Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
AN: BOOM! Surprise update! Call it a pre-emtive strike. Call it impatience. Call it me figuring I owe you guys an extra chapter. Call it what you want, but can you guess which of our characters named this chapter?
Chapter 21: Toasted Cheese and Roasted Bear
Marco focused his energy in his center and pushed it outward. Successful haki started with meditation and being centered. However, he was having a hard time pooling enough energy in his chest to coat his whole body.
Thatch wasted no time and started attacking relentlessly. Adrian dodged well. It seemed that the boy was more agile than he had let on before. However, Thatch was getting closer to landing a hit with each swing.
Marco felt the energy he desired slipping away as if he was trying to fill a bucket that had a few holes poked into its bottom. He redoubled his efforts secure in the knowledge that he could do this, but continued to fail.
The Phoenix's eyes focused on Thatch as he jumped back in pain clutching his fist which steamed. Adrian grinned surrounded by an eerie mist.
"You may be able to keep me from taking your energy, but you can't stop me from taking energy from other things, and" he flashed impossibly fast and Thatch flew across the room. "Using that energy for myself." The mist continued to cling to the hunter as if his aura had become visible.
Thatch growled as he adjusted his stance across from Adrian. Marco helplessly tried to fill his leaky energy reservoir. The two continued to exchange blows. Thatch finally landing a hit and crying out in pain again this time clutching his knee.
Adrian slammed into the ground laughing of all things. "You'll stop if you care about your limbs at all."
Thatch panted through his scowl, "This is nothing."
Adrian got to his feet flicking the blood off his chin with a confident thumb. "Do you know what absolute zero is?"
Thatch just stared at the hunter not encouraging him, but the young man continued anyway. "It is the theoretical point at which all molecular motion stops. In other words," Adrian's face became a mask of shadows, "It is the temperature at which everything freezes. All I have to do is drain all the energy from the air around me and even with haki, you won't be able to touch me." He raised his arms and the chilling mist thickened.
Marco tried not to let his focus break, he was getting closer. The energy drain on him had weakened and he was able to fill his pool better now.
Thatch dashed around the hunter's mist looking for an opening. Adrian's laughter seemed to breathe life into the mist moving like a stalking beast.
Marco pulsed once.
Thatch's pained grunt cut through the air as his leg swung into the mist toward the laughing hunter.
Marco pulsed twice.
Thatch fell to the ground holding his ice crusted leg. He hadn't even made it to Adrian. The hunter stalked closer to Thatch taking his frigid mist with him. Thatch was about to be frozen solid.
Marco pulsed and armament haki coated his skin. The bonds immediately retreated from his body and the commander didn't waste time waiting. He quickly shifted into the phoenix, only it wasn't his normal form. The Black Phoenix rocketed toward Adrian.
Marco felt the ice coat his body the moment he entered the mist. His wings and talons went numb as he neared the hunter. His beak was aimed at the soft tissue where his neck met his shoulder. His wings were growing heavy with the ice caked on their tips as he tore through the hunter's flesh. Splaying blood that fell in crimson snow with the hunter.
Marco crashed into the floor burning with sky flames. "Shit!" he cursed through the pain. His whole body was either numb or excruciating knives. He panted on the floor trying to breathe through the pain, vaguely aware of the soft voice hovering over him. Pain was an incredible thing, enhancing the senses and dilating time, making a second feel impossibly long. His back arched as the numb parts lit up with the simultaneous cuts of a thousand blades. Eventually, the pain waned leaving his skin slightly pink and freshly healed.
Marco slowly unfurled his body and looked up into the pale face of his best friend.
Thatch grinned weakly, "That was fucking awesome. What are you going to call it?"
Marco chuckled quietly still lying on the floor. "The Black Phoenix."
Thatch's smile grew making Marco frown slightly. The man was almost as white as his teeth. "Normally I would suggest something like the onyx pineapple, but I'll make an exception just this once."
Marco sat up and took a better look as his friend. He was half lying across the floor holding his upper body up by supporting himself on his arms. His leg was still covered in ice. "How bad is it?" He asked seriously.
Thatch sighed, "Dunno, but I don't see myself walking anytime soon."
….
Tsubaki sighed. How exactly did she end up literally being between these two?
"Maybe if you thought more with your head and less with your stomach we could have found the others by now." grumped Sadie.
"Tsk." Ace clicked his tongue as he grumped on the other side of Tsubaki. "A man has got to eat."
"Eat? That was more like a black hole consuming a sun." Sadie exaggerated. Although Tsubaki admitted to herself that it wasn't much of one.
Ace had dashed ahead when he smelled food and now they couldn't find the other two commanders. Tsubaki's gut twisted in anxiety again. She was trying very hard not to worry, but it kept bubbling up to the surface of her mind.
"That's ridiculous." scoffed Ace.
"I agree." nodded Sadie.
"You-Ah!"
Tsubaki raised an eyebrow at the commander. That was a face she had never seen on him before. It was a tomato mixture of embarrassment and frustration. She kept her smile to herself as the two continued to argue back and forth.
"If it weren't for you and your impossibly large stomach we would have found Commanders Marco and Thatch and be on our way off this blasted island." Sadie accused smugly.
Ace was silent for a minute shaking with the effort to contain his anger. Tsubaki just shook her head. How could the two of them not see it? Ace only got this riled up around Sadie, and Sadie – she almost shook her head. Sadie was more outspoken around the 2nd commander than she was around most other people, herself excluded of course.
"Well who was it that kept that whole plan at the end of the maze a secret? Maybe if you had trusted us a little, we could have fought our way out right then." Although quiet, Ace's voice was knee deep with anger.
Tsubaki stared at the commander for a moment. He couldn't really be angry about that, could he? It was obvious why Marco and Sadie hadn't said anything, but if he was really upset because he wanted her trust and didn't have it, then his reaction made more sense. She turned to see Sadie's reply. She could see her working through his words trying to decide if she was angry or not.
"Sorry." Sadie clipped and took a few hurried steps to pass them and sent out her water droplets again in search of their nakama.
Not good Tsubaki decided after watching her friend keep her back to Ace. Said commander was mumbling under his breath about a certain wet blanket but she noted that his eyes kept darting back to Sadie as if he was trying to see something hidden.
"Soooo, Commander Ace?" Tsubaki said slyly ready to tease the two. His eyes fell to her suspiciously. His clearly guarded posture broke with the gasp from Sadie.
Both turned to the water user as she spun her heel and sprinted back towards her crewmates. Tsubaki took an involuntary step back taken by surprise by Sadie's sudden change. Her friend's hand encircled her wrist pulling her along rapidly.
"What is it?" Asked Ace tensely as he ran to catch up. All other discord had been swallowed by that one gasp.
"Commander Thatch." Sadie seemed to bite back her words and the worry nesting in Tsubaki's stomach coiled tighter. "He needs us."
Ace's face shadowed as his expression went from concern to dark determination. He sped up to pass the girls and called over his shoulder, "Up or down?"
"Down." Sadie panted.
Tsubaki had begun running on her own and Sadie dropped her arm. The lingering sensation of Sadie's burning grip seemed to spurn her forward.
Ace's body flew into the air with his flames streaming behind him. Tsubaki quickly overtook Sadie as her friend's steps staggered. Sadie recovered quickly as continued to run as Ace's pummeled into the floor.
"Fire Fist!" he cried as he used his inferno to burn through the floor.
The pirates all dove through the opening to the floor below and continued to run.
"Once more!" Commanded Sadie.
There was no break in their run this time as Ace repeated his assault a second time. The
three pirates flowed through the opening with elegant cohesion. Ace veered right allowing Sadie to pass into the lead. Their footfalls called loudly to the nearby hunters, or maybe it was them destroying the floor, but either way they soon found themselves opposite a moderate sized mob
of masks. Unlike, Adrian's or Mila's masks, these hunters wore masks that completely covered
their faces. Blank expressionless ivory stared at them from numerous bodies. Tsubaki's red hair rushed forward and engaged the masks first. She expertly was taking their legs out and attacking weak points even without the use of her scalpels.
She let loose on the masks all the hurt that had accumulated within her, all the anxiety she had kept in check. With each jab at a joint or kick to soft tissue she broke down another wall she had built. Alongside her panting pulse she noticed a rushing roar in her ears.
She slowed down as she took out one more hunter with a cutting strike at the base of a masked man's head. He fell limply as she turned around. Ace sent burning punches at a few of the masks that had escaped her initial assault. Meanwhile, Sadie was finishing off the rest with her water blades. They would not be followed to be attacked again by any of these masks.
Tsubaki tried to slow her breathing, she was surprised to find that she was shaking again. Her emotions were too jumbled to make any sort of sense. However, if she had to put a name to it she supposed it was some form of relief. A sense of calm settling in at things being the way they are supposed to be. Taking another deep breath, she smiled at her nakama and forced her trembling to still.
….
Ace let his flames continue to breath their heat around him as he watched the two women closely. Sadie was moving quickly forward toward where he assumed Thatchie was. Depending on what they found, there would be hell to pay. As much as everyone on the Whitebeard crew was precious to him, that didn't mean that there weren't those that were more so than others.
As he moved to follow her he felt the fire at his fingertips drip sparks that floated through the air behind him. The pinpricks of awareness that slowly faded in his wake expanded his senses and he wondered idly if this was what Sadie's water portals were like.
Bolting down another hallway two figures hobbled around the corner. Ace's fingers swelled with fire at the sight. Thatchie leaned heavily against Marco with his characteristic goofy grin plastered on his pale face. Marco looked more annoyed than anything else as Thatch started waving wildly at them.
"You aren't exactly light-yoi." Grumbled Marco.
Thatch looked shocked as he glanced over to the Phoenix. "Are you admitting that you can't bear the weight of a solitary man." He shook his head, "My – my. Pineapples sure are weak these days."
Tsubaki's red hair streamed forward as she dashed to the clearly injured commander as Marco slowly lowered him to the ground. Ace felt himself restraining his urge to punch something. Since he had joined the crew he had never witnessed one of the Commanders injured. It breathed a manic intensity into his fire that he had to fight to control.
He leaned against a wall close to the others as he watched Tsubaki strip the pants leg from the frozen limb. His hands started to move toward the non-existant pockets and at the last second crossed his arms instead. His eyes fell on the ice crusted leg and Ace was hit with a nauseating wave of dèjá vu. The memory of Sadie's icy body leeching the heat from him heightened the anxiety he felt as he observed the medic tending to the leg.
"Sades." The medic's voice was analytical and calm. "Can you, melt the ice?"
Sadie knelt beside the red-head but shook her head, "Only the ice on the surface."
"Right." sighed the doctor. "Then, can you engulf his leg in water."
"Yes," Sadie nodded and began to accumulate water in her palms.
"Be careful not to warm his leg too quickly." Tsubaki warned.
"I know." Sadie sounded tired.
"It can do more damage if he warms up too quickly." The medic continued as if she hadn't heard.
"Tsubaki, I-Know." Ace blinked at the force in Sadie's voice. The only one he had ever heard her raise her voice to was him. It was kinda fun to see that spirit aimed at someone else.
"Now – Now girls. Let's not fight. There is plenty of the Amazing Thatch to go around." The cook grinned cockily at the women.
Both girls answered in unison, "PASS." and they went back to thawing out his leg.
Between the girls being 100% business and the mock look of heartbrokenness on Thatchie's face Ace couldn't help the chuckle that burst from his chest along with the laughing caw of Marco.
Sadie retreated her water and Tsubaki's fingers re-examined Thatchie's leg. She bent it at the knee and ankle inspecting each joint down to his toes. She nodded in satisfaction as she verbally declared. "Looks good, but you may experience some weakness for the next few days. You were quite lucky; a less resilient patient would have a least lost a few toes." She stood as she continued to lecture.
Ace laughed at his friend, "Hear that? She said that you're stubborn."
Thatch shook his head, "No, she said I was strong."
Tsubaki cut in demurely, "I believe the word I used was resilient."
"Exactly." Thatch and Ace said together, "Strong-Stubborn!
Sadie let out a prolonged suffering sigh. "Can we get out of here now?" Ace looked at her sourly for interrupting their lighthearted banter. What was her problem?
"I agree." added Tusbaki and she inched closer to Marco who swooped over to drape his arm over her shoulders.
Ace mentally conceded that getting out of here was the goal, but the raindrop had terrible timing.
"Well," grinned Thatch as he stretched out his previously frozen leg. "Does anyone object to continuing to make swiss cheese?"
He simply continued to smile at their confused faces as he approached a wall and made another opening to walk through. "Sampson is this way."
Ace returned his friend's grin. Going back to the ship meant food, and food was always welcome in Ace's world.
The 2nd division commander savored bringing up the rear. With all the banging and crashing that they stirred up more masks showed up and Ace got to burn each and every one into cinders. He let his fire spin across his fingers like a dancing fairy. His flame winked at him playfully as he shot another burst of fire at another wave of sacrifices.
Faster than he would have thought possible, there were standing just outside the maze. Ace noticed the critical gaze of Thatchie on the winding hedges. "I think we need toast the swiss cheese." He peered mischievously at Ace. "Don't you?"
Ace's eyes shined in understanding. "Hell yeah!" he crowed as he pulled fire to both his arms in a mane of burning glory. The manicured maze lit up in an instant burning quickly. The dying roar of the maze burned away all other sound, but he smiled at the sight. Turning, he saw Marco pulling Tsubaki close. It was time to get their sister home.
"Pirate-san!" Came a small cry barely audible above the rush of fire at his back.
Ace rounded to see two silhouettes embossed against the intense light from the raging fire. One tall, while the other was a young girl.
"Cherri-chan." Ace's gaze snapped to Thatch. "What are you doing here?"
Ace frowned in confusion. Why did Thatchie seem concerned about the little hunter? Two more forms came out of the fire. Soon, both the Swordsman and the slothful guard they met outside the maze stood on either side of Liam in his winking mask. The girl stood a little behind the three men.
A great boom shook the ground around them temporarily distracting everyone gathered.
The girl lifted two sad eyes to Thatch. "You're leaving?"
"This isn't my home. This isn't my family." He answered her kindly. Ace couldn't understand why Thatchie was so mellow about the whole thing. He was already burning to attack, but when he moved it would be as part of a unit.
"Cherri, restrain them." Commanded Liam coldly.
The girl looked up at the older hunter with open pained confusion. "But-but, Master said they were joining us."
Ace's own face tightened. Between the girl's unease and Thatchie's response to her, he wasn't sure he fully understood the situation.
"Master isn't here right now. So, do as I say." Spat Liam.
The girl whimpered and shrank away a little. After squeezing her teddy tighter, she resolutely shook her head no. Liam's face darkened as he turned with obvious malicious intent. Thatch moved in an instant swinging his sword down on the remaining mask. The air rippled as two swords met. The swordsman had moved in the same instant as Thatch to block his blade.
Ace growled as the two swordsmen started their battle dance. His eyes tried to follow the Liam as he sped into their group.
"Don't let him touch you!" Warned Sadie, her voice dipped in fear.
At the same time, he felt a light pressure brush against his arm and then rush on to Sadie. His heart stopped as he saw the blur rocket toward her. She was whirling into water, but even his eyes could tell that she wasn't fast enough. Their gazes met in a second of something more than concern for a friend. He was already rushing to her side as Marco moved to block Liam from reaching Tsubaki. Dominick flashed to the Phoenix to keep him from preventing Liam's attack.
Ace's fire burned free reaching its destructive fingers out from his shoulders. He tried to ignore the way that Sadie seemed to shrink away from him and focus solely on the hunters. The growl in his throat rumbled within his chest at the thought that his defenses had been penetrated so easily. His eyes lingered on both Thatch and Marco as they were fighting leaving him this sneaky bastard. His teeth pulled back sinisterly. There would be no more tricks, he just needed to burn him into ashes.
"Fire Fist!" The attack tore from his arms violently and charged toward the cyclopes hunter.
Liam dodged his fire and Ace redirected the burning mass to follow. Ace pumped his muscles to speed to where the hunter would land. He wouldn't let the man through his defenses a second time. Liam's lips were moving, saying something as he fell through the air. A flash of light drew Ace's attention to a simple coin flipping through the air. Liam landed and caught the coin smoothly. He held up the coin to show ace the weeping face carved into the coin.
"Trick." Chuckled Liam darkly and the world around Ace fell away.
….
Ace stood in an eerily familiar forest. He spun around to find both Sadie and Tsubaki with him in a small clearing.
"Where are we?" Asked Tsubaki with her held swiveling around trying to see everything. Sadie's reaction was smaller, with her eyes moving around more than her head.
"It isn't the same island we were on. the vegetation is wrong." Sadie observed.
Ace looked again at the trees around them. They were different, if anything he would say it looked like the trees from home.
"It's another illusion, isn't it?" Tsubaki's voice crashed over Ace.
"Illusion?" He tilted his head to the medic, however, Sadie answered.
"Liam uses a game called Trick or Treat that induces highly realistic illusions." He noted the tightness in her voice and wondered at its source, but looked around him again. He couldn't shake how familiar the trees were. If he didn't know better he would say that if they walked north a little ways they would find themselves at the ASL base.
Joyful laughter floated through the air around them.
"I'm going to be King of the Pirates!" a small voice shouted followed by more laughter. "Stop it!"
"Alright Luffy." Chuckled another voice. "Whatever you say."
"You shouldn't humor him. He is just a rubbery weakling." A third voice commented along with rustling amongst the leaves.
"Oof! Sabo!" cried the small voice.
Ace's mouth had gone dry. The voice squeezed him making it hard to breath.
"Awww, come on Ace. - It's alright Luffy, you will get stronger."
Ace was distantly aware that the others were staring at him, but his attention was focused on the voice of his lost brother.
"You're too soft on him." little Ace observed annoyed.
Sabo laughed, "What can I say? He may be troublesome, but he is our little brother."
Ace's feet carried him forward toward the voices. He passed through the dense trees with practiced ease. He might as well never have left two years ago. He heard the others behind him, but his eyes just kept searching for the tattered top hat he knew Sabo wore.
The pirates broke through into another clearing and looked down on three dirty little boys.
….
Sadie kept glancing back at Ace, not sure what was happening. This seemed to be something from Ace's memory. She didn't recognize their surroundings and from Tsubaki's reaction she guessed that her friend didn't either. Even considering that, Ace's reaction to the voices had still surprised her. He had paled the instant the voices started and now he was staring at the boys as if they were ghosts. Then again, she thought, she supposed they could be.
She looked at the young boys more critically, trying to solve the puzzle. The older raven-haired boy was clearly Ace. She swallowed the giggle that threatened to escape. Despite the stubborn frown tugging down on his face, Ace's cute little face adorned with freckles was endearing. The other two she didn't know, but assumed one was his brother Luffy. She paused looking at the boys and the adult Ace, one of the voices had said that Luffy was their brother. So, maybe they were all brothers.
Ace collapsed onto the grass in front of the boys his head in his hands. Sadie started to him, but he shot out an arm preventing her from coming closer. She stared at his hunched back. It seemed so lonely, isolated. The wide Whitebeard mark inked across his skin never seemed so melancholy.
She pressed her lips together into a tight line but didn't move closer. Sadie looked sidelong at Tsubaki and saw the worry alight in her green eyes.
"Oi! I wanna eat meat!" Declared the smallest. grabbing his straw hat.
"Shut-up!" scowled young Ace. A trio of stomachs rumbled in the midst of the leaves.
Adult Ace chuckled a little making Sadie think that maybe they didn't have anything to worry about. "They're my brothers." Ace finally spoke quietly as he watched the children. His face lit by a soft smile.
Sadie breathed deeply, based on his reaction earlier she didn't think that this story had a happy ending. After sharing a look with Tsubaki, the girls sat down on either side of Ace.
"The brat is me." He grinned as if he was proud of his bad attitude. The boys were arguing if they should have bear, alligator, or tiger for dinner. "The squirt is Luffy." His grin widened shinning with affection. "And, and that one." He pointed to the blonde boy in the top hat. "Is Sabo." His smile shrank until it was somewhat somber as he watched Sabo declare that if they weren't going to eat tiger, there wasn't any point in hunting together.
"Ne, Commander Ace." Tsubaki started hesitantly. Her eyes met Sadie's for an instant before continuing. "We can't stay here."
Ace breathed out a long whoosh of air, "I know." He returned but didn't move.
Sadie watched Tsubaki fidget uncomfortably. "Sades, do you have any ideas to get us out of here?"
Ace twitched a little at her words but continued to watch the fighting brothers.
"Only one." Sadie felt herself smile. This was the perfect opportunity to get her revenge. She shivered slightly remembering how he had drooled on her during their journey to Rosoideae. A good smack had startled Tsubaki out of the illusion, maybe that was all that was needed.
She got to her feet and Ace ignored her in favor of watching the boys who were now wrestling in the dirt. Luffy crying slightly as young Ace hit him on top of the head. Sadie's grin darkened behind the unsuspecting commander. She shifted her arm into water and let it swell slightly to create a larger fist.
Sadie breathed slowly focusing on stilling the movements of the water molecules in her arm. Frost coasted her arm solidifying from the outside inward. Serves him right for slobbering on me, she thought scenically while drawing her arm back. A whoosh of cold air brushed her cheek as she let her fist fly toward the back of Ace's head.
"Well, let's go." Ace declared, as he quickly got to his feet and moved out of range sending Sadie crashing to the ground.
The taste of mud filled her mouth as her face scrunched up in frustration.
"Oh, Sadie-chan. What are you doing down there? We can't stay here you know." Ace said off-handedly.
Sadie spat out the mud on her tongue and bit back the reply that sat underneath. Just wait Portgas D. Ace, you will get yours. She swore to herself. This was not over.
The floor shook with the rumble of something large approaching.
"A tiger!" cheered Sabo.
"An Alligator!" Declared Luffy.
"No, It's a bear!" Corrected young Ace standing ready with his pole.
Everyone turned toward the sound to see what it was that approached.
"We should go, NOW." insisted Tsubaki.
"No, wait." Ace's eyes were alight as he watched the shifting leaves waiting for the reveal. "I want to see what it is."
Sadie didn't think that he really did. Ace was too far down memory lane to notice the shift in the air. Whatever it was that approached was more than just some dumb beast. Tsubaki joined her on Ace's other side tugging on the commander who stubbornly only took a step in the direction they pulled.
Sadie grit her teeth when an enormous bear broke into the clearing charging directly at Luffy. The small boy was mauled instantly left in a bloody mess on the forest floor.
"LUFFY!" screamed both Aces and Sabo.
The girls had a harder time holding Ace back now. There was nothing he could do but get hurt. "Commander Ace! It's not real. We need to leave!" She tried to reason.
"No! Luffy! Let me go!" Screamed Ace flaming out of their arms to rocket at the bear.
Sadie could feel his pain alight in his fire as he deftly took out the mountain of a beast. Ace's flaming fist connected with the bear's jaw sending it crashing to the ground. The animal shook it's flaming head and got to its feet unstably to stumble off into the woods.
"Luffy! Luffy! Hang in there!" Cried the boys over the half dead body of their little brother.
Sadie snuck a glance at Tsubaki and she read the dull shine to her green eyes that the boy wasn't likely survive such injuries. Turning back to Ace, the commander stood still behind his brothers looking down at Luffy his face shadowed, cutting him off from those around him.
A shot rang out and Sabo fell back to the ground. Ace's knees buckled so that he fell with his brother to the ground.
"SABO!" The raw agony in young Ace's voice was painful for her to hear, she couldn't imagine what it was like for Ace. "Please don't leave me!"
A world noble came strutting into the clearing with his bubble hat. "Ikk! It's still breathing." The world noble raised his gun to shot again.
Young Ace's eyes burned at the fat man as he moved to stand defensively in front of his brothers. "Fuck off Bastard!" he cursed at the stranger.
Sadie saw the shift in adult Ace just in time. She let her water flow to him trapping him in a globe of water. He immediately wilted under the influence of being submerged in water. "I'm sorry Ace." She was surprised at the empathy in her voice. She ached for him and for his pain. "I'm so sorry."
His angry eyes seared into her through her water, but he slowly fizzled out and neared unconsciousness.
AN: Thanks for stopping by to read. :) Reviews are always appreciated. Until next time, Laugh Like Luffy!