When he finally awoke, the only thing he could remember clearly was a creepy green face coming towards him. It was oddly familiar and for some reason it made him want to run away in fear. The only issue was it didn’t seem like he could run away since he couldn’t feel the rest of his body.

His memories were also a mess. His name? His age? Where he lived? Anything about himself was just gone. It was like it didn’t exist. But other things like math, how to make a pizza or books he read? All that information was there, floating around in his mind. Along with that creepy green face.

He tried to remember anything else he could about himself, but that creepy green face would always show up instead. Some random song he listened to once? Totally fine, he could remember it clearly with no issue and even knew all the lyrics.

But if he tried to remember what color his hair was… The creepy green face would appear. He wasn’t sure how long it took, drifting in and out of consciousness. Days maybe? Weeks? Maybe years? It was hard to tell because he couldn’t feel his body at all. He also couldn’t see or hear anything either, it was like being in some type of sensory deprivation tank.

His memories were no help either in telling him the passage of time. It helped to keep him occupied when he was awake. But he noticed the longer it went on the less the green face would appear to torment him. He still couldn’t remember anything about himself, but that green face also wouldn’t pop up as much anymore. On the rare occasion it did, it wouldn’t be as powerful as it used to be.

After an unknown amount of time passed, when even the memory of that green face disappeared completely. He finally woke up and felt something. He could finally feel his body. Well, maybe it wasn't his body…

Something about it felt off, like it wasn't truly his body. Well it wasn't like he could really remember what his body was like in the first place. But something was hinting at his subconscious that this body felt different then it should. And why the hell did the left side of his face hurt so much?

It also didn't help that it felt like something was covering his whole body making it hard for him to breathe properly. Besides that, it also made it hard for him to hear properly. Everything currently sounded weird, he could hear people who were yelling. There were other sounds also, something like guns and maybe explosions seemed to be going off close by? It was hard to tell though because everything was muffled.

He thought he might be able to see also. But whatever was crushing him also seemed to be blocking his vision. He tried to push whatever it was off of him, but it was too heavy for him to move at all. In frustration he yelled for help, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was the cry of a little baby.

He was shocked for a moment before he continued to yell with what little power he had. As he was yelling, another baby very close to him also started to cry. The only reason he could tell it was close was from the un-muffled sound of the other babies crying.

vvvvv

In the middle of a city, in the midst of what looked like a war. A lone man moved with a single purpose, while the sound of screaming, gunshots and cannon fire surrounded him. The man rushed past people fighting each other. Some of them were his allies, while others were his enemies, but currently none of them mattered.

He ignored them all as he moved with only a single goal in mind, to reach where his wife and children should be. It was also the same place where the fighting was the heaviest and soon he was forced to stop and help his people in the fight.

But the man was powerful and could easily take out any person he came across. As he easily dispatched enemies, his allies began rallying behind him and helped the man as he moved deeper into the city center. It was complete chaos all around the man as parts of buildings exploded and collapsed from the persistent fire of cannons.

It didn't take long, but for the man it felt like an eternity when he reached his goal. His heart sank at the sight before him. The home he shared with his family for the past year was a husk of its former self.

Most of it had collapsed or was completely destroyed and what little remained standing was surrounded by craters. As he looked at the wreckage he could see fresh blood leaking out from under the rubble of his former home.

His heart ached with each step as he moved towards what was left of the former building. Hoping that the blood he could see didn't belong to any of his family. Fear and doubt crept into his mind, he knew he shouldn’t have left her alone, the pregnancy took a toll on her health and even after six months she was still weak.

The man shook his head, negative thoughts wouldn’t help. As he moved next to one of the collapsed walls he heard the small wail of a child. The wail was quickly followed by a second child crying and hope filled the man's chest. The man moved quickly towards the sound and froze in place after climbing over a pile of rubble.

Before him was a destroyed chunk of building covering most of a woman. A very familiar looking woman. As he moved closer, he noticed the woman's upper body was hunched over something protectively and wasn't moving.

The man carefully moved towards the woman and made sure not to move any of the rubble in the surrounding area. As he moved closer the children's wailing grew louder. Once he was close enough he saw the woman’s body covering a small basket used as a baby carrier.

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He reached down to the stone wall covering the woman and carefully lifted it up. After it was moved out of the way he could see her right hand and the wedding band he gave her.

He hesitantly lifted her body up, hoping to see her vibrant and cheerful purple colored eyes once more. He gently called out her name as he did, but stopped as his breath hitched in his throat. Tears started to mist up on the edges of his eyes as he stared at his wife's now hollow and lifeless eyes.

He gently moved his wife's body to the side and looked down to see both of his sons crying their hearts out in a basket. One of them was injured on their head, but it was hard to tell where with so much blood. His other son luckily seemed to be fine. It was honestly a miracle they both survived in the first place, the basket should've been completely crushed.

The man glanced back at his deceased wife and he could see the determined look on her face. She did everything she could to protect their kids even as she was dying. He reached over to close her eyes as he quietly said goodbye to the woman he loved with all his heart.

He carefully picked up the basket as someone else ran up to the man and said, “Sir, we need to leave before we’re surrounded. The enemy has reinforcements coming and I don’t think we’ll be able to hold them for much longer.”

The man cast a quick glance at his sons, before he handed the basket with his sons to the other man as he said, “Take her body along with her kids to the ship and have a medic check the children.”

“But sir…”

The man’s face hardened as he said, “Go! And keep her kids safe. I’ll meet you there after I take care of something.”

“Yes sir!”

The other man quickly took off surrounded by a large group of people acting as guards for the children. Once the man was finally alone, he let out a handful of tears for a few moments before he rubbed his arm over his face to clear them.

He then took a few moments to study where the cannon fire was coming from before he pushed off the ground, cracking it with the force of his anger. His body rocketed into the air as he flew up into the smoke filled sky. As he flew through the smoke and dust filled air he studied the terrain before him and found the main force of his enemies.

He quickly kicked off the air and it pushed him towards the enemy's forces and main group of cannons. As he closed in he kicked off the air a few more times to gain height before he flipped upside down and kicked again. He was flying head first towards the enemy as he pulled his right arm back and concentrated all of his power into his fist mimicking a move he saw his father use before.

When he was a little over fifty feet above his target the man swung his fist forward with all his might. A green colored shock wave slowly spread out from his fist and hints of green lightning could be seen from the edges. In a few seconds the shock wave spread out to cover all the enemy forces and at that moment, the man finished his punch.

The whole area imploded under the shock wave and a moment later everything exploded out from where he aimed his fist. A few seconds later the man landed in the middle of a giant crater his attack made. He glanced around to make sure there were no survivors before he disappeared to take care of the rest of the enemy forces.

An hour later the man made it back to his ship. He was covered head to toe in blood, but otherwise he was uninjured. His second in command came forward and said, “The children are secure and the doctor checked them both. He said one of them should be dead from the injury they received and he’s still trying to figure out how the boy is alive.”

The man clenched his fists in anger at the thought of almost losing one of his children today. Losing his wife was already bad enough. He glanced out over the island for a few moments before he asked, “Will the boy be able to travel?”

The man nodded as he said, “Yes sir. Also, are we still going to leave? It looks like you cleared out all the enemies.”

The man nodded his head as he said, “Yes. It’s no longer safe here and we don’t have the manpower to hold it. Double check for survivors and then set sail for the main base. I also want my personal ship prepared, I need to do something.”

The man didn’t wait for a response as he moved to his cabin to get cleaned up. Afterwards he loaded up his wife's body onto his ship and went to check on his sons. After double checking with the doctor, he loaded them onto his personal ship, before he told his second in command that he would be back to base in a month.

Just before his ship left dock, his second in command came over and handed him a wooden box as he said, “I found her sword in the rubble… I didn’t think it would be right if she left without it.”

The man nodded his head in thanks before he boarded his ship and departed from the island. After the man parted from the island he set sail for his hometown. After a day of sailing with his kids, the man finally made a call over a secure line he was dreading to make. It took a little while before a man with a gruff but boisterous voice answered and asked, “So you finally called me after five years, uh? You must really be in trouble… Well too bad. I won’t help you, Bwahahaha!”

The man’s voice sounded defeated as he asked, “I know you won’t help me, but what about your grandsons?”

The laughter stopped and after a few moments the other man asked, “You want to take them home?”

“Yes.”

After another pause the other man asked, “What about their mother? That girl who always follows you around. Did she agree with sending them there?”

The man looked over to the casket that was currently resting his wife's body inside for a little while before he said, “She died, protecting our sons.”

The other man let out a heavy sigh before he said, “Don’t go home. I’ll meet you in paradise at the first training island I ever took you to. I’ll take the kids home myself. The less you are seen with them the better… Does anyone know the kids are yours?”

“We kept our relationship a secret, even from our close friends. Also no one close to us knew she became pregnant. Before she started to show, we took a mission together and had the kids in secret. A few people saw me collect the kids, but no one should know that they’re mine.”

“Good, that helps things. I should be able to hide them with no issue.”

The man went to hang up as he said, “Thanks, I’ll see you soon.”

The other man huffed as he asked, “You’re just going to hang up and not even tell me their names?”

The man let out a sigh before he said, “We named them Monkey D. Luffy and Monkey D. Marcus.”