(A/N) Another week, another chapter. So far so good?
LB
Chapter 37
Third POV
The two feuding Whitebeards walked back to the resort the night before in silence. They kept up their barrier of silence till, in the middle of the night, when Mila yelled at Ace to shut up when he started to snore. The only sound they made that morning were yummies sounds while they ate their room service breakfast. Foodvalten lived up to their reputation, pleasing Mila, who never seemed to remember how delicious the food was there and to Ace, who had never tasted anything so delectable. And it was only breakfast.
In this battle of silence, both parties were determined to win. So much so that they both sat on their own bed facing each other and glared. It was still early morning and they had plenty of time left in the day to go to Broadus, so that meant they had time to face each other down till someone broke down and proposed they leave.
Ace sat on his bed with his long legs hanging over the side while leaning back on his hands. His hat was already perched on his head and shading his glare. Mila longed to tell how impolite it was to wear a hat indoors, but refrained for the sake of winning their unspoken competition. Mila was crossed legged on her bed, elbows propped on her knee and her chin in her hands. She wore her purple polka dotted shorts, which she knew Ace thought were ridiculous.
Their steely gazes were only matched by their locked lips, it was a battle to the death. But it seemed that for them that it was going to have be drawn as a tie because their room's transponder snail rang.
Mila looked from Ace to the snail, then back again with raised eyebrows. Ace just raised an eyebrow in return and gave her an incredulous look. She shrugged and looked away innocently. Groaning, Ace got up and picked up the the snail.
"Hello, this is Ace speaking," he said grudgingly, aiming a displeased look towards Mila, who was smirking triumphantly.
"Ace, good, you're not dead," Marco spoke from the other end, "How are you?"
"I've been better," he grumbled and shot another look at Mila, who stuck her tongue out at him.
The snail squinted it's sleepy eyes, "Is Mila there?"
"Here," she squeaked. Her voice was a little out of use that morning and came out sounding a little like a prepubescent boy's voice cracking.
Ace snorted at her, not even trying to hide his grin. Mila scowled at him and whipped a pillow off her bed at launched it at his head. Ace dodged the pillow with a simple duck, but was taken down by a book that came soon after. His devil fruit automatically flared up and set the offending book on fire.
Mila screeched and dived toward the flaming book with a blanket from her bed. Ace dropped the snail's receiver and tried to pat down the flames, but only added to them.
"Stop flame brains, you're making it worse!" Mila screamed and flapped the blanket over the burning book, trying to smother it.
"You stop it! You're making it bigger," Ace leaped over Mila and his bed to grab a pitcher of water from breakfast.
"Mila! Ace! Whats happening?" Marco howled at them through the snail.
Ace was too busy dumping a glass of water onto Mila and the book to respond.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Mila jumped to her feet, her front soaking. "Where the hell were you aiming?
"For the fucking fire, where else?" Ace screamed back, matching Mila's rising volume.
"Fire? What fire?" Marco barked through the snail, but no one was paying attention to it.
"Well," Mila gestured to her sopping clothes, "You missed. And ruined my book. I hadn't even finished it yet."
Ace folded his arms, "That teaches you not to throw shit at people doesn't it?"
Mila's cheeks puffed up like an angry fish. She was about to dispel the air in exchanged for some foul words when their walls shook with the force of someone's fist on the other side.
"Shut up or I'm calling security," the occupant from the room next to them yelled.
That proved to be enough for them to paused their fight. Both were breathing hard, their hearts pounding.
As they were halted in the aftermath of the tiny adrenaline rush, Marco took this as his opportunity to butt in, "What the hell just happened?"
"Ace set my book on fire."
"Mila threw her book at me."
"And then you set it on fire."
"Thats not my fault, it was my devil fruit."
"Your devil fruit your problem."
"I can't-"
"SHUT UP" Marco bellowed through the snail.
Ace and Mila shut up.
"Are you children?" Marco seethed, "because the way you're bickering suggests just that. You are representing the Whitebeard Pirates and you will act like it. For gods sakes, what is wrong with you two? You can barely be in the same room with each other without causing mass destruction, you'd think that you aren't part of the same crew, brother and sister. And I swear on the grandline, if you continue this behavior i'll sentence you both to bathroom duty for the rest of your days on the sea. After I tell Pops how disgraceful and impetulant you've been. Do you understand?"
Ace and Mila traded glances, their remorse clear in each other's eyes. Mila's moss green eyes shone with shame. Even after receiving a lecture from Marco the night before, she had still acted childishly. She may only be fourteen, but she would not be called a child again. It wasn't what it took to become the second division commander.
Ace's dark eyes were dull with disgrace. He was Mila's elder, and like her told her the night before, he should be looking out for her, not setting her books on fire. He so wanted to find his home with the Whitebeards, but if her couldn't get along with Mila, would it ever feel real?
"Yes," they said in unison.
Marco sighed, "You don't have to like each other, just learn how to get along. How to act civil while together." He paused, regaining composure, "Call me later in the week to check in. If you find anything, make sure to report back, good luck." The snail clicked off, leaving Mila and Ace alone in their room.
~Meanwhile on the Moby Dick~
Marco dropped his head in his hands. They were going to be the death of him.
"That was rough," Thatch commented from Marco's office doorway. A wry smile stretched across his face.
"You're telling me," Marco scrubbed him face with his hands, feeling his real age for once. Those youngsters really knew how to make a Phoenix feel old.
"I haven't heard you use your papa bird voice with Mila since she was little. I can't say I've missed it," Thatch joked as he pushed into Marco's office. "I haven't seen her act this way in a long time either. Maybe when she first me Jinbe, she only tried to kill him a few times. Look on the bright side, she hasn't tried to kill Ace yet."
He looked up between his fingers at Thatch, "Yet, she hasn't tried to kill him yet."
"She got over it eventually. I think Jinbe brought her some old fishman manuscript or something. And now look at them, she doesn't mind him at all."
"It almost only took her a year, I don't think I can survive a year of this. And considering Ace just set one of Mila's books on fire, I don't think anything good will be happening between them for awhile."
"Ace is alive after that?" Thatch gasped, "thats a miracle if I've ever heard of one." Thatch came around and clapped Marco on the shoulder, "Don't worry about it pineapple head, they'll be fine."
Marco leaned back in his desk chair and stared at the planked ceiling, "I don't believe it."
~Back on Foodvalten~
"As you can see, production is going smoothly," explained one of the head scientist in the Boardus laboratory, Dr. Soten.
After their embarrassing call with Marco that morning, Ace and Mila had come to a begrudging truce of sorts. A truce as in the started talking to each other. They had discussed a plan of questioning before heading across the island.
Ace had been pleasantly surprised by the island so far, and Boardus did not disappoint. The way Mila had described it, he had expected a dirty, immoral series of institutions peddling cheap and dangerous product out through the back door. Instead, Ace was greeted with professional scientists and manufactures working in clean labs and assembly lines to produce a safe, fun product.
Dr. Soten had met them at the entrance of the town to show them around, apparently he had heard they were coming. He had led them through multiple factories owned by a few different companies and walked them past a few stores they used to peddle the merchandise. Ace found it very interesting, inquiring about their different products and their effects. Ace had never been big on drugs, ever, but Boardus's methods and standards intrigued him. Not enough to try anything though.
Mila, on the other hand, knew everything there was to know about the product. When she had heard about this particular territory of Whitebeard's, she had requested they sent over all of their paper work, including research, sales and production reports. She had read through every report they sent to Whitebeard since then. Her questions were aimed more in trying to find a discrepancy between what they had sent them in the report and what was really happening. So far, she'd come up empty.
Both had refrained from asking about the mysterious drug they had came to investigate.
"What is the average production time for this unit per hour?" Mila asked, knowing the answer already.
"It's about 34 units per hour on a good day," replied Dr. Soten easily. That match the data Mila had. Soten had been easy to reveal any and all information the two had asked him for. He didn't seem suspicious at all. But the guilty ones never did.
As Soten led Ace and Mila out of the last production center, they exchanged looks, agreeing that now would be the time to ask any of their more, sensitive, questions.
"So, Dr. Soten have you noticed anything off, going on around Boardus?" Ace asked nonchalantly as he slid his hands into his cargo short pockets.
"Off?" Soten considered the question, "No, not really. The only thing thats changed in the last few months has been you guys."
"Us?" Mila asked.
He nodded, "Yes, I've seen at least six different members of your crew come and go through here in the past month, asking the same questions?"
"What kind of questions?"
"Just about our process and products," he remarked in a noncommittal tone.
Mila tucked her arms behind her back and stared down the Doctor, "And you haven't come across anything new since someone last talked to you?"
Soten matched her gaze, "No, I can't say I have."
"That's a shame," Ace said, "But if you do, you'd be sure to contact us, right?"
Soten nodded with a tight lipped smile. As if on queue, a young apprentice came over to the doctor and whispered something in his ear before handing him a thick folder. Soten quickly scanned the documents before nodding and turning to the pirates. "I'm so sorry, but my attentions are needed elsewhere." Soten admitted.
"I hope nothing too serious," Mila remarked with a sickly sweet tone. How he had reacted to their last few questions had set off something in Mila. Though he didn't offer veiled threats or hint at suspicions like she and Ace did, something underlying in his tone spoke differently.
"Of course not. Thank you for visiting our facilities, I hope you'll visit again soon." He nodded to them and walked off, the folder close to his chest. His apprentice followed soon after, but not before sneaking a glance at Mila and Ace.
"I feel like that was a waste of time," Ace slouched against a nearby wall, "We know nothing more than we did coming in."
"Basically," Mila shrugged, "But he's got to know something, right? If most of all of the missing crew members have met with him, then there's obviously a reason to talk to him."
"You'd think. But then again, all of them are missing, so what do they really know."
She rolled her eyes, "Then what do you suggest we do? We have nothing to go off of if we disregarded everything they did. And from what Marco said, a few felt like they were close to finding out the problem before they disappeared."
"Have you guys consider that they just left, like joined a new crew and went back out to sea? We might not be looking for a kidnapper, but someone who's been scouting our members?" Ace offered with a shrug.
Mila's thoughtful expression twisted into anger, "This is why I think your stupid. Whitebeards don't just 'leave'," she scrunched little air quotes at Ace while she spoke. "This is a life commitment. Not because you're forced into it, but because its family. Those men missing aren't just crew members, they're brothers. If you really were a Whitebeard, you'd understand that." She turned away from him, trying not to get into another fight per Marco's instructions. "I'll be right back, I forgot something in the lab." Mila said and walked off, leaving Ace up against the wall feeling shitty.
Did she expect him to suddenly have years worth of familial feeling like she did? It hadn't even been a year since he found himself on the Moby Dick, and for most of it he wanted to kill Whitebeard. He did consider most of them friends, and valued their friendship, but he couldn't tell where in time friends turned into family. From the little he had heard about Mila joining the crew, it had only taken a day. She had been desperate for a family when they met though, Ace already had a family, Luffy, Sabo and maybe even Garp. What did that mean for him then? He loved being a part of Whitebeard's crew, more than he like being captain of his own, but everyone saw it more than a crew, they saw what Ace couldn't, a family. Where did it leave him?
Jerking him from his morbid thoughts, Mila blinked in front of him, causing him to jerk off the wall.
"Let's go," Mila grabbed his wrist and tugged him toward the town entrance. In her other hand she clutched a thick file to her chest.
"Mila," Ace started hesitantly, "What did you do?"
She didn't halt in her march out of town, "We gotta go before someone notices this is gone."
Shrugging, Ace went with it. Since she didn't seem to upset about what he said earlier, he thought it best to go with it. "Well you better hurry up then." Ace used his longer legs and passed her by, dragging her instead.
Behind him, Mila grinned and picked up her pace.