I DEEPLY APOLOGIZE FOR NOT UPDATING THIS IN A YEAR! I have multiple reason for my lack of doing so. 1. I started college and my work for both semester did not give me time to really update. 2. I have a bunch of other stories that I wrote out over the school year that are in complete. I'm not sure if I'm going to post here or on a different site so we'll see about that later. 3. I've been developing ideas of how this story is going to progress but I'm stuck on two decisions that are spoiler-ific!
Anyway, I have at least this chapter done so I hope you endure the wait that may or not come. Oh and I hope you guys like the cover that I made for it too. Finally get an idea of what I imagine Melody to look like.
"I'd never imagine myself doing this..."
"Come on, it's the least we could do! She saved my ass!"
Ace and Melody had parked their Strikers at a rock formation by a nearby facility. This was one of the many places that many pirates would probably never go to willingly, the Marine G-2 Base. Apparently Moda wanted the letter to be delivered to the Vice-Admiral currently in charge of the base. Neither could say no to the girl and they figured it wouldn't be too hard of a task.
Melody was on one side of the rock, putting on a Marine uniform while Ace was doing the same on the other side. As she was putting on a Marine cap, Melody continued speaking.
"You're lucky we found these two guys lazing here or it'd be way harder to infiltrate."
What Melody was referring to was the two knocked out Marine soldiers tied up on the small formation. Ace did the honors of knocking them out and both pirates suited up to sneak into the base. Taking a small rowboat that the two soldiers had probably used to get there, Ace and Melody rowed to the entrance of the G-2 Base.
Thankfully no one recognized the two and allowed them into the base. They were walking with a crowd of soldiers heading to the mess hall. However, Melody was now facing a troublesome task: getting Ace away from the distraction that was the self-service counter in the mess hall. Melody was about try to talk to him when he gave her a platter of food.
"Here, hold this for me!"
Melody was a little amazed as she saw him stack another tray with food even though she knew of his appetite. A female cook in there chuckled at the sight, happy to see someone enjoying her cooking so much. Melody just smiled as she picked a piece of food off the plate Ace gave her.
A few seconds later, both Whitebeard pirates' ears perk up when they heard the nickname of their father figure. They turned their heads to look at couple soldiers walking together.
"Soon that old man's gonna kick the bucket. Maybe we'll be able to speed up the process!"
"Yeah that Whitebeard won't know what come to him."
Melody and Ace did nothing at first, only covering their eyes in the shade of their caps. They carefully set the platters down, walked towards the two Marine soldiers, and struck them both down with their fists.
"NO ONE, talks about Pops like that while we're around!"
"He's not going to kick anything but your Marine asses."
Many of the other soldiers in the cafeteria freaked out at the sight of their comrades attacking one another. Unfortunately for the two infiltrators, some Marines started to recognize who they were. As soon as word spread of the two's true identity, Melody and Ace looked around to see Marines pulling out axes, swords, and guns. The two looked at each other with horrified expressions.
"Shit!"
The two pirates made a break for it by using their powers. With Ace transforming his feet into fire and Melody propelling herself with water, they broke the crowd and escaped the cafeteria. The Marines only needed a couple seconds to chase after the two intruders with weapons raised.
The game of cat and mouse had to come to an end as the two Whitebeard pirates found sanctuary inside an office. As they caught their breath they looked up and were in a state of shock. They had apparently stumbled into a conversation between two Marine Commanders. Before reactions could be voiced, a table flew and knocked the two men unconscious. Melody looked back to see Ace in a pose that made him appear to be the thrower of the furniture.
"Really Ace?!"
"Do you want to be running around again? Now come, you get the guy with the weird hat. I'll take the guy with the mustache."
"I'm going for a swim after this. Wearing all these Marine uniforms...guh!"
Melody followed Ace as they each removed the outfits from the Marine Commanders. Melody tucked the dark-blue strands of her hair underneath the hat then put on the striped suit and coat. Seeing how it was a bit big on her, Melody used the uniform she had stolen to somehow make her body "straighten." Ace had donned a white suit and drew a mustache on his face to match the one he stole the suit from.
The two walked out of the office in a casual manner and were internally relieved to see the soldiers salute at them rather than swing an axe at them.
"Sirs, Vice-Admiral Comil has asked that all Commanders head to the meeting room."
Unsure of the room's location, Ace faked a cough and spoke in an authoritarian manner.
"Thank you, could you please escort us there, it seemed to have slipped my mind and I'd hate to make us late."
The soldiers bought the excuse and escorted the two pirates to the location. They saw four other Commanders as well as the Vice Admiral sitting at the long table. In front of each chair was a cup of dark, warm coffee. Taking the complimentary drink, Melody sat down and took a sip. Her eyes widened and reflex almost made her want to spit it out. But she gulped it down and turned to Ace beside her and spoke with a raspy voice.
"It's so bitter..."
The other Commanders drank their coffee as well and grimaced at the taste. Their moods were not uplifted by the caffeinated drink and so the meeting went on with a disappointing ambiance.
Ace and Melody were relieved to be released from the meeting when the Vice Admiral saw no progress. As they were leaving, Melody saw the Marine try to take a large sip of his coffee, only to spit it out like a waterfall.
A while after, Ace and Melody were sitting on a couple of the many window frames in the hallway. Ace was attempting to drink the coffee once more but stuck his tongue out and drooled it out.
"This coffee is so bad, don't they have sugar or anything?"
Before Melody could even respond, a crowd of soldiers ran down a single direction yelling about an intelligence ship. Curious, the two disguised pirates followed the soldiers. What they saw was much to their surprise. A burning Navy battleship came into G-2's port and it looked like it was going to collapse any minute. Melody leaned over an open balcony to look at the sight and whistled.
"Man, whoever wrecked that intel ship sure did a number on them right Ace?"
The blue-nette looked over to where Ace once stood but saw that he vanished. She heard the soldiers yell at a Commander and looked back. Melody's eyes widened as she was shocked to see Ace fly into the inferno of a ship. While the Vice-Admiral had appeared and was in total shock, the blue-nette face-palmed herself.
'You idiot you're going to blow our cover again! Oh, what's the use anymore?'
Melody dug into her pocket and pulled out an envelope. She held the letter in front of the Vice-Admiral's face before speaking.
"Delivery for you, Vice-Admiral."
Vice Admiral Comil took the letter confused. Before he could ask about the contents, Ace returned. He was carrying an unconscious soldier on his shoulder, who he gave to a nearby Marine. Ace was oblivious to the fact that his disguise was currently burning off him, revealing his true identity. Soon the soldiers of G-2 began to recognize him. They started to lift swords and guns when several articles landed on them.
It was revealed that Melody had taken off her disguise as well and started to pull Ace away from them. The two Whitebeard pirates continued to run until they approached the edge of the base. Ace saw Melody smirk, which made him grimace at what would happen next.
"Hope you don't mind getting a bit wet! Gills!"
Magic seals appeared on Ace and Melody's backs as the girl took the initiative to dive into the water. Though Ace knew he was dead weight, with Melody's spell, he would at least last long enough to not drown. After Ace got into the water, Melody grabbed her crewmate and they rocketed to the island they had left their boats. Once they arrived, the two pirates got on their respective Strikers and sailed as far as possible from the Marine base. When Melody looked back and no longer saw G-2 in the horizon, she spoke to Ace.
"So what made you go rush into a burning ship?"
"It was an intelligence ship so I was hoping to find any clues on Blackbeard."
"Did you?"
Ace sighed and waved his hands, showing that he found nothing. Melody looked up, seeing no progress in Ace's search. Ace noticed this and decided to express his thoughts.
"You know... maybe you should head back to Pops and others."
"So soon? Why?"
"I don't think I'm gonna get anywhere for a while and with what happened with the food. Well, we're gonna run low on cash with both of us here. Besides, I know you've been missing everyone, you grew up with them."
"Hmm, you sure you'll be fine on your own?"
"Hey, I ran a pirate crew through this place before joining. I'll be fine."
"... Alright then, but you better get back sooner or later... Oh and since I'm leaving... here!"
Melody tossed a pair of seastone cuffs to Ace. He quickly tossed them into a crate before reactivating his engine. While he did that Melody untied the rope connecting their ships.
"For when you catch Teach, we don't know what that Devil Fruit can do so don't just beat him down, alright?"
"Alright, it's been a good one partner!"
"Same goes for you!"
The Sea Dragon Empress took out a Vivre Card leading back to Whitebeard and soon rocketed towards the direction it moved. Ace watched the girl leave over the horizon and once he knew she was out of hearing range, he let out a sigh of relief. He dug into his back pocket as he spoke to a girl he knew couldn't hear him.
"Sorry Melody but I've got to do this on my own."
What he took out from his pocket was a folded stack of notes that he gathered from the intelligence ship and intentionally hid from the girl. The intel did indeed provide information of Blackbeard's path of carnage and his next possible targets. Following his log pose, Ace piloted the Striker to the next island so he could find Eternal Poses for the place.
A month passed and Melody returned to the Moby Dick. The young Dragon Slayer felt that it was now time to hone her skills on something she neglected: Haki training. Her magical energy gave her a head start by partially unlocking it. Right now, she stood on a beach, a distance away from some of the Division Commanders.
"Okay, I get the blindfold but why the nose and earplugs?"
Melody had finished wrapping a piece of cloth over her eyes, as she held two rubber plugs and a plastic noseplug. Holding a wooden sword, Haruta called out to the girl.
"We all know about your crazy sense of smell and hearing. Observation Haki isn't about that. You have to feel the presence of the attacks and be fast enough to dodge it. We're all going to take turns so get ready."
The blue-nette nodded, putting in the items in their respective places. Haruta smiled and charged forward with her sword in the air. With Observation Haki, Melody could sense Haruka's presence, the energy she gave of. Almost like how she felt her own magical energy reserves. Determining her action, Melody quickly sidestepped to dodge the downward sword swing.
The next commander, 7th Division's Rakuyo, swung his flail around and threw it towards Melody. She could sense the flying object as well and ducked just as it went over her head. The girl's face grew panicked as she rolled away from the giant mallet heading towards her. Once she was away she yelled at the wielder.
"Was the hammer really necessary Blamenco?!"
Knowing she couldn't hear him, 6th Division's Commander, Blamenco chuckled and somehow stored the mallet into a chin pocket, strangely enough.
Training continued until it was time to leave the island. Melody let herself relax against the rail of the ship when someone mentioned seeing the flag of Red Hair Pirates. It appeared to only be one person, sent to deliver a message but Newgate destroyed the letter without even opening it. If Shanks wanted to say something, Whitebeard told the messenger would have to have the pirate captain tell him himself.
Sorry for the cliffhanger-like ending but I was on a brain fart here. Anyway hope you guys will be patient for the next chapters. School starts tomorrow and I have a lot ahead for me.