Why? Why today!?

Makino forced Ace and Sabo's heads down as the procession of seagreen and white came through the Town Square.

Out of all days, why today? Why were they here to begin with???

Makino struggled to find reason as to why a Celestial Dragon would even consider visiting their weary little town, much less want anything from there.

She could only watch the heavy weighted man riding who was probably a pirate into the streets like a horse drawn carriage. It simply disgusted her.

She wanted to run into her bar. She wanted to hide the three boys which she held so dearly. She wanted to, but of course fate found cruelty laughable when it came to timing. The group had been taking a stroll through the Square to look at a few street vendors, and her bar was all the way across town.

Fate's twisted cruel hand indeed.

She prayed they would pass by, and for a moment, she thought they had. But when she looked up her face turned to that of horror when her eyes met with the Dragon through his bubble mask. Staring right at them.

"You!" Came his haute and high pitched voice, "How dare you look at me!"

Makino instantly put her head down once more, and could see Ace's fists clench tight out of the corner of her eye.

She had pleaded with them, begged them, to promise her they wouldn't speak or do anything brash, no matter what happened. All three were forced to reluctantly agree, and she thanked the Lord she had.

"I apologize, your grace," she whispered to the man.

He spat down at her and she felt Sabo flinch in fury.

"You filthy women! You think you can just apologize and make it better!?" He stared long and hard at her before giving a slimy grin showing off crooked yellow teeth, "I know. Since they seem so precious to you, I simply must have them."

No please-

"GUARDS!" The Dragon cried out, pointing a thick gloved finger at the three boys Makino was trying so hard to protect, "Take those three boys."

"NO!" Makino cried out, standing up with tears in her eyes.

Ace finally lost it when Makino started crying.

"There is NO WAY we'd go with a slime-ball like YOU!!!" He screamed putting his fists up.

It wasn't long before Luffy and Sabo had joined him, standing protectively in front of Makino; who's knees had buckled and was now on the ground staring wide eyed at the brave but oh so foolish trio.

"We'll see about that," came the large man's answer as he simply proceeded down the street.

Ace tried to follow but was blocked by five men, all clad in black suits and about ten times higher than the boys, or in four-year-old Luffy's case, about fifteen.

They attempted a fight, all the while Makino trying to stop them, but it was no use. In the end, all three were struggling in the grasps of the guards, kicking and fighting for freedom, and Makino couldn't do a thing as she watched them dragged away to the harbour, where she was sure their fates had been sealed.

And so, she sobbed right there in the blonde cobblestone street, choked cries for the boys even long after the Celestial Dragon had gone. Eventually, she wasn't alone, and everyone in the village found out what had happened and mourned with her.

No, the trio wasn't dead, far from it in fact, but in Makino's heart of hearts she could tell that whatever was in that ship, would be worse than Hell itself.

The boys found themselves being thrown into a large cell somewhere deep within the lower deck of the enormous ship, if not the very bottom.

They had put some sort of blue-ish cuff around Luffy's ankle, shackling him to the wood wall and sapping every bit of energy that the young boy once had.

"What'd you do to him!?" Ace had yelled to the guards. But they simply ignored him.

Ace turned to Sabo, expecting an answer. Sabo sighed and got down next to the youngest brother who was slumped sleepily against the wall, and yet wide awake with an almost feral fear in his big round eyes.

"It's seastone," he explained gently so he didn't spook Luffy anymore than he already was. "It only works on devil fruit users, but basically it keeps them from using their ability and they can't really move... I think."

"YOU THINK!?"

Sabo turned away from Luffy to glare up at Ace. "I'm a seven-year-old, not a genius."

Ace threw his hands in the air, clearly exasperated.

However both instantly stopped their bickering when they heard a sniffle come from behind them. They both turned to see Luffy vigorously trying to rub away the tears that were falling down his face.

"S-sorry," he sputtered, trying to choke back tears, " I-I'm trying not to."

Sabo and Ace felt a pain in their chest as they watched their little brother fight back tears and apologize for fear, when they both knew they were all afraid.

Ace and Sabo sat on each side of Luffy so that he was between the two, and brought him into a hug.

"It's okay Luffy, we're all a little scared. But don't worry. We're gonna get out of here!" Ace promised.

Sabo nodded in agreement and then pulled out of the hug to look Luffy directly in his brown eyes. "I-it's okay to cry... Just this once..."

That was all it took for Luffy to break down and simply sob. He sobbed into Ace's arms while Ace coddled him, and Sabo put his big straw hat on his head so that they couldn't see the tears stream down his face.

They stayed like that for a good twenty minutes until the weight and exhaustion that the seastone brought on finally took Luffy over, and he fell asleep.

Ace had Luffy on his lap and stroked his hair reassuringly while striking a serious tone with Sabo.

"We gotta get out of here," Ace said dryly.

Sabo nodded. "Yeah, I'm not sure how much Luffy can take being in here. And there's no way we can become pirates trapped in this dump."

Ace scowled as he thought over what they could possibly do. Luffy was chained here and supposedly his powers had been suppressed, so his rubber limbs were pretty much useless to any plan. Not to mention he couldn't leave even if they did manage to get the door open.

He sighed and glanced over to see Sabo had the same face he did, wracking his brain for any and all solutions.

"We've dug ourselves deep this time, huh Sabo," Ace whispered somberly.

"Mhm," Sabo hummed.

They say there against the wall like that, thinking, hoping, for the rest of the day; not that there were any windows to help tell the time with.

At some point, a guard came by and gave them each a small glass of water and stale bread rolls, which Luffy woke up and gobbled down in one bite.

He already seemed to be getting used to the seastone's affects, he was still pretty weak, but perkier than he was before the nap. Though Ace and Sabo both agreed he still seemed off.

They spent the next hour talking to each other, trying to pass time and think of ways to escape. But both Ace and Sabo were thrown off when Luffy asked an unexpected question.

"... You... You guys aren't gonna leave me... Right?" Luffy mumbled out.

Both of them stared at their little brother, slightly shaken by the random question.

Luffy kept going going when they didn't answer right away. "Cause I'm stuck here to the wall and you guys can escape but I can't and-"

"SHUT up!" Ace yelled , startling the rambling young boy, "What the heck Luffy!? We promised you we wouldn't leave you alone, didn't we!? What's the matter with you, you're usually bouncing around in hopeless situations."

They knew Luffy's greatest fear was that he'd be left alone again. That he would rather endure the worst pain in the world than be without Ace and Sabo. But they didn't think he'd just sit there and think they'd leave him.

"Have a little faith in us, k Luffy?" Sabo said, noting that this whole situation was going to the four year olds head.

Luffy smiled at them after being reassured and nodded. "Okay!"

Sabo and Ace smiled back, happy to see Luffy back to normal.

"Alright!" Sabo declared while clapping his hands "Let's think up an escape plan!"

"YEAH!!!!" Luffy and Ace cheered together.

A week passed.

For week they thought and thought and thought. Living on water and bread, and getting no where.

They had already tried to take the ankle off both Luffy and the wall, but it was just too strong. They were all getting tired and hungry, although Luffy had kept upbeat which if Ace and Sabo were being honest, Luffy was the only reason they hadn't given up yet.

It was just when they had given themselves a moment's rest that three bulky guards came and stood in front of their large cell. The first guard, who had red hair, pulled out a key and unlocked the cell door, letting it creek open before stepping through.

Ace and Sabo clumped closer to Luffy as the three guards came in, sending the malice in their postures. The second one stepped up to them and pulled out a smaller key before leaning down a bit.

"Move over, brats," came his harsh gruff voice.

Sabo and Ace stayed unmoving, guarding Luffy.

"I said move!" Believes the guard as he raised a hand and struck both children out of the way.

Ace and Sabo both tumbled and skidded across the floor, immediately getting back up and scrambling to get back to Luffy.

"Don't you touch him!" Ace threatened as he attempted to tackle the guard.

He was held back, however, by the third guard. He struggled to get out of his grasp but couldn't manage to fight out of the the strong meaty grip with his body so weak. He had looked to his left and saw Sabo fighting the man's left hand, apparently in the same position.

They watched as the second guard unlocked the cuff around Luffy's ankle and pulled him up, forcing him to walk out the door.

Soon, Ace and Sabo had joined him. They didn't fight since they weren't being separated at the moment and all three figured it'd be better to save their energy for escape.

They were pushed through many hallways, all with the same white walls and wood floors until they reached a place deep within the ship where the wood walls and floors turned metal. Ace and Sabo glanced at each other, both getting a bad feeling about the new location.

Next thing, the three were being forced through a door and were met by a wave of heat. They looked and squinted before going wide eyed at the fiery hot furnaces that lined the back wall.

Then they saw the red hot iron rods that held the infamous symbol of the Celestial Dragons.

Ace both exchanged expressions of worry thinking the same thing: they're going to try and brand us.

It was at this point that they started to kick and scream and fight for their lives as they were each dragged toward a metal table. Luffy had started crying and screaming shrill high pitched pleas for help, not fully understanding what was going on but that if Ace and Sabo were afraid; he definitely should be too.

Ace bit the man restraining his fingers, to which the grown man let out a grunt of pain before clocking Ace in the face.

"Ace!" Luffy and Sabo cried out as they watched him get pinned to the table.

The red haired guard lifted his filthy shirt up to reveal his shoulder blade, and grabbed the hot iron.

Ace screamed out painfully, gasping for air as the mark was pressed into his flesh. White hot pain blinding him and making his head pound. His back felt like fire itself and it hurt.

Just as the man had finally let go, he heard someone else scream and turned in horror as he watched Sabo experience the same excruciating pain he had just endured.

"SABO! LUFFY!" He cried from the cold metallic floor.

Luffy was fighting off the man with all his might, managing to keep wriggling between the third guard's thick fingers.

"ACEEE!! HELP ME! PLEASE!" He screamed as he was finally caught and pressed onto the iron table.

Sabo was thrown to the floor just as Ace had been when they finished branding him. Both tried to get up and ignore the biting pain in their backs to reach and save their brother, but they simply. Couldn't. Move.

Ace growled in frustration as Sabo yelled for them to stop. Then it all seemed to go silent as the man held the hot metal up and smiled at them before driving it into Luffy's bare rubber shoulder blade.

A blood curdling scream escaped Luffy's lips. And it didn't stop for a good thirty seconds. The k never Luffy was pinned to the table, the more he quieted down, which was the opposite of comforting at this money for the older brothers. Still seething and struggling, Ace and Sabo watched their brother slip out of consciousness, his tiny rubber body simply unable to bear the pain of the heat.

Luffy twitched every now and again from the pain, but was still out cold. The guard threw him into Ace and Sabo like a limp sack of coal. The brothers instantly took hold of Luffy in an attempt to soothe his unconscious spirit.

Luffy was whimpering in his forced slumber, his breath shallow from pure pain. Ace glared at the three guards, completing forgetting his own injury. He wanted them gone. He wanted to slaughter them where they stood for even daring to harm Luffy. He could tell Sabo felt the same as he could just feel the murderous intent coming off the blond.

The boys didn't think this could possibly get any worse. Unfortunately, fate had found a new hobby in proving them absolutely wrong.

Everyone in the room -excluding the unconscious Luffy, of course- turned their attention to the heavy metal door as it swung open slowly; revealing the one and only Celestial Dragon himself.

He was fatter than a pot bellied pig and his black hair looked like a mop attached to his head. Even through the bubble that surrounded his head, they could see the disgusting shine of his greasy complexion.

He was in a white jumpsuit that had sea-green trims. The large man looked down at the boys with a face of total disgust.

The three guards bowed before the Dragon while Sabo and Ace glared up at the man defiantly.

This man's dead the moment we escape; Ace thought to himself as he hardened his glare.

The Celestial Dragon stepped forward and looked down on Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. He tched and shifted his massive body to lay eyes on the guards.

"Are these the new slaves?" He asked in a haute, pompous, high pitched voice.

The red haired guard nodded without looking up saying, "We've just branded them, my Lord. What are your orders?"

The Dragon glanced back over to Luffy and The others, wheels turning in his no doubt tiny brain. The man then gave a slimy and wicked grin that made both Sabo and Ace uncomfortable as a feeling of dread settled in their stomachs.

They tightened their grip on Luffy.

"Let's see... Those two should be good for cleaning... Hmmmm." The man glanced at Luffy and saw a seastone bracelet on his small wrist; the guards had placed it there just before entering the branding chamber to keep his devil powers in check.

The Dragon raised his eyebrow and questioned his guards, "Is the small one a devil fruit user?"

Both guards nodded.

Ace and Sabo shifted under the man's eyes. They weren't letting Luffy go. Ace had known he couldn't fight the Celestial Dragon if he wanted to keep Luffy safe, so he and Sabo kept their mouths shut and just kept a tight hold on their little brother.

Ace looked down when he noticed Luffy still whimpering and trying to nuzzle into Ace's chest and Sabo's hand. Unfortunately, the Celestial Dragon noticed too.

"He seems very fond of you two," the Dragon sneered as he leaned down into Ace and Sabo's faces.

The Dragon then unexpectedly slapped Ace across the face and shoved Sabo away from the younger, who gasped in pain at the sudden movement.

Ace had let go due to his surprise and yelled out as he saw the Dragon kick Sabo hard in the side to get him to let go of Luffy.

"GIVE LUFFY BACK!" Ace snarled and charged at the Celestial Dragon.

"Stop him," was all the man said, not even looking up from Luffy, who he was holding by his white shirt collar between two thickly gloved fingers; Holding him out at arms length as if he were afraid of letting Luffy near him.

The guards reacted fast. The second one grabbed Ace and pinned him to the ground, the fire glinting off the black haired boy's face.

Ace growled and fought as he watched the Dragon inspect Luffy out of the corner of his eye.

Luffy had curled in on himself as he hung simply from the air, a shiver of pain going through his body.

Ace glanced over to see Sabo groaning as he was also pinned, but still in pain from the kicks as his nerves were already on edge from the flames.

Luffy had woken up just enough to try and reach out toward his brothers, longing for their comfort as the cruel man looked him over.

Not a minute later, the straw-hatted boy was dropped mercilessly to the ground.

"That one seems to have a strange need for touch," the Celestial Dragon finally diagnosed, a strange demented smiling curling on his lips, "Let's do little experiment, shall we? He's in pretty good shape and with a devil power like that-" he paused and grabbed one of Luffy's fingers, letting it stretch to prove his point, "I'm sure he'd sell well as someone's pet, in a few years... He's a bit young now, so we'll have some fun instead. "

Ace and Sabo both stopped moving and stared in horror as the Celestial Dragon gave his orders.

"Put the little rubber one in solitary confinement. You can return - erm, those other two too their cells."

The Dragon started walking away but stopped and turned to sneer at Ace's horror struck face.

"We'll see how the brat survives when he doesn't have his oh so precious friends to lean on. " And with those words the wicked man left.

"HE'S OUT BROTHER GOSH DARN IT!" Sabo screamed after him, banging the full metal floor with his fist.

Ace and Sabo fought tooth and nail to get up and stop the last guard from grabbing Luffy, not caring that their own captors were punching them down. They had to get Luffy back. They promised they wouldn't leave him alone. Yet here they were, unable to do anything but watch helplessly as their youngest brother disappeared through the doorway. The last they saw was his large straw hat resting on his head.

They were then carried off back to their own confinement, quite literally thrown inside the slave cell as the barred iron door was quickly slammed shut and locked behind them.

Both boys desperately scrambled to their feet as they pounded on the bars and tried to rattle them open.

The guards merely ignored the two and walked off.

Sabo was brazenly insulting the guards that walked away, cursing their existence while Ace simply screamed a demand for release as he pounded on the bars.

They did this for five hours straight until they were physically unable to stand and their voices were too hoarse to be heard anymore. The brothers slid to the ground in defeat, breathing hard.

"He's all alone. We failed Sabo. No way Luffy could survive solitary confinement for a week, much less years! " Ace buried his face into his hands.

Sabo put his hands on Ace's shoulders and shook him. Ace looked up and saw the determined look in the blue sapphire eyes.

"We're not gonna let him stay there. No way are we letting Luffy get sold. We'll get him out Ace, we just need a plan," He looked Ace in the eyes, "There's no way Luffy's getting off this ship without us. That idiot would get bored in seconds. "

Ace laughed dryly at the remark and let a little smirk tug at his mouth. "I guess you're right."

Sabo nodded and sat back down.

Now all they had to do was think. Think and hope that they could keep their promise this time and save Luffy. No matter what the cost.

The end! Of chapter one at least. I got this idea yesterday and it was just too good to pass up. I have a plan guys. I usually wing this stuff, but this actually started out as a 'I can't fall asleep so imma tell myself fanfiction till I do' kinda thing and decided to write it. I really like it when Luffy gets kidnapped. XD

Also, I changed the timeline a bit so Luffy got his hat, met and Bonded with Ace and Sabo and got his devil fruit all in a year. So he's four, but more like four-almost-five. The brothers have basically just gotten brotherly status right before they got kidnapped. I figured I could use this to my advantage and strengthen their bond throughout the story. I'm lol.

Well, I should have chapter two up soon so I hope you like dis. See you soon! Please comment and vote! It's motivational.

Chão!!!

Word Count: 3352