Here's a two shot! I had wanted it to be a lot longer, but it just wasn't panning out, but I am glad how much of a brat Ace was in this. Such a little shit head, lol. I had fun writing it. So, sorry if it's length is disappointing, but enjoy~
Ace impersonated a human on this massive crew, and easily walked through the halls and to the kitchen. He made sure nobody was around before digging into the fridge, finding the best meat dishes. There was a tub of nicely cooked chicken. He took that out and sat on the kitchen floor, under the island counter, and gorged himself on the chicken, legs crossed.
Nobody came into the kitchen, which was nice for him. He ended up finishing off the whole tub. Then he put it back in the fridge empty. He snickered, and ran his hand through his human hair. He had the face of somebody not remarkable. He didn't stand out, which was the best. Nobody would look twice at him if they saw him in the halls.
This was how he robbed pirates blind. Impersonated boring looking humans, or those on their crew, and stole food or treasure right under their noses. He went back into the fridge and pulled out a chocolate cupcake. He shamelessly ate it and then went for a vanilla one. This ship had damn good food.
"And what are you doing?" a man in a chef's outfit said angrily. Oh, it was one of those kinds. The chefs that hated others being in their kitchen. He'd come across it many times when he was stealing food openly. Ace made himself look guilty.
"I was hungry," Ace said in an embarrassed voice.
"You know better! Just eat from the snack storage! You are helping me clean this mess up right now!" Ace didn't see much of a mess. He nodded, and said he was going to go get the rags, looking like a kicked puppy. "Hurry up! And you better be damn ready to clean!" The guy was furious. Damn.
He went into the hall, and then the bathroom and changed forms and clothes. He walked back out, and the chef went searching for the person, yelling about the fact they ran off. Ace walked past him, and asked if everything was okay. "One of our guys just ate a shit ton of food out of the refrigerator and then ran off!"
"Well, that was a mistake," Ace replied. This crew was so large that the chef didn't notice two of the people there werent even on the crew. It was entertaining. The issue with a big crew. You couldn't keep track of everybody. With how big this one was, sliding in disguise was easy as hell. He walked back down the hall and then said he wanted to get some soda. If that was okay. "Yeah, go for it," the chef said, still irritated. Ace went to this snack storage that he was told about, and took out a soda. He popped the lid open and drank a full one, and then another. He loved the taste of meat and sugar. They were his favorite human foods, and could be prepared in so many different ways.
He wanted to get into more food from the fridge, but resisted. He tossed the empty cans into the recycling barrel, and looked around. The log pose didn't set for another two days. He wasn't going to be on the ship and just have them sail away with him aboard. He walked through the halls, looking for a bathroom. This ship was huge, they had to have a bathhouse.
Finding one in a hall with tons of bedrooms, all with bunks, he went inside and drew a bath. He did what humans did and wrapped a towel around his waist and crotch. He'd much rather bathe in his true form, but having some weird creature in the bath wouldn't work for anybody. So he undressed and got into the hot water without a second thought.
He sunk into the water, lazing around. Nobody came in. Maybe it just wasn't the time most people bathed. Ace washed himself fully with tons of soap and washed his hair. Between appearances, he still would be dirty or clean. He had a preferred human form that he'd crafted and not stolen, but he was pretty noticeable and that wouldn't do on a pirate ship where he had to blend in.
Once the water was cold, he dunked under fully, and treated the tub like a pool. It was big and deep enough to be one. Once it was too cold for his liking, he got out and dressed. To be honest, he looked like a bum, but he'd noticed there were many humans on this ship that looked that way.
Draining the tub, he left satisfied. He walked back out as a different person, this time a normal looking guy. He went looking for a place to sleep. He found a room with tons of books, a library, and saw some very inviting couches. He flopped down on one and closed his eyes. This was nice.
He napped for two hours before he wondered what he should do now. He'd already used their bathroom, kitchen and had taken a nice nap. Well, maybe it was time to leave. He had done enough today. He stretched and then stood up. But he saw the captain and first mate there. He didn't wince or look fearful. He gave a respectful nod and tried to walk past them, but the first mate grabbed his arm, stopping him. "What's wrong?" Ace asked innocently, making himself look confused. "Am I in trouble or something?"
"There are indeed many of us, but I know the faces of all of my children. You are not one of them," the captain said coldly. Ace sighed. Damn, he'd been caught. Well, whatever happened happened. He was immortal, there was no point in worrying about things like this.
He sighed, "Damn, you caught me. But all I did was eat some food, take a bath and then a nap. It's not like I hurt anybody." His voice was casual. The utter absence of fear or worry surprised both men. He was unafraid of either of them. Even the glares of the yonko didn't frighten him. The first mate demanded to know who he was, and how he thought he'd get away with this.
Ace transformed to his preferred human form. A physically fit man with black hair and freckles, looking to be in his early twenties or late teens. He walked to the couch and sat down in a relaxed manner. "I do it all the time and never get found out. I'm impressed you caught me. There are so many people here I thought I'd infiltrated perfectly."
Whitebeard asked who he was. "Ace. I haven't stolen any treasure or anything. You can check my pockets. Only took some food and bathing products."
"You're really pissing me off," Marco snapped. Ace liked pissing people off. He was a person who didn't worry. He put his knuckles to the corners of his eyes and made a pout.
"Boo hoo," Ace simpered obnoxiously. His face turned red in anger and Ace grinned in amusement. "Well, I have nothing else to do here. I'll just take my leave now, huh?" he said, and stood and stretched. Whitebeard was looking at him in suspicion. He'd no doubt never had anyone act like this in front of him before. Unafraid and just generally disrespectful.
He said, "You're not leaving her unscathed with how disrespectful you've been to myself and Marco." Ace pointed out that they werent his superiors. "We're pirates, and you did steal from us." Ace lightly asked if they were going to kill him. Marco grabbed him from behind and forced him to walk forward.
"So, you gonna lock me up or something?"
"Or something," Marco sneered.
"Don't look so angry, you look much better all bored and gloomy," Ace casually said. Whitebeard asked who he was really. "I told you. Ace. I don't have an occupation or surname. You don't need to hold so tight, I'm not exactly resisting." Marco just tightened his hands. Ace was led down some stairs and to a dungeon brig.
He'd been in one of these places before. He was unafraid. Being starved wouldn't be very fun, though. But he could escape by just turning into a smaller animal. He wasn't restrained to only turning into a human. Man, confusing them would be so fun. He couldn't wait. He was shoved into a cell, and cuffed in sea stone.
It did nothing, as he was not a devil fruit user. He just propped himself against the wall and crossed his legs. "So, what's the plan after this? Keeping me here, you'll just have to waste food feeding me, giving me water. Besides, I sincerely think eating and taking a bath don't warrant being chained up like this."
"Shut up," Marco said.
"Okay," Ace said. Whitebeard had his eyes narrowed at Ace in suspicion and a bit of confusion. Ace didn't act how he should in this situation. Anyone else would be afraid, worried, angry, upset. Ace didn't seem bothered at all. They didn't seem to know what to do with him, to be honest.
They left him there, maybe to go cool off. The brig door shut behind them. Ace sat there for a bit before he got bored fairly quickly. There was nothing to do or look at in there. The previous times he'd been in dungeons, there were other people there to annoy and frustrate. He enjoyed pressing humans' buttons. They get angry so easily.
Ace decided to throw them off, and changed into a mouse to leave the handcuffs and walk through the bars. He changed back into his normal human form and popped his neck. He left the brig, snickering, and wandered up the stairs and down the halls, out to deck. He found Whitebeard in a huge chair, surrounded by a few others, including the chef he'd pissed off, and Marco.
"Hey!" Marco shouted, running at him and pinning him down. "How the hell did you get out?!" he demanded.
"I walked out. How else would I get out?" Ace said simply. "I would have stayed if it wasn't so boring. There aren't even any others to piss off." Ace was laying on the deck, surrounded by crabby looking pirates. Marco demanded to know what his devil fruit was. Ace said he was magic.
Marco looked furious and one in a kimono walked up to him and told him to cool down. The man let up, only for a gun to be pressed to Ace's forehead. This was unfortunate. He didn't enjoy being shot. "This is a bit extreme, don't you think?" he asked, no longer smiling, but not showing fear. The man moved the gun and shot his palm, making Ace grunt.
"Izo, that was too far," Thatch said in disapproval. "He's annoying, but you don't torture him!" Ace dug his other hand into the wound and pulled the bullet out. He moved his shot hands and wiped the blood all over Izo's face. He had make-up on and a fancy hairdo. Surely that took a lot of work.
"Did I ruin your makeup?" he asked with a sneer. Izo was held from behind, threatening death to the young man, trying to get out of the grip. Ace stood up and looked at his hand. Asshole. Nobody knew what to do with him.
"You sure are a disrespectful brat," Whitebeard said, not in an angry way.
"Making people angry is fun. See ya! I guess yonko crews aren't as strong as they're chalked up to be," Ace said, and walked off of the ship. But this got them, and he was hit by a burst of conquering haki. Even he couldn't fight this. Looked like he pressed a button too hard. That last part was unnecessary.
When he woke up, he was back in the brig. In front of him sat the chef. "Yo, I'm Thatch. You stole food from me and lied about it." Ace said he was hungry and that the food smelled great. Then he told him the chicken and vanilla cupcakes were the best he'd ever had. "Hey, thanks. So, you are a real little shit, aren't you?"
Ace proudly said, "Yes, I am."
"You sure pissed Izo off. Though he did shoot your hand." Ace looked down and saw it had been treated. He was glad it wasn't left alone. It would heal on its own quickly, but it still was glad to not see the hole. His fingers were stiff and he couldn't move them too much. "It'll heal." Ace noticed he wasn't in sea stone, he wasn't even cuffed. "Well, we couldn't keep you in the cuffs the first time. But I won't let you leave the cage."
"What if I showed you some really hot boobs. Then will you let me out?" Thatch snorted and looked at him in shock. "What, don't men like tits?" The man asked him not to flash breasts. Ace shrugged. "Your loss I guess. So how long are you gonna keep me locked up in here? It's wasting your own time, too, isn't it?"
Thatch said he didn't know what they were going to do with him. "You were a prick to us, and as a yonko crew, we have to keep up appearances. Do you have a death wish or some shit?" Ace simply said he was just unafraid. "Then you're an idiot."
Ace decided to mess with him, and transformed himself into Thatch, up to every little feature. "That's crazy! I didn't know there was a devil fruit out there like this!" Marco walked in, and glared.
"There is no devil fruit like that. I looked. How'd you get out of the sea stone?" he demanded. Man he really hated Ace. Looks like he really pressed the right buttons. He glared at Ace like he was something nasty. Ace turned into Marco and flipped him off. Thatch laughed and said Ace was amazing. "Don't be so immature, he's just a brat who doesn't think he'll face any negative consequences."
"Boo hoo," Ace did again, this time making the movement and expression of Marco's own face. A tick appeared on the pirate's face. "You clearly don't want me here anymore, let me go."
"I don't understand it, but apparently we're keeping you here." Ace rolled his eyes, saying he wouldn't be a satisfying prisoner. "No, he wants to keep you on the ship. As in the crew." He said it in complete distaste.
"...What?" Ace asked, all traces of amusement off of his face. "No way am I gonna stay with you people." Marco sneered, now that Ace wasn't happy. Ace narrowed his eyes at him back.
Thatch was watching in silence. "You liked using our bath and couches plenty, before. What, now that you're stuck here you don't want to be? You'll even have a bed, in a stuffy room with a bunch of older men, farting while you all sleep." He was amused by Ace's anger. The tables had turned, but Ace had his own secret weapon.
He stood up. "You're the first mate, aren't you?"
"That's right?"
"So, you have an image to keep up?" Marco narrowed his eyes. "What would you men think if I was in your body, with a lovely tutu on?" He transformed into Marco and wore a pink fluffy boa and red heart glasses on. "What would your men think if they saw you like this? Or maybe, if I took a photo of myself like this, and I sent it to the marines? Surely you wouldn't want some terrible photo of you all over the world?"
Thatch's jaw dropped, and he started laughing. Marco told him if he did that, then he would murder him. "Yikes. Not a very good superior if I'm staying on this ship from now on. Might want to control your temper, Mar-chan."
"Ahahahaha! I love this guy!" Thatch roared with laughter. Ace turned back into his human form. He was smirking at the man, who had no good threat in response. Ace could ruin his entire image in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. "As long as you don't do that shit to me," the chef added sternly.
Ace grinned. "I think I'll have the most fun pissing him off. I won't be a good member of this crew. I'm not gonna help you clean, deal with storms, nothing. I'll enjoy having any bed and free reign of the bathhouses." Marco hated him already. Ace could leave whenever he wanted. Just turn into a bird or sea creature and ditch. But he would have fun pissing off Marco the most. To have such a strong and well known man bend to his knee to keep his image clean. He asked to be let out, now.
"No. you're staying until we're far from the island so you can't leave," Marco said. Ace put his finger to his chin. He didn't like that answer.
He replied, "Nope. I'm disobeying your first order as my superior. I don't want to stay in here." He looked around and saw a vent. It had to lead out of the room. Ace turned into a bird and out of the cage bars. He walked right to the brig door and opened it. "Bye bye, brig. Thatch, will you get me some food?"
"Absolutely. I love this guy already." Marco was left to steam in the brig, completely defeated. Of course Ace could do the same to everyone on the crew, including the captain, but that would be a death wish, he was sure. They went to the kitchen, Thatch's arm around Ace's shoulders. He was asking Ace questions about himself, but he kept the answers vague. Mostly because he couldn't answer any of them truthfully.
He had no family, his birthplace had been obliterated thirty years ago. He had no real history that would be acceptable. And he would never be himself here. At least, not in front of everyone else. Thatch baked him a cake, Ace watching in interest about how it all worked. The chef took a real liking to him already, just because he beat the first mate in a match that wasn't just about strength.
Ace was cunning and bratty. Marco's worst nightmare. Oh, he would enjoy this. Haruta walked in, asking why Ace was there and not locked up. He and Thatch were close, apparently. Haruta disliked Ace, how he treated them all in the beginning. "Haruta, you will not believe what happened with him and Marco."
"Oh? Oh, what happened?" the other leader asked, already excited to hear the story. Thatch explained the confrontation between Ace and Marco, and laughed his ass off. "Oh, man, he's gonna hate your guts! You just made things a lot harder for yourself." Ace shrugged. The three of them enjoyed the chocolate lava cakes. Completely rewarding Ace for bad behavior.
To them all, he was the youngest. He was actually the oldest, even more than Whitebeard, but he never aged in maturity. He lived to have fun, no matter at whose expense. While they were eating, Whitebeard came in, and asked what they were all doing. "Eating a cake with our new friend," Haruta said innocently.
"Well, I understand why you two feel that way. Marco told me about it. You're pretty cheeky, huh? But if you do that, then there will be severe punishment," Whitebeard said conversationally.
"Hmmm, I could always do the same for you," Ace said with a sneaky grin, getting a dark look from the captain. "But, I'm not stupid. Doing that will get me as good as dead. But, you should know that I'm not joining because I want to. I don't care if I get in trouble, I'll do whatever I want. I'm about to be the problem child."
He ate his cake, and then said he wanted to take a bath. "You sure picked a tricky one, Pops," he heard Thatch say.
"Don't reward his bad behavior," Whitebeard scolded Thatch and Haruta. "I understand why you two would like him so far, but still. He needs to know there are consequences to his actions." Ace didn't go to the bath. People stared at him in surprise, since he was supposed to be being held in the brig for now.
Ace looked up at the crowsnest, but couldn't climb it with his hand like this. He changed into a bird and then up and back into his human form. People below were shocked at the power. Ace looked up at the sky, laying on the bench of the crowsnest. Despite him looking forward to pissing off Marco, this wasn't the situation he wanted to be in.
He never planned on staying. That was never even an option, never crossed his mind. He had no belongings, but if he did, they just took him away without any of it. That bugged him. Ace turned into his normal form up there. He could just convince them his real true form was the human one he'd crafted. Not this body. More of an animalistic body.
Even if he could still speak in that form, he still looked like some sort of animal. He learned long ago that people took you less seriously and gave less respect if you didn't look human. He moved so his belly was in the sun. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This really sucked.
"You already know where the bathroom is and all. You're put in the fourth division. Jozu wont take bullshit from you," Whitebeard said. Ace was less than cooperative, just wandering into every room they passed. But the captain was fine with him exploring, which was annoying. Ace saw Jozu while he was faking his identity before.
He didn't care who his superior was. Who he was assigned to. He wasn't here willingly, why would he listen to anyone else? Ace had his hand checked out and rewrapped before the tour. He was told by Thatch that nobody was allowed to go into the fridge, only the snack closet. When he was shown the bunk room he'd be staying in, Ace already planned to not sleep in there.
There was no way he was going to sleep with four other men in that room. He saw there was a vent. He'd get out that way and find a better place to sleep. They passed Marco in the hall, and Ace did the "boo hoo" face again. He cackled when Marco seethed. After that, he was introduced to Jozu, who was less than impressed with his attitude.
"You won't be a prick to me or I'll assign you chores you definitely don't want to do." Ace did a salute and said, "Yes, sir", which annoyed Jozu. He would be on the top bunk in that room, which was the closest to the vent. Great! Already a convenient thing. Ace was not planning on staying on this ship, and was content to know he could leave at any time without them stopping him in any way.
He went to the infirmary upon request to fill out paperwork on his health and get to know the nurses, who were the doctors. He didn't really know what to tell them. He could create his own health problems if he wanted to. So he did. He said he had high blood pressure. Didn't want to seem too healthy.
Being asked all of these questions about family conditions, Ace just said he didn't know a thing about his family or their health issues, if they had any. "And what about your devil fruit? Does that have any drawbacks?"
"Nope."
"Any weakness?"
"Not that I've noticed." He heard Marco waiting outside of the door. He didn't tell them about his superior senses to any human. They didn't need to know that. Then people would know he could eavesdrop any time he wanted. So, was Marco listening in? "Well, I do have a time limit on how long I can stay in one form," he lied. There was no limit.
If that was true, he would be limited on how long he was in human form. "Well, your bloodwork is strange," Whiskey said vaguely. She was the head doctor. Ace said he didn't know why his blood work would be strange, and asked if it was a problem. He made himself sound worried. "Not necessarily. It could be due to a devil fruit. Marco's bloodwork is odd due to his own devil fruit."
Ace let out a relieved sigh. "I've not been to the doctors in a very long time."
"Why not?"
"I'm healthy," Ace replied. Marco finally made himself known, saying it was dinner time. He stood up, with nurses staying behind to file things away. Ace walked right out the infirmary and was grabbed by the arm from Marco.
"Stop lying. I'm serious. We don't lie here," he said firmly.
"I didn't come here voluntarily. You'll learn about me what I want you to learn about me. Now come, Thatch has made dinner," he said with a cheerful clap to his hands, irritating the phoenix zoan. Ace was basically an overpowered zoan power.
At dinner, Ace restrained himself, and only got two servings. He sat alone, but wasn't bothered about it, gave off no feeling he wanted others to sit with him. He had a book in the injured hand. He would keep it covered, since it had healed already. This wasn't going to be stress free. He had to hide himself quite a bit.
The food was delicious, which Ace was not surprised about based on the food he'd had before. The commanders all sat at one table, and Ace didn't listen into their conversations, but read the small book instead. It was a mystery thriller, old and well worn. Lots of people had read that book. And it was good, so he was unsurprised by the fact.
After dinner, Ace went outside again, and sat on the railing, looking over the sea. If he wanted to get away, he'd be in the endless ocean with no way to a new island. He could get lost or something, and never make it to land. But, he could always leave. He just might not make it to an intended destination.
Izo came out much later, and was forced by Thatch to apologize for shooting Ace's hand. "It's fine. But shoot me again and I won't just ruin your makeup," Ace said.
"Is that a threat?"
"Yup," Ace replied. Then he said he was tired and going to bed. He headed to his space, and found those in the room were already asleep. It was late, after all. After making sure they thought he was asleep, Ace moved the pillows so it looked like he was still in the bed, and turned into a tiny bug and entered the vents.
He turned into a small cat and walked around the ship, looking for any place to sleep. He came across an empty and spacious room. Right next to Marco's and in the commanders' hall. Well, fuck'em, Ace didn't want to sleep with others in the room. He refused. He wanted to be himself at least sometimes.
Here… he was stuck as a human Ace. After opening the vent grate and barricading the door, he shimmed under the thick blankets, dusty though they may be, and slept, warm and on a bed for the first time in awhile. It was great. Best part of being here so far.
He made the mistake of sleeping in, unable to help it, and made the bed before hurrying back to his own room. Everyone was awake already, they knew he hadn't been there. He had no change of clothes, but he could form them if he changed his appearance. He wore dark blue shorts today, and went to breakfast.
My god, being around so many people was exhausting. Even being snotty, he was soon liked by many from his sharp tongue and quick thinking when somebody was rude. And his immature sense of humor. Marco hated it, hated seeing Ace get along with people so easily despite how disrespectful he was to any superiors.
When Jozu told him to help with the dishes, Ace walked away without a word. And despite many liking him, he was soon hated by all commanders but Thatch and Haruta, who thought he was hilarious.
"Ace, I'm your commander, do what I say," Jozu said sternly. Ace stuck his tongue out at him and walked away, even though he ended up helping with the dishes. He came out and saw Jozu looking deeply unhappy.
"What? I helped with the dishes, didn't I?" Ace said, arms behind his head in a relaxed posture. Jozu took him to the captain to be punished.
"Was I a bad boy?" he simpered. Jozu's eye twitched, and he asked why the man wanted to keep Ace. Whitebeard just said he had his reasons. Left alone with the captain, he finally disclosed his annoyance and disappointment with Ace's behavior so far. "You took me. You didn't ask. Why should I do what you say?" the youngest in appearance asked simply.
"Because you are protected here. Fed and given shelter. You could at least repay that kindness with being cooperative," the captain said firmly.
Ace hummed. "Well, I'm here on my terms now."
"Oh?"
"I can leave anytime I want to. Without you even knowing. I'll turn into a bird, and fly away when I get tired of being here," Ace said casually. Whitebeard asked if he liked being alone. That had to be a very lonely life. He was trying to connect with Ace, but being the only one of his kind didn't really make him desperate for friends.
He was happy to just be by himself, even if he enjoyed pissing humans off with as little effort as he could put into it. "Nope. I'm fine with being alone. I'm fine with everybody on this ship hating me. I don't care," he replied honestly.
"Well, I do hope that changes. You could have a family here."
"I never said I needed one," Ace said. Whitebeard looked patient, and said he would appreciate it if Ace at least did what his commander said. He was his boss now. They all understood the need for adjustment. "They joined cause they wanted to. I was my own boss. Now I'm forced to be under somebody else? Screw that."
Whitebeard sighed in exasperation. "I request that you respect at least one person here, and that is your commander. Even if you don't like him, you are his responsibility. He will advocate for your division members. The least you can do in return is be respectful."
"Maybe," Ace replied, and walked out. But the rest of the day, he didn't antagonize Jozu. Especially when he heard him tell Izo, "He just needs time to get used to it. I think he'll adapt eventually." Besides Jozu, he was a shit to everyone else. And when he disrespected Marco again, keeping doing the "boo hoo" thing, well, the crew wasn't happy with him being so rude to their second in command.
Ace didn't care.
Over all, opinions were mixed. For half of the day, he went to the second commanders room, and stayed as a mouse as he read the book. Just laying on the bed and reading was nice. He took a nap, too, on the pillow as a mouse. He could sleep all day there. It was so comfortable. It was clear the mattresses were made better for the higher ups than the bunk beds.
He could hear people looking for him, but he just stayed in the room. There was no reason he should do duties for this crew. Besides, if they couldn't find him, they couldn't order him around. Finally when people were getting angry, he went out into the kitchen vent coming out as a kitten and landing as a human.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Curiel demanded when he was the first to find Ace in the kitchen, walking out of the room. Ace said he was napping. "You have to respond to calls!"
"I told you I was sleeping. What's so important?"
"Pops wants to talk to you. Go talk to him," the watermelon head ordered. Ace flipped him off, but went to see what was so damn important. He smirked when he heard Cureil let out a furious noise. He went out on deck and in front of the captain. When he was asked where he was, Ace said he was napping somewhere in the ship.
The man said he wanted Ace to do some scouting. "Scouting?"
"Yes. Turn into a bird and check on a ship. I want to see how capable you are at gathering information. Your devil fruit makes your possibilities very diverse." Ace asked what he'd get in return. "Respect for capability from others."
Ace crossed his arms. He wasn't tired anymore to nap. He sighed and agreed. He asked where this ship he was supposed to "scout" was. Straight west. Marco already identified it. So why did Ace need to go, then? If it was already scouted. "There's only so much somebody can do when they're a large flaming bird."
"True… fine. Am I just supposed to fly over it or something?" Whitebeard nodded. Ace turned into a seagull and flew off towards the ship that he could hear not long later. It was far enough from the Moby Dick to not see it on the horizon. He landed on the top yardarm. He watched for a bit, watching the pirates get high off of drugs before heading back.
When he got there, he transformed in front of the captain, not his captain and said he got there. "There were some guys doing hard drugs. Nothing else interesting happened." Whitebeard smiled, saying that power could be quite helpful. Ace wasn't looking to be helpful. The man nodded, knowing this, but thanking him regardless. The 236 year old nodded, and passed Marco. "Looks like I'm more useful than you are, huh?" he teased. Marco pushed him against the wall in anger. "Very forward of you to a subordinate." The older man backed off, and Ace laughed before doing the "boo hoo" again.
He enjoyed this. Marco was the most fun to piss off because Ace had the upper hand with his serious threat.
The rest of the day he spent reading or playing poker with Thatch and Haruta. He really enjoyed the reading, as he'd rarely gotten to have any books when he lived on his own. He finished the novel on the second day, and put it back, looking for a second to read. He found one that was supposed to be a story about ghosts.
The library had all sorts of books, from fiction to non-fiction to how-to books. He enjoyed laying on the couch on his stomach while reading the book, shoes off and with the quilt over his back. He probably looked like a little kid, but it was comfortable, so fuck everyone else. About two hours after he took up that couch as his own, Thatch came in with a trolly with all sorts of teas.
He was bringing them around the ship to give to people who wanted any. Ace accepted a chamomile tea gladly, and drank it as he looked down at the book. "You like to read, huh? I didn't really take you for the type."
Ace shrugged and said he didn't really have any books to read before now. It was true. "Maybe you can write a book," Thatch offered, a weird offer. But that idea stuck with him, and he raided Marco's office for an empty notebook, and found one and some pencils. He brought them to his new room, dragging them through the vents in his mouth.
The immortal beast in disguise gladly used the desk in the second division commander's room to write down everything he'd been through in the last 230 or so years. Starting with him being alone and confused about what he was and where he came from. He got few answers and learned about himself and life with humans on his own.
To anybody else, the story would just look creative. It was more like a biography. He even sketched out his real form. Big and bulky, thick and strong legs, a long-furred tail, canine face and heavy ears. It was kind of nice. Recording everything he remembered about his short life. He smiled as he wrote about his time with Luffy. He missed him, but he passed ten years ago. Ace rested his chin on his hand and sighed. When he smelled food being made through the vents, as all rooms were attached to the same system, he crawled through them and to the kitchen.
He was unable to use the door in the bedroom since he had it barricaded. The only other option was the vent shaft. He landed in the galley and moved to the kitchen bar counter to wait for the food. He got the meal first - first come first serve - and brought the food outside to eat, sitting on the figurehead and looking out at the horizon. He heard murmurs about him and his disrespect.
Whitebeard was in his chair, but Ace ignored him completely. He enjoyed it when the sun set and the sky was red and purple, beautiful. After he was done, and turned into a hawk, and flew off. "Ace! Wait, where are you going?!" Whitebeard called. He didn't reply and just went on a flight.
He flew into the sunset, out of view of the ship before he dropped into the water and turned into a large shark, swimming as deep and as far as he wanted. He was close enough to the surface to see Marco fly over, calling his name. He didn't sound worried or upset. He was no doubt sent by the captain to get him back.
Well, let the guy search far and wide. He wouldn't be finding Ace in the ocean. Of course he wouldn't show that he had been in the water and ruin things. It would be clear he had no devil fruit. When he found a pirate ship, he got up on it. "Give me your treasure," Ace said bluntly in human form.
"What the- how did you get here?!"
"I swam," Ace said in a cocky voice. "Give me your treasure and I won't hurt you." He had his arms crossed and an eyebrow quirked in entertainment. They got mad and drew their weapons on him. He beat the shit out of all of them, tossing some into the water just to be a bigger asshole.
He headed inside and found their treasure. This was his treasure, he could do what he wanted with it himself. He put all of it in a sack, and then found a match and burnt their sails up. "Better luck next time," he said, and turned into the largest bird species he knew, carrying the bag of goods back to the ship that he smelled easily.
Out on the open ocean, finding ships was easy for him. When he landed, he dropped the bag down on the figurehead. "Where did you go?" Whitebeard asked with a cold expression on. Ace said he went on a flight and then found a pirate ship he stole from.
"This is my money, now," he said, and hefted to sack over his shoulder. Whitebeard stood, and Ace wondered if he was in trouble or something.
"You are not given permission to leave the ship like that again."
"Well, it's not like you'll notice if I go anyways," Ace said. The man wanted to keep him there, for some reason, but with Ace disobedient, unafraid and just generally a brat, they didn't know how to punish him, it seemed. Whitebeard grabbed his shoulder. Ace turned around, and saw a seemingly-fed-up yonko looking down at him.
Maybe he'd pushed too far. "You asked me to be respectful to my commander. I have been. What more do you want?" he asked.
"I want you to obey all of your superiors. Including me. I thought that was a given but apparently it wasn't. You will show me respect, do you understand?" Ace didn't like being told what to do at all. So, he flipped the captain off. In an instant, everyone on deck was attacking him, he was pushed onto the deck, but changed into a mouse and then a cat climbing the mast and sitting on the yardarms. He made a stupid face at them all below.
"Get rid of this guy! Pops, get him off of this ship!"
"Yeah! He's just a little shit!"
"Nobody wants him here!"
"Well, that's all true. Maybe Whitebeard should agree," Ace said. Whitebeard slammed his bisento on the deck to silence everyone. He turned to Ace, and was clearly angry and irritated. He liked calling all of his crew his kids. Ace was the bratty rebellious one.
The man said, "Thatch will not allow him to have anymore than one serving of food for every meal for the next week." He was limiting food? Kind of dick move. Ace could just sneak in during the night. "Ace, I'm trying to help you adjust, but you're making it very hard, and I'm growing quite tired of it. Usually I'm a patient man, but your disrespect is unacceptable."
"Boo hoo," Ace replied. A blast of conqueror's haki sent him plummeting down onto the deck. He was caught by a big hand, but it was careless, and Ace's head slammed backwards, even though it hit nothing.
"Pops…" some of the crew said in almost disapproval. Whitebeard realized he'd reacted badly. He sighed and brought Ace to the couches.
When Ace woke up a few hours later, his neck was really stiff, and sitting up sent pain shooting down his spine. Everything was blurry and his ears were ringing. What happened? Did he sleep wrong? He was in the library on a couch. He had been outside and enjoying being a brat, but he didn't remember what happened after that.
Had he fallen off of the yardarm? Was that why his neck hurt? He stood up, hungry, and went to walk to the kitchen, but the corridors were tilting, and he was dizzy. This sucked. Maybe he should go to the infirmary about it or something, get some pain meds. He went to the infirmary and called for one of the nurses.
"Ace, what is it?" Whiskey asked.
"Can I get some pain meds?" he asked.
"Why? What's wrong?" she wondered. Ace said his neck hurt really bad. Her face fell and she pinched the bridge of her nose. What was with that reaction? "I'll give you some pain medicine, and you should come back in here every three hours."
"Why? What's wrong with me?" Ace asked. She didn't seem surprised. What happened? She said she assumed it was whiplash. "From what?"
"You fell off of the yardarm, and Pops caught you wrong." Ace knew it was his fault he fell in the first place. And now Ace had whiplash? So, the punishment here was injury, then? Now Ace definitely didn't want to be here. Fuck these people! "It was an accident. He didn't do it on purpose."
"Sure," Ace said in a snippy voice. He grabbed the bottle of pills, to take if in pain every four hours, two pills at a time. Ace left and stuffed the pain medicine in his pocket before heading to the vent in his assigned room.
Whitebeard approached him, and Ace scowled at him. "Thanks so much for the injury. Ten out of ten about me wanting to stay here and be buddy buddy," Ace sighed and apologized. "I don't care," Ace said shortly. "I guess this is the best way to punish my disrespect, then.
"Fine, I won't disrespect you anymore. At all," and he stormed into the bedroom. He got onto his bunk, and opened the vent and shoved the bottle of pills inside. By the time Whitebeard decided to follow in and talk to him, Ace was already out of the room, and going to the comfortable place he felt safe in.
He dropped down onto the floor, the movement jarring his neck. He changed into his normal body, and the neck pain was gone. Hopefully it was only in pain as a human. He was able to move his head and neck around just fine like this. He laid on the bed. He should leave now. He had treasure he could take with him.
Sure, Ace was being a shit, but that was no excuse for giving him whiplash. Because the captain was careless with how he treated one of his crew. Ace wasn't part of this crew, and he wondered if he'd ever do this to anyone else here. Or just Ace.
He fell asleep, and when he woke up, he changed into human form to check on his neck. He couldn't even turn his head without severe pain shooting through his neck. He sighed and took some pain pills with the water from the sink. He left the room and made his way to the kitchen. He was hungry. He undid the vent in the kitchen and then flew down before turning back into a human form. Jeez it hurt. It should have gone back to normal by now. He wasn't going to show his pain to anybody. Whitebeard knew, and so did the nurses. Maybe everyone else knew too. Who cares, honestly.
"Hey, Ace," Thatch said. He was frowning at him. "I heard about what happened." Ace didn't nod, just asked for food. "It'll be ready in maybe fifteen minutes. So, you went and stole a bunch of treasure? Marco went looking for you and all. Thought you ditched for good!"
Ace said, "Maybe I should have," and poured himself a glass of water from the huge pitcher on the counter. He wondered how long it would take for this injury to heal. His hand was already fine, and everyone seemed to have forgotten it was shot point blank. He looked at the time, it was almost three hours. He'd slept a long time.
Thatch looked upset. "You should respect Pops. He messed up, he knows that. But you shouldn't try to provoke him."
"Yeah, yeah," Ace said, and got up to go to the infirmary. His demeanor had changed completely. He wasn't being a little shit or goofy or annoying. He was downright cranky and pissed. Well, consequences would have come eventually. He just didn't think it would be via injury. He'd never had an injury like this.