Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

Chapter 24: All the King's Men and All Dried Up

*Luffy*

Luffy was breathing hard as he stared around him, trying to get a heads up to where Ace would attack from next. They had begun a game of cat and mouse through the Middle Forest for the last hour, both of them attacking and dodging. So far, neither of them had been able to make a real heavy blow against the other.

Ace often gained the upper hand, but Luffy was able to dodge Ace's moves more easily than his big brother had. Finally, by the time that his brother had disappeared, Luffy looked around to see that he had somehow found himself in the Grey Terminal.

Standing up on Trash Mountain, gritting his teeth, he glared around for his brother.

"ACE!" he yelled out, "I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!"

Suddenly, in his mind's eye, he saw a burst of fire flying at him from above and at the last second he moved just as Ace appeared overhead and shot another Fire Fist at him.

"As quick as always," Ace laughed as he landed on the mound of burning garbage and Luffy jumping to the next one, yards away.

"That was dirty!" Luffy called back, but he was smirking, as he wiped his mouth, his heart pounding fast.

Ace merely shrugged. "All's fair in love and war little brother. In the world of pirates, there's no such thing as unfair." He noticed that Luffy was breathing hard before he laughed a little. "Come on, is that all you got?" Ace taunted good-naturedly. "You scared of losing?"

"Not this time!" Luffy cried out as he jumped and the two tried to punch each other at the same time. The moment that their fists clashed against the other, the force behind these punches were so great that anyone else could've felt the shockwave as they were both thrown backwards.

Luffy twisted in midair as he landed on a ship's broken mast and moved out of the way as more fire shots came flying at him.

As he laughed and jumped around, he couldn't help but remember about a year after Ace had left home and he had gotten a shock in the newspaper.

*Flashback*

"MAKINO!" Luffy called out as he went running through the village and straight to her bar, clutching a sheet of paper in his hands, and his face practically glowing with pride.

Makino, who had been cleaning some glasses behind the bar, looked up in surprise to see him there but smiled brightly at him.

"Luffy! How are you doing? What's going on?" she asked as he bounded over to her.

"LOOK!" he cried proudly as he held up the paper. "IT CAME IN THE NEWSPAPER TODAY!"

"Luffy," she said smiling, "You never read the paper."

"Yeah I know! But look!" Luffy cried, showing her the paper. "A wanted poster! Check it out! It's Ace!"

Makino looked at it to see the familiar words 'WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE!' was written underneath with a familiar picture of a young man who was about eighteen or nineteen. He was grinning wildly under his shock of messy black hair, and the splash of freckles across his cheeks. His signature orange hat on his head with his full name printed underneath it.

"Ace did it!" Luffy told her, beaming, "He's officially a real wanted pirate!"

Makino laughed. "You know, most people wouldn't think that their older brother being a wanted criminal would be a good thing."

"But it's great!" Luffy cried out. "He's amazing! Ace is just amazing!"

"Yes, I agree," Makino said, coming out from behind the bar. "You know what we should do? Why don't we hang it on the wall?"