KASL Book 1: Lost but Found (One Piece Fan fiction)

Chapter V: Before the New World P.1 - Tick Tock, Bad Luck

Clockwork Island

Luffy

The youngest of the four brothers couldn't wait for his first island adventure.

The Whitebeard Pirates had taken another day at sea to party and celebrate their new brothers' introduction into the crew. Luffy fell asleep at one point during the celebrations, and Kit tucked his little brother into his arms before following after Ace and Sabo. Marco escorted the four boys to their cabin a little after midnight. The boys had had quite an eventful day.

Too much drinking and dancing left a lot of pirates splayed out on the deck the next morning. The nurses did not look too pleased with the old captain's excessive drinking and cut him off halfway through the night before he retired. Marco, as the only pirate to not drink that night, took in a spiteful bit of glee in rousing his hung over crew mates so that they could make preparations to dock at the island in a few hours. Thatch received a bucketful of water for all his flaming turkey and pineapple jokes from the night before. The chef gave his friend a long look before heading to the kitchen.

Just as promised, the pirates arrived at Clockwork Island later that morning. Luffy practically bounced off the ship in his excitement until Ace shoved him. The older boys still had an edge of distrust, so Luffy could not reveal his powers as of yet. Kit told Whitebeard that he had powers, but the astute captain said that Kit can reveal exactly what he is and what he can do when he feels more comfortable. The fox had some issues in his childhood before meeting Luffy; devil fruit-users were not the most beloved people back on his home island.

At last docked, the commanders decided that the boys should all wear the Whitebeard mark somewhere on their clothes just as a precaution. Izo, the sixteenth division commander and crossdresser, made the quick adjustments, and now each boy sported the logo. Ace's red tank top had the mark in Jolly Roger stitched to the back, Sabo had the simplified cross version on his coat pocket, Luffy's red anchor shirt had a white mark on the front, and Kit's light gray jacket sported mark on the bottom left edge. Ready, the boys trailed after the crossdresser who would be helping the boys shop for more clothes, some more beds, and maybe some other bedroom furniture and décor.

They had just finished shopping. The boys only wanted one more bed and the crossdresser that accompanied the four had the shop owners mark all their sales to take to their ship later that day. As the boys walked, they gaped. The town of Mecha was not like anything they have seen before. Everything had a metallic and clockwork touch. The houses had all sorts of clocks and gadgets. All throughout the town, the boys could hear these wondrous machines clank and whir. Luffy was so entranced that he fell behind and took the wrong turn from the rest of the group. Alone, Luffy swiveled his head comically as he scanned for any sign of his brothers.

"Ace! Sabo! Kit?" Luffy's shouting trickled to a whimper. His eyed began watering until something shiny caught his eyes. All sadness forgotten, Luffy skipped over to the town's biggest attraction, the Cuckoo Plaza. All sorts of cuckoo clocks hung across the marbled platform. Luffy ran over to a particularly large clock that rivalled the size of Commander Jozu. The hour hand struck ten and before the rubber kid knew it, the cuckoo literally knocked him straight onto one of the various cushions scattered about the plaza.

"Hey kid, you alright?"

Luffy rubbed his head before looking up at the man leaning over him. The guy was a tall angular man with a scraggly beard and several scars lining his jaw and trailing below the grey-blue open collar. Something about the man made Luffy want to curl away from him. He felt like the mean Captain Bluejam! Luffy ignored the hand the man offered and scrambled back to his feet.

"I'm fine. I have to go find my family now." Before Luffy could scuttle away, the man grabbed hold of his shirt's collar. "Hey!"

"So you're all alone?" The man did not see the Whitebeard mark on Luffy's tee due to the food stains from lunch earlier that day. His smile sent an uncomfortable shiver through Luffy.