Remnant's new ACE hunter

Chapter 6: Weapons, Tournaments, A Side Project, And A Hypocrite(Me)

"Talking."

Thinking.

ATTACK!

DISCLAIMER: I have no rights, nor will I ever, to either One Piece or RWBY.

3 Months Later(Give or take a few), Signal…

"Well, you did it." Yang said.

"You waited patiently and stuck it out." Ace said.

"Welcome to Signal!" Both thirteen year olds said at the same time. Behinds them was the small, eleven year old form of Ruby. She was literally hopping with excitement.

"Yes! What're we waiting for!? Let's get to class!" The young girl said as she dashed through the entrance. Yang and Ace exchanged amused looks before following her inside. Having been at Signal for over 2 years now, Yang and Ace were very familiar with the building. They led Ruby to her locker and showed her where all her classes were. They walked Ruby to her first class and told her they'd see her during lunch.

"You think she'll be fine?" Yang asked as she and Ace walked down the hall to their first class of the day. She knew Ruby was old enough to take care of herself for a few hours, but it was her job as an older sister to worry about her.

"This is what she's wanted for a long time Yang, she'll be fine." Ace reassuringly said. They entered their first class of the day, which was weapon workshop with Qrow. As the name suggested, the classroom was a workshop filled with all the tools students would need to build their weapons. They quickly sat down in the front row as Qrow walked in, weapon in hand.

"This year, you'll all be forging your own weapons. Remember, your weapon reflects who you are, it's an extension of yourself. As such, copying some other hunter's weapon part for part is not a very good idea." Qrow said. "Before we start any of the actual building, you kids will have to draw your own schematics. We'll also have to go over safety procedures and all that, but all you really need to know is to point the part that's either pointy or on fire away from everyone else." Qrow finished. He passed out paper so students could do some sort of rough draft before finalizing their design on a computer.

"Still don't know what you're going to build?" Yang asked, not looking up from the firing mechanism she was drawing.

"Nah, Qrow helped me figure out what I'm gonna build." Ace said as he started drawing mechanisms and gears at a fast rate.

"So, what're you building?" Yang asked as she briefly looked up from her sketch.

"Gonna have to wait and find out." Ace said with a smile. Yang gave him an annoyed look before going back to her drawing. Ace absentmindedly hummed to himself as he recalled his conversation with Qrow

2 Weeks Earlier…

"So?" Qrow asked. In front of him Ace was experimenting with Qrow's weapon.

"The weight isn't a problem if that's what you're asking." Ace said as he swung the scythe form of Qrow's weapon. The older hunter had to admit, Ace was suprisingly good at wielding it even though he's never had any experience using a scythe.

"I can see why you chose your weapon, but it's honestly not really my style." Ace said as he changed the scythe back into a sword. "I don't really need a blade that big." The red eyed boy said.

"With your strength, even a knife would make mincemeat of any Grimm," Qrow said as he nodded in understanding.

"Right, plus you need to use both hands to wield it effectively. I'd rather have a weapon that can be used single handedly. Maybe two weapons." Ace said before sighing in frustration. "I only have a vague idea of what I want." The thirteen year old said.

"You're getting closer kid. What do you think you're going to do about the gun form?" Qrow asked.

"It's definitely going to be high caliber." Ace said. "Low caliber won't do jack against most Grimm(COUGHRenCOUGH). I also know it's going to be semi-automtic. If I want rapid fire, I got this." Ace said as he made a gun shape with his hand, the end of his finger turning into fire. "I know I don't want anything as bulky as a sniper rifle, but I also don't want something small like a pistol." Ace said as he placed his head in his hands. "My head is starting to hurt." The boy complained.

"You're not as far from your target weapon as you think." Qrow said as he reasurringly patted Ace on the back. "You have all the ideas there, you just don't know how to execute them." Qrow said before an idea came to him. "Wait right here." Qrow said as he entered the house. He exited a couple minutes later with a stack of something.

"Look through these." Qrow said as he handed Ace the pile.

"What are they?"

"Ruby's weapon magazines." Qrow answered. Realization dawned on Ace's face as he quickly looked through each magazine.

"Maybe this… combine it with that… no that won't work… this probably could… but it'd be to awkward to weild… hmmm." Ace paused as he looked at something in particular. "This should do just fine." Ace said with a satisfied smile. Qrow looked over his shoulder in curiosity. Ace pointed out what he was going to do.

"Now that is going to be a good weapon, especially when you put dust in it." Qrow said as he smiled in pride at what Ace had been able to come up with. "See? That wasn't so hard." The older hunter commented.

"This wasn't the hard part Qrow. The hard part is going to be leaning to fight with it." Ace said as he picked up the magazines and took them to Ruby's room.

...Present Time…

"Dust goes in here… trigger there… blade there… and I'm done." Ace said to himself as he inspected his diagrams. Now that he knew what he was building, Ace didn't have any trouble designing it. Satisfied with what he had come up with, Ace called Qrow over to inspect it.

"Yep, seems good enough. Sure you don't want a scythe? You could really wreck shit up if you had one." Qrow said as he handed Ace his diagrams.

"Maybe when I'm older." Ace said as put his diagrams away. Seeing that he had a few minutes left before class ended, Ace took a closer look at all the tools in the workshop. Woodworking, Forge, saws, and power tools, Ace mentally checked off. He grinned with excitement when he realized he had everything he needed to build a little side project he had in mind. He quickly called Qrow over again.

"Mind if I work on a little side project?" Ace asked.

"What kind of project?" Qrow said in response.

"It's not a second set of weapons if that's what you're wondering. It's just something I've really wanted to build for a long time now." Ace said, deliberately not giving away too much information.

"All the tools and supplies are for student use, so I don't see why not. As long as you aren't building some mass destruction device, go nuts." Qrow said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Can I bring in my own supplies?" Ace asked, growing more excited by the second.

"Yep, now if you'll excuse me, another student needs me." Qrow said as he gave Ace a fist bump before walking to the student who had his hand raised. Ace took out another piece of paper and started designing at an even faster rate than he had done with his weapon.

"What's your side project?" Yang asked, having heard Ace and Qrow's conversation.

"That, my dear friend Yang, is also a secret." Ace said. Yang lightly scowled in annoyance.

"Can you at least give me a hint?" She asked.

"Only I'll be able to use it." Ace cryptically said. Knowing that Ace wasn't going to say anymore, Yang quickly finished her diagrams and designs; Qrow approved of her designs a few seconds later. Most students took at least two days to finish their diagrams. Yang, on the other hand, had already had most of her weapon planned out, so it was fairly easy for her to put it on paper. After deciding on what he was going to build, Ace did some intense studying during those two weeks to be able to finish his design early. The bell rang a few minutes later, and Yang and Ace separated to go to different classes.

"After this, you're going to have aura Yang." Ace said in the hallway.

"I know right?" Yang said as she skipped a little out of sheer happiness. She was going to her combat class next, which meant her aura was about to be unlocked.

"Let's do some sparring after school." Ace said.

"Definitely. Hope you're ready to have your ass kicked." Yang said as she adopted a cocky smile.

"What makes you think that you can accomplish what even Signal's best couldn't?" Ace said. He quickly bid Yang farewell and went to his class, which was basic Grimm studies.

...Lunch…

"... and that, my dear Ruby, is how I got the school to let me eat all the food I want." Ace said as he finished his tale. He took a big bite out of the leg of ham in front of him. To his right as a precariously stacked pillar of plates that Ace had eaten food off of.

"Really?" Ruby asked in wonder. "How did you manage to beat six students at once?" The red haired girl asked in awe.

"It wasn't as hard as you think. They weren't very good at teamwork. Besides, I'm me." Ace answered, as though the simple statement that he was Ace answered why he beat a group of students. "Because I proved that I'm six times better than the students, I got the right to eat six times as many servings as them." Ace said as he finished the rest of his ham leg. He had just begun working on the roasted turkey to his left when Yang plopped herself down at their table.

"Where've you been?" Ace asked through a mouthful of turkey.

"I caused some problems in Grimm studies, so I had to stay after to talk to the teacher."Yang said as she took a sip of her milk. "Some kids thought that all Grimm were born with bone armor, but I know for a fact young ones don't have any." Yang said upon seeing the questioning gazes of her friends. They were all briefly reminded of the first time they ever met, and the first ever Grimm Ace had killed.

"The other kid doesn't believe me, so we start an argument. It got to the point where we yelled at each other in the middle of class." Yang finished as she reached over and took a leg out of Ace's turkey.

"Only the first day of the year and you've already caused problems Yang." Ruby whined in exasperation.

"That's nothing. I got into a fist fight with my professor on my first day." Ace nonchalantly said. Before Ruby could tell Ace to explain, Yang spoke up.

"Enough about us. How's your first day going Rubes?" Yang asked.

"It's… okay." Ruby said as she rubbed her arm. "Don't get me wrong. The kids are nice enough, and the teachers are polite. It's just that… I guess I was expecting a little more excitement." Ruby finished.

"By excitement you mean more weapons, aura, and combat?" Yang asked. Ruby nodded in agreement. "Don't worry my dear sister. What you're feeling is exactly what I felt my first day. Things won't pick up for a while Ruby, so might as well get used this." Yang said as she patted her younger sister on the back.

"It's so boring though. How'd you deal with the boredom Ace?" Ruby asked.

"I'm the wrong person you should be asking Ruby." Ace said . To his right was the carcass of the turkey he had eaten. "I was fighting students older than me since day one. I was never bored." Ace said as he scanned the table for any more food.

"I'll tell you what I did Rubes. I stuck it out. You've got three years ahead of you before you get aura and a weapon. Whining won't make time go faster." Yang said as she gave Ruby a sympathetic smile.

"I guess being a huntress-in-training won't always be action packed and exciting." Ruby sadly said. "If it'l help me be a hero, then I'll stick out like you said Yang." Ruby finished, adopting a content smile.

...Later That Day…

"Show me! Show me! Show me!" Ruby commanded as she, Ace, and Yang walked home.

"Alright Ruby. Ace?" Yang asked as she adopted a proud smile. Ace raised his fist and lightly, for him, punched Yang in the face. The blonde haired girl took a few steps to the right from the force of the blow.

"Ta-Da!" Yang said as she showed her face, which was completely devoid of any damage. "Man, aura is the best." Yang commented as she made a fist and jabbed at the air. "Hope you're ready to lose Ace." Yang mocked as she lightly slugged Ace's arm.

"Yang, I've had over six years of experience using aura. Not only have I technically stalemated a professor, I regularly fight students who are older than me and win, even without a weapon." Ace said as he touched his hat in pride. "Do you really think you'll beat me on your first try?" Ace asked, giving Yang a smirk that just screamed confidence and power.

Yang, for some reason she couldn't fathom, found herself blushing ever so slightly when Ace smiled at her. I did it again, what the Hell is going on with me? The blonde haired girl silently asked herself. This hadn't been the first time that Ace had done something that made her blush. Why it made her blush, she didn't have the slightest idea.

"Yang?" Ruby asked.

"Huh?" Yang said in confusion, having just been brought oout of her musings.

"You haven't said anything for like, the past twenty seconds." Ruby answered.

"Oh… uh… let's just get home. I want to fight Ace." Yang said as she tried to cover up her embarrassment. Ace and Ruby nodded and said nothing else all the way home. Once home, the trio put their stuff away before going out to the backyard for Ace and Yang's sparring match.

"Ready?" Yang asked.

"Whenever you are." Ace said with a grin. Yang tensed before rushing at Ace. Right off the bat, Ace could tell Yang wasn't used to her new strength and speed. The blonde haired girl made a fist and swung at Ace's face. The red eyed boy easily telegraphed the attack and moved backwards to avoid the hit. Yang quickly brought up her other fist, which Ace easily dodged. The young girl tried to do a kick, but lost her balance in the process. She stumbled as she tried to regain said balance while Ace smiled in amusement.

"Kicking isn't really your thing. I'd stick to punches if I were you." Ace said as Yang charged him again. To someone of Ace's caliber, Yang might as well have been moving in slow motion. The thirteen year old boy evaded each attack sent at him with ease. Understandably, Yang grew slightly frustrated.

"Stop moving so I can hit you!" Yang said as another one of her strikes was dodged.

"Careful what you wish for." Ace said as he completely stopped. Yang took her chance and threw the hardest punch she could at Ace's midsection. The red eyed boy didn't even flinch when Yang connected.

"Ow," Yang muttered as she retracted her hand and massaged it. "What are you, made of bricks or something?" She complained.

"Told you to be careful." Ace said as he walked over to where Yang was still massaging her fist.

"I thought having my aura unlocked would at least give me a chance." Yang said as she plopped herself on the ground. Ace sat down and joined her. For those wondering, Ruby had gone back inside to get refreshments for the three of them.

"Don't feel bad Yang. You could probably do better if you had a weapon. Most hunters fight with them for a reason, you know." Ace reassuringly said.

"You don't need a weapon." Yang pointed out.

"That's true, but I'm getting one anyway." Ace said in response. Seeing that Yang was still somewhat sad about her loss, Ace continued talking. "Listen, you've only had aura for a day. Don't feel too bad if you couldn't beat the best student at Signal on your first try. You know what they say, second or third time's the charm." Ace said as he laughed lightly.

"Somehow I feel like it's going to take me more than three tries to beat you." Yang said as she laughed along with Ace, having gotten over her loss.

"I have juice." Ruby declared as she exited the back door of her house. Juice Boxes could be seen being clutched in her arms. "Drink." Ruby commanded as she handed Ace and Yang a juicebox each. Ruby then sat down on the grass next to Ace and proceeded to drink her juice. Not wanting to disappoint Ruby, Yang and Ace drank their juice as well.

1 Week Later…

"There, done." Ace said to himself as he checked the piece of metal he was working with. To his right Yang could be seen working on the trigger mechanism of her gauntlets. This involved putting them on and punching the air to check the amount of force needed to fire bullets. All around them various students could be seen working on weapons of their own.

"Now I just have to wait for the blades to finish cooling and I'll be all set to put it together." Ace said to himself. "How goes the trigger mechanism Yang?" Ace asked.

"I'm having a little trouble figuring out just how much force I need to make it fire." Yang said as she punched with her gauntlet again.

"Being a shotgun gauntlet, you're weapon is going to have a lot of recoil. I think that more force would help you compensate for that." Ace helpfully said.

"That's actually a good point. Thanks Ace." Yang said as she started recalibrating her weapon.

"Anytime." Ace said as he got up and went to check up on his blades. Before he could reach the forging area, he was stopped by one of the female students. This student was named Lapis, and her attire seemed to complement her name. She had bright blue hair along with bright blue eyes. She was wearing a deep blue mini skirt with an orphan blue belt. She had on a short sleeve button up up shirt, also blue, over a baby blue blouse. In simple terms, she was wearing a lot of blue.

"Hi Ace," Lapis said.

"Hey Lapis." Ace greeted back.

"Listen I'm having a little trouble with something. Could you help me out?" Lapis asked as she idly twirled her fingers. This got Yang's attention. Lapis was well known among the female students for being a bit bolder than most girls in her class. What are you planning? Yang thought to herself as she gazed at Lapis suspiciously.

"Sure, whaddya need?" Ace said. Being the respectful person he is, Ace always helped anyone who asked him for it.

"Follow me." Lapis said as she led Ace to her workstation. "I need to take very precise measurements of this." Lapis said as she gestured to a thick bar of metal about a meter in length. "The table is getting in the way though. Could you lift it for me while I measure it?" Lapis asked as she grabbed a tape measurer.

"Sure." Ace said as he reached for the bar of metal. To his surprise, the bar was much heavier than it looked. He grabbed each end with one hand and lifted it up. Though Ace could lift much more than what the bar of metal weighed, he still found himself having to use more effort than he thought. This made sense as Lapis had purposefully chosen the heaviest, densest metal the workshop had.

"Could you hold it out a little more?" Lapis asked. Ace complied and held the bar at arm's length. Lapis took a moment to admire Ace's forearm muscles and biceps before ducking under the bar and getting into the space between the bar and Ace. From here, she practically pressed against Ace. Yang scowled as she realized what Lapis had planned.

"You have enough room to measure?" Ace asked, completely unaware of Lapis' ulterior motives.

"Yeah." Lapis said, a faint blush on her face. This is pretty much a hug. I'm hugging Portgas D. Ace! Lapis mentally told herself as she took measurements at an agonizingly slow pace. Yang started being a little more… forceful in her calibrations. She also may or may not have punched in Lapis' general direction and fantasized about beating her face in. This did not go unnoticed by a certain alcoholic uncle.

"What do we have here?" Qrow told himself from the front of the class. "Looks like my little firecracker is starting to question her feelings towards my dear son." Qrow muttered to himself as he took a sip of the mug of coffee mixed with liquor on his desk. Oh, I am going to have a blast teasing Yang once she realizes she has a crush on Ace. Speaking of Yang…

Why. Does. This. Bother. Me. So. Much!? Yang mentally screamed to herself as she punched the air harder and harder. At this point, she had all the data she needed to calibrate the trigger mechanism, but punching the air was the only thing keeping her from yelling at Lapis. Yes, the way Lapis had manipulated Ace was not nice, but she technically wasn't doing anything wrong.

Yang was experiencing a myriad of feelings at once. Anger, disgust, and annoyance she got. What threw her off was that she was feeling a twinge of… jealousy? That couldn't be right. Why would Yang be jealous? It wasn't a mistake though. This was the exact same way Yang had felt about Ace having his aura unlocked years before her. There was no doubt about it. Yang was jealous. The blonde haired girl did not take too kindly on this revelation. For the rest of the day Yang was irritable and easily angered. She wouldn't even talk to Ace on the way home. She didn't even return her father's greeting. Yang just went straight to her room, leaving a confused Taiyang to talk to Qrow.

"Why is Yang so agitated?" Taiyang asked. Qrow smirked in response.

"Something happened at school that really bugged her." Qrow said as he thought back to what he had seen in class.

"What happened?" The blonde haired man asked.

"Don't worry about it Tai. All you need to know is that Ace has been attracting a lot of attention at school." Qrow said as he chuckled.

...1 Week Later...

"Hurry up and show us!" Ruby practically yelled. The eleven year old was literally bouncing with excitement. She, along with Qrow, Taiyang, Ace, and Yang were currently in their backyard.

"Introducing Ember Cilica!" Yang announced as the yellow bracelets on her forearms extended into shotgun gauntlets. Qrow gave her a small clip of shotgun shells to show off her weapon.

"Remember, point it away from us." The older hunter reminded as he took a couple steps backwards. Yang nodded and aimed at the tree line.

"Ready?" Yang teasingly asked, purposely drawing out the moment to annoy Ruby.

"Yes! Shoot!" Ruby impatiently said. Yang cocked her fist back and threw a punch at the tree line. A loud bang echoed throughout the vicinity as the first few trees were shredded to pieces. Ruby practically had stars in her eyes as she gazed at the destruction.

"And that was just regular ammo. Wait till I get some dust in this baby." Yang bragged as she expelled the empty shell. "Wanna see something cool Ruby?" Yang asked her starstruck sister.

"Yes please." Ruby whispered. This had to be one of the greatest days of her life. Yang grinned as she jumped and punched downwards. The recoil sent her rocketing into the air.

"Woohoo!" Yang exclaimed once she had reached the end of her velocity.

"Need me to catch you?" Ace called up as Yang started falling back down.

"I got it." Yang said. She fired a couple more shotgun rounds downwards to slow her momentum down to the point where she landed safely on the ground.

"Well?" Yang asked the group in front of her.

"That was the greatest thing I've ever seen." Ruby whispered as she kept staring at Yang's gauntlets

"I really am proud of you Yang. You've made a fine weapon." Taiyang said as he ruffled his daughter's hair, much to Yang's chagrin.

"Dad, you're messing up my hair." Yang complained as she moved her head away from her father's hand.

"Well, we got one kid down. Now it's the other kid's turn." Qrow said as he gestured towards Ace.

"Yeah, what is your weapon Ace?" Ruby asked. The red eyed boy hadn't said anything about his weapon the entire time he was forging it. Even Yang didn't know what he had built, only that it had a couple of blades.

"I've kept you all waiting long enough." Ace said as he went inside to get his weapon. He stopped by his room and took his weapons out of their hiding place. He strapped them on and went downstairs, but waited a few seconds as he could hear everyone else talking outside.

"Wait, so you know what Ace's weapon is?" He could hear Yang ask.

"Of course, I helped him decide what it would be." Qrow said. Though he couldn't see it, Ace was willing to bet that Qrow was smiling in pride. Not wanting to keep them waiting any longer, Ace opened the door and walked outside. Any other conversation was immediately quelled.

"Well?" Qrow asked, his smile growing bigger. Ace put his hands behind his back, and pulled put two guns. The guns themselves vaguely resembled pirate firearms, but were mostly of modern design. Both were about 1.5 feet in length, but differed in color scheme. One was a straw yellow with red detailing along the barrel and hilt. If you were to look under the handle you would see a small straw hat engraved into the metal. The other one was a bright red in color with orange detailing similar to the yellow one. Engraved into the bottom of the handle was a spade.

"This is Straw," Ace said as he raised the yellow one, "and this is Spade." Ace said as he raised the bright red one. He pointed Spade at a tree and fired, having loaded the gun with ammo before hand. A loud bang was heard as the tree was cut in half, along with the one behind it.

"That's some pretty heavy firepower for a relatively small rifle." Taiyang commented as he gazed at the trees Ace had destroyed.

"Oh yeah, the recoil can be pretty intense. Luckily, I have more than enough strength to manage." Ace said as he blew away the smoke coming from the barrel. I've always wanted to do that, Ace thought to himself. "That's not all I can do." Ace commented as he fastened the guns to his sides.

"Yes! More!" Ruby cheered as she fist pumped in excitement. Ace gripped the handles of his guns and clicked a button near where the handle met the rest of the gun. The handles straightened out with an audible whir of gears. Each gun clicked once before Ace pulled the handles away from the firearms. The small family heard a noise similar to a sword being pulled out of its sheath as Ace pulled the handles away. Connected to the gun handles were blades that had been housed in the gun. Both blades were a dark reddish orange, similar to what you would see in a particularly hot fire. The blades curved slightly near the top. The blades had started off small, but seemed to double in size as they were fully unsheathed. This did not go unnoticed.

"Hey, why did your swords double in size?" Ruby asked, having been the first to notice.

"Yeah, there's no way those could fit in your guns." Yang added.

"The blades are telescopic. They shorten to be able to fit into Straw and Spade." Ace said. The only way you could tell both blades apart was that one hilt was yellow and one was red. "It was a huge pain in the butt getting the blades just right." Ace commented as he made a few experimental swings with his swords.

"That is so amazing." Ruby said as she raised her hands in a hopeless attempt at touching the weapons.

"Yeah, the blades are pretty good at cutting stuff, but the real magic happens when you put some dust in." Ace said as he reached into his back pocket and took out two red dust crystals. He inserted one into the hilts of each sword and smiled when he saw his swords give off a faint red glow.

"Wanna see something cool?" Ace asked Ruby.

"Please?" Ruby said. Ace lifted one blade over his shoulder and concentrated. The red glow on the weapon started glowing brighter and brighter. The temperature got noticeably hotter as the blade started to shimmer, a clear sign of intense heat. Satisfied, Ace let out a yell as he slashed forwards with his weapon. A curved blade of fire instantly sprang from the slash and rocketed towards the tree line. The fire cut straight through the first few trees before losing its structural integrity. The flames lost all form and stuck to the trees still standing. In a few minutes there would be a raging forest fire.

"Don't worry, I got this." Qrow said as he he took out an ice crystal and threw it at the fire. He quickly turned his weapon into its gun form and shot the ice crystal. Every tree on fire was immediately covered in ice as the explosion rocketed outwards.

"I can also use the dust in gun form. That just lets me such a bunch of fire bullets." Ace commented as he re sheathed his swords. "Well, that was my weapon. Hope you liked it."

"It's amazing!" Ruby exclaimed. "The dust was so cool and the guns are awesome!" The silver eyed girl said as she ran up to Ace. "Can I hold one please?" Ruby asked as she gave Ace the puppy dog face he had mentioned a few months earlier.

"Ask your dad first." Ace said. He had no problem with letting Ruby hold his weapon. Heck, he'd even let her fire it if it was up to him. Taiyang, however, had final say in the matter.

"Can I dad?" Ruby called out.

"Just holding. You can't fire at anything." The blonde haired man called back. Ace unstrapped Straw from his side and flipped it so he was grabbing the barrel. He then offered the gun to Ruby, handle first. It was all Ruby could do to keep from squealing with expiration. She grabbed the hilt of the gun, and promptly fell to the ground when Ace let go.

"You're gun is really heavy." Ruby said as she used both hands to pick it up. Even then, it was obvious the gun was too much for Ruby to handle. Ace quickly took the gun away from Ruby, lest she hurt herself from just carrying it.

"It has to be Ruby. I'm loading sniper rifle grade ammunition into a small package. The frame need to be able to take the recoil." Ace said as he holstered Straw. "So, what do you think?" Ace asked as he looked at Qrow, Taiyang, and Yang.

"It makes a big boom and lights stuff on fire. What's not to like?" Yang said, grinning at the thought of fighting Ace with weapons.

"I like how you played to your strengths. Most normal huntsman and huntresses would never think to make a weapon like yours." Taiyang said. He walked up to Ace and extended his hand. "May I?" Taiyang politely asked.

"Sure." Ace replied as he unholstered Spade and handed it to Taiyang. The blonde haired man lifted and wielded the weapon with almost no effort at all.

"Ruby was right. This is a lot of weight for a small package." Taiyang said as he twirled the gun on his finger. "I am curious though. Why did you name them Straw and Spade?" Taiyang asked as he handed Ace back his gun.

"One of them is a play on my name. Ace of spades?" Ace said.

"Clever." Taiyang complemented.

"The other one I named Straw because I like straw." Ace said. It wasn't a complete lie. He did like straw for a reason. It's just that no one expect Ace and Qrow would know why he liked straw.

"Who doesn't like straw?" Qrow said as he took out his flask and took a quick swig. "Anyways you both did a pretty good job with your weapons. I can't wait to see you beat the stuffing out of the other students."

"May take me awhile, I still need to figure out a fighting style with these things." Ace said.

"It's not that hard. I can teach you mine if you want." Qrow offered. The older hunter had no doubt that Ace would be able to adapt his own fighting style to fit his own weapons.

"Maybe later. I kind of want to go clean out the trees we killed." Ace said as he pointed to the various trees he and Yang had felled. It kind of was a messy scene. "We are going to have a lot of firewood." Ace said as he made his way to the downed trees.

"I for one am not interested in clean up duty. You kids wanna go inside and play Kung Fu Ultimate Ninja Death Battle?" Qrow asked as he made his way inside, followed by Ruby and Yang.

"You need any help Ace?" Taiyang asked. Unlike his tipsy teammate, Tai was polite enough to offer people help.

"I got it." Ace said as he hefted one of the tree trunks on his shoulder. "You can go inside if you want." Ace said as he carried the tree towards the clearing that was their backyard. Taiyang nodded and went inside.

"This wood will do perfectly." Ace said to himself.

...3 Days Later…

"Kid, when you said supplies I thought you meant paint and stuff, not a dozen tree trunks." Qrow said. In front of him Ace was stacking the trees he and Yang had shot down three days prior. Qrow and Ace were the only ones in the workshop as it was a saturday, therefore no school.

"Too late to say no. They're already here." Ace said as he brought in the last tree trunk. "I'm going to need all of this for my side project." The red eyed boy said.

"You gonna tell me what it is you're building?" Qrow asked as he watched Ace pick up a log and take it to the woodworking table.

"Trust me, you'll be able to guess soon enough." Ace said as he began sawing the log into planks.

...3 Weeks Later…

"The main frame is done, now all I have to do is fire proof the wood and put together the main engine." Ace said to himself as he finished nailing in the last plank. He had stayed after school to continue working on his project. "Hopefully the engine works just fine." Ace muttered as he went to the table that had all the pieces of the engine that had yet to e put together. Ace had done all he could from memory, but even then he had to guess on some parts as he couldn't remember what went there originally.

...1 Week Later…

"It fits perfectly but now I have to test if it will run correctly." Ace told himself as he gazed at his finished project. The workshop was located on the side of the school so that they could quickly weel in supplies and other items. They did this through a retracting door located on the wall that led outside. Ace pulled the lever which retracted the door. He wheeled in a large cart and loaded his project into it. The then took the cart's handle and wheeled it all the way to the coast, but not before closing the retracting door.

"Now to see if it floats." Ace said as he pushed his project into the water. "It does indeed float. Will the engine work." Ace said as he stepped into his project. This was the moment of truth. He switched to his logia body and turned his feet into fire. A propeller like noise was heard as the fire successfully powered the engine. The project went sailing forwards at high velocity as Ace cheered in success.

"I'm not landlocked anymore!" Ace cheered as he raised his hands in triumph. His project was almost an exact replica of the personal boat he had back in his old life. He had designed the boat himself in his past life, so he had manage to retain most of the information needed to make a new one. With this boat Ace would finally be able to leave Patch and explore all of Remnant. Ace stopped cheering when a buzzing noise was heard from his pocket. He stopped the boat and took out his scroll. He and Yang had been given scrolls a few days earlier. Ace looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Yang.

"Hello?" Ace said as he answered the call.

"Ace you need to get home now. Some important looking lady wants to see you." Yang answered.

"I'll be there in fifteen." Ace said as he hung up and steered his new boat towards the shore. He tied it to a rock behind the cliff so no one would be able to see it and went home. Upon entering he found Qrow, Taiyang, the sisters, and some blonde woman sitting in the living room.

"You must be Ace." The blonde woman said as she got up and offered her hand to shake.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are." Ace said as he shook the blonde woman's hand.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch, and I'm here with an offer." The now named Glynda said.

"Okay, what kind of offer?" Ace cautiously asked. The woman gestured for him to sit down, so Ace sat down between Yang and Ruby. "Tell me, have you heard of the Mistral tournament?" Glynda asked.

"I know it happens in Mistral and that it's supposed to be for elite hunters and huntresses in training, but other than that I don't know anything." Ace said.

"I work for someone fairly important. He saw a recording of your fight against Linen, and was very impressed. He sees a lot of potential in you Ace, so he sent me with an offer. He is offering you a spot in this years upcoming Mistral Tournament." Glynda finished. Ace's eyes widened in shock, along with Ruby, Yang, and Taiyang.

"This has to be a mistake. The tournament is only for the best of the best." Ace argued, unable to comprehend that someone would offer him a spot in a world renown tournament.

"That is exactly why you are being offered this position Ace. You are among the best this generation has to offer." Glynda said as she gave Ace a small smile. "This offer includes an all expenses paid trip to Mistral. Should you accept, you and your family would be staying at one of the best hotels Mistral has to offer." Taiyang noticeably perked up when he heard that. "The hotel has a complimentary all you can eat buffet." Ace drooled slightly when Glynda mentioned that. "Not only will you be in the vicinity of some of the best weapon museums in all of Remnant, the hotel has a spa that will cater to your every need." Yang and Ruby grinned for different reasons.

"Of course, no one is forcing you to participate. It's okay if you don't want to accept." Glynda said.

"Could we get a few minutes to discuss this?" Taiyang asked.

"Of course. I will be waiting right outside." Glynda said as she opened the door and went outside.

"You better say yes Ace." Yang instantly said once Glynda had gone outside

"Do it Ace! For the weapons!" Ruby said as she shook Ace's shoulder.

"I could use a vacation. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge." Taiyang said, obviously trying to persuade Ace.

"I for one think it's a bad idea." Qrow suddenly spoke up. Everyone looked at him in confusion. "Think about it. Some lady we don't know is offering Ace a spot in one of the most prestigious tournaments in all of Remnant. Doesn't that sound a little fishy?" Qrow said. Taiyang was about to say that both he and Qrow knew who Glynda was, but Qrow continued talking. "Besides, the kids have never been outside of Patch. They could get lost in Mistral and-"

"Did I mention the bar is also complimentary?" Glynda suddenly said from behind the closed door.

"-And I think it would be a good learning experience for the kids. Say yes Ace." Qrow said. The vote was fairly unanimous, so they called Glynda back inside.

"Have you reached a decision?" Glynda asked.

"I guess I'll fight in the Mistral Tournament." Ace casually said.

"Wonderful. Your flight leaves in one month's time, so I suggest you start packing and making arrangements." Glynda said. "Well, I've done all I need to do. I id you all good day." Glynda said as she moved towards the door.

"I'll walk you out." Qrow suddenly said. He followed Glynda outside.

"What were you doing in there!?" Glynda growled once they had gone outside.

"What did I do?" Qrow asked as he innocently raised his hands up.

"We went over the plan. You weren't supposed to say that you didn't want Ace to go. You were supposed to encourage him." Glynda said as she jabbed a finger in Qrow's chest. "You could have jeopardized the entire operation."

"I'm sorry. I just thought that someone saying no would be more dramatic." Qrow said as he reached for his flask.

"Bring out the damned flask and I will throw you off a cliff." Glynda said as she menacingly got out her riding crop. Qrow slowly brought his hand away from his flask and put both hands in the air. "Qrow, from here on out I'm going to need you to be a bit more serious, at least until after the tournament is over." Glynda asked as her ever present scowl briefly changed into a pleading frown. Qrow may be an asshole, but he was still decent enough to grant Glynda this one wish.

"Alright, I'll follow orders until the end of the tournament. After that, It's back to my usual self." Qrow said.

"Thank you Qrow. I'll see you in Mistral one month from now." Glynda said before turning around walking away from the house.

1 Month Later…

"Ace will be staying in this room," A hotel employee said, "Ruby and Yang in this one, and the adults in this one." The hotel lady said as she gestured to three consecutive rooms in a hallway.

"Hang on, why does Ace get his own room?" Qrow asked. Judging from the bottle of alcohol in his hand, he had already made a brief visit to the bar.

"Oh, well that was the arrangement made." The hotel lady nervously said.

"I'm not sure how happy I am with that arrangement."Qrow said, his speech slightly slurred. The hotel lady was visibly uncomfortable by Qrow being drunk.

"Ignore him ma'am. Thank you for showing us to our rooms." Taiyang said as he shoved Qrow into their room. The hotel lady gratefully nodded and left. "Alright kids, leave your stuff. We have to go register Ace. Apparently his first match is today." Taiyang said before entering his room with his and Qrow's luggage.

"You need any help?" Ace asked Yang and Ruby.

"We can carry our own luggage Ace." Yang said with a smile. She knew that Ace would take hers and Ruby's luggage in himself of they asked him to. "You just worry about winning your match today, champ." Yang said before entering her room. Ace looked at Ruby and noticed her apparently whispering into a backpack.

"Ruby?" Ace asked. The girl immediately backed away from the backpack.

"Yes Ace?"

"You realize this hotel doesn't allow pets?" Ace said as he walked up to his surrogate little sister.

"I know that. Why would you say that?" Ruby nervously said.

"So you don't mind if I use your backpack as a punching bag?" Ace asked as he began raising his fist.

"Please don't! Alright fine, you caught me. I brought Zwei." Ruby said, a guilty look on her face. Ace opened the backpack a little and saw the small corgi looking back at him.

"It's too late to do anything now. Just try to keep Zwei away from any hotel staff." Ace said as he closed the backpack and gave it to Ruby. He picked up his own luggage and took it into his room. "Fancy bed, fancy desk, fancy closet, fancy shower nozzle thing, fancy curtains, and,would you look at that, fancy rug." Ace said as he brilliantly summarized his room. He threw his luggage, which was a large and small suitcase, on the bed. He opened the smaller one. Inside was Straw and Spade. He quickly checked each one for any problems. Seeing that his guns were in okay shape, Ace strapped the guns to his lower back and exited the room.

"You girls ready?" Ace said as he knocked on the door leading to the girl's room.

"Yeah, we'll be out in a second." Came the muffled voice of Yang. Ace walked over to the adult's room and knocked on the door.

"You guys ready?" Ace asked.

"Uh… we have a small situation Ace. You might want to come inside." Taiyang said from the other side of the room. Ace opened the door and found Qrow passed out on one of the beds.

"He's only had one bottle of alcohol. How is he already passed out?" Ace asked.

"Turns out what he drank is stronger stuff than what he's used to." Taiyang said as he raised the empty bottle of alcohol.

"Just leave him. If he wakes up, he knows where to find us." Ace suggested. "It's not like we'll be able to wake him up anytime soon." Ace reasoned. Taiyang nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's go get the girls." The blonde haired man said as he exited the room, followed closely by Ace.

...Mistral Tournament Entrance…

"As you'll be competing, you will be going down this opening." A man at the registration desk said as he pointed to a doorway that said "Combatants Only."

"The rest of you can go find seats." The registration man said.

"You have everything you need Ace?" Taiyang asked.

"Yep, Straw and Spade are good to go." Ace said as he gestured to the firearms strapped to his lower back.

"Well good luck Ace." Taiyang said as he patted the boy on the shoulders.

"Make sure to whoop butt." Ruby said.

"Try not to hurt your opponent too much." Yang said as she gave Ace a thumbs up.

"We'll be watching from the stands." Taiyang said.

"I'll do my best. See you all in a few hours." Ace said as he turned and walked into the combatants entrance.

"Ace is going to win right?" Ruby asked as the trio left to go find seats.

"Oh big time." Yang said. "Ace is probably the strongest person here." The blonde thirteen year old remarked. Said boy was currently walking down a long hallway to the combatant's waiting area. He walked into a large room filled with males and females of various ages. Ace wasn't very surprised to see that there was virtually no one close to his age here. There weren't a lot of elite thirteen year olds in the world. Most of the combatants were in their late teens.

"Ruby would have loved to see this." Ace remarked as he looked at all the weapons the contestants were carrying. There were tables scattered throughout the waiting room, most of them filled with older contestants. Ace walked through the room in search of a table to sit at. He could hear multiple people whispering about him as he walked by.

"Check out the kid."

"I thought this tournament was for elite students only."

"Did junior lose his babysitter?"

"Look at his hat. It's weird." This particular comment would have made Ace turn around to face the speaker, but he knew that he would ever be able to find the speaker amid all the students.

"Man, first the redhead, and now him. These kids are going to get hurt fighting us." Ace looked around in interest. His eyes finally fell on a redhead sitting at a table in the back by herself. She looked remarkably young when compared to the rest of the contestants. Perfect. Ace thought to himself. He walked over the lone girl.

"Mind if I sit here?" Ace asked, catching the girl by surprise. She obviously wasn't expecting anyone to talk to her.

"Oh… um yes. I mean… no I don't mind." The girl stuttered. "I'm sorry, you just caught me by surprise is all." The girl said.

"You don't need to apologize." Ace said as he sat in the seat opposite of her's. "Portgas D. Ace, but you can call me Ace." The red eyed boy introduced himself as he extended his hand.

"Pyrrha Nikos, It's a pleasure to meet you Ace." Pyrrha said as she shook Ace's hand.

A/N: Let it be known, I am officially a hypocrite. I said this chapter was going to encompass an entire year, but then I started thinking about Ace at the Mistral tournament. I realized that it would take more than part of a chapter to go into that event. So here I am, aout to dedicate who knows how many chapters to the Mistral tournament when I originally said that I wanted to speed things along. I know, I'm a horrible human being and should go die in a fire. If you have been wanting Ace to get to Beacon already, I'm sorry but that won't be for a while. Even if I had glazed over the Mistral Tournament, there were still other multi-chapter events I was going to do. Bear with me, things will eventually reach Beacon.

Ace now has weapons, which is neat. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what his weapon would be. Even now I'm not all that happy with what I gave him. I apologize if the weapons were somewhat shallow to you.

On a brighter note, I gave Ace his boat! I really liked his boat in the manga, and wanted him to have it in this story. Now that he has his boat back, Ace may or may not leave Patch. What he does and where he might go you'll just have to wait and see.

Regarding the romance, at this point Yang has a crush on Ace, but she hasn't realized it yet. Qrow can see it, but Yang hasn't. More may or may not come next chapter.

I noticed that someone, forgive me but when writing this I don't have your name on hand, brought up a really good point that I should address. This involves Haki. As far as my story is concerned, Haki can be used even if you have your aura active. So yes, Ace can use his HAOSHOKU Haki while his aura is active. Also, if someone uses aura and armament Haki, then the abilities will stack. Whether Ace gets more than just conquerors Haki remains to be seen.

You have all been a magnificent audience. Though there haven't been many of you with complaints, those of you who have had complaints have done exactly like I asked. You give a structured, well thought out criticism on the problem. I really do appreciate this. That is the type of criticism I can learn from and grow.

Well, that's about all i have to say. I will see you all next chapter.

Until then.

Next Chapter Sneak Peak:

"I have a lot of money riding on this match. I need you boys to make sure this Ace kid loses against our little champion." A shady looking man said from behind a desk.

"What do you want us to do to the kid?" One of the goons in front of him asked.

"Don't attack him. We don't want any visible injuries. Just slip this into his food." The man said as he got out a vial of mystery substance from his desk. "Trust me, when the kid gets some of this, he'll be lucky to even see straight."

"How do we get it into his food?" Another goon asked.

"That's for you to find out." The man said as he handed the first goon the vial.