A Black Heart Does Not Always Stay Black

Fighting, Not Killing

Luffy stood in the commanders bathroom, in his huge form, made of sticky black goo and slime, staring in the mirror. He hadn't know he'd missed being able to turn like this, even though he was gross and ugly to look at. He felt more powerful like this, less vulnerable.

It had only been two days since he was given the all-clear and he not changed forms often, mostly in their room or when Ace and Sabo were bathing, since Luffy bathed at night before bed. "Luffy, why are you in that form?" Sabo questioned curiously. Both boys had gotten over the sight of their brother like that. Since the boy had no face or mouth in that form, he couldn't speak. He changed back seamlessly into human form, shrinking and his skin turning the tan color again.

"Makes me feel stronger," he replied, and then walked towards the bath, putting his feet in the water. "It's too big to walk around in, but I haven't been allowed to be like that in a long time. I'm sad everyone thinks it's scary looking. I'm not gonna hurt anyone here."

Ace was lethargic, sitting in the shallow part of the bath, and asked, "What does it feel like to crush someone when they're inside you?" Luffy and Sabo were surprised by the question, but Luffy told the truth.

"Like when you tense your stomach. Then they get crushed and I throw them out. Like, spit them out but I don't have a mouth or eat them," he explained honestly.

"Does it feel weird?" Sabo questioned, becoming interested as well. They'd never really asked Luffy about his powers in that form, since they only found out about it a few months ago, and had been distracted by other things.

Luffy shrugged in response. "Not too much."

"How do you see and smell and hear if you have no face?" Ace asked next.

"I dunno. I just do," was his answer. It wasn't what the boys were hoping for, but they didn't press it or make him feel stupid for not knowing. Ace than asked what it felt like to be sticky. "I don't know anything else. It's normal for me. And helpful when I have to climb stuff or grab things or stay in the same place. So it's not too bad."

The three stayed quiet for a little while, enjoying the nice silence. They were able to reserve the commanders' shared bathroom because they were uncomfortable being naked around strangers. Ace especially. They may know the commanders, but were still not comfortable being in the nude around anyone other than each other. After all, they had bathed together before when Luffy had insisted they be clean, but he also wanted bath so it made sense to share!

After the water cooled down, the boys dressed and left. It was time for Ace and Sabo's training, while Luffy was in partial form, trying to form his body in different shapes. It didn't go very well, but people were staring at his humanoid form even though he was doused in that sticky substance. It didn't bother him though, as the stickiness was normal for him. He was so happy his injury was healed.

Ace fought against Marco so no one got burned, and he lost pathetically. He had said not to go easy on him, so the phoenix was just doing as he asked. He did refuse to fly, though, since most of the opponents, if not all, that Ace would fight in the future could not fly. It was rare to have a devil fruit that could make someone able to fly.

Sabo trained with his jitte, which was officially given to him as a present, against Vista. He was much bigger than Sabo, but everyone was bigger than the boys. Whitebeard watched from his throne as the boys fought and Luffy sat and tried to work his own fruit in different ways.

He finally formed a circle in his hadn't of the goo, which was a success to him, and he got up and cheered, the stickiness on his bottom snapping back up once it was no longer attached to the ground. The substance disappeared and Luffy told his brothers what he'd done.