New story! Please read the A/N at the end ;w;


The blue light never dimmed.

Fury knew this, yet he couldn't help but stare at the curious object in front of him as he inspected it thoroughly. The Tesseract's light blue light should've been calming, almost like a peaceful, spring day in the beach. Or maybe a calming summer afternoon along the lake in the park.

But it wasn't; it was like the calm before a storm, the same blue that you saw before you loved ones were ripped under you and you're thrown out into the world alone. The same blue that mocked you ask you walked down the street that used to be your home before everything happened.

It intrigued Fury to no end; how something so powerful and mysterious was in such a small box. They might never know the secrets it contained (Hell, if they did then that would mean an apocalypse).

The scientists had claimed that the Terreract was stable, not a threat at the moment. Fury almost snorted at the ridiculousness to that one sentence. The terreract was never stable. One moment it could be like it was right now, calm and peaceful, but the next moment it'll turn into a deadly wave of pure energy.

Something that could destroy everything.

Fury knew this, he'd always had this knowledge lodged somewhere deep inside his brain. He didn't want to admit it, but he was curious for how long this thing would stay calm. How long before it would surely blow up in everyone's faces.

It was going to happen someday, Fury had no doubt about that. It was just the question of when and how.

How many people will die? How will this affect the world? How will they deal with it?

And even though Fury had the most information out of pretty much anything, he couldn't answer these miffing questions. No one could, not even the Tesseract itself because god dammit if it knew anything—if it was alive—Fury would not hold back. Secrets had to be revealed, weather or not they're good secrets is the question.

A hum emitted from the strange, blue cube. Fury looked at it with a sharp eye, not moving but preparing himself for what's to come. Was this going to be when it explodes? Is this going to be when hell breaks loose and no one will survive? Ha, even as a super agent—one above all others—he couldn't defend himself from the unknown, no matter what resources he had.

The only reason they had survived the war of New York was because the Chitauri were stupid—nothing without their masters. They were weak alone, but together they packed a massive punch. One that could've possibly taken over the world.

But they didn't; Loki had given himself away before that.

Loki was not a stupid god. If fact, his plan was rather smart. But he got careless, eager and impatient. That was his downfall.

It all came down to how long before he snapped.

Oh! And did the bastard snap. With one move, he had told Fury all that he needed to know without saying anything. Loki made a mistake; one that cost him his freedom and his victory.

The blue tesseract hummed again, this time something akin to white lightning flashed across it's surface. Fury's eye hardened as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the cube to study it closer.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

But what?

The scientist had long since gone back to their computers, yelling orders and scurrying about the lab, looking for possible explanations to why the cube had suddenly decided to act up. Why now? What was happening?

He could her them shout; he saw some of the agents in the corners of the room shift uneasily. They backing into the darkest corners, eyes glaring at the object in the center of the room that had suddenly chosen to ignite.

They were all watching. Waiting.

It was a game. All of it was a sick, sick game.

"Director Fury!" One of the scientists had run to his side, voice concerned. The man's white lab coat was draped over his body and he wore a mask like all the other scientists that occupied the base. His ID card flicked a his side before it stilled, fluttering ungracefully back to it's owner. "The Tesseract suddenly reacted, but we don't know what it's doing. It would be save to move away from the object for now. It is no longer stable."

Fury's cold eyes landed on the man, his brow creasing before his mask was back on before anyone could notice. He sat up carefully, staring down at the man that only went up to his chin. "The Tesseract was never stable." He said simply, voicing one of it's earlier thoughts but he allowed the man to lead him to where the scientists deemed 'safe' for the time being.

Fury glanced back, noticing all the agents slowly backing up as well. Jumping to new positions, getting ready for an attack. It was like Loki's arrival all over again, but this time they were somewhat prepared. They moved to the shadows, loading bows or possibly arrows.

He had no Avengers with him this time, this was just suppose to be a check up on his main facility. But it wasn't; now it was a warning.

Fury knew somewhere deep down that he would have to gather the Avengers once more. Call it instinct; maybe reason. But it was bound to happen; after all, didn't everyone need some super heroes to clean up super messes?

Fury glanced back once more before the Tesseract would be out of sight. The blue object was now humming loudly, lightning flashing inside the glowing blue orb ever so often. But that wasn't what caught his attention. It was how the object was turning red; blood red.

Like arteries, the color seeping into the Terresact, flashing more and more often. For a second, Fury imagined it like lava, deadly and destructive beyond what was comprehendible, but then his thoughts fluttered to the red, thinking of blood.

Like blood on a battlefield.

A war.

A war was raging on, but it wasn't here.

And just like that the cube was back to its normal blue color, calm once again. No more humming, no more lighting, no more blood.

Fury's head disappeared behind a wall, and that was that. He followed the scientist upstairs, approaching his escape route. The black helicopter was already on; it's deadly blades spinning.

An agent in black walked up to him, as he was lead to the chopper. It was a woman, someone with sharp eyes and good senses, one of Fury's best agents. Her hair was pulled into a sharp ponytail, something that wasn't uncommon. Her eyes were full of respect for the commanding officer. "Director Fury." She said calmly, yet she spoke loudly enough to be heard over the helicopter. "The Tesseract has calmed, but we advise you to evacuate. It isn't stable currently."

"I know," He told her, grabbing a handle and pushing himself onto the chopper. "Take care of things here, understood?"

"Understood, sir." She gave him a salute and briskly walked off as Fury shut the door and put on his helicopter headsets. Fury watched her as she disappeared below, possibly going back to check on the scientists that were left in charge of the powerful cube.

He continued to stare at the direction of the building even long after it had faded from sight. Only then did he press his ear, activating one of his many communication devises. "Agent Hill, do you read me?"

"Yes, sir." The female replied on the other side of the device.

"Contact the Avengers. Tell them that I'm not quite done with them yet."

"Of course, sir."

And the line went slack, leaving Fury alone with his thoughts.


Hell was a thing that everyone experiences in a lifetime. He couldn't say it was a natural occurrence, but with Monkey D. Luffy you never really know. One moment you might be with your nakama, the next going on a wild goose chase to save his brother from this so called 'hell'.

Despite that, the boy could defiantly see why they called this place hell.

He understood even more as he stood on the battleground of Marinford, desperately trying to save his light. His friend. His brother.

One marine after the other. They all fell eventually, for some it just took time. Time and energy.

Both of with the young D couldn't afford to lose.

But then the man with the weird mustache yelled something and all the pirates around his cried out in fear. Luffy didn't understand. Luffy didn't hear.

But when those blades descended on his brother's head, Luffy knew exactly what was going on. He was not stupid, he was dense and a simpleton but he was not stupid. He knew what those words meant now.

Something that was meaningless just a second ago now felt like words that crushed him. He couldn't move, he couldn't help but stare in horror as the blades descended faster.

And faster.

And faster.

And he screamed because they were going to take away his brother. The same bother that promised. The same brother that had stupidly promised so many years ago.

"I WILL NOT DIE!"

No. Nonononono—Ace couldn't die! It wasn't going to end like this!

The blades came closer. Everything seemed to stop because Luffy just wanted them to stop—make everything disappear and have them go back home, happy and healthy.

Stop the nightmare. Stop the torture. Stop the cages. Just stop.

Nostopnostopnostop—"STOP IT!"

And then they fell, all his enemies. The blades stopped too, they fell, just not on his brother.

But Luffy couldn't care. His brother was still alive. He still had a change.

And the boy took that chance, even when he fell over and over again. He got back up and kept running because dammit he wasted too much time.

But the marines didn't care; some of them were still standing. Staring at him with shock. Why? Why did they look so shocked? He just told them to stop. He didn't want his brother to die. Not like Sabo. Ace wouldn't die like Sabo.

That would mean that two red cups would be empty, leaving the third one alone to carry on the dreams of his brothers. And even though he hated the idea of being alone, even if Ace did somehow die in this crazy, twisted world of cat and mouse, Luffy would live. He would live and thrive because his brothers wouldn't want him to be sad.

That wouldn't stop him form crying of course, if Ace died, then who would be there to punch him and tell him to shut up? Who would be there to sigh and pull him into a hug when he was sad even though he looked so awkward?

Who would be there to carry on the dream of being known? How would he prove that he lived? No, it wasn't over.

Ace wouldn't die.

And then the marines attacked once again with new force making it increasingly difficult to run. He didn't want to fight. He wanted his brother. He wasted his brother free and safe.

Currently, he was neither.

A voice rang out on the field, but Luffy didn't register it. "HELP STRAWHAT WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH!"

And suddenly the path was clear; the marines were no longer in the way.

New battles raged around Luffy as he continued to run.

Ace was right there!

There was a path, one by that scissors guy from Impel Down. He cleared the marines and cut right threw the rock, lifting the bridge right up to the platform.

Luffy grinned at him for the briefed second, telling him something that his voice could not.

"Thank you!"

And he was running again, this time with jiji in his way. Luffy didn't stop. He couldn't stop. Ace was so close.

But jiji. He didn't want to fight jiji. He didn't want his grandfather to hate him even more because of this. Even though they didn't exactly get along, jiji was still Luffy's family. His nakama.

Even as he activated his second gear, he knew that jiji wasn't fighting. The marine was putting on a show, masking his pain. His eyes danced around in the harsh fire that surrounded them, saying something much like what Luffy had done earlier.

"I'm sorry."

Luffy was too, but it eased the guilt that had built in in chest as he punched his grandpa right of the bridge. Jiji wanted this too. Jiji wanted Ace to be free once again.

"I TRAINED YOU TO BECOME A MARINE, DAMMMIT!"

But he wasn't. Maybe if he were then this wouldn't have happened . . .? Or maybe it was unavoidable. A trick of fate that you couldn't change even if you went back in time.

He was there. He was finally there.

His brother looked shocked to see him as Luffy bent down to hug him. Tears threatened to spill, but Luffy wasn't crying any time soon. Besides, Ace wasn't free yet. He was still stuck in that emotional cage and the physical shackles.

It all happened so fast. Too fast. On moment he was fiddling with the key and the next it was out of his reach.

Then Mr. 3 came.

The Buddha.

The explosions.

The fire.

But it wasn't bad fire. It was his brother damn fire because he was finally free. . !

Then again, was this war really over yet? Or had it just begun?


Okay! So we're going to say that the Tesseract was not given to Thor to take to Asguard, m'kay? That would ruin the whole story.

Question Time for all you readers out there!; What was your favorite part of One Piece? Favorite character?

I think mine was the time when they all reunited at Sabody because that was so cute and I wanted to just rip them all out of the anime and hug them. My favorite character is/was Ace obviously, followed by Luffy, Marco and Thatch.

Isn't it sad when two of the four of your favorite characters are dead?