Remnant's new ACE hunter
Chapter 3: Memories, Irony, and a Scary Qrow
"Talking."
Thinking.
ATTACK!
DISCLAIMER: I have no rights, nor will I ever, to either One Piece or RWBY.
...Beacon Academy, 1 week later…
"...This is a very interesting development," a man with glasses and silver hair commented. "And you're sure you weren't able to find any history on this boy whatsoever?" The man asked the familiar hunter in front of him.
"Trust me, I was pretty thorough. It's almost like he just appeared out of nowhere one day. The kid has no birth records. I checked, and the name 'Portgas D. Ace' doesn't exist in Vale, Vacuo, or Mistral," the scruffy hunter said.
"What about Atlas?" Ozpin asked.
"I'd rather not give Ironwood any indication on the boy's existence. Knowing him, he would try to take him to Atlas and turn the kid into his own personal soldier." The man said. Judging from Ozpin's reaction, it was clear that both men really didn't like this guy.
"Thank you for telling me about this boy Qrow. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on him. As for you Qrow, I'm going to need you to go and check on how 'she' is doing." Ozpin said. Qrow nodded, knowing what Ozpin meant by "She."
"I may be gone for a few months this time." Qrow warned.
"That's fine." Ozpin said. Qow turned around and started to walk out of Ozpin's office.
"Qrow?"
"Yeah?"
"Now's not the time to look for your sister. Don't let it distract you." Ozpin told Qrow.
"...Yeah," Qrow mumbled as he walked out. Ozpin took a sip out of his coffee cup and sighed.
"Just what are you Ace," Ozpin said to himself.
...3 Months Later, The Tree house…
"I hereby dub thee, Fort RAY!" Ruby yelled as she cut a red ribbon being held by Yang and Ace. They all cheered in celebration. In the months following the children's first meeting, Ace had found himself growing attached to Ruby and Yang. They would spend most of their time at the tree house, playing "Hunters and Huntresses." They liked to think of themselves as team RAY. Whenever Ruby brought along her new puppy Zwei, they became team RAYZ. If they weren't at the tree house or pretending to be hunters, they could be found at the girl's house. They spent most of their time there playing video games. Ace was getting better. He still got wrecked by Yang and Ruby, but he was improving.
Ace later consented to the girls adding their own personalized touches to the treehouse. This included a new paint job courtesy of Yang, and a special basket elevator for Zwei. To be fair, they had to ask Taiyang to put it in for them since it included ropes and pulleys. Ace went ahead and created a new team RAY flag to hang up on one of the crows nest.
"Now all that's left is the sign," Ace said as he gave Yang a smirk.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. It's supposed to be ironic," Yang said as she placed a sign in front of the tree that read "Fort RAY. KEEP OUT!"
"Now no one will enter our tree house!" Yelled Ruby. Yang chuckled at her sister's excitement.
"Well what're we waiting for? Let's go up top and announce the completion of fort RAY to the world." Yang said as she made her way to the rope ladder.
"We'll catch up, Ace and I just want to take one more lap around the treehouse," Ruby said as Ace nodded in agreement. Yang shrugged and made her way up.
"Don't take too long," was all she said. Once she made sure that Yang was out of earshot, Ruby focused her attention on Ace.
"You know the plan right?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, why?" Ace asked in confusion.
"There's been a slight change. We're going to need you to distract Yang for an hour."
"Alright, shouldn't be too hard, but why?" Ace said as he tilted his head in confusion.
"The pyrotechnics guy called dad and said he was going to be late. With the time it takes to unload all the equipment, he won't be set up by the time Yang was supposed to be home. That's why we need you to keep her busy until then." Ruby explained with a sigh.
"No big deal. So you only need an hour right?" Ace asked. Ruby nodded. "I guess I could think of something for us to do," Ace said with a mischievous smile.
"No antagonizing the police," Ruby said with an exasperated tone. Ace immediately pouted and groaned.
"You're no fun."
"We wouldn't want Yang getting arrested on her birthday would we? Besides, why do you annoy cops anyway?"
"I only annoy the bad ones. You know, the ones that discriminate and stuff," Ace said defensively.
"How do you keep track?" Ruby shot back while crossing her arms.
"I have a list. It helps that they have nametags." Ace said. Any further conversation was cut short when Yang appeared.
"What's taking you guys so long? Hurry up!" Yang said as she disappeared into the tree house again. Ace and Ruby made their way inside. Before entering they had a last exchange.
"What time should I show up?" Ace asked.
'"Around five. Don't come back until after six." Ruby said quickly before going inside. Ace followed soon after.
...The Next Day, 5:02 PM…
"So where are we going?" Yang asked Ace as they made their way down a street full of restaurants.
"We're going to get a bite to eat." Ace said with a suspicious smirk.
"I didn't bring any money with me Ace," Yang informed the red eyed boy.
"That's fine." Ace paused as he looked through the window of a diner he went to a few times. He smiled when he saw that none of the staff would recognize him. "Follow me." Ace said as he went inside. Yang followed him inside and they were situated at a table.
...Back At The Rose/Xiao Long residence…
"Dad, how many fireworks did you order?" Ruby asked as she watched the pyrotechnics guy unload box after box of the stuff.
"All of them," Taiyang said with a crazed grin. He enjoyed watching stuff blow up just as much as Yang.
...The Diner, 5:28 PM…
"So you ready to leave?" Ace asked as he drank the last of his water. Yang nodded in agreement. "Let's go," Ace said as he got up.
"But you didn't pay," Yang observed in confusion. Ace grinned in amusement.
"That's the fun part," Ace paused as he saw the manager come out of the kitchen. "Uh oh, we better go," Ace said as he grabbed Yang's arm and started backing towards the door. Unfortunately for them, the manager noticed them before they could leave.
"It's that damn kid again!" He yelled in the middle of the diner. Ace and Yang bolted out the door as the manager started chasing them. Yang was very confused as to why she was running. She looked at Ace who was smiling in excitement.
"Why are we running!?" Yang yelled as they cut through an alley. She looked back and saw that the manager was still chasing them. "And why is he still chasing us!?"
"Explain later!" Was all Ace said as he led Yang down another alley. Yang followed him, slowly growing to enjoy the chase more and more. A couple of turns later she was laughing with Ace. That laughter soon died out when they reached a dead end. Behind them they could hear the manager catching up.
"Ace, what do we do?" Yang asked, hoping that her friend would have some sort of solution. Ace calmly looked around for an avenue of escape. He grinned when he spotted a fire escape ladder about nine feet above them. Without warning he grabbed Yang by her waist with one of his hands,
"Ace what're you doing?" Yang asked.
"Hold on," was all he said before jumping into the air and reaching for the lowest bar of the fire escape ladder. Yang gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was about to tell Ace off for scaring her like that, but Ace made a "shhh," sound. Confused, she looked down and saw the manager right beneath them. He was looking around, clearly confused.
"I swear I saw that little bastard run in here." He told himself as he left the alley. Ace waited a few more seconds before letting go of the ladder. Yang gasped again as Ace landed on the ground with a small tap.
"Alright, I think we're good." Ace said as he brushed his hands together. "You have questions?" Ace asked Yang.
"Yeah, but I'd rather not do it in the middle of a dark alley," Yang said as she walked out of said alley. Once they were walking down a well lit sidewalk, Yang finallly voiced her questions.
"What was that?"
"Dine and Dash," Ace answered.
"You've done it before?"
"Yep."
"Why?" Yang asked.
"It just feels right. Plus it's really fun." Ace said with a chuckle.
"You realize the manager can just call the cops on you?" Yang asked.
"I'm six years old. What are they gonna do?" Ace said. Yang had to admit that he did have a good point. "Besides, the guy isn't gonna call the cops." Ace said with certainty.
"I don't follow," Yang said, her confusion very evident on her face.
"I've done it so many times at his diner that at this point it's a game. If he gives in and calls the cops, then I win, and he knows that." Ace said. Yang mulled over what Ace had just said.
"You know, your oddly perceptive for a six year old." Yang finally said. Ace laughed a little. He looked at a billboard that had the time and temperature on it. Ace saw that it was 5:42. On an unrelated note, it was a pleasant 18 degrees celsius. Ace quickly estimated the time it would take to walk to Yang's home and decided that it was okay for them to leave.
"Come on Yang, It's getting late. I'll take you home." Ace didn't even give her a chance to complain. He grabbed her wrist and started dragging her home.
"I hope they're all set up," Ace muttered quietly so Yang wouldn't hear him.
...Rose/Xiao Long Residence…
"I think it looks pretty good," Taiyang said to no one in particular while he admired the scene before him. He really did do a good job on the party decorations. To add to that, the pyrotechnics guy was all set up. What he considered his greatest achievement however was that he had finally found a way to temporarily deal with Ruby's sugar hype.
Sure he had lost hope for the party when he had found Ruby drinking punch with a disgusting amount of sugar in it. He'll even admit that he cried a little at the thought of Ruby destroying his hard work. That didn't happen though. Before her rampage could begin, she found a ball of yarn. As it turns out, Ruby is a huge fan of balls of yarn when she is on a sugar high, kind of like a cat. When she found it, all her attention went to playing with it. Once her high went down, she quickly lost interest and discarded the yarn. She didn't see Taiyang discreetly take it and put it away forsafe keeping.
Now all he had to do was wait for Ace to bring his daughter home.
...6:03 PM, Outside The Rose/Xiao Long residence…
"I actually had a good time Ace. C'mon, let's go inside and play Kung Fu Ultimate Ninja Death Battle. I'll even go easy on you," Yang said with a teasing smile. She didn't see Ace trying to hide a suspicious smirk. When she opened the door, she found that it was all dark. Confused, she turned on the lights.
"SURPRISE!" Taiyang, Ruby, and Ace yelled at the top off their lungs. The fact that Ace had screamed right into her ear had legitimately startled the girl, so she did what was natural. She swung at the nearest person. This just so happened to be Ace.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Yang kept repeating as she looked at Ace, who was clutching his cheek with an annoyed look on his face. Taiyang and Ruby had blank looks on their faces.
"Is this going to be a recurring thing now?" Ace asked to himself. Sure the punch hadn't really hurt, but it was still annoying. "Well happy birthday Yang," Ace said as his annoyed look turned into an amused one.
"Thanks buddy!" Yang said while throwing her arm around his neck. She was quickly glomped by Ruby and Taiyang, each saying their own happy birthday. "You know, in hindsight it was a lttle strange how none of you congratulated me earlier." Yang said with a smile. What followed was a pleasant evening of games, cake, fun, and a very copious amount of fireworks. So much that a police officer was called in.
"...So as you can see, we had it all under control." Taiyang and the pyrotechnics guy explained to Officer Richard. Ace, Yang, and Ruby were in the kitchen polishing off the rest of the ice cream and waiting for Taiyang to return so they could continue their session of Remnant the Game.
"What is taking so long?" Ace said as he got up and walked towards the door. "Hey Taiyang you okay he-" Ace stopped mid-sentence when he got a look at the officer. He immediately scowled. Judging from the scowl the officer was giving him, it seemed that the feeling was mutual.
"Ace."
"Dick." Ace said, his scowl turning into an annoying smirk. Taiyang gaped at him.
"What the hell Ace!? Don't insult the Officer like that!" Taiyang practically yelled. This got the attention of Yang and Ruby, which caused them to come outside,
"I haven't insulted him Taiyang," Ace said, his smirk growing a little. Taiyang tilted his head in confusion.
"Dick is a nickname for Richard," the pyrotechnics guy said. "Though based on the tone of voice and the scowls these two are giving each other, I'd say freckle face was insulting him without actually insulting him," Pyrotechnics guy astutely observed, Taiyang looked at him in surprise.
"You sure seem to know a lot about this, pyrotechnics guy," Taiyang said, ignoring the faces Ace was now making at the cop. Pyrotechnics guy looked annoyed at what Taiyang had called him.
"I have a name you know. It's Barry, and the reason I know about this stuff is that I have a degree in rhetoric and logic," the now named Barry said. Taiyang was tempted to ask Barry how he got stuck working as a pyrotechnics entertainer at children's parties, but he refrained as he was pretty sure that would open up a can of worms he didn't need opened at the moment.
"Just give me a reason to bring you in you little prick." Richard growled at Ace.
"You're not gonna get that reason though, which must frustrate you so much each time you see me." Ace said with a cheshire cat grin. Taiyang openly gaped at Ace. Was this kid seriously playing mind games with a cop? The cop looked like he was about to explode with barely controlled rage. Yang and a wide eyed Ruby took a couple steps back in case anything happened.
"I'll get you on of these days you smug bastard," the cop darkly growled as he turned away from them, having decided to get out of there before he did something he might regret. Ace's response was to give an even bigger smirk.
"Dream on Dick," Ace said before going back inside the house. Taiyang looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. He composed himself as best as he could before going after Ace. Yang and Ruby followed their dad.
"Ace?" Taiyang said, oddly calm and collected. Ace was sitting on the couch while eating another slice of cake.
"Yeah?"
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Taiyang screeched at the top of his voice.
"The thing with the cop? I do that to every cop I don't like. That particular cop had arrested a faunus for no reason. He wasn't gentle when apprehending the poor fella either. After that, he made my list." Ace explained. Taiyang calmed down a little when he heard Ace's motives.
"How many cops are on your 'list?'" Taiyang asked.
"Only five. Patch has a really honest and nice police force for the most part," Ace said with a smile. It was true. When compared to places like Atlas, Patch had a very considerate and respectable police force. Taiyang sighed. Even if his intentions were good, Ace was eventually going to get hurt doing this. He had to get Ace to stop. Even if he wasn't the boy's father, he didn't like the idea of having to tell his daughters that Ace had been arrested, or worse, killed.
"Listen Ace, I know that you do this for a good reason, but It's gotta stop." Ace was about to protest when Taiyang held his hand up. "You're going to push things too far one day and get hurt." Taiyang said with a sigh. Yang and Ruby stood awkwardly to the side, unsure of what to do.
"Should we leave?" Ruby whispered to her sister.
"No, I feel like this is important." Yang whispered back. For those wondering, Barry had decided to go around the house to pack up his stuff when he heard the direction the conversation had taken.
"So I should just let those corrupted idiots off the hook?" Ace shot back,
"There are better ways to get back at them. Listen to me Ace, right now you're a child. You can get away with a lot of stuff and get off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. But what about when you're older? What then? They'll be able to do bad things to you. How do you think Yang and Ruby would feel?" Taiyang said as he pointed to the two sisters. Ace seemed conflicted. He didn't like the idea of leaving corrupt law enforcement to do bad things, but he also didn't want to make the two sisters worried for his well being. Finally, he let out a sigh.
"All right, I'll stop." He glumly said. Taiyang nodded in satisfaction. He then turned around and walked to the kitchen.
"I do believe we were in the middle of an intense session of Remnant the game." He said. The three kids followed soon after.
"Why does government and authority have to be such a pain?" He asked to himself. They spent the last couple hours they had having fun, the earlier conversation having been largely forgotten. The highlight of the evening was probably Yang and Ace dancing to various songs in order to get a high score on their dancing simulator game. It took awhile, but they did get the high score.
Yang was grinning like an idiot throughout the entire thing.
...2 Months Later…
The next couple of months had had a few noteworthy events. Qrow had come back from his mission, Ace had turned seven, and Ruby had turned five. However, these events were overshadowed by something very important. Something that forever changed the life of a child named Portgas D. Ace.
...Rose/Xiao Long Residence…
Qrow had come by to visit the girls and give Taiyang some very important news. So important that the girls had to go to their rooms. Yang, being the mischievous child that she is, did not listen and pressed her ear against the door to Taiyang's room. She could hear what Qrow and her father were talking about.
"... so she was here recently?" Taiyang asked, his voice taking on an uncharacteristically grim tone.
"What I found seems to confirm that Raven was here." Qrow said in a serious voice. In front of him was a small box full of papers. They didn't see the shocked yet determined look on Yang's face. Not bothering to hear the rest of the conversation, Yang left to go pack supplies. Had she stayed just a few seconds longer, she could have avoided making one of the biggest mistakes of her life.
"I already checked it out though, It's a dead end." Qrow said. Taiyang nodded, not very surprised.
...6:00 AM, Rose/Xiao Long Residence…
Yang quietly entered the guest bedroom Qrow was staying in. She made sure to avoid several bottles of alcohol he and Taiyang had partaken in following their conversation. Yang saw it. There on the desk were the clues to find their mother. Before now, she had never payed much attention to finding her. She was realistic about it. Where would a seven year old even start?
Now though, the clues were right in front of her. She could take them, find her mother, and be back before Qrow or her dad would wake up. Judging from the amount of bottles on the floor, they wouldn't be waking up for awhile. She looked through the contents of the box and found a map. She saw a spot marked far into the woods, farther than even Ace had ever gone. That didn't bother her though. Nothing would stand before her and her mother now.
She took the map and made her way outside. Ruby was there waiting for her next to a small red wagon of supplies. Wordlessly, Yang pulled the cart down the road, Ruby following. The sun hadn't even risen when they made it out of town and onto one of the trails going through the woods.
They couldn't of been walking for more than half and hour when they ran into Ace. He was sitting on a tree branch. He looked just as surprised as the two girls.
"What're you girls doing up so early?" He questioned as he jumped off the tree branch. Yang absentmindedly noticed that he had his Bo staff with him.
"I could ask you the same thing," Yang shot back. Was it just Ace or was Yang being a bit more abrasive than usual. He decided it was just him.
"I always wake up early. Visiting hours start at 6:30." Ac explained. "What about you?" Yang seemed torn. Ace was one of her best friends. She knew she could trust him with almost anything. This was different though, she was going to dangerous lengths to find her mother. Finally, friendship won out over caution and Yang explained everything. She showed him the map too.
"None of us have ever gone out that far before Yang," Ace informed them. "It could be very dangerous. You sure you want to go?" Ace asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yes I'm sure," Yang snapped back, her patience finally running out. "If all you're gonna do is tell me I shouldn't go, then move," she said as she shoved past Ace. Ruby looked at him apologetically before following her sister. Ace watched them walk before sighing.
"Hey wait up," Ace called. Yang stopped and looked back at Ace. "If I can't keep you from doing dangerous things, then I can at least make sure you're as safe as possible," Ace said with a grin as he quoted what Sally had told him when she had gotten him his Bo staff. Yang smiled a little before waking on, this time with Ace in tow.
The journey was long and arduous, taking several hours for the children to reach their destination. Unknown to the group of children was that a certain visitor had decided to wake up a few minutes before hand.
...11:35 AM, Rose/Xiao Long residence…
"I'm never drinking again," Qrow said to himself as he reentered his room. He had gotten up for a glass of water and a couple of aspirin. He halted when he saw his box on it's side with all the papers scattered over the desk. He quickly looked through them and found that the map was missing. He ran out of his bedroom to the one that was the girl's. He opened it and saw that the beds were empty.
"Shit," was all he said as he ran to his room and grabbed his weapon. His hangover was forgotten as he went as fast as he could after the girls. He didn't need the map as he had already memorized it.
...12:13, With The Children...
"So what are we looking at?" Ace asked as they stared at the old rickety cabin that was at the end of their journey. Ruby was just as confused as Ace. Yang was more hurt than surprised.
"But… Uncle Qrow said…" Yang stuttered. Seeing that her sister was hurting, Ruby hugged her. Ace was about to place his hand on her shoulder when a very familiar noise was heard. One that none of them had wanted to hear for a long time. It was the low, guttural growl of Grimm. Several Beowolves emerged from the tree lines, these ones radically different from the one Ace had killed.
These were full grown Grimm. Not only did they tower over the children, these ones had those horrid bone protrusions all over their body. Ace knew they were in deep trouble. Maybe, and that was a big maybe, he could kill one. The problem was that there were at least six Grimm visible. Who knew how many could be hiding behind the tree line. That didn't stop him from placing himself between the Grimm and girls.
"Stay behind me," he growled as the Grimm came closer. Ruby and Yang were wide eyed with fear. They knew Ace was strong, but they also knew he couldn't take on six fully grown Grimm. Ace weighed his options. He couldn't win, he knew that much, but maybe he could stall them long enough for Yag and Ruby to get a good head start at running away.
"Yang,Ruby, when I say go, run away." Ace finally said. Ruby looked at him in confusion.
"What about you?"
"I don't run from fights," Ace said with grim determination. Yang realized what Ace was implying.
"Ace you can't!" Yang exclaimed as she tried to hold back her own tears. Ruby finally understood what Ace was going to do. Unlike Yang, she openly cried. Ace made them take a couple more steps backward as the Grimm got closer.
"We don't have time to argue Yang." Ace warned as the Grimm had closed the distance to barely ten meters. Ace glared at them. The Grimm seemed to be unsure of how to proceed. Instead of rushing the humans, they decided to send one of their own to test them. The chosen one snarled and broke into a run.
"Go!" Ace yelled as he charged, not bothering to look back at Yang and Ruby. Though she loathed to do it, Yang had to grab Ruby and run. Otherwise Ace's sacrifice would be in vain.
"Come on Ruby," Yang said through gritted teeth as she picked Ruby up and started running.
"We're just gonna leave Ace!?" Ruby yelled as she tried to fight her sister's grip. Yang tried so hard to keep her voice steady.
"We have to." Yang said, unable to keep her voice from choking up. She dared not look back. She was too afraid of seeing Ace mauled to death. She didn't get far though. Blocking their path were two of the six Grimm. They must have gone around Yang.
"Oh no," Yang said as she started backing away from them. Ace meanwhile was fighting for his life. His Bo staff did almost no damage to the Grimm and It's bone armor. His hands were numb from the vibrations his Bo staff sent through his body every time he hit the white armor. He couldn't block Its attacks as he'd learned the hard way. When he tried, he was sent tumbling through the dirt. He had to resort to dodging to the best of his ability.
As much as he hated to admit it, he was outmatched. The other Grimm would soon realize that he wasn't a threat and rush him. He wouldn't run though. Partly because he never ran from fights, but mostly because he needed to buy time for Yang and Ruby to escape.
"Ace!" Yang yelled as she ran towards him. Ace spared a glance in her direction and cursed when he saw Grimm blocking the way. He saw that his plan was ruined. How would Yang and Ruby escape now? The Beowolf charged at him again, this time opening it's mouth to try and bite Ace's shoulder off. Ace tensed and swung his staff at the Beowolfs open mouth. It snarled in pain as a few of it's teeth had been smashed apart. Ace tried to capitalize and swung his staff at the Grimm's eye. Key word being tried. Before the staff could connect, the Grimm brought its hand up and grabbed the end. Ace tried to pull it away, but even his strength was no match for the grown Grimm. He gulped as he saw the Grimm make a fist. The Grimm delivered a massive jab at Ace's chest. This was different from when the other Beowolf had punched him. This one had those sickening bone protrusions on its fist. Protrusions that made mincemeat of bone and flesh.
Ace was sent flying. He couldn't even cry out because the pain was too much. Most of his ribs had broken. Some had even punctured his lungs. The skin where the bone had connected was gone and bleeding heavily. He would die soon without help. Yang looked on in horror as she saw Ace being punched in their direction. Ruby, who was still being carried by her sister, turned and saw the same thing Yang did. She scrambled off her sister and ran for the broken heap that was Ace.
"ACE!" Both the sisters yelled as they got on their knees and looked down at their best friend. Yang couldn't hold it back anymore. She started sobbing. She sobbed because this was her fault. She sobbed because she wasn't going to be able to protect her sister. She sobbed because her friend lay dying beneath her.
Ace was close to losing consciousness. The pain was too much. He heavily considered just giving up. He wouldn't be in anymore pain than. There was one problem though. He could hear Yang and Ruby crying over him. He couldn't leave them now. They needed him. If he gave up, Yang and Ruby would be killed. He wasn't about to let that happen. He grit his teeth and opened his eyes. He forced himself to his knees, even though that simple movement caused him unimaginable pain. He could practically feel his lungs being flooded with blood.
He stared at the Grimm approaching them. He stared at Yang and Ruby who were looking at him with gazes of fear and concern. He stared down at his own body. From the blood dribbling down his mouth to the cuts on his legs. He stared at it all, his mind devoid of thoughts and emotions. After what felt like ages, though had only been a few seconds, it happened. He snapped.
"GET AWAY FROM US!" Ace yelled as he released a suffocating pressure. Yang and Ruby passed out immediately, followed by all the Grimm. In less than three seconds, the only one conscious was Ace. Something was different though.
Ace remembered everything
He remembered Luffy. He remembered Sabo. He remembered Whitebeard. He remembered his death. Most of all, he remembered the name for what he had done.
For the second time in his existence, Ace had activated his HAOSHOKU HAKI.
The sudden flood of memories, coupled with his injuries, was too much for Ace. He blacked out,
Qrow ran in a couple second later. What he saw was an out cold Ace surrounded by unconscious Grimm.
...Rose/Xiao Long Residence…
Yang woke up in her own bed. Above her she could hear her sister quietly snoring. Yang was very confused. The last thing she remembered was the Grim attack and Ace.
"Oh god Ace," Yang whispered. She got out of bed and tried walking. Since most of her injuries were bruises and cuts, she was able to walk fine. She opened the door to her room and walked down the hall. She could hear people talking downstairs. She sneakily made her way down stairs. She found her father, Qrow, and some lady wearing a bandana sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Taiyang immediately noticed her.
"How you feeling Yang?" Taiyang asked as he got up and embraced his daughter.
"I'm fine dad. How're Ruby and Ace?" Yang said as she returned her father's hug. The adults all looked at each other uncomfortably. Yang noticed their look. "Whats going on dad?" She asked her father again. Taiyang didn't really know how to tell her. Qrow noticed his team mates hesitation and decided to do it himself.
"Ruby is going to be fine Yang. She just needs rest. In fact, you both do." Qrow paused to collect his thoughts. "Ace… is in intensive care. We're not sure if he's going to make it." Qrow finally said with a sigh. Yang felt multiple things then. Fear, anger, shock, devastation, but what she felt most was guilt.
"This is all my fault," the blonde girl mumbled. She looked so broken at that moment. Taiyang honestly didn't know what to do. Oh how he wished Summer was still here. She could have fixed this. The woman seemed to sense Taiyang's distress, so she decided to step in.
"Your name is Yang? Do you know who I am?" The lady asked Yang.
"No," Yang said.
"My name is Sally. Ace has told me a lot about you Yang," Sally said with a kind smile. Yang looked at her in confusion.
"How are you being so calm about this? Ace might die!" Yang said. Tears started to form in her eyes again. Sally just smiled again.
"Because I know Ace isn't going to die Yang. I've known that boy his whole life. He doesn't give up easily." Sally said as she tried to reassure Yang. It worked to some extent.
"Come on Yang, I'll take you back to bed," Taiyang said as he led Yang upstairs.
"You really believe that?" Qrow asked Sally once Yang was out of earshot. Sally's smile finally broke, replaced by a desperate frown.
"I have to. I don't want Ace to die."
It was touch and go for a few days. Ace went into heavy surgery frequently. However, as Sally had said, Ace would be fine. He would be stuck in the hospital for a couple of months, and would have a huge scar, but he would be fine.
...Patch Hospital, 1 Week Later…
After slipping in and out of consciousness for the past week, Ace was finally awake enough to think about his situation. Specifically, his memories. His head hurt sometimes when he thought about it, but for the most part he was glad he had them back. So many questions he had were answered. Now he knew why he didn't have any parents. His real ones were long dead. He finally had a reason for his strength. He was both scared and disappointed about finding out that he was even stronger as a child in his previous life. He remembered his meeting with the god Monty.
Perhaps what was most important was that he remembered his devil fruit powers. Even if his chest was heavily bandaged, Ace really wanted to try it out. He didn't have to HIKEN! something off the bat. Just a little fire would do.
He brought his finger to his face and turned it into fire. He felt as if he was doing it for both the first and the millionth time. It was weird to say the least. On the bright side, he couldn't help but smile when he realized just how similar his old childhood was to his new one. A lot of his quirks finally made sense when he thought back to his previous life.
"No wonder I don't like government or authority." Ace said to himself. He sighed when he realized that he was going to be in the hospital for awhile. His powers couldn't do much to remedy that.
It wasn't all fun and games though. Ace had remembered a lot of good things, that was true, but he had also remembered all the bad things.
Sabo's death...the battle of Marineford...his death...his father.
It really brought down his mood to have all those memories forced upon him. It didn't help that he was unable to have any visitors and was basically forced to think about his previous life. Hopefully he would be allowed to see people soon.
It would be five more days before Ace was released from intensive care and allowed to have visitors
...Patch Hospital, Five Days Later…
To say that Ruby was excited would be an understatement. Sure, when she'd first found out about Ace she'd been devastated. She actually thought her friend would die. That changed however when they'd been told that his condition had stabilized. She had spent most of yesterday evening making butter cookies, because, according to her, they're the best get well cookies. Now she, her sister, her father, Sally, and uncle Qrow were going to visit him. She happily skipped ahead of everyone else, basket of cookies in hand. She was the spitting image of the fairy tail character she was based off of. Not that she would know that.
Yang didn't share her sister's excitement. Yeah she was relieved that Ace would be okay, but it was her fault he had gotten hurt so severely. She let her desire to find her mother control her, and as a result her friend's rib cage had been practically smashed open.
"Dad?" Yang asked. She needed to tell someone her hesitation.
"Yes?"
"Do you think Ace...would want to see me?" Yang asked. Taiyang nearly rolled his eyes.
"Not this again," Taiyang complained in exasperation, "Yang listen to me: Ace doesn't hate you, nor does he blame you. I honestly doubt he could ever hate you or Ruby." Taiyang smiled when he saw his daughter sigh in relief. She was still nervous, but most of her doubt had been erased.
Any further talk was cut short when they entered the hospital. Qrow asked the receptionist where they could find Ace, and then they made their way to his room. Ruby was positively beaming with happiness.
Even though Taiyang had erased most of her doubt, Yang still felt herself growing more nervous as they drew closer to Ace's room. She was actually having second thoughts when they reached the door to his room. Taiyang seemed to guess what his daughter was feeling, so he placed himself behind her so she couldn't run. Yang gave a half hearted glare at her father before putting all her attention on the door. Qrow opened it, and inside they saw Ace sitting up on his bed.
All of Yang's doubt was replaced by relief the moment she saw him.
Before anyone could stop her, Yang rushed at Ace and trapped him in a heartfelt hug. Ace winced for a moment, his ribs and organs still on the long road to recovery, before placing a hand around Yang's shoulders. He waved at everyone else with his other hand, adopting a lopsided grin while doing so. Ruby quickly propped her basket on a nearby desk before rushing Ace and hugging him as well.
"Me too!" Ruby cheerfully said. Ace chuckled as he placed his arm around Ruby's shoulder. He looked back at the adults.
"Hey guys," Ace said. "Glad you came. You have no idea how bored I was." Qrow chuckled at the sight before him. Ruby had already let Ace go and was unpacking her basket of goodies. Yang, however, did not show any signs of letting Ace go anytime soon. The freckled boy looked down at her. His hospital gown was getting damp around his shoulder.
"Are you crying?" Ace asked, genuinely surprised. The only times he had ever seen her cry were the two Grimm attacks.
"I'm really glad you're okay," Yang said, her voice muffled as it was still pressed against Ace's shoulder. Ace was actually surprised by her reaction. He didn't know he meant so much to Yang. He didn't know what to say. Luckily, Qrow decided to speak up at that moment.
"I know you're glad that your boyfriend is okay, but maybe you should let the adults greet him as well?" Qrow said with an annoying smirk as he saw Yang almost immediately back away from Ace. She glared at Qrow while trying to wipe the blush off her face. Qrow couldn't resist making one more jab at Yang. "Face is getting a little red squirt, sure you aren't sick?"
Ace hadn't gotten what Qrow was implying. Regaining his memories and personality had also given him the obliviousness both he and Luffy suffered from. He turned to Ruby, who had sat herself down on Ace's bed, plate of cookies in hand.
"I don't get it. Yeah I'm a boy and her friend. What's the problem?" he whispered as he watched Yang stick her tongue out at Qrow.
"Beats me. I've been trying to figure it out myself for the last couple of years." Ruby said as she shrugged. To be fair, Ruby wasn't the most knowledgeable source when it came to relationships and innuendos.
"How ya feeling Ace?" Taiyang asked as he walked up to the hospital bed.
"It still hurts from time to time, but I can't complain." Ace said as he smiled at the blonde man. Taiyang took a small breath before talking.
"You saved my daughter's again. Thank you Ace," Taiyang said as he rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't very good at showing gratitude when cookies weren't involved. Speaking of cookies…
"Ace I made you butter cookies." Ruby said as she presented Ace with a plate of the baked treats. Ace grinned as he started eating them.
"Thanks." Ace managed to say through a mouthful of butter cookies. He finally noticed that Sally was with them. He quickly swallowed.
"Hi Sally. Sorry I made you worry," Axe said with a shaky smile. Sally walked up to him and hugged him. She did it gently as she was mindful of his healing body.
"You always make me worry Ace. Why would this be any different?" She said as she tried to hold back her own tears. Ace chuckled a little before returning her hug. The next couple hours or so was spent eating cookies and catching up with their hospitalized friend. Eventually visiting hours had ended and the small group had to leave. Qrow stayed a little longer, claiming that he wanted to talk to Ace in private. Qrow closed the door to make sure they had privacy.
"So what did you wanna talk about?" Ace asked in confusion.
"The Grimm attack. It's weird you know. I was rushing to the sounds of Grimm before hearing a boy yell. Then I felt as if something was trying to overpower my will and knock me unconscious. I fought it off without too much trouble, and kept running towards the Grimm sounds. Only, there were no Grimm sounds. Everything had gone silent. I make it into the clearing and find all the Grimm unconscious along with you and the girls." Qrow paused to stare at Ace. Said boy was was avoiding his gaze.
"I've been keeping an eye on you Ace. I know that it was you who released that pressure that knocked everyone out. As you could probably guess, I have a couple of questions." Ace tensed. "You might not have known this, but I'm one of the primary protectors of this world, so It's my responsibility to recognize potential threats, and right now kid, you're pretty threatening." Qrow said as he actually glared at Ace. The poor boy was legitimately scared. Qrow was never this scary whenever he was around.
"I think you know what hunters do to threats Ace. To be honest, I like you kid. I don't want to off you, but I will if I have to." Qrow said as he walked up to the edge of Ace's bed.
"I'm going to give you one chance to explain yourself. Erase my doubts Ace." Qrow said as he stared down at the freckled boy. Ace didn't know where to begin. He took a few seconds to clear his head.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Ace finally said.
"Kid, this world is full of secrets and mystery. Try me."
"Would you believe that a god called Monty reincarnated me here, and that I'm actually from a different world altogether?" Ace asked as he gave Qrow a frank look. To his credit, Qrow maintained his composure for the most part.
"That would explain why you don't have any birth records. What about the thing you did back there with the Grimm?" Qrow asked, skepticism written all over his face.
"That's called HAKI. It's one of the things I can do. When I was reincarnated, I was also given the powers I could do in my former life." Ace stated.
"Why didn't you do that during the first Grimm attack?"
"I didn't regain my powers or memories until the second Grimm attack." Ace said, a lot more at ease now that he could tell someone about his former life.
"Can you do anything else?" Qrow asked.
"I can change my body to be made of fire." Ace said. He noticed Qrow's confused expression. "It would be easier just to show. Can you pass me that scalpel?" Ace asked as he pointed to a tray of doctor tools. Confused, Qrow picked it up and gave it to Ace. The boy casually raised it and brought it down on his hand, causing the blade to come out the other side. Qrow panicked for a second before seeing Ace pull it out and show his hand to Qrow. To the older hunters astonishment, the edges around the wound were flickering with fire. The knife wound filled in soon after.`
"Yeah, that's not normal here." Qrow said. Ace's explanation was starting to make more and more sense. "Alright, you don't seem to be lying. However, I'm still going to be keeping an eye on you, got it?" Ace nodded in response. Seeing that he was done here, Qrow left. "Later kid," was all he said as goodbye. Instead of heading to Taiyang's house, Qrow made his way to the nearest bar. It had been a long day, and he needed a drink.
...Beacon Academy, 3 hours later…
Ozpin put down his scroll with a pensive look on his face. Glynda was sitting in a chair opposite to his desk. Glynda sat patiently. She knew Ozpin would tell her what's on his mind, he just needed time to collect his thoughts.
"Things have just gotten a lot more complicated Glynda." Ozpin finally said.
"How so?" Glynda asked.
"Remember that boy Ace that peaked my interest a few months ago?" Ozpin paused as he saw Glynda nod. "He has peaked it again with a strange story and strange powers." Glynda tilted her head in confusion.
"What do you mean strange?"
"This boy is apperantly a reincarnation from another world." Ozpin said with a dry chuckle.
"You can't be serious," Glynda said.
"I wish I were joking Glynda. Qrow was there when it happened. He's going back there tomorrow to get the full story." Ozpin said as he rubbed his eyes. "I don't even know what to do about this yet." Ozpin said with a sigh. He usually had a plan for everything, but this was entiely out of left field. "I'm going to need to know the boy's potential capabilities."
"You're going to have someone attack him?" Glynda asked, a little worried where Ozpin was going with this.
"No, nothing like that. Not yet at least. He wants to become a hunter, so he's obviously going to attend Signal Academy. We'll just monitor his time there." Ozpin said. "That said, I'll be having Qrow keep an eye on him whenever he's in the area. Based off what he has told me, this boy could either grow to be a powerful ally, or, should he fall into the wrong hands, a very dangerous enemy." Ozpin said with a very serious glare.
"Should we tell the maidens?" Glynda asked.
"We'll tell them to be on guard. I don't want to bring any unnecessary attention to the boy." Ozpin said.
"What should we do in the meantime?" Glynda asked with a hint of concern. There weren't many people who could cause Ozpin this much stress.
"Right now? Nothing. He is too young to be offered acceptance into Beacon. Until he is old enough to attend Beacon, all we can do is keep an eye on him, and keep Ironwood's eye off of him." Ozpin stated. "Who knows what he would do if he thought the boy was a threat." Ozpin muttered.
A/N: There ya go. Second chapter. Kudos to those who can spot the chibi RWBY reference(kind of obvious). Ace has his fire stuff and HAKI back and Ozpin's plans just gotten even more complicated.
This chapter is a good example of what I meant by timeskips. They will be happening frequently as Ace grows up. They should stop once we get to Beacon. Until then, expect whole years to be skipped over.
So you guys remember how last chapter I thought Yang and Ruby had separate rooms? Well as it turns out they do share a room and that the bedroom Yang was in at the end of Volume 3 was just a guest bedroom. Well, there go my plans. I was going to do a whole thing where Ruby is staying up late to tinker with Crescent Rose and Yang can't get any sleep as a result. She was going to ask for a separate room and Ruby was going to over react, saying stuff like "She's severing the bonds of sisterhood," and, "Next thing you know she'll want to have her own puppy because she can't be bothered to share with a lonely weapons geek who used to be her friend." Ruby would have gotten over it eventually, but not before eating 3 cups of sugar in Yang's new bedroom and destroying it on purpose, she would have been repeatedly yelling "You made me do this!" while wrecking Yang's stuff. Now I can't though. This is why you pay attention to the details people.
I feel like I need to reiterate this:THERE WILL BE NO OTHER ONE PIECE CHARACTERS IN THIS FIC. I'm sorry if it disappoints you, but I am doing this for two reasons mainly. One, this fic is centered mostly around Ace, and having more OP characters would cause that focus to shift away from him. Ace's reincarnation is supposed to be special, something that is almost never done. Reincarnating more OP characters would kind of detract from the sacredness of the event. The second reason is that it is a precautionary measure. If Monty were to all of a sudden reincarnate more OP characters, what's stopping him from saturating Remnant with Pirates? Pirates that can bust islands and posses broken amounts of speed, strength, endurance, and stamina. This doesn't even take into account the myriad of devil fruit powers that would come along with them. Doesn't convince you? Just add Haki to the mix.
This would kind of make all the RWBY cast obsolete wouldn't it?
Now that my rant is over, let me just say that the amount of support this fic has received in such a short amount of time is mind blowing. To know that so many people approve of my writing is amazing, and a little bit intimidating, but mostly amazing!
I had to make an important decision this chapter regarding Ace and his love life. There were two options here. Either he could be a suave casanova with thirty different girlfriends(exaggeration is obvious, but you get the point) or he becomes a complete blockhead and won't notice a girl's affection even if she screams it in his ear. Both of these were somewhat unappealing to me, so I'm trying to go with some sort of middle ground. What that basically means is that while he won't be as oblivious as Luffy, he is definitely going to be somewhat inept. What this means is that he will eventually notice when a girl likes him, but it will take him some time to realize it. He'll also be kind of like a ladies man without being aware of it. He'll do things that everyone else will see as romantic, but he won't be aware of that. For example, where other may see flirting, he just sees a conversation. Where others might think that bringing a girl flowers is romantic, Ace just thinks that it's a nice thing to do for someone. He could just as easily give flowers to a guy for the sake of cheering that guy up.
After reading over the Draft I noticed that I kind of painted ironwood out to be a villain, which wasn't my intention. If I have made Ironwood out to be a bad guy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It's just that he strikes me as the kind of guy who would take the most violent, public, dangerous way out. I mean, bringing Atlas' military to Vale? He's not evil, Ozpin is just concerned with how Ironwood may handle Ace's situation.
On an unrelated note, i really do believe Danish butter cookies are the best get well cookies. They are one of my favorite foods of all time.
School has started up, so updates may slow down somewhat.
Hope you enjoyed this. Leave a review if you have the time. It really helps me grow as a writer to know your opinions. I will see you all during the next update.
Until then.
