Okay, change of plans. Life just suddenly got a lot more hectic and I need some time to deal with it. So after the next chapter, I'll be taking a break from posting for a bit. If all goes well I will be back within a month or so but we'll see.
However, I want to reassure you all that I do intend to come back and see this story through to the end. Like I said back in the first chapter, I have many chapters planned out for this story and while I am not sure how long it will take to complete them, I do plan on finishing this story.
Anyway, I do apologize for the suddenness of this. This break will help me catch up on writing and deal with my personal life so I hope that you all can understand. Also, if things work out well, I will be releasing another AceLu story in October in celebration of Halloween! So you all will have that to look forward to as well.
Chapter summary: What Ace wants, and what he actually gets, are not the same thing.
If a person had asked him when he had first been imprisoned in Impel Down about what he wanted with what was left of his life, Ace would have been hard pressed to find an answer. At the time, there were so many things that he wanted and it seemed impossible to limit them all down to one, simple response.
Like most prisoners, Ace wanted to be free again; to not be a prisoner in this painful hell. He yearned for the feeling of the sun touching his skin and the salty smell of the sea breeze. It had been far too long since he had seen the outside of this dark cell and Ace had been starting to forget what it felt like to not feel the constant drain from his seastone chains.
He had also forgotten during his endless days of torture and agony what it felt like to feel strong, what it felt like to simply feel free.
Though that isn't to say that Ace had forgotten why he wanted to be a free pirate again. Sure, there was the obvious reason of wanting to be back with his crew but there was more to it than that.
If Ace remained on death row he would be used a a pawn to start a war, which would no doubt result in the loss of hundreds of lives. Of these lives would be members of his crew, his family, because they would no doubt try and rescue him.
He couldn't let that happen. However, the chances of him escaping before he was taken to Marineford were slim to none. As such, there was only one viable option left and that was what Ace wanted in his last few days in Impel Down.
He just wanted to die.
It didn't have to be painless or even quick, just so long as the Marines didn't get the satisfaction of carrying out the deed and it happened before a war could erupt.
Hell, he would have ended his own life if he had been able to . . . but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
The reality of the situation was that Ace simply didn't want to die yet. He still wished he could go back to the wonderful life he had been living up until this point so that he could be with all of his friends and family again.
Not only that, but if Ace killed himself, he would be blatantly breaking his promise with Luffy and he simply couldn't allow himself to do that. Killing himself would hurt Luffy far more than him simply being killed by someone else would and the last thing he wanted was to hurt his precious baby brother.
However, more than just that, Ace still needed to know whether it was okay that he had been born.
This question had plagued him all his life and it seemed wrong to end it before he got an answer. Though that didn't stop him from asking Garp to kill him instead. Perhaps it was cruel and even a little selfish of him to ask this from the man to whom he called grandpa, but at that point, Ace had been long past the point of caring.
Although, it wasn't like asking Garp had mattered much anyway, because the old Marine had refused to carry out Ace's wish and instead had left him in his dark cell to await his execution day.
The only bright side to all of this was the fact Luffy was safe from sharing the same fate . . . or at least, it had been until Boa Hancock informed him of otherwise.
Instead of being off sailing the seas with his unique crew, living the life that Ace would no longer have, Luffy was there, in Impel Down, trying to rescue him and in the process putting all that Ace had done into jeopardy.
There was no point in denying the Warlord's claim, Ace knew his younger brother well enough to know that he would risk everything just to save him. It was sadly a trait that they both shared.
Nevertheless, Ace had been captured so that Luffy wouldn't be. He had allowed himself to become a prisoner: tortured and chained, so that Luffy could be safe and unharmed. The fact that Ace had done all of this to save Luffy and now said teen was undoing it all to save him was a cold irony that Ace found no humor in.
So while in his first dark days in Impel Down Ace had wanted either freedom or death, now in the last remaining hours before his execution, Ace wanted only one thing.
He wanted Luffy gone.
The longer that Luffy was in Impel Down, the greater his chances were of being captured and tortured, just like Ace had been. It would be better if he simply gave up this worthless endeavor and left Ace to his fate.
However, Ace knew that Luffy would never do that. He would no doubt risk his life if there was even a small chance that he could save him. Ace would know, after all, he would have done the same if it had been Luffy in this position instead of himself.
So really, why should Ace even bother worrying about it? He couldn't stop Luffy from doing what he wanted and honestly, even if he could somehow convince Luffy to stop all of this and leave him to die, Ace simply didn't have the energy to do so.
After countless rounds of torture plus the constant drain on his energy from the seastone chains he was locked onto, Ace simply didn't have that much energy to give nowadays.
Not that any of that would matter much longer, for in a few short hours, Ace would be taken to Marineford, the place of his execution. Where, once the blades came down with a cold hiss of wind, Ace wouldn'thave to feel pain anymore.
Not even worry would be able to touch him.
At least, Ace hoped that it wouldn't. After all, death was supposed to be as peaceful as falling asleep, right?
Heaving a weary sigh, Ace closed his eyes as he resumed his waiting.
"So, Fire Fist," one of the guards around Ace's cell began, turning to face him, "are you excited for your special gift before heading off to your execution?"
Special gift? Ace thought to himself, trying to recall what that was. Oh . . . that special present.
He remembered now, the special gift was the guards of Impel Down's disgusting way of giving select prisoners the chance to have sex one last time. Honestly, Ace had no idea who the sick fuck was who came up with this idea and why they thought that it was something that a prisoner would actually want before they died.
The fact of the matter was though that some twisted person had started this system and Ace was unfortunately one of those unlucky few to be given this so called gift.
Oh well, it wasn't like Ace would actually have to have sex; he'd just be given the option to.
From what he heard from rumors, the guards would soon take Ace to another cell. There he'd be chained up before they'd bring in another prisoner whom they would drug with a special serum designed to kill the subject unless a male's sperm was directly inserted deep into their rectum.
Basically, it meant that if Ace didn't fuck the other prisoner in the ass, then that poor sap would die from the drug.
Which, too bad for them because Ace had already decided that no matter who the prisoner was, he was just going to let them die.
After all, why waste what little energy he had saving someone who probably deserved to be in Impel Down.
"No answer? Well, no matter, once the demon guard gets here that's where we'll be headed," the guard said before turning away, leaving Ace and Jinbei alone to their silence.
Turning to face his old friend, Ace realized that Jinbei must have known what the guard had been talking about and couldn't help the blush that spread across his face. It was embarrassing to know that an old friend knew he might be having sex in a few short minutes.
Really, Ace was already worried and stressed about Luffy; he didn't need the added feeling of embarrassment on top of all of that.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ace attempted to say something to his old friend. After all, this would in all likelihood be the last time that either of them ever see each other, Ace shouldn't waste this chance just because of something a guard said.
"Say, Jinbei," Ace began, trying to think of what exactly to say.
While they had never gotten the chance to visit with one another often, Ace still considered Jinbei an important person in his life and he was someone that Ace respected and admired. As such, he wanted to try and have a meaningful conversation with the fishman before he was dragged off by the guards. However, all Ace could manage to think about was Luffy. . . .
Like how soon Ace would sadly be gone from this world, which would leave Luffy with no one to look after him. Sure, Luffy had his crew, but from what Ace could gather, Luffy wasn't even with them. He was battling through the hell of Impel Down alone and that was something that Ace simply couldn't forgive if they had abandoned him or even allowed Luffy to do so by himself.
Sure, Luffy might be a lot stronger than he had been when they were younger, but Impel Down was in the heart of Marine territory and swarming with hundreds of people who wanted nothing more than to see Luffy fail. They would stop at nothing to hurt or kill the young pirate captain and without his crew, Luffy was all the more venerable.
So, Ace couldn't really trust in the Straw Hats to look after his little brother anymore and thus when Ace was killed, there would be no one to look after the reckless rubber pirate in his stead.
Unless. . . .
"I know that this is more than selfish of me to ask but . . . will you look out for Luffy for me once I'm gone?"
If Jinbei agreed to his request, then Ace would finally be able to rest easy and know that someone would be taking care of Luffy when he died.
After all, there was not a single shred of doubt in Ace's mind that when he would be executed, Luffy would not be able to handle it. He would no doubt break down without Ace there to take care of him, but at least with Jinbei there, he'd have someone to help him heal over his last living brother's demise.
"You should know well, Ace-kun, that I will only help someone that I deem worthy of assisting," Jinbei explained, lifting his bruised head to face his cell companion.
"Yeah, I know."
He knew perfectly well but that didn't change the fact that he knew that the fishman would look after Luffy. After all, his little brother had a strange knack for becoming friends with nearly everyone he met, even those of whom were his enemies.
Thankfully, this meant that when the time came for Jinbei to help Luffy, Ace was certain that he would fulfill Ace's last wish.
Knowing this helped to calm Ace's already frayed nerves, but the sudden appearance of one of the demon guards quickly shattered any shred of peace he had.
Glancing forward beyond his cells bars, Ace was surprised that the demon guard that was approaching wasn't the minotaurus, but the minorhinoceros. What had happened to that ugly cow?
Until then, the only demon guard that had been charged to guard Ace had been the strange cow-man creature. Sure, Ace was aware that there were several other demon guards, each one a strange mixture of man and beast, but why switch them now?
"Alright, Fire Fist, it's time to go. Though you had better not try anything, because the minorhinoceros would be more than happy to rough you up if you do," a guard warned, stepping aside to allow the demon guard access to Ace's cell. "Which wouldn't be wise considering you're gonna need all the energy you have here in a minute."
Well, Ace thought to himself. Since you seem to be looking more forward to my present than I am, why don't you just have it instead?
While it was a little more than tempting to snark this back to the pompous guard, Ace would rather he avoided another beating, so he held back the sarcastic remark that sat at the tip of his tongue.
Instead, he turned back to face Jinbei, whose face was grim and his body stiff with obvious tension. This would be the very last time they saw one another . . . and yet, Ace couldn't help the pained smile he sent towards his friend.
He would always be grateful towards Jinbei for all he had done for him and the Whitebeard pirates. As well as what he would no doubt do to help Luffy.
Sure, while he and the fishman had never been as close as Ace had been with say Marco or Thatch, he still considered him to be a dear friend. As such, he wished that they were parting from each other on better circumstances.
Sadly though, they didn't seem to be that lucky and while the acknowledgement of that hurt more than Ace could ever say, it was something he was beginning to accept.
After all, his death might be upon him, but hey, a person's gotta die sometime, right? Mulling this over in his head, Ace allowed the demon guard to replace his chains for a pair of seastone cuffs.
Standing from where he had sat for weeks, Ace couldn't help the hiss as the muscles in his legs screamed in protest at the sudden change in position. Ignoring his body's discomfort, Ace stepped towards the entrance of his cell before he stopped.
"See yah, Jinbei," Ace muttered quietly, not having the strength to look back towards his friend and see the signs of pain and grief that would no doubt be there.
However, Jinbei's stricken voice gave it all away. "Goodbye, Ace-kun."
With that final word, Ace was forcefully dragged from his cell and hauled towards the elevator that would lead him and the guards out of level six. When they finally reached the large contraption, Ace felt his mind begin to wander, unable to stop himself from contemplating who exactly the present would be.
Would it be some low-level pirate who he had never heard of? Or perhaps it would be someone with a smidgen of fame that Ace would be able to recall from during his time as a free pirate.
Not that it would matter much in the end who the guards chose. After all, Ace had already decided he would just let the person, whoever they were, die from the drug.
So he really doubted that they'd pair him with someone that would make him change his decision. Still, that didn't stop him from being curious about who they'd be paring him with.
When the elevator finally came to a screeching halt, Ace was jarred from his thoughts as he took in the sight of level one. Since his time there had been brief, Ace could only vaguely recall being stripped of his remaining possessions before being shoved into a rather cozy pot of boiling water.
After that, he had been dragged down to his main cell in level six and after experiencing that kind of hell, it was hard to feel anything akin to fear on level one.
As such, while the guards led him through this rather calm level, Ace simply let his mind go blank as he passed by dozens of cells until he came to what he guessed would be his own.
Unlike some of the other cells of Impel Down, this one simply seemed to be a room with four solid walls and a thick steel door. Though, Ace didn't doubt that once he was inside it would feel as cold and dark as the other cells.
Watching as the guards unlocked the round door, Ace was roughly shoved inside before he was pushed towards the back of the room where more chains hung from the wall. Not bothering to struggle, Ace allowed the guards to replace his cuffs with the seastone chains before he took a seat on the cold stone floor.
"There, all nice and confined. Won't be long now until your present arrives, and then it's off to the execution platform for you!" the guard hissed before kicking the space next to Ace's head.
Being used to this, Ace didn't even flinch, which made the guard frown in obvious disappointment.
Looking away from the pissed off guard who was now digging in his pants pocket for something, Ace took the chance to take in his new surroundings. As far as cell sizes go, this one was a little on the smaller end of the spectrum and only had a single light that hung from the ceiling.
Other than that, not far from where he was now chained, Ace could see a small metal plate with a loop in it's center attached to the floor. From the looks of it, a chain could be easily attached to it.
By that logic, Ace would bet a lot of money that that was where his partner would be placed.
"Well, it looks like the others finally found your present, Fire Fist," the guard informed, stuffing the small transponder snail back into his pocket before he and his partner stepped towards the cell door. "We hope you like them, they sure were hard to catch!"
With that final word, the guards exited the cell but not before turning off the light and locking the door, trapping Ace in darkness once more.
Ace tried to ignore what the guard had just said, but he couldn't help the feeling of dread and apprehension that sat in the pit of his stomach. Who exactly had been so hard to catch?
Shaking his head, Ace eyes slowly adjusted again to the lack of lighting. Eyeing his new chains that were surprisingly free of blood, he moved his arms to see just how far he could pull them.
Instead of stopping a few millimeters from the wall like his other chains had, Ace could stretch these ones all the way out in front of him and he could even crawl forward on his knees towards the metal plate. Honestly he was kinda surprised that the guards were allowing him so much freedom to move, especially with his execution so close at hand.
Although, it probably wasn't all that surprising. After all, if his chains didn't allow a decent amount of movement, how in the hell was he supposed to fuck the other prisoner? Settling back against the cool wall, Ace released a tired sigh as he prepared himself for what was coming.
Sure, he was nervous and sickened about what was going to happen once the guards deposited Ace's present in the room, but it wasn't like he had to do anything but look. Who knew, maybe it'll be entertaining to watch the other person die.
It had to be somewhat entertaining if people around the world were going to be watching his own death.
Allowing himself to think about this and his sad fate, Ace lost track of how much time had passed until his ears caught the muffled sounds of people walking. As they got closer to his cell, Ace could finally make out some of their conversation and what he heard made the little hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
What did they just say?
Before Ace could even contemplate what he had heard any further, his cell door was slammed open and the light flicked on. Unprepared for the brightness of it, Ace gave a pained hiss before shutting his eyes to shield them from the blinding light.
While his eyes were closed, Ace listened to the familiar sounds of chains being secured before his eyes had stopped hurting enough for him to try and open them. He choked at what he saw.
No. This can't be happening; it can't be real!
"Luffy!" Ace didn't want to believe it, yet there he was; his little brother, battered and chained on the floor in front of him. This had to be some hellish nightmare meant to fuck with his mind.
Luffy couldn't actually be there, drugged and captured for the purpose of being Ace's sex toy.
What the hell were the guards even thinking!? Surely they knew by now that Ace and Luffy called each other brother. A person would think that if that were the case then they must be related!
So why the fuck did they choose Luffy to be Ace's partner?!
Was it because they knew how precious Luffy was to him? Was this all some messed up way of making Ace choose whether to save his brother or let him die?
It was sick. Luffy was his little brother and yet these twisted fucks expected Ace to have sex with him. It didn't matter that they weren't technically related by blood; Ace had always considered Luffy to be family. However, Ace had gone through all of this hell so that he could save Luffy. If he chose to not have sex with him then he'd basically be killing him and that was far worse.
Noticing Ace's turmoil, the guards laughed before heading towards the door. "Enjoy!" they laughed before slamming the door closed and locking it.
How could he possibly enjoy this! He was going to have to fuck his younger brother who had been drugged and obviously couldn't consent to what Ace would have to do to him. Basically, it meant that Ace would be raping Luffy and that thought alone made Ace feel almost violently ill. However, if Ace didn't cure Luffy of the drug, then someone else just might.
After all, Ace had heard about some of the chaos Luffy had caused for the Marines so it was very likely that they'd want to torture Luffy before killing him. As such, Ace doubted that they'd allow Luffy to die from a mere drug.
However, if Ace saved Luffy from this, then he would be exposed to the even worse horrors of Impel Down. By that logic, wouldn't it be better if Ace let Luffy die now? At least then he'd be with Ace and wouldn't have to be tortured as Ace had. . . .
Yet, Ace couldn't bring himself to do that. If there was a chance he could continue to protect Luffy and keep him alive, then Ace would do just that.
Though, that didn't change how he felt towards this situation.
Letting out a shaky breath, Ace's body shook slightly, causing his chains to rattle; the sound catching Luffy's attention.
Struggling against the seastone collar around his neck, Luffy turned his flushed face towards him. "Ace!" Luffy called weakly, his body shaking. "I . . . found . . . you," he mumbled before breaking off into a pathetic whimper, gasping as he clawed at the floor.
Ace couldn't help but choke at what he was seeing. The drug was no doubt causing Luffy a lot of pain and doing who knows what else to his small body. Ace needed to hurry and cancel out the drug before it caused any more damage.
"Luffy," Ace muttered back, licking his suddenly dry lips as his heart and stomach twisted in nervousness for what he was about to do; for what he was about to force onto Luffy. "I-I'm going to have to do something to you, alright? Do you understand? It'll help make you feel better."
"Hnn," Luffy moaned and Ace just hoped that it was meant as a yes.
Next chapter should be released sometime on 9/4/16 and then I'll be taking my break.
Comments are much appreciated!
