Snake Hunt Chapter 2 (Patreon)

One Piece Parody: Born on the phone

Chapter 1 https://www.patreon.com/posts/29142382

Snake Hunt


Chapter 2


Ace had to sit down, the day had been a wild one, first he gets a letter from Sabo, explaining everything, why he had to leave them, how his family and the whole noble set up was suffocating him. He needed to be free, and his time with him and Luffy were the happiest days of his life. He wished them the best and hoped they would meet again on the sea some day. The letter was intense enough but then he heard from the bandits that his ship was attacked and he was presumed to be dead. On top of that he was told Luffy went to save him, and hadn't returned.


The bandits were losing it, talking about Celestial Dragons, and what they could do if Luffy was taken away. They were saying things like… "Luffy was gonna be made a slave to the World Nobles!" and "Luffy would be made some noble's plaything!" Their words only made Ace worry more. To make matters worse, Luffy was still missing for quite a while.


Ace looked for him, the bandits looked for him, but in all the chaos no one could find him. Ace felt like he was losing everything, he already thought he was cursed being the child of the late pirate king Gol D. Roger! So many people said such a child shouldn't exist, that no one wanted that child. His mother did, she carried her son for 20 months to make sure he would survive, it cost her, taking her life to bring Ace into the world.


Sabo and Luffy wanted him, cared about him, happy he was alive. Now Sabo was gone and possibly Luffy to. He felt powerless…


Then Luffy showed up with a strange young man, who by his own admission was Rob Lucci, an assassin and former member of the World Government. Ace ignored that for a moment and hugged his brother tight. He was just so glad he was okay.


"He tried to catch me and we dueled and I beat him, so he's mine now!" Ace's head was spinning. Then Luffy dropped another bombshell. Sabo was alive, but heavily injured and a mysterious man showed up and took him to be treated. Luffy said he trusted him but couldn't explain it.


Ace had to sit down, he was trying to take it all in and process it. He was happy that Sabo was alive and that Luffy was safe, but he was also worried about Sabo, angry that Luffy could be so reckless, suspicious of this half naked guy who had tried to capture his brother, frustrated that all of this was going on, and in shock from the back and forth his emotions were going.


He wanted to be mad at Luffy for a few things, which clashed with the worry he felt about his safety and the joy he felt knowing he was okay. He trusted Luffy, the boy had scary good instincts, he took a liking to people easy enough, but while he was a bad liar, he could tell a lot about people. How they stand, how they talk, almost like he can read their intent.


Luffy proved this when he was caught by the Bluejam pirates, he was tortured for hours, the pirates claiming they just wanted their treasure back, that Ace stole. Luffy knew it was a lie, they wanted the treasure back yes, but they also wanted to hurt those that wronged them. Ace didn't believe in Luffy back then, instead of helping him, figured the boy would talk and the pirates would come after his and Sabo's treasure stash.


Ace hadn't been nice to Luffy when they first met, and did all he could to ditch him. It wasn't easy and Luffy kept following him. So while Luffy was being tortured Ace and Sabo moved their treasure. It wasn't till after Luffy was beaten and bloody, having some of his scales forcibly ripped off, did they come for him. Luffy liked Ace, and he knew if he talked Ace would hate him forever.


He swore to trust Luffy more after that. So if Luffy said Sabo was in safe hands he believed it, least he was alive. Maybe they would meet again some day, he said so in his letter, so long as they were alive there was a chance. Lucci was a whole other matter…


While he did trust Luffy, it didn't stop him from doing wild and crazy things that got him in trouble. Lucci...he reeked of trouble. Ace could tell just by looking at him he was strong and that he has killed. This guy made Ace's big brother senses ring off the hook. He was 7 years older than Ace, far more skilled, if he wanted to hurt Luffy there was nothing he could do.


Ace couldn't stop pacing, stealing glances at Luffy, and throwing glares at Lucci. "I don't think he likes me." Lucci whispered to Luffy.


"Its okay, Ace didn't like me when we first met either, I almost died a few times trying to be his friend." Lucci found that odd being brothers and all, Luffy had mentioned it on the way. Luffy noticed his confused look. "We became friends first, brothers later."


So they were sake brothers, the trio had exchanged cups of sake to solidify their bond as brothers. To Luffy they were his brothers even if not bound by blood. Lucci thought about comrades he trained with, the only one he thought he'd actually miss was Kaku. A boy with a square long nose, who talked in a way that made him sound older than he was. It was because of Kaku he learned how to be a builder, Kaku actually had a passion for building ships and things. Lucci didn't care, since he saw skills as weapons to be used, the more skills he had the more powerful he'd be.


Looking back, he had actually enjoyed that time with Kaku. They had shared in that experience, now he hoped he could share experiences with Luffy. He could teach him so much, help hone his strength. Ace was no slouch either, he had an aura about him, that screamed he was more dangerous than he looked.


"Ace!" Luffy cheered. "Lucci is cool he's got a lot of cool skills!" Luffy's praise made his cheeks burn.


"So what you shouldn't just trust some weirdo you picked up."


"He's mine, I'm keeping him!" Luffy demanded hugging Lucci. Lucci couldn't help but blush, feeling his heart skip a beat.


"What if he betrays us?"


Luffy looked to Lucci. "Are you gonna betray me?"


Lucci spoke without even thinking about it. "No, Never." Luffy looked to Ace a big smile on his face and gave him a thumbs up. Ace face palmed.


Sad part is he had to accept Lucci, they needed to get stronger, and Lucci's 6 Powers could be taught. They planned to train and get stronger before setting off on their journey at 18. Lucci was strong even without his devil fruit power.


So they began training to learn the 6 powers; Shave, Moon Walk, Tempest Kick, Iron Body, Finger Pistol, and Paper Art. Lucci explained there were variants to the powers adapted by the user. Ace and Luffy started training for the 6 powers.


-x-


Luffy wasn't safe yet, after collecting the tribute from the Goa Kingdom, the Celestial Dragon refused to leave until he caught the lamia. The fact Lucci hadn't returned was worrisome, the guy was like a one man battle ship, how could he lose. The thought of Lucci betraying them was scoffed at, but the snake fang tribe were known in history books to be very powerful.


The celestial dragon didn't care about Lucci, he just wanted the lamia. He revealed a special kind of gun, it was a prototype, but being a Celestial Dragon he had access to that kind of stuff. The gun fired a sea prism stone net, the sea prism stone could weaken devil fruit users for capture, but the net itself was unbreakable. So he thought it would be good for catching the Lamia.


He got a tip from one of the nobles where the lamia frequents. So he readied a "ride" a poor soul who was captured and sold as a slave who now lives his life carrying a Celestial Dragon on his back. He couldn't escape because of the slave collar, it would explode if he tried to run or take it off.


The Celestial Dragon left on his ride, with a government official, and some guards from the ship. "Hunt him, catch him, a lamia for free, hunt him, catch him, a lamia for me!" He laughed at his own little diddy.


Luffy was training with Lucci, in the area the Celestial Dragon was tipped on. Ace had finished training and had gone hunting for their dinner. So he wasn't around when the Celestial Dragon found them. "There you are my lamia!"


Lucci took a defensive stance. 'How did they find us?'


"I don't belong to you!" Luffy snapped, not flinching for a second who he was talking to. Lucci admired that, but this was serious.


"Not yet but you will!" He aimed his gun at him and without warning pulled the trigger. Lucci jumped in front of him and took the shot, expecting it to be a bullet or a cannon ball. It was a net, as soon as it touched him, Lucci felt his power drain from him.


'Sea prism stone!' He realized too late as his strength left him. He tried to struggle but had no strength.


"Lucci!" The snake tribe boy gasped.


"You belong to me too, bring me a slave collar, I'm gonna starve this fool for his failure." He was being dragged over to them.


"Let go of my Lucci!" It all happened so fast. Lucci knew the law no one struck a celestial dragon, their word was law, they were the World Government's gods, one couldn't go against them without serious consequences.


Luffy didn't care about that, he zipped in and slapped the celestial dragon with his tail, popping his stupid bubble helmet and sending him flying. Jaws were dropped, even Lucci was stunned. No one could have expected that to happen.


He started trying to free Lucci when the guards came after him. Luffy handled them easily enough, not even looking at them and merely smacked them around with his tail. "I don't get it that guy is weak why is he able to force someone to do this?" He asked.


"The collars, if someone tries to escape or disobey an order it can and will detonate killing if not fatally injuring someone." Luffy got Lucci out of the net.


"That so…" Luffy spotted the government official. He tried to escape but Luffy grabbed him around the neck with his tail and hauled him back. "Look into my eyes!" His eyes began to swirl in a rainbow of colors.


The man fell under Luffy's control. Lucci watched it happen and felt oddly jealous. "Get the key and free that man, and if there are any other people with those collars you will free them!"


He smiled and saluted. "Yes sir!" He got the key and freed the man who had been the noble's ride.


"Thank you...thank you…" he ran off. The order was carried out and all the other slaves were freed to. The knights eventually recovered and carried the Celestial Dragon back to the ship for treatment. Lucci had a bad feeling this wasn't gonna be over.


When Ace returned and heard about what had happened he shared a similar reaction to the bandits. "You hit a Celestial Dragon!?"


"He was trying to take Lucci!" Ace glared at him. Lucci gave a more detailed description of what happened. The dragon was after Luffy because he's rare, he had protected Luffy. Ace rubbed his temples.


Lucci suggested they leave, believing an admiral and war ships would come for them. Ace wasn't sure if they could survive on their own. The bandits couldn't protect them from this. "I'd give it 3 days before a war ship comes, we'll need to leave by then."


Luffy didn't understand what was happening, he didn't know who he had struck and didn't care. He wasn't gonna sit back and watch his friend get taken away. Ace knew this...so he didn't fault the boy, but this wasn't good.


It didn't take a day to see just how bad the situation was. Wanted posters came out for Luffy and Lucci. Rob Lucci, Wanted Dead or Alive Forty Million! Monkey D. Luffy Wanted Only Alive Fifty Million!"


Luffy was happy he got a bounty, but the Only Alive worried Ace and Lucci. If they wanted Luffy alive that meant the Celestial Dragon wasn't giving up, if Luffy was captured he wouldn't go to jail he'd go right into the hands of the noble.


To be continued