Squard and Jinbei were already on the Moby Dick when they got back to the ship.
After a great deal of discussion, Ace managed to convince Marco that hiding from Squard wasn't going to be good for anyone. Better to get it over with, Ace argued. Unable to refute Ace's point, Marco led the way back through the ship to the quarter deck, knowing that was where Whitebeard and Squard would be.
Word that Squard was on the Moby Dick had spread like wildfire. They picked up quite an entourage of Whitebeards on their way through the ship, all of them offering him reassurances that everything would be fine. Ace felt something loosen in his stomach at the sight of them and he couldn't help but smile; it was clear that any move against Ace would not be tolerated. Period.
It set him at ease even as it filled him with an entirely different feeling of dread. The last thing he wanted was to cause additional problems within the Whitebeards. If there was contention within their ranks, the marines, not to mention the other Yonko, would undoubtedly take advantage of it.
He wouldn't be the reason the Whitebeards were destroyed.
Ace was visibly vibrating as they climbed up to the deck, Luffy and Sabo hovering protectively on either side of him. He shot them a glare and motioned for them to back off, finally fed up with them repeatedly bumping into him. "Don't crowd me." He hissed, motioning again for them to move back.
Instead of giving Ace his space, Sabo and Luffy merely grinned cheerfully at him and pressed closer.
Shaking his head, Ace drew in a sharp breath and climbed up the last steps to the quarter deck.
Thatch, Izo, Jozu, and four of the other division commanders were standing in front of Whitebeard's chair, in deep discussion with him. Standing with them were three Maelstrom Spider pirates, a fishman Ace didn't recognize, and Jinbei.
"Jinbei!" Luffy would have tackled him in a hug if Sabo hadn't held him back.
"Luffy! It's good to see you." Jinbei turned and flashed a brief smile at him before his attention was drawn away to the man standing next to him.
One of the men turned. His stormy eyes zeroed in on Ace instantly, expression darkening as his gaze connected with Ace's.
Squard.
Ace met his glare unflinchingly, chin jutting out defiantly.
Squard said nothing. He scrutinized Ace's face, undoubtedly looking for traces of Roger. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other as Squard reconciled whatever preconceptions he had with the teenager standing in front of him. Apparently, what he saw unsettled him, for some of the hostility left his eyes and he seemed distinctly uncomfortable and troubled.
The tension grew so heavy Ace was almost surprised Spuard didn't keel over under the weight of all the glares directed at him. Jinbei in particular looked ready to punch Squard if he so much as twitched the wrong way.
He could get away with it easier than the Whitebeards, after all.
After a moment, Squard turned back toward Whitebeard, unfazed by the scowls directed his way. "It has to be Kaido, Pops. He's the only one that would think building an army entirely of Zoan users a good idea." He said, picking up the conversation as if there hadn't been any interruption at all.
"They can't all be Zoans. Some of them must be Minks, or something else." Jozu countered, relaxing slightly and uncrossing his arms. Squard choosing to ignore Ace was better than the alternative. "It'd be suicidal to have a crew made up of all devil fruit users."
"This is Kaido we're talking about," Thatch muttered, as Marco, Ace, and the others slowly moved over to stand next to him. "He's not exactly the picture of good mental health."
"What's going on?" Marco asked Whitebeard, keeping his eyes fixed watchfully on Squard.
"One of our islands is being overrun by what seems to be the same all Zoan pirate crew that's been attacking us for the last three months," Whitebeard explained, brow furrowed contemplatively. "The Maelstrom Spiders received word and were heading there when they spotted us."
"What about you, Jinbei?" Luffy asked, torn between his excitement at seeing Jinbei and the tension they were all feeling from Ace and Squard.
"I was actually coming to visit you and your brothers," Jinbei said, smiling down at the boy fondly. "My crew is very eager to meet the three of you."
"He wouldn't shut up about you so we got curious. I'm Aladdin, Jinbei's first mate." Aladdin was a formidable presence, even standing next to some of the most powerful pirates in the world. He eyed Luffy with thinly veiled curiosity, as if he could figure out what Jinbei saw in the boy simply by staring at him.
"Are you a fishman too? Do you—ow, Sabo!" Luffy groaned and punched Sabo in the side in retaliation for the elbow in the stomach that had interrupted him.
"Yes, he is a fishman," Jinbei chuckled, easily guessing what Luffy had been about to ask. He leaned down to whisper in Luffy's ear. "Yes, he does."
"Anyways," Thatch coughed and clapped his hands together. He had been privileged enough to have been present when Luffy had asked Namur that same question, so he knew what Luffy had been about to ask. "Getting back to the subject at hand…"
"There has to be more of them than we initially thought. We're dealing with more than one ship, according to reports from the island." Squard mused, darting a quick glance cagily at Ace. He seemed as wary of Ace as Ace was of him. "That would explain how they managed so many attacks against our fleet in such a short amount of time, considering how spread out it is."
"We've let this go on too long, Pops," Thatch exchanged glances with Izo. "If it is Kaido, he can't be allowed to continue these attacks."
"Let's deal with the fools attacking one of our islands first," Whitebeard said, staring down at Squard. "I trust Ace's presence here won't be a problem, Squard?"
Ace's breath caught in his throat as Squard once again turned toward him, face unreadable. Next to him, Sabo and Luffy pressed closer to him protectively and glowered darkly at Squard.
"You look like your father," Squard growled abruptly, jamming his hands in his pocket. "Gol."
"My name is Portgas," Ace answered flatly, forcing himself not to fidget and meet Squard's piercing, soul penetrating gaze. "Not Gol. I'm nothing like him. And I have just as much reason to hate him as you do."
Eyes widening in surprise, Squard seemed to reevaluate Ace. A smirk slowly spread across his face. "It seems we have something in common after all, then." He said slowly, tension slowly draining from his body. He glanced up at Whitebeard and everything changed; all the aggression and bitterness slowly drained away in the face of unconditional love. "As Pops has explained to me, a child should not have to pay for the sins of the father. So long as you stay out of my way and do nothing to endanger the Whitebeards, we won't have a problem."
Even the Whitebeards seemed surprise by this pronouncement. Whitebeard himself merely smiled proudly at Squard, giving him an approving pat on the back.
Ace grimaced slightly. His very presence on board the Moby Dick endangered the Whitebeards, which meant one way or another, there would be a problem.
"I'm relieved to hear you say that, Squard," Marco reached over and squeezed Ace's shoulder. "Ace would never knowingly do anything to harm us. His presence brings a certain amount of danger, but it's nothing we're not willing to face, yoi."
"Regardless of what happens when the marines come after Ace and Luffy, it won't be their fault," Thatch declared earnestly, earning a nod of agreement from Whitebeard. "We accept the risks."
Ace appreciated the sentiment, but wondered if they would feel the same way when something did, inevitably, happen.
Smoke was thick in the air as they approached the island of the Winds, wafting towards the Moby Dick even though they were still miles away. The island was burning, dark smoke covering the island like dense, swirling storm clouds.
"We're going to have to put out the fires as quickly as possible," Marco muttered grimly under his breath. "If the winds pick up, the entire island might burn down."
"Winds? Don't you mean wind?" Ace asked with a frown, peering through a spyglass in search of the attacking ships.
"This island has more than one, don't ask me how. It's the Grand Line," Marco drummed his fingers on the railing of the crow's nest impatiently. "See them?"
"There," Ace handed the spyglass over and pointed. "I might be able to help with the fires."
"Three ships," Marco shook his head and pocketed the spyglass. "I don't like this, yoi."
"We don't know what's on the other side of the island. There could be more ships," Ace pointed out, unease slowly growing. "I don't like this. If Kaido is on the island-"
"We'd know if he was there," Marco interrupted. "He's hard to miss, yoi."
"Why hasn't Whitebeard done something to stop the attacks? You all know that it's Kaido, even if you don't have concrete proof yet." Ace glanced down at where Whitebeard was seated, in deep conversation with a few of the division commanders and frowned.
"Listen to me, Ace," Marco turned to face him, brow furrowing in thought. "A war between the Yonko is costly, not just to us, but to those under our protection as well. In addition to all the lives that would be lost—men and women who Pops considers to be his children, the islands under our protection would be in danger. Big Mom has been after a number of our islands for years, most prominently Fishman Island. If a war actually broke out, she'd certainly try to claim several of our islands while we were too preoccupied to protect them. And that's just our people. A war between two Yonko could destabilize the power structure of the entire New World if it got out of hand, which is precarious enough already. That's not something we're going to rush into."
"I understand," Ace said softly, glancing downward. "I didn't mean to imply anything-"
"I know," Marco smiled and slapped him on the back. "You're not the only one impatient with how Pops is handling this. But we all trust him enough to know that if he does something—or doesn't do something, in this case, he has a good reason for it."
"So he has a good reason for inviting me to join the crew?" Ace eyes skittered away from Marco as he spoke, shoulders stiffening unconsciously. "What happened today was nothing compared to what's coming."
"Pops wants you to be his son. That would be reason enough for us. He's grown very fond of you over the past few months, you know," Marco paused, absently staring up at the sky. "I don't think you realize how much he enjoys your "sparring" with him or all of the breakfasts and late night talks together. But, you know what, Ace? We like you too and want you to be our brother, yoi."
Ace blushed and ducked his head, cheeks, ears and neck all turning bright red. "What about Squard? Whitebeard talked to him apparently, but do you honestly think he won't have a problem with me if I actually joined?"
Cocking his head sideways, Marco studied Ace curiously. A slow smile, pleased smile spread across his face. "I don't think he'll cause any problems, but his opinion doesn't matter in the end. We'd accept you in seconds if you decided to join."
"I—uh, that means-" Ace broke off, at a loss for words.
"I know, yoi," Marco grinned at him and ruffled his hair. "We should head down and formulate a plan of attack before we actually reach the island."
Gazing out towards the island, Ace frowned. "They're going to know we're coming. The Moby Dick isn't exactly inconspicuous."
"Surprise attacks are usually not our forte," Marco said thoughtfully, glancing down at where Jinbei, Aladdin and Luffy were talking. "But we can have Jinbei and Squard take their ships around to the other side of the island to prevent the ships from escaping."
"Or maybe…" A grin slowly spread across Ace's face as a plan blossomed in his mind. "How far does that river go inland?"
"All the way to the middle of the island, where the biggest town is—oh," Marco grinned back at Ace as he realized what the teen had in mind. "You, my friend, are a genius, yoi."
"Let's go tell Jinbei and Po—uh, Whitebeard." Ace blanched at the slip up, eyes widening in dismay at the implications of it.
"Ace-" Marco reached out, but the teen dove off the crow's nest before he could stop him.
Grimacing as he landed roughly on the deck, Ace spotted Sabo and made a beeline toward him. Ace practically tackled him in his panic and immediately dragged Sabo away from where he'd been talking with Thatch and Curial.
"Ace, what the-" Sabo stared at Ace's frantic expression worriedly, adrenaline spiking. "What happened?!
"I almost—I almost called—I said 'Pops,'" Ace hissed, glancing around furtively to make sure no one was close enough to hear them. "I said 'Pops' Sabo! We have to leave-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Sabo pulled Ace closer to the ship's bow and away from the bewildered division commanders he'd been talking to moments ago. "Calm down."
Nodding, Ace sucked in several rapid breaths and tried to force himself to stop panicking. He searched for Marco and spotted him standing next to Thatch, watching them with obvious apprehension. Thatch and Curial were also eyeing them in complete bafflement, their concern for Ace and Sabo palpable and very, very genuine.
Realization hit him like a ton of bricks.
"I'm attached. I've gotten attached to them, Sabo." Ace breathed, heart pounding wildly in his chest.
He hadn't noticed it right away because in his entire life it'd only truly happened a couple of times; first with Sabo and Luffy, and then much more reluctantly with Wendy, Haru and Bam Bam. When it did happen, it was rare and precious and wonderful, but this time… this time he didn't know what to think.
"Oh, Ace," Sabo sighed heavily and placed a warm hand on Ace's shoulder. "Is that really a bad thing?"
Ace's eyes skittered over to Whitebeard. "I don't know."
"I can't believe you just realized this now," Sabo sighed and ran a hand across his face. "I hate to be the one to break this to you, but it's been fairly obvious to everyone else."
"It has?" Ace did a double take. True, he'd grow to trust the Whitebeards and become much more comfortable around them, but he hadn't realized how deep the trust, respect and affection he felt for them had grown. Hadn't wanted to let himself realize it.
"Blatantly obvious. I've never seen you get so attached to anyone so quickly but me and Luffy," Sabo stared at Ace contemplatively. "Ace, do you trust them? Really trust them?"
"Yes," Ace muttered after a moment, almost grudgingly. "I guess I do."
"Then you need to tell them about your narcolepsy." Sabo declared firmly but quietly, after visually confirming that no one was close enough to overhear him.
"What?" Ace demanded, taken aback from the sudden change of direction the conversation had taken.
"You need your medication. Your narcolepsy has to be treated, Ace. Your symptoms have been getting worse and worse, to the point that it's dangerous to leave you alone," Sabo hesitated, eyes flickering over to Whitebeard. "If you don't trust them enough to tell them that, then you shouldn't join their crew. After what happened on Glass Island, I know it'll be hard for you to trust a doctor. It's hard for me, too. But you have to, Ace. It's too dangerous for you to leave your narcolepsy untreated."
Swallowing hard, Ace stared down at his feet. "I can't believe I'm even considering this. I never thought I'd actually want to-" He broke off abruptly and glanced up at Sabo searchingly.
"Luffy and I will support you, whatever you decide, Ace. I just hope that you don't let your stubbornness get in the way of something good," Sabo's gaze turned toward the vast, endless sea, something almost wistful in his expression. "I trust them to take care of you, if you do decide to join."
"What will you do? If I join," Ace asked, eyeing Sabo knowingly. "Join the Revolutionaries?"
"How-" Sabo stared at Ace in surprise for a moment, and then laughed. "I don't know, honestly. Probably. I've been in contact with them, you know."
"We know. Considering how much time we spend together, it's kind of obvious when you sneak off to do something on your own," Ace sighed heavily. We've always been inseparable… "Things are going to be so different if I do—you know-"
"Join?" Sabo's eyebrows arched dolefully. "Everything would change anyways in a few years, when Luffy sets out on his own."
"I know that," Ace sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know."
They both fell silent, lost in their own thoughts.
"It is weird to think that one day we'll all go our separate ways. I'm so used to the two of you always there." Sabo flipped his hat off his head and absently brushed some lent off it.
"A little distance won't be enough to break our brotherhood if the entire world can't," Ace managed a shaky grin, tugging Sabo into a hug. "You're right though. If I can't trust them enough to tell them about my narcolepsy, I shouldn't join."
"Well," Sabo patted Ace on the back and turned him around until he was pointed toward where Marco and Thatch were standing. "Go on then."
Ace took exactly two steps before he balked.
Sabo rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Ace-"
"I'll tell them after the battle. They have enough on their minds already," Ace said, backpedaling desperately as he started panicking again. "I don't even know if I'm really ready to decide if I want to join them or not, either."
"Fine, we'll talk about this after the battle," Sabo shook his head and rolled his eyes again. "But even if you tell them, it doesn't mean you have to join. You need your meds, Ace. We don't have a doctor on our crew, so we need to get your meds before we leave the Whitebeards, if that's what you decide."
"I know," Ace sighed. Forcing himself to stop thinking about what he'd almost blurted out to Marco, he tried to focus on the task at hand. "Hey, Sabo, feel like a swim?"
"Oh boy. You have a terrible idea, don't you?" Sabo grumbled, though his mouth was quirking upwards slightly.
"Definitely," Ace grinned. "Where's Jinbei—Jinbei! How would you and your crew feel about a little swim?"
Jinbei exchanged glances with Aladdin. "We're always ready for a swim, especially if it helps the Whitebeards. What are you planning?"
Ace grinned. If Jinbei had known better, he would have been very, very worried.
"Are you okay, Ace?" Marco asked as he approached them, eyeing Ace cautiously.
"What on earth happened?" Thatch demanded, trailing behind Marco in complete bewilderment.
Relaxing slightly when he realized that Marco hadn't mentioned the slip up, Ace shot him a look of complete gratitude. "We'll, uh, deal with it later."
"Hmmm…" Thatch glanced between Marco and Ace suspiciously, but let it go. "Marco said you have a plan of some sort?"
"As a matter of fact I do," Ace smiled and allowed the excitement of the upcoming battle to wash away everything else. "Do you have diving suits?"
Luffy stared out of his bubble in fascination as a school of luminescent, sapphire colored fish swam by, eyes wide with childlike wonder. "Woah!"
Jinbei chuckled. "When this is over I'll have to take you to the coral reef a few miles away. It is one of the most beautiful areas in the entire ocean."
"I want to come." Ace said distractedly, just as mesmerized as Luffy. It was like entering into a whole other world.
He felt a twinge of regret that he couldn't swim anymore, but quickly brushed it aside. He loved his devil fruit more than he'd ever expected and he wouldn't trade it back for the ability to swim.
Not that he would have been able to keep up with Jinbei and the rest of the fishmen even if he could still swim. The only reason the ASL pirates had been able to keep up was because Jinbei and his men were pushing them along.
"How much further, Jinbei?" Sabo asked, rotating awkwardly in the bubble. Next to him, Aladdin reached over and carefully pointed his bubble in the right direction before he could collide with Bam Bam.
After a brief discussion, it had been decided that the bubbles would work better for the plan instead of traditional diving suits. Ace couldn't remember what they were actually called, but they were the same bubbles that they had used to travel around on Fishman Island. They allowed better freedom of movement in the water than regular diving suits and could simply be popped once they surfaced, saving them the trouble of getting back out of the suits.
"We're entering the river mouth now," Jinbei answered, absently guiding Luffy's bubble away from a sharp rock. "It shouldn't be much further."
"Finally," Haru breathed, wiping sweat from his brow. "I think I'm running out of air."
"You're not running out of air. Calm down." Wendy scolded, bumping into his bubble and causing Haru to shriek.
"Breathe." Bam Bam ordered serenely as she floated past him, the only one of the ASL pirates not struggling with the bubbles. She might as well have been doing summersaults compared to the rest of them.
"It's not going to burst, Haru. And even if it did, one of these guys here would just whisk you up to the surface, right guys?" Wendy motioned at the twenty fishman swimming around them.
"It's not going to burst," Ace stated firmly, just as he jerked out of the way of an abnormally large turtle with a sharp nose. "Probably."
"I feel so much better." Haru grumbled sarcastically.
It didn't take them very long to swim up the river. The fishmen were incredibly powerful swimmers and had no trouble propelling the bubbles along.
Catching one of the fishman staring at Luffy again, Ace nudged Sabo through the bubble and gestured at their brother with a jerk of his head. Luffy was making quite the impression on the fishmen, after apparently hearing about him from Jinbei for months.
Chuckling, Sabo shook his head. Watching Luffy charm people was a favorite pastime of theirs.
Twenty minutes after they entered the river from the ocean, they reached the edge of Wind Island's main town, Gale. Even under water, they could hear the screams of the townspeople and the sound of battle.
Sucking in a deep breath, Ace popped his neck and glanced at Jinbei and his brothers. "Ready?"
Everyone nodded.
Casting one last glance at his brothers, Ace gave the signal.
All around him the fishmen burst upwards out of the river, causing the surface of the water to become completely distorted. It was a sight to behold; almost enough to make Ace forget that Jinbei and five other fishmen were about to launch him and the other ASL pirates out of the water.
Jinbei waited exactly five seconds before carefully taking hold of Luffy's bubble and launching him out of the water, Ace, Sabo and the other ASL pirates shooting up beside him.
The moment Ace burst up from the water, he leaned forward and summersaulted in the bubble. The motion propelled him forward to the river's edge and he bounced a couple of times as he hit the grassy riverbank.
Using his momentum to bounce one more time, Ace flipped midair and landed on the back of a giant Zoan user that looked like a wolverine. Wrapping his legs around the creature's neck, Ace popped the bubble and twisted his body.
As they fell to the ground Ace punched him in the face and knocked it out, untangling himself and rolling away seconds before the massive body would have crushed him.
Springing to his feet, Ace jumped into the fray.
It was a tougher battle; even with the Sun pirates helping them, they were still outnumbered, and many of the Zoan users were bigger and physically stronger than even the fishmen.
Before they'd even left the Moby Dick, Ace and Jinbei had divided their group into teams of three; Luffy, Wendy and Haru along with a six fishmen were assigned to protect and evacuate the civilians to a triage camp that the Whitebeards were going to establish. Another group was tasked with getting the fires under control, while supporting everyone with long ranged water attacks. The last group, with Ace, Sabo, Bam Bam, Jinbei and Aladdin and four other Sun Pirates were the offensive team, tasked with defeating the attacking pirates and driving them out of the town.
The rest of the Sun pirates had split up to hit several strategic locations by using the island's tributaries to get inland, while the Whitebeards and the Maelstrom Spider pirates attacked the ships and took the beaches.
It took some adjusting to get used to the Sun Pirates' water attacks, but after a few minutes Ace came to trust their aim. It helped that he was already slightly familiar with Fishman karate from his fight with Jinbei and numerous sparring sessions with Namur and a few of the other fishmen on Whitebeard's crew.
Launching his fire fist attack, Ace glanced down as a sword passed harmlessly through his chest. Covering his hands with haki, he pulled the sword forward and sent a burst of flame along the blade to the handle and twisted it out of his would be killer's hands.
As the pirate—a skinny man whose Zoan fruit looked like some kind of jackal, howled in agony, Ace sent a burst of flame that sent him crashing into one of the nearby stone houses with enough force to crashing through the wall.
Rubbing ash and sweat off his forehead, Ace turned to find his next target, but something sharp cut into his shoulder and shoved him dangerously close to the river.
Blinking in surprise, Ace pressed a hand to his arm even as he stumbled to a stop two steps away from the river. His hand came away bloody, but he had no time to process it before the next strike came.
He raised a fist to hurl an attack at whoever had managed to hit him, but whoever it was facing was fast, much faster than he had been anticipating. He wound up on his back, claw marks on his chest and neck and the wind knocked out of him.
Sputtering and coughing, Ace touched his neck and grimaced. If he hadn't managed to mostly dodge whatever had gone after his throat, his jugular would have been torn out.
"Ace!" Luffy shouted in alarm, even as Ace avoided another attack by mere inches.
"Stay back!" Ace scrambled away from the water and caught sight of Luffy on the other side of the river. "We need you to take out the pistoleers!"
Luffy's nose crinkled in frustration, eyes sharp and hard with determination. He wasn't happy about being left out of the main part of the action, but after a brief hesitation Luffy moved off to deal with the pistoleers.
The moment of distraction cost Ace, but as the yellow blur's claws dug into his back, he managed to twist around and land a flaming back kick. He also finally caught a good look at who was attacking him and managed to identify the fruit.
"A cheetah fruit, huh?" Ace murmured, scowling as the pirate disappeared in the blink. "You can't be that fast."
Three more attacks proved him wrong, but Ace grinned even as blood continued to drip from his numerous wounds. "Got you."
He shut his eyes and blocked out everything, the gunfire, the screams, and the roar of rushing water. Everything but the single, vapid voice he was listening for. He sensed the next attack before the cheetah was even close to him and whirled around with perfect timing to slam a flaming fist into the creature's face.
The cheetah tumbled backwards. Ace didn't give him a chance to recover and slammed him through a store's large front window with a swirling flame attack.
Growling, the cheetah stumbled out of the store with difficulty, swaying unsteadily. Patches of his fur was burnt and smoking and he had numerous cuts from being thrown into the window, but he was still conscious and moving.
Sighing, Ace charged forward. Fire spread from his fist all the way up to his shoulder as he pulled his arm back for another fire fist attack.
His quarry disappeared moments before he let loose the surging flames, causing him to stumble and struggle to maintain control of the fire. The last thing the town needed at the moment was more building on fire.
Ace sensed the fist coming and jerked backwards. His retaliatory kick was dodged, as he had expected. The swirling burst of flames wasn't.
The cheetah's howl of pain was drowned out by the crackling roar of fire. He fell to his knees, charred and bleeding.
"I'm actually doing you a favor by knocking you out." Ace muttered, punching him.
Satisfied that the devil fruit user wasn't going to get up anytime soon, Ace brushed his hair out of his face and quickly took stock of the battle.
Sabo and everyone else seemed to be doing well, but Luffy was in trouble. Unable to keep out of trouble as usual and trying to protect two little children, Luffy had picked a fight with a giant wildebeest Zoan user.
For a moment, instinct took over and Ace took several steps forward before he caught himself. Gritting his teeth, Ace watched as Luffy dove forward and curled protectively around the two children. Ace's hands curled into tight, white knuckled fists as he watched as the wildebeest's hoofs trampled on Luffy.
He watched as Luffy sat up slightly, twisting his neck around to glare darkly at the wildebeest, eyes dark and dangerous with fury.
Luffy stood to his feet and calmly dusted himself off, sucked in a deep breath, and charged.
The wildebeest was more than twice Luffy's size, but what Luffy lacked in height he more than made up for in speed and almost inhuman strength, even at his young age. He easily evaded the wildebeest's attack and stretched out his arm to punch the Zoan user in the face.
The beast reeled back, stunned by the unexpected strength of the blow. Huffing and growling, he regained his balance and glared murderously at the tiny fourteen year old.
Stretching out his arm and swinging it around rapidly, Luffy lunged forward. "Gomu, Gomu Pistol!" he shouted, slamming his fist into the wildebeest's stomach.
"How many times do we have to tell you not to call out your attacks!" Ace hissed, face palming. He and Sabo had told him over and over not to shout out the names of his attacks, but despite all their warnings and lectures he was still insistent on it.
Even with Luffy announcing all of his attacks, he still managed to land most of them. The wildebeest most likely didn't have haki, otherwise the fight would have gone quite differently.
Though Ace didn't doubt that Luffy would have been able to handle it even if the wildebeest was able to use haki; Luffy had been the one to figure out the best way to counter observation haki during their training with Rayleigh.
Luffy grunted as a hoof clipped the side of his head, but he caught himself in time to roll underneath the wildebeest legs.
Turning around, the wildebeest snarled and dug his feet in the ground and charged.
Standing his ground, Luffy stretched out an arm and tripped him. Rapidly retracting his arm, Luffy lunged forward and leaped into the air.
"Gomu Gomu Rocket!" Luffy shouted, smashing both fists into the wildebeest's head.
The wildebeest flew backwards and collapsed boneless to the ground. He twitched but didn't get back up.
Letting out a breath Ace hadn't realized he'd been holding, Ace glanced around until he spotted Jinbei. He dashed over and blasted away three Zoan users with a dazzling eruption of fire. "How're we doing?
"We've evacuated most of the villagers and almost defeated all of the pirates in this area, but the fire is still out of control in the forest." Jinbei said, karate chopping a Zoan user that appeared to be some type of iguana on the back of the neck. "You said you had an idea about how to deal with the fires..?"
"I have a theory," Ace swallowed, glancing at the blazing forest. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he forced himself to stay in the present and not think about Dawn Island. "I could end up making things worse."
"I seriously doubt it could get any worse, Ace," Jinbei stepped over the pirate he'd just downed and walked over to Ace's side. "At this rate, even if we get the fires in the town under control it won't matter because of the forest."
Ace nodded and licked his lips, mind abuzz. As a Logia user, he could create and control his own flames however he pleased. Fire that didn't belong to him was a completely different matter. And this wasn't a measly campfire or even something contained in one area; the entire island was on fire.
The fire consuming the forest was angry and foreign. Uncontrollable. Not at all like his own warm, friendly flames that danced across his skin and eagerly obeyed his every thought. This fire in front of him was hungry in a way that his wasn't, destructive in ways that his fire had never been, not even when he had first eaten his Devil Fruit.
He would have said it wasn't possible for him to put out fires on such a large scale that weren't his own, if not for a late night conversation he'd have with Luffy.
Ace knew that most people who met Luffy were quick to peg him as stupid, or at the very least not very bright. But what Luffy lacked in common sense and regular 'intelligence' as most people viewed it, was more than made up for with his out of the box ingenuity, quick thinking, and hair brained, yet somehow brilliant strategies.
Which was why, when Ace had explained one night that he was trying to practice controlling fire that wasn't his, Luffy had sleepily suggested that Ace should simply make the fire his own.
The idea, so simple and brilliant, had been something Ace had been meaning to practice in safer conditions for a long time, but he'd never had a chance.
Now, if things went wrong Ace could end up blowing up the entire town—maybe even the entire island, if things went really bad. Still, there wouldn't be anything left to blow up if the forest fire wasn't dealt with soon. There was only so much the Sun pirates could do to hold it back.
"Pass the word to everyone to go to the other side of the river," Ace breathed, resolve solidifying. "Just in case this doesn't work."
"What about you?" Jinbei asked, frowning. "If whatever it is you're about to attempt is that dangerous…"
"The fire can't hurt me." Ace said, turning to face the Warlord and offering him a shaky grin.
"Very well." Jinbei clasped Ace's shoulder briefly before turning away to corral his crew to safety.
Lacing his fingers together and cracking his knuckles, Ace breathed in and breathed out, stretching out all his senses to the crackling flames. He'd either succeed or burn the entire forest down. No pressure.
"Everyone is safely on the other side." Jinbei announced, coming up behind Ace.
"Good. You should move too," Ace glanced back at him and sighed when the warlord didn't move. For a moment he was tempted to tell Jinbei to move somewhere he could see him, instead of standing behind him, but he stopped himself. He could trust Jinbei. He could trust Jinbei to watch his back instead of stabbing it. Besides, if something went wrong Jinbei would be much safer behind him. "Okay, fine. Stay there and don't move."
Shutting his eyes, Ace imagined himself as a living flame. As a fire that could not be quenched. Warmth and light. Beautiful, but deadly.
Ace opened his eyes. His entire body transformed into flame, eyes aglow with crimson.
Raising his arms, Ace stretched out and expanded, covering the forest in a sheet of blazing fire. He stretched and spread for miles, from one end of the island to the other. He touched the foreign flames and mingled and blended until they were all in tune with him- until he was the fire blazing throughout the island.
For a moment, the fires grew brighter and fiercer, pulsating in time with his heartbeat. Then he inhaled and drew all the fire back into himself, decreasing and shrinking until he was back in his own body, dizzy and exhilarated and strangely detached from his own skin.
The fires had been put out, smoke and ash still heavy in the air.
Ace fell to his knees, exhausted. Strong arms caught him before he could fall face first to the ground, tethering him back to his body.
"Ace? Ace! Are you okay?" Jinbei demanded, shaking him gently.
"Y-yeah," Ace stared down at his hands and was surprised for a moment that they were flesh and blood instead of flame. "That was— I can't believe it actually worked."
"That was truly amazing! I've never seen anything like that," Jinbei smiled in relief. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Ace nodded wearily. "Just completely drained. Help me up-"
"Ace! That was awesome!" Luffy shouted, practically tackling his brother in his excitement to reach him.
"You were pretty awesome yourself earlier," Ace grinned and shakily ruffled Luffy's hair. "Not bad for the future Pirate King."
"Shishishi!" Luffy beamed at him and wrapped an arm around Ace's shoulder. "Well, of course!"
"Do you think you can stand, Ace?" Jinbei asked, one hand still resting on Ace's shoulder. "We need to regroup and contact Marco to let him know our status."
"Yeah, give me a hand," Ace was shakier than he'd expected, but between Luffy and Jinbei they managed to help him get to his feet. "Where's Sabo?"
"He's taking the last group of townspeople to the triage camp." Luffy responded, keeping a hand on Ace's elbow.
"Good." Ace looked around, but only spotted unconscious bodies scattered around and half a dozen fishmen working on tying up all of the rogue pirates.
Jinbei pulled out a mini telephone snail and dialed. "Marco, we're finishing securing the area now."
"Was that fire we saw cover the island Ace?" Marco asked.
"Yes, he put out all of the fires on the island at once." Jinbei answered, sounding deeply impressed.
"Excellent work, yoi," Marco said, voice slightly distorted over the telephone. "Perfect timing, too; Squard is near your position and he needs some back up."
"We can leave now, but will he even accept my help?" Ace asked, scratching his head.
"He's in too dangerous a position to object at the moment," Marco replied. "He's stubborn, but he's not stupid enough to refuse help."
"Right. Aladdin should stay here and keep an eye on things while we're gone. Have him tell Sabo to come meet us," Ace glanced at Jinbei, who nodded and handed him the telephone snail before going off to talk to his first mate. "You feel up for another fight, Luffy?"
"Of course! As if I'd let you leave me behind and hog all of the fighting!" Luffy grinned, cheeks smudged with dirt, ash, and bruises. "You're the one who can't stand up on his own."
"I can!" Ace tugged his arm out of Luffy's grip and stood on his own for exactly five seconds before he tilted sideways.
"Ace, if you're hurt you should head to the triage camp right away! Jinbei is more than capable of helping Squard," Marco's voice rose in alarm, surprising both brothers. They'd forgotten he was still on the telephone line. "Did something happen?"
"I overdid it a little, but I'm not hurt," Ace caught Luffy glaring at him and sighed. "I'm mostly not hurt. But I can still fight. Trust me."
Marco's sigh resounded clearly over the telephone line. "Trust me, he says. Alright, but if you're not telling me the whole truth we're going to have a very long conversation when you get back, yoi."
Smiling to himself, Ace absently wiped at the blood dripping down his neck with the sleeve of his shirt. "Well, it's a good thing I'm alright then. The last time you lectured me I almost fell asleep."
"Ohoho, I should sic Jules on you for that one," The telephone snail smiled menacingly, mirroring the expression that must have been on Marco's face. "I seriously doubt you'd fall asleep during one of her lectures, yoi."
"I fall asleep during Marco's lectures too!" Thatch shouted somewhere close to Marco, followed by a loud thunk and a shout of pain.
"Ah," Ace grimaced. "That won't be necessary."
"I thought not, yoi." Marco said, sounding distinctly amused.
"Everything's ready." Jinbei announced, walking back to them.
"Hear that? Tell Squard we're on our way and not to take a swing at me when he sees me." Ace said, wiping sweat from his forehead. He was sweating but he felt cold, despite the almost oppressive heat still in the air from the fire.
"He won't," Marco said confidently. "Take care of your brother, Luffy."
"Hey! I take offence from that-" Ace huffed in frustration when Marco hung up while he was still midsentence. "Rude."
"Shishishi! You heard Marco," Luffy grinned and patted Ace's back a little harder than necessary, causing Ace to stumble forward unsteadily. "Hmmm… this will be hard. You always get into trouble."
"You're the one who always gets into trouble!" Ace stared at Luffy in disbelief, torn between amusement and wild frustration. "You're the one who's impossible to keep out of trouble."
"You're just as impossible!" Luffy retorted, starting to walk in the wrong direction until Ace and Jinbei both turned him around. "You're almost always with me when I'm getting into trouble, so maybe it's been you all along."
Ace gaped at Luffy and sputtered, because he actually kind of had a point. It was rare for Luffy to ever be without at least one of his brothers, but he still managed to get into a colossal amount of trouble. "That—that's beside the point! Don't be ridiculous!"
Walking next to them, Jinbei chuckled. "I'm afraid you're both hopeless trouble magnets."
Both brothers glared at him, looking like they both wanted to argue the point. Instead they both huffed and walked on in silence, sulking slightly.
"Luffy's still more of a trouble magnet that I am." Ace said at last, almost pouting.
"Am not!"
Beside them, Jinbei just laughed.
Writing the scene with Squard was really interesting, because the circumstances are so different from what happened in cannon. Whitebeard telling Squard about Ace before the newspapers released that the ASL pirates were with them and talking to him about Ace really helped him be prepared to meet him.
So far I've been super productive with my writing this year! We're starting to get closer to the end of this story.
Thanks for all of the awesome comments on the last chapter! You guys are awesome.
I wish there was a way I could reply directly to all of the guests. Thank you for all of your reviews!
IDunnoWhat- You made my day! I really enjoyed reading all of your reviews :)
Reviews/feedback are super appreciated!