Sairkanzaki: Revenge against Marco is the best part lol.
Guest: Thank you! Since this story is so short, it doesn't go into all the details. I wanted it to be longer, but it just wasn't working out :(
Wishfull-star: It's only two parts, sadly.
swee2iepea: Thanks!
NilakantaDragonQueen619: I've made Ace have an attitude in many of my stories, but never to THIS extent. Lol he was so fun to write!
Last chapter! Sorry if it's not as long as you wanted it, I just couldn't write anymore, but it was so fun so I wanted to share what I have! Most likely won't be a sequel or continuation. Enjoy part 2!
The bullet in the hand had been before he was forced on this ship. He was on his way out when that happened. He should have gotten out of here back when they were still near land. When he went inside the large space, Tami, one of the lower nurses, came over, and asked how he felt. "I can't move my head without shooting pain. How do I fix it?"
He was brought an ice pack, and was told to hold that to the back of his neck for fifteen minutes. He laid down on the bed face down and laid the ice pack on the back of his neck. He fell asleep. The infirmary beds werent bad either, and the sheets smelled nice, even in a room with the smell of cleaning chemicals.
"Hey! Let me out, humans!" baby Ace cried, stuck in a cage. The cage was shaken harshly and threw him around for talking out of turn. To everyone else, he was a talking, unknown animal. They wanted to sell him. He was going to an auction house. The dream shifted until he was in a bomb collar thing, and in a glass cell to see him from all sides. There was a crowd of humans there, and he was forced to speak by dumping cold water on him suddenly, soaking his long fur and making him cry out in shock, showing the audience he could speak human language.
He was bought immediately by a noble, a celestial dragon. The dream ended the moment he was in the bubble elevator up to Marygeoise for the next five years.
"Ace? It's been fifteen minutes," Whiskey said, putting her hand on his back. "Are you alright? Did you fall asleep?" Ace said yes, and rolled over to sit up. "Does it feel any better?"
"A little," the young man said. "Come back in three hours?" Whiskey nodded, and asked if he'd taken any pills. He never realized how much he nodded when he couldn't anymore. "Yeah. I took them before I came here." So, he could take more at nine. Ace thanked her and left, the pill bottle in his oversized pocket. When he made it to the galley, he heard murmurs.
He was stiff, it was obvious. "Serves him right."
"Maybe he'll show respect now."
Well, Ace would do the opposite. He'd be mean and nasty, no longer mocking and sarcastic. He got his food and left. He walked past Marco, who asked how his neck was. "Fuck off, you don't care," Ace said, and kept walking. Marco sighed, but decided to follow. The blonde said he disliked Ace greatly, but didn't want him injured. "You can thank your 'Pops' for that."
"It was a mistake and an accident."
"I don't give a shit, Marco," Ace said, and slammed the door leading to the deck in his face. He went to the back deck and found it was hard to eat without leaning his head forwards even slightly. He just scarfed everything down quickly and looked out to the sea. This was bullshit. He was angry, but the pain would fade.
That night, Ace couldn't sleep. It was 1 AM and he was still awake. Not because of the pain, as he wasn't in human form while he was in bed, but he just couldn't turn his brain off. He was so angry and bitter about hurting his neck. So he eventually left the room, and went to walk around the ship. He found a room full of maps and navigation tools. The navigator's room. He walked inside, and started looking at all of the maps on the walls. There were log books here, like the hundreds in the library that were older.
The maps all looked very different. He wondered if his birthplace map was here. Pandora Island. He looked around for it, sifting through old maps, before he found one of his home. It was charted well, though too simple for him. It was interesting to see it this way, though. How had anybody mapped it without an aerial view? Impressive. He didn't understand how, though. Must take a lot of time and practice.
"What are you doing in here?" a guy he hadn't seen before asked in a nasty voice from the doorway.
"Ruining all your maps. Might wanna look in the trash. Maybe you can still fix some," Ace said, though there were no maps in the trash. "Just kidding," he left and went to the library, leaving a furious and annoyed guy in the navigation room. He went to the library, and got a fantasy book. He turned into a cat to read it, flipping the pages with his paws.
He eventually fell asleep in that form on the couch, upper body resting on the book. He woke up to angry voices shouting his name, grabbing him by the scruff for some reason. He went back into human form and kicked the man in their butts, making them fall on their faces. "What do you want?"
"Pops wants to see you, now! You're not getting away with this this time," a blonde man with braided hair said. Ace sighed, not in the mood for this, and went to his room to get pain pills. Then he came back out, having lost everyone else and asked where the captain was. They were all angry with him.
When he got to the meeting room, there were a bunch of ruined papers all over the table. "Great, someone blame this shit on me?" he asked, understanding the situation easily. Jozu was there, looking disappointed.
"Irashi told us you were in the navigation room last night in the middle of the night, and he found all of this," Jozu said. Ace sighed. He pissed that guy off, so now he was trying to frame him. Well, everyone disliked him already. Maybe they'd drop him off at an island sooner. Though he didn't like the prospect of someone else getting him in trouble for something he didn't do.
Ace crossed his arms and said, "Well, I was in there, looking at maps. Seeing if there was a map of my home island. Some guy came in and demanded to know what I was doing. I said I was trashing the maps. He believed me, but I hadn't done anything to any of them." Jozu and Whitebeard looked at him skeptically. "Believe what you want. I just hope your idiot son realizes that everyone already hated me, there was no need to frame me for something I didn't do."
He left. "You are not excused, Ace," Jozu said.
"I'm going to the infirmary," the young man threw over his shoulder. His neck hurt really bad. He was irritated, and wanted to be off of this ship now. He got an ice pack, and the nurses were more than sympathetic for his injury. Very angry with the captain for doing this, accident or not. Even if it wasn't on purpose, it was still causing Ace a lot of pain.
Whiskey asked, "Did you have any issues sleeping? Sometimes whiplash affects sleeping patterns."
Ace nodded. "I couldn't sleep for a really long time. Finally went to sleep about 5 AM and was woken up maybe four hours later." He was offered to get some sleep there. "Thanks."
"Just so you know, I dislike your behavior greatly. I think you're a little brat and need to be taught a lesson. But I wholeheartedly don't support ever harming anybody else on this ship, accident or otherwise." Well, it was nice she was honest and didn't sugar coat shit. And he could tell she genuinely was concerned and caring about his injury and health.
He took a nice long nap. He felt better mentally, but his neck still hurt. "I checked your hand," Tami said, and Ace saw the bandages were gone. "Does this have something to do with your devil fruit?"
"Maybe," Ace said vaguely. "Don't tell anyone." Tami said she had told Whiskey, but they wouldn't spread it around. He was given a fresh roll of bandages to use and hide the fact that the wound was already healed. "Thanks," he said sincerely.
Tami smiled. "You aren't that bad when you're not being a purposeful asshole."
"Wow, what a wonderful compliment. That really hit the spot." Tami pressed her lips together to not laugh.
"Get outta here," she said, and Ace left. The nurses weren't too bad. Even if they were only nice to him because he was injured, they didn't seem to be forcing their politeness or honesty with Ace. He could appreciate that. Like Thatch and Haruta. Though both had been suspiciously avoiding him. Might look bad for their status to affiliate with him.
He walked outside, not caring to eat with everyone else, or even go into the galley when it was crowded. He climbed the crowsnest, facing straight forwards as he couldn't move his face upwards. He climbed over the side, and sat down on the floor of it. He was tired again. He'd just slept but he was tired again.
Ace ended up taking a longer nap in the crowsnest in cat form. The more convenient size and form. He was under the bench so nobody would find him. But Marco climbed back over the side of the place, and Ace opened his eye to see him there. He turned his furry back to him and went back to sleep.
"You should get something to eat. The galley is empty now," Marco said. Ace ignored him. He heard the man sigh in annoyance. Then he left. Ace waited a bit before he followed, flying down and walking as a dog to the kitchen. Why needlessly put himself in pain? He only felt pain in the human body.
People were confused as to why a golden retriever was on the ship. Ace growled at them, and listened in amusement as people started to wonder where the hell a dog had come from before somebody told them it was Ace, sounding completely unimpressed. Ace arrived at the kitchen, and saw there was a mini fridge that had the words, "8/16 breakfast leftovers."
He changed into human form to open the fridge and eat the food out of it, not stepping foot inside the kitchen at all. He was given permission to eat it, so he couldn't get in trouble about it for any reason. He put the dirty dishes in the sink, assuming that was what he was to do since humans always did that.
He went to the office rooms again and rummaged around in Marco's for some plain paper. He got a pen, and then left the corridor. "What were you doing in my office?" Marco asked in irritation. Ace held up the paper. "For what?"
"Stuffing them in the toilets to clog them," Ace said. Marco didn't believe him, obviously.
Instead of asking the same question, he asked how Ace's neck was. "It's fine! Stop pitying me!" Ace snapped, losing his cool instantly.
"I'm not pitying you," Marco replied. "Is it that bad to worry about the comfort of a crew mate?" Ace replied that he wasn't a crewmate. He didn't need to worry about him. Ace left before he heard anything more, and went to the library. There was a loft space in that room since it was two stories tall, and he sat at the desk in the loft and drew.
He ended up trying to draw Luffy. Ace smiled lightly while remembering his happy face. His laughter, his annoying moments. He felt he did okay. It looked more cartoony, but to him, it looked like Luffy. He smiled at it, and brushed his thumb lightly over the drawing. He wouldn't like this cranky Ace. Well, he didn't really have a choice here.
There was no way he was going to fake happiness around these people. He rubbed the back of his neck. God this was annoying. He fell asleep. Why was he so tired? He sighed when he woke up, seeing the clock. He'd slept for two hours! What the hell was making him so tired?! He went to go get his neck iced, and tucked his Luffy drawing into a dusty book that hadn't been touched in years.
He headed to the infirmary, and suddenly lost consciousness in the hall, hitting the floor hard. When he woke up, he was alone in the hall still, so he hadn't been out long. What happened? And his neck still hurt. He was concerned. Was his brain damaged, too? Was there something much worse than whiplash?
His heart was beating frantically, full of concern and fear over his safety. Ami was there, one of the nurses he hadn't seen yet. "Oh, Ace. Are you here to ice your neck?" she asked. They all wore pink nurse outfits that were very revealing. Looked uncomfortable. Ace nodded, and asked if he could talk to Whiskey.
She went and got her from the documents room. "Hey, how are you feeling?"
"I passed out in the hallway for a bit. My neck still hurts, but I just fell asleep in the hallway on my way here. I'm constantly exhausted. I've been taking a lot of naps," Ace explained immediately. He sat down on the bed, his hands on his knees, looking troubled and serious. "Is that from the whiplash?"
"Could be, but it's unlikely. Fatigue can be equated to whiplash, but not losing consciousness while walking. Do you know of any family conditions? You said before you didn't have any."
Ace said, "I don't know of any family conditions." But he wasn't a human, that shouldn't matter. He shouldn't get a disease or condition. He was supposed to stay healthy. Who knows how much more time he had? He couldn't get a health condition to deal with for centuries! Two had gone by with him perfectly healthy. He was bothered.
Whiskey said they'd monitor him for the rest of the day, which meant he was stuck in there. Fine. He got up and said he'd be back with a book before he passed out in the middle of his sentence, drawing surprised and worried exclaims. Ace was only asleep for fifteen minutes and woke up in the bed.
He had monitors on him, taped to his chest and head. "We're monitoring your levels right now. You don't have high blood pressure, by the way." Ace scowled. "We don't like it when you lie about conditions, but rarely do people make them up, not just hide them." Ace huffed and didn't respond.
"What book would you like? You got up to go get one, but never made it out the door." Ace hummed, not sure. "I'll get you one I like," Tami said, and left, coming back with a book of fairy tales. Well, Ace was fine with that, and started to read. He was uncomfortable, having a bunch of stuff attached to him. He had an ice pack underneath his head. But the stories were interesting to him. He had never attempted turning into a mythical creature. But really, if he could turn into animals, what kept him from not being able to turn into a dragon, or a pegasus. Oh, what if he could turn into a sea king? That would be fun.
What kinds of creatures could he make up? "Hey, what's your favorite mythical creature?" he asked suddenly.
"Unicorn."
"Fairy."
"A demon," Whiskey said. "What? Sounds a hell of a lot more interesting than a horse with a horn." Ace snorted, starting to laugh before it caused him to fall asleep. The nurses had a strong feeling about what was wrong with him. They told him when he woke back, really frustrated. "Based on our observations so far, I come to the conclusion that you, sir, have narcolepsy."
Ace didn't know what that was. "A sleep disorder. It makes it hard for you to regulate your sleep schedule. When you fall asleep, those are sleep attacks. You may have insomnia and be generally a sleepy person and needing naps throughout the day. Medication should help with this, though, so don't worry."
He was horrified. "But I live on my own! It'd be dangerous if I just pass out in random places!" he insisted in frantic worry. He was glad none of them pointed out that he lived there now.
Whiskey took off the stickies from Ace's skin. "Well, medication and a good sleep schedule are key. Naps are indispensable. Then you will have less sleep attacks if you're well rested." Ace scowled. "It'll take some time to get used to, but all illnesses do."
Ace snapped that now he had a damaged neck and a sleep disorder. "Sadly, that seems to be the case. I'm sorry, I know this has to suck. We'll be able to make some medicine for it soon. Until then, we'll keep you walking with somebody. To keep you from face planting and injuring yourself." Ace was miserable.
"Was this triggered by something?" he asked slowly.
"No, this would have happened regardless of where you were or what you were doing." Ace asked if the condition went away with time. "Narcolepsy is life-long. It's here to stay." The nurses looked very sympathetic. "It's just lucky you were in a safe space when the symptoms appeared, right?"
"All this time, I've been fine. Why now?" Ace asked. It couldn't be attributed to age, because Ace appeared much younger than he actually was. So what onset it? Tami said it had to do with age, and genetics. "Do animals have this, too? Is it only people?" he wondered. Ami shrugged, so Whiskey got a book and looked it up.
He was irritated to hear it was found in animals as well. Meaning it might affect him in forms other than a human. He couldn't just ditch being a human and say bye bye to the narcolepsy, too. Would this really stay that long? It wasn't like his body was human, or anything normal. A normal animal. Maybe it would fade.
Tami did a check up on his neck while Whisky left to go alert the captain to the new news. Ace didn't argue, understanding he was the captain and this was an important condition regarding the safety of the crew. He wouldn't hound on the nurses for doing their assigned jobs, he wasn't a complete asshole. They were nice to him, and honest. He liked them more than everyone else on the ship.
"Well, your neck seems to have improved slightly. It does hurt now, and it might hurt for a few days or months, but unlike narcolepsy, the effects of whiplash are definitely not permanent, so you don't have to worry about that being a problem, too."
Ace nodded and sighed in relief. Why did he get so upset about it anyways? It was temporary and he had a lot more time ahead of him. A few months would be annoying, but isn't that long in the grand scheme of things. "Do you think you'll forgive Pops for hurting you? Even though it was an accident?" Ami asked.
"I don't hold grudges much. I'm still pissy about it because it hurts, but once it goes away or gets better, I'll move on. Won't mean I'll be staying here," Ace said, sitting up now and thumbing the pages of the book. It was nice this was a real fairy tale book with pictures and everything.
She replied, "Well, you'll have top medical care here if you choose to stay. We've seen people come and go, despite Pops' protests. To be honest, I have no idea why you're even allowed on this ship because of your terrible attitude and lack of respect." Ace stuck his tongue out obnoxiously and got a stink eye.
He heard Whitebeard coming down the hall, and laid on his back, wincing at the pain in his neck. He was glad his hand was just fine. Having an injured neck, injured hand and new sleep disorder would be even worse. When the captain came in, he saw Ace on the bed with the book. "I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis."
"It sucks," Ace agreed shortly. Whitebeard promised they'd have medicine as soon as possible. But they needed to lay out a sleep schedule for him. And going through the vents to the room he slept in now wouldn't work anymore. "What?"
"You think I didn't notice?" he asked, unable to hide his amusement. Ace asked why he wasn't in trouble about it. "For now I assume I have no way to stop you. Don't think I've given up on you because you're stubborn and disrespectful. I'm plenty stubborn, as well."
Ace said, "Well, I guess we'll see who wins in the end."
"I guess so," the captain said lightly. "Let's plan a sleep schedule for you. Getting up and wandering around at night will no longer be a safe option." He sat on the largest of the beds made for his size and those like Jozu and the other huge members. Ace had been on one sized for normal humans.
"I usually go to bed at like, midnight," Ace said.
"Too late. Maybe try 10:30," Whiskey said, a clipboard in her lap. That was way too early for Ace's liking. "Would you rather go to bed early or wake up late?" Ace would much rather get to be up at night. "How much sleep do you usually get at night?"
Ace shrugged. It was never constant. He went to bed when he felt like it. "Well, that will change when you assimilate," Whitebeard said lightly. Ace sighed in exasperation. Ace ended up tilting his head down but bit his lip when shooting pain went through his neck and head. "You could do going to bed at eleven and getting up at nine."
"That would have to be every night. It needs to be constant to get a control of it. We should start with three naps during the day. One after lunch, one in mid afternoon, and one after dinner." Ace didn't know why he'd take a nap before going to bed, but he trusted the nurses. The sleep schedule was written out.
Whitebeard was notified and said he'd be telling the commanders. Ace was glad he didn't need to be present for something like that. The commanders had no say in how he was treated for this, they just needed to be prepared to know what was going on if Ace passed out suddenly. When the captain left, Whiskey walked to Ace and sat down, looking at him seriously.
Was there something else wrong, now?
"There are more side effects to narcolepsy besides just being sleepy a lot. You can have waking nightmares, hallucinations when you just wake up. You can also have sleep paralysis. Where your mind is awake but your body can't move." Ace was very upset with this. It was so stupid! What caused this to happen?
Ace asked, "Are you sure nothing being here triggered it?"
"The whiplash did not trigger the narcolepsy. It is not Pops' fault," Whiskey said firmly. "Now, with the right medication, most of these symptoms should not be too hard. I would ask Pops to give you a private room to help with this. Waking nightmares might disturb others' sleep, and hearing the sounds of other people in the room may make it hard to go to sleep." She had a clipboard that she was writing things down on.
Already the other nurses were working on medications. Ace said he wanted to go outside, he was bored of the infirmary. "Then we'll have somebody accompany you," the head nurse said lightly. Ace didn't want a babysitter. God this sucked. He really hoped it would go away with time. If he hadn't aged in decades, then surely he had a lot of time left. He only knew when he didn't age when his true form got no bigger and no sort of show of growing old. Even if he was getting elderly, he'd still be in this form.
Ace was accompanied by a guy named Teach, who volunteered. He hadn't met Ace before, but had heard about his nasty attitude. "Nobody has the balls or is plain stupid enough to flip off the great Whitebeard. Zehahahaha!" The guy was loud and slightly smelly. Ace replied he'd gotten hurt because of that. "Pops didn't mean for that to happen."
"Yeah, that's what everyone is saying," he said dismissively. He had the fairy tale book with him, and opened the page to a dragon. Might as well start with the most fun one. He would look badass. Damn, could you imagine terrorizing the world as a massive dragon? That would be so fun! He could strike fear in people's hearts.
He told Teach to stand back a bit as he referenced the book. Teach moved back quite a bit just to watch. Ace was on the back deck, which was pretty empty, and had a lot of room to play around. He'd never actually made up forms. He used normal animals that existed in the world. He wondered if he could turn into a phoenix just to piss off Marco. He'd not have a phoenix's powers, though. Just look like one. He'd make himself look much better and more birdlike.
Already planning mischief. He transformed himself into a pitch black dragon, which was weird. Making something up as he went along. He had no mirror, which would have been helpful. He turned to Teach and asked him to get him a mirror. Politely, not a demand. Teach's jaw was dropped, but he hurried inside and came back with a body length mirror.
He watched as Ace edited his body to look more badass. He elongated his teeth and claws. He put spikes on his tail until he was satisfied. "How do I look?" Ace asked.
"The hell kind of overpowered devil fruit is this?! That's amazing!" he shouted loudly. Ace heard others coming over, hearing Teach's shout of amazement. They saw Ace and gasped, wondering at first how a dragon got there. Ace said it was him. Then he jumped off of the ship and flew out a bit. While he flew, he got higher and forced himself to grow bigger and bigger until he was larger than the ship.
Then he came back and transformed back into human form to land. That went very well. People were gathered on the deck, amazed with his power. He was happy with it, too. He could turn himself into some sickening monster if he wanted. Oh, the mischief he could cause with his ability.
"Hey, can you turn into a unicorn?" someone asked. The others around them laughed at him, but Ace turned into one, keeping it black.
"A hippogriff!" Ace looked through the book, not really knowing what they looked like, and turned into one. He was asked if he could turn into a woman. He did, and then he opened his shirt to flash boobs, making the guys laugh obnoxiously. Then he turned back into his usual self. He couldn't help but laugh, too, which was a mistake and caused him to pass out.
People shouted in worry and shock, but Teach told them Ace had just developed narcolepsy. "Poor guy." Teach propped him up against the wall, and Marco walked over, asking what was going on. "Ace was showing off his devil fruit." Marco looked skeptical but hid the look quickly.
When Ace woke up, the crowd had dispersed, and he blushed scowling. Fucking embarrassing. Did it always happen when he laughed? He couldn't wait for some fucking medication. He saw Teach napping, not the best guardian. Well, better than having someone stare at him while he slept.
The mirror was still out there, so he tried turning into a phoenix. He turned into a red one, a bird looking almost like a peacock. But he was very pretty like this. Though he couldn't turn into flames or heal.
Whiskey came out and told him it was nap time. "What are you doing?" Ace said he'd been trying out new animals to turn into. Changing back into human form, he walked to his room and climbed into the vent, flying through it and into the second division commander's room. Only Whitebeard knew about this? It seemed improbable considering observation haki.
Over the last 236 years, he hadn't been able to learn it due to not having a teacher. He got onto the bed, and under the covers, turning into his original body, covered by the blanket completely. The door was still barricaded. Someone could get in, but they'd need to break the door down. He had all the furniture pressed up against it.
When he woke up, he had the first fit of sleep paralysis. He tried to move, but it didn't work. It was scary, being in this position. What if somebody came in and he was paralyzed? Nobody came to the door, though, and the paralysis stopped. But when he sat up completely, he was shaking.
He couldn't believe he'd have hallucinations, too. He changed to his human form and put his head in his hands, hunched over. He ignored the pain in his neck. It made him feel more awake. He stood up and sighed. At least the crew realized that Ace was somewhere else and shouting in the vents was the best place to reach him.
Leaving the room, he exited out of the library vent and onto the couch. Now his neck hurt. He should really be more gentle with it. He went to the infirmary to tell the nurses about the sleep paralysis, assuming they'd want to know that started. Only on the first day! He wasn't looking forward to living like this at all.
When he entered, he saw Thatch was there, getting stitches on his arm. A bad cut was there. Ace wondered what happened, but didn't ask. He went to Tami and told her about the sleep paralysis. "How long did it last?" she asked with a clipboard.
"I don't know, it felt really long but it probably wasn't," Ace replied. He was told to keep a log of what happened. He took the lined paper and pen and put them in his pocket. The non-human sighed deeply and left.
Ace found eating triggered sleep attacks. He was at the table he'd sat at for meals so far, but was surrounded by people who thought earlier was really cool. About him turning into whatever he wanted. They really thought it was a devil fruit, as there was no other explanation.
When he was nearly done with his meal, he passed out, falling backwards, only caught by Rayuko, who was walking behind him. Ace was out cold. His meal was almost fully gone, so he was brought to the wall and propped up against it. He got looks of pity from many. Though much of them thought he deserved this. It was clear on their faces.
While many thought his power was cool, it didn't change the fact that most hated him for how disrespectful he had been so far. It wasn't like they gave him a choice! There were so many people he could piss off and press their buttons. He couldn't help it, they couldn't blame him when they made it so damn easy.
When he woke up, he was in a sour mood. He put his plate away, dumping the excess in the trash, a massive, massive barrel for all the leftovers. Thatch didn't like people having leftovers, but there wasn't realy much he could do to police 1,600 people. Ace went to his room with the fairy tale book between his teeth as he walked through the vents.
Whitebeard hadn't said anything else about him being in that room. He didn't want the others to be sour about him using it. Though maybe the fact he would now be plagued by sleep issues, they'd understand. Not that he needed their approval to do something, it would just be annoying if he got into arguments or fights.
He'd much rather be a prick from the sidelines, interjecting snotty things when it was the right moment. Ace relaxed on his bed, reading silently. People didn't come to the commander's hall a lot. He noticed that easily. He took some pain medicine for his neck, as it had been the allotted time between doses.
After finishing that book, he put it on the dresser instead of returning it to the library. But he did go back to find another book. Man, having a lot of books was awesome. He could definitely appreciate that part of being here. He looked at his hands once he had gotten out of the vent. One was still wrapped up even though the injury had disappeared.
Ace didn't want to stay on this ship, but he now worried about living on his own again with this new condition. He fisted his hands. Turning around when he heard someone walking up to him, he saw it was Marco. He looked bored. What an annoying face. He'd rather have him flustered and annoyed, face red in attempted-to-be repressed anger and irritation.
"What do you want, birdie?"
"I want to know where you go when you're supposed to be sleeping," Marco said casually, though his eyes showed he was dead serious. Ace shrugged, clearly not an adequate answer. "I want to know because you wont be sleeping with the others anymore. If you ever did in the first place. Waking nightmares and hallucinations could wake everyone up," he explained.
"Looks like I do get what I want by annoying people," he said with a smirk.
"This really doesn't count since you're not doing it on purpose," Marco said. Ace wanted to piss him off. This bored voice was annoying. He shifted into being Marco and then peeked in his own pants. "What are you doing?!" Marco shouted furiously. Ace shifted back into his human form, pleased with the red face and furious expression.
Ace simply said, "It's not like it's actually your dick. Though I did make my version much bigger than yours could ever be." He grinned as he watched Marco try to repress his anger by breathing in slowly. But he still glared at him. "Well, I have nothing left to say to you," Ace said flippantly, and made to leave before his wrist was grabbed. He imagined spikes coming out of his skin, changing his appearance to look that way, and the spike went through Marco's hand.
He pulled away, though it didn't hurt him, and the fire fixed any damage that could be there. "Why are you like this? Do you not want any friends? Even any acquaintances? Why do you act so unlikable!?" Marco demanded.
"I have no reason to make friends, and I don't need any," Ace said casually. "And I'm annoying because it's fun. Pissing people off, making them lose their cool. I enjoy it. Yes, I'm a little shit, I'm fully aware, thank you very much," Ace said in a bratty voice. His behavior and thought processes were not those of somebody older than every person on this ship.
"So, you want to go off and live on your own with a medical condition? Is that your plan? Because if you keep this shit up, you'll be kicked off of this ship on the next island," Marco said heatedly.
Ace simply shrugged. He'd deal with it when that day came. He never planned on staying here. Especially now. "It was an accident, Pops would never hurt one of us on purpose."
"Well, I'm not one of you, am I?"
"If you weren't such a brat you could be."
"I don't want friends, and I don't need them," Ace replied. Not when everyone he ever had cared for died before him. Left him on his own. He had no desire to repeat that. Everyone on this ship would die long before he did. He didn't know much about himself, but he knew enough over the years to have a pretty good understanding.
He really felt he was immortal, or at least had an extremely long lifespan. Besides, these people… some might be good at heart, but if he ever opened up, he'd never be accepted. He knew that. They'd think he was some animal, less than human. He felt no desire to go through something like that.
Leaving the room, Marco stayed in his spot. Damn, Ace didn't get to pick out a book. He wanted to go for a swim and went out on the back deck, turning into a bird to fly out of view, away from the ship, before diving into the water, turning into a sea king. They had no hands or arms, which made him feel pretty useless.
It was nice, being able to swim and fly. He felt he could do anything. He was glad he didn't fall asleep in the middle of nowhere in the water. He broke the surface and shot up as a bird, flying back to the ship. He landed lightly on the railing and then became a human again. Ace was in a bad mood. In a different way than he had been.
He was thinking about unpleasant things. Of his brothers, adopted ones, and their respective deaths. He'd known all along that they would die and he'd continue on, but they were supposed to live longer. Not Sabo, who died at twenty, and Luffy that died five years later, at twenty three. He was always immature, even in his twenties.
Then there was Deuce, his best friend thirty years ago. He died when he was thirty two. A sickness. There were so many ways for humans to die it was ridiculous. He remembered when he applied for the marines just to do something new. He went through the training and all. Making his appearance age slowly, and when the ship he was on caught on fire. Everyone there died. Ace lived, but was severely burned on the sea alone.
Everywhere he went, everyone he met, always ended badly. This would be no different even if he wanted to stay. He didn't open his heart to others anymore, and was fine to be all alone, causing trouble to distract himself. He didn't fall asleep waiting for dinner. There felt like there was nothing to do here. Besides reading.
But he went back to the navigation room. It was interesting to him. He looked in the weather books, sitting in the corner against the wall, head up straight as he read. When he was on the pages having to do with clouds, Namur, head of the navigation division, came in. "What are you doing here?"
"Sabotaging your operations," Ace said vaguely, paying more attention to the book. It was interesting. "In case you didn't know, that was a lie and I'm just trying to piss you off. Looks like I have, so that's nice," he added with an obnoxious smirk.
Namur narrowed his eyes. "I'm about five seconds from throwing you over the ship," he said in an angry voice.
Ace flipped him off and told him to try it. He was surprised when the fishman actually did just that, tossing him overboard and into the water. There were shouts of surprise from above as he plunged into the cool water. He let himself sink, creating gills on his legs to keep him just fine. Well, here was some hard evidence he didn't belong. He could use it in arguments about being dropped off at the next island, though with a lot of medication to last him.
It was only a minute later that Namur jumped into the water and roughly yanked him to the surface, where he gasped in air, as if he'd needed it. He was dragged up and out of the water and onto deck. Marco was there and looked livid. "What the hell?! How could you do that!?" he demanded of Namur, who looked completely unapologetic.
"I wanted to teach him a lesson." Ace stood up and flipped him off.
"Lesson not learned," he snapped, and walked inside. The deck was silent, and he went to get a towel. Well, now his neck was hurting pretty bad. He took some pain meds that were in his other pocket without the paper and pen. He dried himself off in the bathroom, scowling. Ace was going to leave once his neck was better. That was the bottom line. There was no other option.
He was approached by Whitebeard in the hall, who looked disappointed. Well, Ace never gave him anything to not be disappointed in. "It was not right for Namur to throw you into the ocean."
"Nah, I think it summed up how welcome I am here. Not that I care. After my neck is better, I'm leaving. You can't trap me here, I can fly away all by myself when I want to," Ace said bluntly. Whitebeard frowned deeply, and asked what he'd do about the narcolepsy. "I'll figure it out. I've been on my own up until now just fine."
"You're only twenty," he said sadly. Maybe he pitied Ace for some reason. Ace didn't correct him, and shrugged. The man sighed, and asked if there was anything he could do to change his mind. He said a resounding, "Nope," and walked away. He went to the back of the ship, and dropped down onto the rudder, sitting there by himself.
Sighing, he brought his knees up to his chest and just frowned in a tired way. He didn't like being around other people. He was a different person than how he was with his previous loved ones. It was true that he did enjoy pushing buttons, but it had become automatic. He couldn't help it anymore.
Maybe he was dislikable and impossible to appreciate on purpose, so nobody would try to befriend him again. He didn't know, and didn't much care. It was how things were. He scowled when Marco appeared in front of him. "Come on a flight with me," he said, not acting angry about where Ace was, as it seemed like a very reckless place to be.
"No," Ace said back.
"C'mon, please? I want to talk to you, away from the ship," Marco insisted. He should hate Ace, and he was getting tired of talking to him other than pissing him off. He seemed like he didn't lose his cool easily, and Ace was doing it very well so far. But he'd rather just brood and mope right now.
Ace said no again. So Marco just stayed there, flying extremely slowly along with the ship, staying right in front of Ace. "Do you really want off of this ship? Would you leave if you could be happy?"
Ace said he was leaving no matter what they tried. "Why?"
"Because I don't wanna be here! Isn't it obvious!?" Ace snapped. Marco wasn't provoked this time. Ace didn't really have it in him right now to be a prick.
"You seem happy at some times. What if you felt that way all the time?" Ace insisted he didn't want any friends. "I know that you aren't human, Ace. I've known for awhile. And I haven't told anyone, not even Pops." Ace growled furiously. How did this shit head know?! Ace was careful! "I can smell it. Maybe because I'm a zoan, humans and animals have a very distinct smell." Ace started to get offended at being compared to an animal. "You smell like neither. I won't press on what it is, and I know you can swim, too."
Ace didn't understand why he was telling him this. "Even if you're a prick to everybody, I don't hate you. You can be an annoying shit head, but I've dealt with them before." Ace was unimpressed. Well, he looked like he was. He was angry inside, though. Nobody deserved to know that secret but those he chose to tell.
He finally said he didn't want friends because they always died on him. "Well, we are strong. Won't die easily. Besides, I'm pretty invincible anyways." Ace still wasn't happy or relieved to hear Marco knew and accepted and didn't tell on him.
"I don't like it here. Why won't you understand that? I already got hurt from your captain, accident or not, and then I was just thrown overboard!"
"Pops suspended Namur from his position for two weeks. It was completely unacceptable," Marco said seriously. Ace raised his brows. That was a bit surprising. "Pops genuinely wants you to stay. The nurses really like you, too. Thatch and Haruta want to be your friends, too." Ace shook his head, still defiant. "We can tell you're a good person."
Ace huffed, and rubbed his hands down his face in exasperation. "I am not interested in making friends, Marco."
"So you just want to be alone for your whole life?" Ace shrugged noncommittally, even if the movement hurt his neck. He had to ice it soon. "I want you to stay. Despite how absolutely disrespectful you are to me, I still want to be your big brother."
Technically, Ace would be the big brother. "Actually, I'd be the big brother. I'm not twenty." Marco raised his brows. "I'm 236 years old this year. Can you see why I don't want friends?" he asked pleasantly. The first mate looked shocked, but not in disbelief.
"Because you'll outlive all of them," he said flatly. Ace nodded, and stood up on the rudder with perfect balance. "You can't go through life like that, just because people will die. They die, that's never gonna change. Are you gonna subject yourself to loneliness for the next 236 years? Is that what you want?"
Ace said he wasn't sure what he wanted, but he didn't want to outlive any more friends. "But even if you did age normally, you'd outlive us all regardless. You're supposedly younger than every other person on this ship. Your logic is sound if not for that fact." Ace scowled, knowing he had a point.
"We all know we're going to outlive Pops, but that doesn't mean we won't enjoy the time we have with him now," Marco insisted. Despite what he was saying, Ace still didn't want to stay.
"Nothing you say will make me want to stay, Marco. Leave me alone," he said dismissively. Marco frowned deeply, but sighed and flew back up to the ship. Why the hell did Ace tell him all of that stuff! He was now freaking out about that, how stupid he'd been to say those things. Not only did Marco know Ace wasn't a human, but he knew that he wasn't a young man either. Ace wanted to leave now.
Before anything could be said about him to anyone else.
-x-
Ace had a backpack full of drugs so he could leave. The nurses were nice enough to mass produce them, and gave him a paper of what type of pills they were so doctors off of the ship could give him the same meds to treat his narcolepsy. He'd had plenty of hallucinations in the last week.
Most left him in a sour mood all day, or at worse left him crying silent, angry tears. He hated seeing Luffy and Sabo at his bedside. He'd rather see a zombie or some sort of bloody monster than his dead loved ones.
He said goodbye to the nurses, thanking them for everything they'd helped him with. "It's unjust good your whiplash side effects have gone. Make sure you remember to take your pills and go to bed at a constant time," Whiskey said. "Even if you have to sleep as a squirrel in the tree, go to bed on time."
Ace nodded, and thanked them a final time before he walked through the ship, most of the crew not going to see him off, not that he cared in the first place. He never wanted to see any of these people again. There were a few on deck to watch him leave, most out of happiness that he'd be gone, along with his snotty, disrespectful attitude and actions.
He didn't make eye contact with anyone, and was happy to leave. He could have left at any time, but getting right off an island was nicer than having to travel to find one. They had been far from any islands when his whiplash effects had disappeared. When he got off the ship, he turned to everyone and gave them double middle fingers.
"Go away, asshole!" someone called.
"Glady! Never see ya again, pricks!" Ace shouted back, and turned around and headed to the town with a bounce in his step. He had all his treasure stuffed in the backpack, too. It was kind of heavy, but not too heavy. He was fine to carry it, and was so happy to be free of these jerks. And they were glad to be free of him, clearly.
Now he was free again, to go wherever he wanted without anybody giving a shit.