shirtless man wearing a hat was sitting staring at Luffy with a large grin on his face.
"Luffy!" Ace said happily as he stood up from his seat. Luffy smiled and walked towards the bar.
"Yo," Luffy replied as he high fived Ace before sitting at the bar. "One glass of whiskey please," he said to the bartender who was trying to get over his shock at what he just witnessed.
"Is that all you have to say to your big brother?" Ace said faking hurting. Luffy sighed before he spoke.
"You really are milking this big brother thing, aren't you?" Luffy asked as the bartender placed a glass half filled with whiskey. Just as Luffy was about to grab the whiskey Ace grabbed it and downed it before he replied.
"That's right," he said as he slammed the glass down on the bar.
"Hey! That was my whiskey!" Luffy yelled out.
"Oh, be quiet," Ace said waving Luffy off. "You drink too much anyway," he added causing Luffy's head to drop before he looks back up at the bartender and signaled him to refill the glass which he did.
"So, where is Sabo?" Luffy asked while looking at Ace. "You two are always together," he added. Ace nodded his head and smiled before he replied.
"Sabo left the crew...and joined the Revolutionary Army," he said causing Luffy's head to snap around to him and looked at him with a surprised look on his face.
"When was that?" Luffy asked in a surprised voice.
"About a month after you left," he replied in a somber tone. "He said he wanted to do some good on this planet before he dies," he added before he took a spoon full of the food in front of him and ate it. "and he thinks the only way to do the good that he has in mind is to join the Revolutionary Army," he finished causing Luffy to nod his head.
"Well, when you think about it, it's not all that surprising," Luffy said before he took a sip of his whiskey. "Considering his background and his history with THOSE PEOPLE, he makes a lot of sense he would join my dad," he said with a lot of disgust present in his voice when he mentioned 'THOSE PEOPLE.' "I'll ask my dad to look out for him," he added causing Ace to laugh.
"I wouldn't get my hopes up," Ace said while laughing. "We got a couple to dead beat dads," he said. Luffy didn't say anything or showed any reaction, he simply took another sip of his whiskey before he got up.
"Are you coming?" Luffy asked as he stood up. "Or are you going to fall asleep in your plate of food again?" he asked while looking over his shoulder at Ace.
"I'm coming, just give me a sec," Ace said with a sigh as he got up and began gulping down the food on his plate. Luffy then reached into his coat and pulled out a small sack of money and tossed it at the bartender.
"That should cover everything," he said before he began to walk out of the restaurant leaving Ace behind.
"Heyy!" Ace shouted with a mouthful of food. "Wait for me!" he yelled before chasing after Luffy. As he stepped out of the restaurant and looked for Luffy he couldn't find him anywhere. "Uhhhh! Where the hell did he go?" Ace yelled out in frustration. Luffy calmly walking down the busy streets of Alubarna suddenly stopped and looking behind him and spoke.
"Where the hell is he?" Luffy asked himself as he saw there was no Ace standing behind him. Luffy then sighed before he continued walking. "He'll have to catch up," he said as he walked away. He walked for about five minutes before he was suddenly stopped by the sound of his navigator yelling his name.
"Luffy!" Nami yelled getting his attention. Luffy looked over in the direction of where the voice came from with a raised eyebrow and saw his entire crew along with the princess and her duck running towards him with a panicked look on their face.
"Where's the fire?" Luffy asked the group in a voice laced with curiosity.
"Luffy, we have a big problem," Nami said while breathing heavily.
"That marine captain from Louge Town-" Usopp said before Luffy interrupted him.
"Is here, I know," Luffy said calmly while nodding.
"That's not all," Vivi said getting his attention. "There is a pirate from the Whitebeard Pirates-"
"Here looking for me, I know," Luffy interrupted her. His entire crew looked at him strangely for a while before Nami finally spoke.
"How can you be this calm!?" she yelled/asked.
"Well, you see the thing is-" Luffy said but was interrupted by someone else yelling for him.
"Straw Hat!" Smoker yelled as he ran towards Luffy and the crew with a small group of marines. "I got you now!" he yelled before he stopped about 10ft away from Luffy. Luffy turned around and looked at the marine captain with a smirk on his face before he spoke.
"Hey there, Smokey," Luffy said with a smirk. "Long time no see," he said mockingly causing Smoker to growl.
"This is the end of the line for you, Straw Hat!" he said while pointing at Luffy while small amounts of smoke began to expel from his body.
"Really?" Luffy asked as he took a step forward while small amounts of lightning began to surround his body. "How did that go for you the last time?" Luffy asked causing Smoker to growl once more. Smoker deciding to make the first move turned his left hand into smoke and sent his fist forward towards Luffy. Just as Luffy was about to launch his own attack, everyone present heard someone shout out.
"Fire Fist!" the voice shouted out before a large vortex of fire came down from the sky and intercepted Smoker's fist. The large vortex of fire caught everyone except Luffy by surprise. When the fire died down everyone saw Ace standing in the middle of the two groups with flames lacing his arms and shoulders. Luffy's crew and the marines had their eyes widen at what they were seeing. The straw hats recognized the man in the middle of all the flames at the Whitebeard pirate they saw earlier and were beginning to get worried.
"It's about time you showed up," Luffy said with a sigh.
"You're the one who ran off without me!" Ace yelled back at Luffy ignoring Smoker.
"Not my fault you're so slow," Luffy retorted causing a tick mark to form on both Ace's and Smoker's head for two different reasons.
"Hey!" the two of them yelled simultaneously. Ace and smoker paused and looked at each other before Ace spoke.
"Oh right, you're still here," he said causing Smoker to growl.
"That's it!" Smoker said in anger. "I am taking you both in!" he said causing Luffy to chuckle.
"Oh yeah?" Luffy asked with a smirk on his face. "You and what? Those marines behind you?" Luffy asked while looking at the group of marines behind Smoker. He then aimed a strong wave of Conquers Haki at the marines causing all of them except for Tashigi to pass out foaming at the mouth. Tashigi fell to her knees staring at Luffy with nothing but fear in her eyes with her entire body covered in sweat. Luffy decided to have some fun with the female marine kept the wake of haki going and aimed at all at her before he spoke. "Look at them, they can't even stay on their feet," Luffy said as he took one step forward causing Tashigi's breath to hitch in her throat and her heart rate to increase as she struggled to breathe. "You should run along...little girl," he said while staring at her. "This is a fight for the grown-ups and I don't exactly have the time of day to teach an infant how to breathe," Luffy said coldly as he increased the strength of his haki slightly causing the poor girl to pass out, not from the haki but from fear. As she passed out Luffy cut the haki off and chuckled.
"That was mean, Lu," Ace said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, but it was fun," Luffy replied before he turned to leave. " I'm sure you can handle this?" he asked causing Ace to chuckle before he replied.
"Why, of course," he said before he turned and looked at Smoker with narrowed eyes.
"Come on," Luffy said to his stunned crew before he began walking towards the spot where they docked the ship. His crew came out of their shock and began walking behind their captain.
"Luffy, who was that?" Nojiko asked while walking.
"That was my big brother," Luffy replied nonchalantly as they were walking.
"YOU HAVE A BROTHER!?" Everyone yelled out in surprise.
"And by the looks of it, Luffy's brother is really strong too," Johnny said causing Luffy to chuckle before he replied.
"You have no idea," he said with a chuckle. As they were walking the entire crew suddenly stopped and looked behind them and saw a large tornado of smoke and fire rising to the sky.
"So, I take it your brother ate the Flame-Flame fruit Luffy?" Sanji asked while looking up at the tower of fire and smoke.
"I guess so," Luffy replied as he stared at the two clashing elements. "He didn't have it when I last saw him," Luffy commented.
"Oh, and when was that?" Nojiko asked Luffy.
"About 5 or 6 years ago," Luffy replied before he turned and continued walking towards the ship. The entire crew along with their captain walked for about five minutes before they reached the area where they docked the Going Merry. Everyone climbed on board the ship and raised the anchor before they started to sail away from the island. As they were sailing away Luffy finally noticed his crew new attire, they were all dressed like locals from Alabasta...well except for the girls.
"Sanji!" Luffy called out from the upper deck looking out at the crew.
"Aye, Captain!" Sanji replied while looking up at Luffy.
"Were you the one who picked out the girls' outfits?" Luffy asked while staring at Nami, Vivi, and Nojiko.
"Yes, Sir!" Sanji replied with a salute. Luffy smirked before he replied.
"Nice job," Luffy said while nodding and staring at the three girls causing them to blush and look away. Just then, a shirtless man landed on the side of the ship in the crouched position. "Took you long enough," Luffy said to the man who then looked up at Luffy and smiled before he spoke.
"Well forgive me for not having lightning speed," he said causing Luffy to smile and began making his way down to the main deck.
"Everyone, I would like to introduce you all to Portgas D. Ace," Luffy said as he put his arm around Ace. "My quote on quote big brother," he said with a rare smile. "Ace, this is my crew," he added while waving at his crew.
"It is a pleasure to meet all of you," Ace said with a bow. "And thank you for taking care of my little brother, I know he can be a handful," Ace added earning a growl from Luffy.
"No, no, no problem," Luffy's crew replied with a smile.
"Wow, I can't believe Luffy has a brother," Usopp said while at Luffy and Ace.
"Well, we are not biological brothers," Ace said while Luffy nodded.
"We met 8 years ago when I spent some time on Whitebeard's ship," Luffy said nonchalantly as he leaned against the side of the ship. "We became really good friends before we became brothers over a cup of sake," Luffy said while Ace nodded. When Luffy and Ace looked the crew they all saw everyone staring at Luffy with eyes the size of dinner plates causing Luffy to raise his eyebrow in confusion.
"YOU WERE ON WHITEBEARD'S SHIP!" they all yelled out at the same time.
"Yeah, three years to be exact," Luffy said calmly. "Shanks and his crew had to go somewhere to do something and it was apparently too dangerous for a 9-year-old and at the time I couldn't properly control my logia powers, I was still electrocuting people when they touched me. So, Shanks called in a favor that the old man owed him and dropped me off on his ship to learn how to better control my powers while they were away," Luffy said before he looked at his crew with a curiosity written over his face and spoke. "Did I not mention this?" he asked.
"NOOOO!" they yelled out causing him to shrug his shoulders before he looked at Ace.
"So Ace," Luffy said in a serious voice getting his attention. "Mind telling me just what exactly you are doing here in Paradise?" Luffy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well..."
**CHAPTER END**
I KNOW THIS MAY BE A SHORTER CHAPTER THAN USUAL. IT MAY ALSO BE A BAD CHAPTER COMPARED TO MY PREVIOUS ONES MAINLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT HAS BEEN A WHILE, SO MY WRITING IS A BIT RUSTY.