:note:
This chapter is another long one- :D
Disclaimer: Surprisingly liking the filler in the anime. The whole thing with Law and Luffy was just crazy. Liking it doesn't make me own it though.
(P.S Update's from now on will be a bit slow until February. Keep in mind that this story might be updating at an Internet Explorer's speed.)
"Ace. Portgas D. Ace."
The barkeep stood there, mouth slightly agape, the obvious expression on his face showing that he had no idea on how to respond to what the young man in front of him had just proclaimed. Not giving the barkeep time to ask any more questions, Ace nodded his head, turning away and swiftly making his exit. Focusing his eyes on the street in front of him, he had to wince, the sunlight beaming off his eyes onto his freckles.
"Wow, that was a stupid thing to do. He's going to tell someone."
"He won't." Ace stated simply, pulling the cloaks hood further over his head to hide his face.
"You're just guessing again, aren't you."
"…"
Giving the voice a quick glare, he chose not to respond. He knew very well what would happen if the Marines found out that he was alive this early in his search, and none of them were even close to decent. Looking around to see if the coast was clear, Ace blended into the crowds again; making his way back towards the sea.
However the thoughts of the previous conversation kept ringing through Ace's mind.
/"This used ta' be an island protected by tha' Whitebeard Pirates. After his death two years ago, this island was left un-protected. The Marines thought that it would be a good chance ta' punish us for allying with pirates, so they wiped part of this island's population as a warning."/
He was pissed. Maybe pissed is under-exaggerating.
Because, as soon as he found his Crew and Luffy, he was going to make sure he'd find Blackbeard and make that bastard pay for what he had done.
Catching the irritated look on the fire-thrower's face, the Voice bit down on its lip. Muttering under its breath. "I guess you really don't learn, do you."
Startling him from his thoughts, the sound of cannon fire immediately caught Ace's eyes and ears, including anyone within range. People started to scream and run, dropping all their belongings, making their way to shelter. In the midst of it all, Ace stood there, a scowl on his face as he looked around for the source of the noise.
"Gyahahahaha!"
Eyebrows rising with recognition, Ace turned round to see the clown which was previously gloating in the Tavern before. The clown stood in the opening of the town gates, an arm crossed across his chest as he smugly laughed, a floating arm pointing towards the townspeople who were still running.
"Run in fear, for it is me! The Clown Star Buggy!"
"Woah, that's a huge red nose. Is he an idiot?"
Glancing over to the figure of the Voice, Ace laughed, slowly staring back at the loudly proclaimed clown. "He's harmless really. I met him back in Paradise while I was searching for Blackbeard. Never thought he actually had the balls to make it this far into the Grandline though."
"So I'm guessing he would recognize you?"
Ace nodded. "If I'm correct, I thought I saw him at Marineford, so there's a good chance that he doesn't only recognize me, but knows who I am and that I-"
"…that you died?"
Clearing his throat, Ace slightly lowered his head, his eyes glazed over. "Yeah. That I died."
"You should stay away from him then."
Silently agreeing, Ace turned around, walking in the opposite direction of Buggy; ignoring all sounds coming from the clown.
"You there!"
"…"
"I'm talking to you, the one in the white hood!"
"Looks like he's already spotted you."
Twitching, Ace briefly looked back at the clown before halting, a silent and agitated "What?" spilling from his mouth.
A grin passed across Buggy's face, as he cockily staggered over to the cloaked man, before poking him in the chest. "I saw you before. You were the one who ignored me in the Tavern before weren't you!"
Stepping back, Ace lowered his head, trying to edge away from the clown as much as possible without punching him. Trying hard to swallow his pride, Ace nodded before sending a weak smile towards the clown. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that!" Sending his hand up as a signal that he was going to leave, Ace shot the clown one last smile before legging it down the street, ignoring the cries of the pirates behind him.
"Stop him!"
Oh shit.
This is not something he needed right now.
Looking towards his fist, he tried his best to ignore the voice in his head that was yelling at him: "Fight back!" ... "Why are you running away?!"
Sounds of gunfire pierced the background as Ace came to a halt.
"Do you even know who you're messing with Brat?!"
Ace turned to face Buggy, the cloak still covering a majority of his face, a scowl forming.
"You dare to run away from me?! I am the flashiest of all pir-"
Tuning out of the clown's words, Ace sighed; thinking of ways he could get out of this 'confrontation'.
"I was once the strongest pirate in all of East Bl-"
Maybe just a punch will knock out this guy. Ace looked Buggy up and down, assessing how powerful he was. Sure, the clown looked pitiful, but it wasn't wise to go round judging people on how they looked in the Grandline; if you did- you wouldn't last long.
"-he pirate who is hunting down the all famous Monkey D. Luffy-"
Twitch.
What was that?
Blinking a few times, Ace tuned back into what the fellow pirate was saying, a more curious look appearing on his face. "Luffy? You're hunting down Luffy?"
"Aha! So that's what got your attention, was it?!" Pointing his red nose up towards the sky, Buggy closed his eyes, smugly declaring to the cloaked man. "Once I get my hands on Dragon's Son!"
"…"
"The whole world-"
"…"
"-will bow down to me! Gyahahaha!"
"…"
"Eh?!" Peeking one eye open, Buggy stared at the silent figure, waiting for some kind of reaction coming from him.
The cloaked man had his face peering to the floor. "So let me get this straight."
Buggy unknowingly took a slight step back, unnerved by the tone of voice the figure used. However, that wasn't the only thing that startled the man. Not only was he threatened by the tone he was using, but the voice itself- it was familiar. "Y-yeah?"
"Right now, you're hunting down Monkey D. Luffy?" Buggy didn't have to see the man's face to know that the figure was murderously glaring at him, shaking as the figure looked towards him.
Clearing his throat before nodding, Buggy let out a silent yelp. "Y-Y-Yes-s that's. That's right."
Ace smirked. "Heh. You see, I can't let you do that."
Pointing at the man despite his shaking, Buggy tried to intimidate the man- though, he was very much failing. "Oh?! And who is it that says I can't?!"
"Don't do what I think you're gonna do, idiot." The Voice commented, sighing as it leaned against the wall, closing its eyes.
"What kind of brother would I be if I allowed you to walk away now with all moving limbs?" Ace dangerously smiled innocently at the clown, causing the said person to back up more, shaking from fear.
"B-brother?" Buggy yelped. "Strawhat's brother died in the w-war. You'd be deluded to think t-t-that you're him."
Ace raised an eyebrow, smirk still easily visible on his lips. "Oh?"
"Don't do it. It'll only get you into more crap you're already in. Just let it go."
Choosing to ignore the voice's comment, Ace slowly lit his hand on fire from underneath the cloak, taking a few steps towards the clown.
Quickly taking one of his knives from his sleeve, Buggy threw the knife at the cloaked figure, laughing half-heartedly as the figure stayed in place, not bothering to move from his spot.
However, what Buggy didn't expect was for the knife to go through the figure, only to be covered up by enticing flames which danced upon the figure's skin. Dropping his hands to his waist, Buggy stared with fright at the figure, his nose running as a stutter of words fell out of his mouth.
"N-N-No th-thash-that can't-"
Pulling back the hood to his cloak, Ace glared at the shaking clown before grabbing a hold the scuff of Buggy's neck. "Seeing as you are hunting him right now, care to tell me where Luffy is?"
Buggy yelped. "B-bu-t yo-ou di-ed! Y-you're dead!"
Smirking, Ace stared at the man's eyes, letting out a soft chuckle. "Not anymore."
'TWO & A HALF YEARS PASSED SINCE MARINEFORD LOSS'
Robin stared down at the paper's headline, frowning. She slowly glanced over to her Captain who was staring over the side of the ship, unnaturally calm and quiet.
Despite how much he tried to hide it, all of the crew could see it in his eyes, the way he would stare down at his scar; the constant reminder of what happened all those years ago. The bumbling captain they had before the war fading away for a few moments at a time, leaving a lost brother.
The worst thing was, was that she knew exactly how he felt. The guilt, the loneliness felt despite the people surrounding you. It was something she would never wish on anyone. Especially not her saviour; her captain.
Settling the paper on the grass below her, she traipsed over where her captain was leaning, offering comfort, without saying a word.
Noticing her presence, Luffy quickly looked over his shoulder before grinning. "Robin!"
Smiling, she leaned her hand onto the rail of the ship. "Luffy, I was just wondering what you were doing over here."
"Oh?" Luffy tilted his head, his eyes blank. "It was nothing." Gazing out onto the water once more, he held Robin's shoulder before leaping back. Shooting her one last smile, silently thanking her for the comfort, he went off to search for Sanji, leaving Robin who continued to gaze at the sea. Her smile fell, the worries for her captain still spiralling in her mind.
In the distance, the sight of an island caught her eyes, quickly looking up to see their well-known liar jumping up and down, screaming "Luffy! Dressrosa is up a head!"
"Dressrosa." A silent whisper came from her lips, as her sight returned to the island. Closing her eyes, she thought about the events that were laying ahead; hoping that this would be a calm and peaceful exchange.
Smiling once more, she headed to where the rest of the crew were, leaving behind the newspaper on the floor.
What was she talking about?
When it came to this crew, their adventures were anything but calm.
*DUN DUN DUNN* ACE HAS BEEN FOUND OUT - By Buggy. Though Buggy was screwed the moment he mentioned to Ace he was going to hunt down his brother. Almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost. Also, I had to add in Ace's stupid –"I can't run away from any fights~! :D" attitude.& Luffy's finally made an appearance!
As I said in the previous chapter, this is an AU story, so here are just some things I want to get across so it's not too confusing.
1) Yes. Ace's devil fruit is still out there. And yes. Ace still has his ability.
2) The Strawhat Crew and Law are still on their way to Dressrosa.
3) There is NO parings in this story. I am sorry. I really suck at writing pairing stories.
4) There is a solid ending to this story. Yeah sure there are some things which I have no idea how I am going to write, but there will be an ending to this story. Is it near? Well...
ANYWAYS- Replies!:
Awesome: I am glad you liked it! I agree that reading FF is the best way to recover from murderous projects. Thanks for the review!
Pixi: I'm happy you like my writing style! Sometimes I find like I don't make sense, then I have to re-read it all and then I end up procrastinat- Whoops. Getting distracted there… I will update when I can, If I posted a small chapter beforehand then it's more likely the chapter will be out quicker, and vise-versa. Thanks for the review!
Guest: I HAVE UPDATED \(*Q*)/ Thanks for the review!
MelodySchnee: I love how you called him ACESWAN. YES. ACESWAN IS ALIVE. And I have finally updated! Thanks for the review!
-KayaaHiko
