"This is the Costume Hall." Penny opened a door revealing wall to wall rows of clothes and mannequins dressed in elaborate ball gowns and suits. "It's for my disguises. I'll make some for you too."

Several Marine uniforms took up one section and another row was dedicated entirely to what could only be described as carnival couture. Sparkly sequins, lace, mountains of mesh and silk, and rolls of other fabrics that Ace couldn't even start identifying. All in all, the room was highly flammable.

"No one needs these many clothes."

Penny held up a dress to her body. Ace was slightly worried she would strip and change right in front of him since she seemed to share Luffy's carefree attitude about doing so, but she placed it back on the rack.

He blinked, trying to take in all the absurdity. "You have no meat on the ship, but all this fabric."

Penny's knuckles rapped against his forehead, "You have no brains in your head, but all this room."

"Is all this because you're a girl?" His boyish confusion quashed all thoughts of hitting him over the head.

"It's the only skill I've developed without stealing it from someone else…other than fighting…that is a side-effect of my charming personality."

Ace laughed, "It's a good thing you weren't around growing up. I would've driven you insane."

"What else would I expect from Roger's son," sneered Penny, full of good humor. Ace sucked in a breath, staring at her long and hard. Penny backtracked quickly, "That was said in jest."

"Watch it," snapped Ace.

"I meant to say Whitebeard," whispered Penny to herself, giggling like an imp.

Shoving her into a rack of clothes, Ace laughed at her startled face as a shelve of hats fell atop her head, nearly knocking her out and bruising her already tender ego.

Ushering him out, she guided him down the hall to another room. It was smaller than most of the others and tucked away near a spiral staircase that led to the grandiose baths she had shown him first on the tour. The glass bottom was an astounding feat of engineering allowing the ship to blend in seamlessly with the water.

"The Den Den Room—guys, say hello to Ace."

A chorus of 'purururu' sounded from the wall of snails. Most of them seemed to be black snails, hooked to a receiver that Ace hadn't seen before. There were a couple that had distinct features, notably the snail with three scars running over its eye sleeping soundly closest to the small desk in the room. Another wore snake earrings and rested next to on a snail with a feathered hat and a dark look in its eyes.

Impressed Ace, poked at the snails, "Do you have a line to Gramps hiding away in here?"

Penny nodded, pushing the door back to reveal an entire shelf of Navy-issued Den Den Mushi. "They're copies—it makes it easier to listen in when I need to find something or someone."

Ace hadn't said anything about her clones walking around upstairs—mostly because he'd seen weirder things throughout his life and had learned that pointing them out only led to trouble, but the constant urge to ask about shadow clones and ninjas lingered.

"There are three things that I cannot copy—life, death, and Devil Fruit. Everything else is subject to my whim. People are a bit iffy. The less I know them, the emptier the clone will be. I have to touch whatever it is or whoever it is, so I'd be useless without these," Penny wiggled her gloved fingers. "Your turn."

A cocky grin spread on his face, "I control fire."

Logia Fruits were coveted for a reason and mostly lacked the rules some Paramecia had.

Penny scowled, "That's entirely unfair."

"Just happened that way," said Ace with an easy shrug, "I'd never seen a Devil Fruit, so I had no idea what I was eating. I was just hungry."

"We have that in common," said Penny with splotchy cheeks.

"…so, are you gonna feed me or not?"

Sagging, Penny dragged her feet as she led him to the kitchen, muttering about how she wasn't built to handle real people and would've liked it better if she had never advanced from playing with dolls.

Part of him held that if it hadn't been for Luffy, he wouldn't have come back, but Penny also welcomed him onto her ship without a second thought and offered him whatever he had asked for. He couldn't deny that there had been a sliver of worry in him that Blackbeard would catch the elusive ghost and deal with her as he had done to Thatch.

And when would the world have found out if that happened? Penny, unlike any other pirate save for Hawkeye Mihawk, had no crew and nothing to fall back on if things went wrong. The tight anxious thread of worry that he held of Luffy was slowly starting to coil for Penny.

A loud crash sounded, rocking the ship, and sending the two of them careening into the walls. Penny tumbled to the floor, doing several somersaults before landing with a thump by the stairs. She lay flat on her back, showing no signs of moving.

Ace approached, half expecting to find her dead. There was no way, she had survived on her own this long.

"Oh, no," said Penny, dully as she stared at the ceiling with a puzzled expression. "What is that?"

The ship swayed from side to side violently, the crack of lightning sounding signaling the storm they had inadvertently wandered into. Penny climbed to her feet, rushed up the stairs, and threw the door open, letting a river of water wash down the stairs. The water sunk along the ridges, weaving its way into the carved hollow on the ends of the hall.

"Follow the water to the two doors at the end and open them," she called. "The plants in the hold need to be watered."

"We should get out of the storm!"

"Why?" she popped her head down, hair sticking to her face and dripping with water. An expression of mock concern crossed her face, "Is it scaring you?"

Ace abandoned all thoughts, eagerly jumping at the thought of letting off some steam. "You wanna pick a fight?"

"After I suffered a grave injury?" She made an X with her index fingers, "Fiend."

As Ace wrenched the doors open to what seemed to be a forest, Penny left and returned a moment later, with a sheepish look on her face. "My Log Pose seems to have…mutinied. It's tossed itself overboard."

It took a week for them to fall into a rhythm. Penny was a clown with a map and relied on what she called 'inherit physic abilities' and he dubbed 'bullshit' to get around, leaving Ace serving as a would-be navigator on their little quest. If Deuce saw him now, he'd likely die of shock. The raging force driving Ace was forced to slow down, caught by Penny's whirling eccentricity.

"He's put a lot of distance between him and the New World," said Ace, looking at the crappy map he drew. "But he's moving back toward it, little by little like he's trying to experience Paradise for the first time with all the Rookies. He didn't say anything to you?"

"He wanted to know my bounty…and apparently, someone is going to fall soon. His Devil Fruit likely blocked mine from copying anything more."

"I can fight without mine, so I'm not worried about—"

"You should be."

"I'm not."

"I am and I don't usually worry about anything."

"Yeah, I've caught on."

"Don't be snippy."

"You took a risk you didn't have to by going after him, so I'm not being ungrateful, but quit being a little shit. I'll beat you up the way I did Luffy."

Penny sighed and plopped her chin on the table, lazily stretching her arm out to tap his map. "He's probably going to Reed Island. There's not much there other than some silver mines and a University where nobles exile their snotty, snobbish spawn. Pirates aren't common, so he's probably looking for something specific or just got trapped by his Log Pose."

"He liked history," said Ace shortly. He thought it was part of his job to keep an eye on his crew, and know the ins and outs of their personalities and hobbies. A dull ache burned in his chest. How could anyone stab their brother in the back the way Teach had? How could he have spat on everything Pops did for him?

There were nights when Ace would wake up just to go check on everyone as they slept. It was a habit Sabo had that Ace carried on. Teach was often the only one stuck awake and always happy to indulge in a word or two.

"Then I'll dock the Looking Glass somewhere safe, and we'll take your…gondola."

He was going to kill her. "Striker."

Sigh sadly, she shook her head. "You've named it…"

Penny's favorite part of visiting islands involved the heavy pageantry that came with her costuming. Though the Marines had unwittingly labeled her as a pirate, most of the common people held the belief that her visit would prelude riches and a festival. Penny was all too happy to oblige with their fantasies, being a lover of merry-making.

The role of a student, however, was one she was rather reserved about. Knowledge was a kind of power few had, and in their world, it was guarded more carefully than any glittering gold.

"Why am I doing this?" asked Penny as Ace strolled around, uncaring of the gaggle of giggling ghouls that took to following them since they entered Vardhar University. The uniform was badly hemmed and improperly tailored leaving her neck feeling too tight. If her next bounty included a picture of her in the hideously made thing, she would sink this island to the depths of the sea.

"Captain's orders."

Penny stuck her foot out to trip him, but he easily sidestepped, not even looking. The blessing of being an older brother. Whenever Shanks did the same to her, she stumbled headfirst onto the deck, rearranging her nose so many times that it was slightly crooked.

"I'm the Captain."

"You need a crew to be a Captain."

"My ship is bigger."

Ace's eyes shot to her, a grin on his face. "Is it? You've ever seen my ship?"

"I bet it's riddled with barnacles and other infestations."

Inhaling deeply, a smoky, sweet smell reached their noses. Before Penny could even think, Ace was gone, chasing after the smell of meat and leaving her all alone. She stared up at the sharp stone turrets and placed her hands on her hips.

"Okay, brain, today you and I are going on an adventure."

Hopefully, the billowing silence in her mind wasn't an omen of misfortune.

"What is it?" groaned Shanks, clutching his head as he dropped into the sand. "You look like shit."

Every red flag in his mind was going off—a sign that someone he knew was likely about to do something they shouldn't. Seeing as Shanks was within his line of sight, there was only one option remaining. Beckman scowled, pulling at his scar, "Nothing."

"Oh, no!" shouted Luffy, scrambling as he leaned over the side of his small boat. Luffy grabbed the end of the leather cord that had snapped, holding up the glittering gold ring.

"That was a close one," said Luffy rubbing the back of his head with a smile.

Penny sat on one of the many crisscrossing beams that made up the library's ceiling. One of the stained-glass windows was smashed to pieces, and a section of the building closed off thanks to Blackbeard's apparent robbery. A light crime in comparison to the many dozens he could've committed.

"They should've hung him," said one boy, walking past the crime scene with a shake of his head. He had the type of smooth skin Penny associated with people who had never played outdoors.

"Hang all of them is more like it," said the boy next to him with a laugh. "Father said they pillaged Boom Town last week and left three girls pregnant."

"That's stupid—if they're stealing treasure why not just buy themselves a slave?"

"Why don't I just kill you?" whispered Penny following them as she tip-toed between the beams.

The other boy laughed, "Careful—we've still got those types here." The boy nodded toward a solitary girl in the corner who had her head buried in a book. It was clear from her uniform and mannerisms that she had grown up in an entirely different tax bracket than the rest.

Penny observed her for a while, watching as her head weaved between the shelves. Her little yellow and orange hat stuck out like a daisy in a grassy field. Hopping down when everyone was sure not to notice, Penny smoothed out her stolen uniform and approached cautiously.

Penny jerked back as the girl let out a horrific sneeze. Reaching into the pockets of her stolen uniform, she pulled out a handkerchief, tossing it on the girl's desk. "You can keep it," said Penny quickly.

"…thanks," said the curly-haired woman. The circles under her eyes were like giant bruises. "You look familiar."

"I have one of those faces," said Penny quickly.

"Ikkaku."

"…I have a name too…it's…" What was the fake name she used at the port? "…not important."

Ikkaku made a face and turned back to her books. Penny, still avoiding getting near the woman in case she caught whatever illness had befallen her, stood silently until she snapped her book shut and looked up.

"What is it?" snapped Ikkaku. "My time isn't something you can waste with worthless questions."

"It's a small thing…where is the—" Penny peered down at her hand, squinting at the characters written there, "—astropharm—no wait, the space section?"

"Planet space or mathematical space?"

"Whichever will give me books on the properties of darkness."

"And you're asking me?"

"You seem intelligent…and my library is color-coded, so I have no idea where anything is in here." Not to mention her books were usually old myths and fairytales. "If you let me hold your hand, I can find it on my—"

"I'm sure you're having the time of your life right now, but I'll chop your hand off if you get anywhere near me."

"Are you that skilled with a blade? It takes enormous strength to cut through human bone, but it's a skill worth having."

"Do you know what a library is?" Penny recognized Ikkaku's tone as one Beckman used to give her lectures. She tuned out, squinting at the woman's ugly handwriting. "It's a place to study undisturbed. I only have a few hours in here before I need to—"

"That's incorrect," said Penny, pointing at the piece of paper containing the small, chicken-scratch notes that Ikkaku had written. Whatever Ikkaku was researching, seemed to have consumed her life. Her clothes were moth-bitten and stained, hands having slight tremors either from her illness or from the lack of sleep.

"What is?" snapped Ikkaku.

"The mines aren't pure silver—they're Galena deposits. Lead and silver, but since Reed is known for the high purity, most people don't care to state the difference."

"And you just know that?"

"If it's concerning treasure, I know a lot of things. The lead is usually separated using zinc and then the silver's shipped out, so we can have fancy spoons and earrings. Isn't the world wonderful?"

"What do they do with the lead?"

"I'm sure there's someone in this place who would know."

Ikkaku's eyes burned brightly, sparks of determination flying across her face. She stood quickly, sending her chair toppling to the ground, and then stuck her hand out toward Penny. "You wanted to hold—"

"Crawling back after rejection is not something I'll be caught doing."

"…what kind of books did you want?" asked Ikkaku reluctantly.

"Darkness—all its properties. And if you could be kind enough to read through them and give me a summary, I would be ever thankful."

"Don't push it."

Ikkaku returned with all sorts of books and despite her frequent utterances that she wasn't the kind to waste her time on worthless things, helped Penny sort through the vast information to pinpoint the things she needed.

Penny's slight air-headed nature managed to pull a laugh from Ikkaku, which Penny felt, despite not knowing her well, was rare.

"What are you studying?" asked Ikkaku, giving up on explaining anything to Penny and writing down simple notes for her.

"Textiles."

Ikkaku looked up and smirked, "So you're an artist? Figures."

"I have a lot of hobbies. It cures my boredom—time often feels to be moving slowly when I'm out at—" Penny cut herself off. "—just outside."

"You from the Grand Line?"

"Yes, of course." She couldn't contemplate having been born elsewhere, despite not knowing which island it was that birthed her.

Ikkaku hummed, "Must be scary—ever since the attack, everyone's been bragging about how they survived or wishing they had been there. There was nothing for them to see either way."

"Were you here?"

"Why?"

"I'm curious."

"Pirates aren't something to be curious about."

Ah, but there was a hint of interest in the way her voice curled around the words, Grand Line. Did she know that she was aiding a pirate? That giving any information to her was in itself a crime?

"There's no harm in it," said Penny. "Adventure is everyone's dream—some are just braver than others."

"Brave enough to get killed or become a killer, sure."

"I'm a pirate."

"No shit," said Ikkaku not believing a word.

"You probably thought I was familiar because of my bounty posters."

Penny stood silent, watching as the realization sunk in and Ikkaku's warmth disappeared. Her head snapped up, looking at her in horror. A coldness settled over her face. Penny was all too familiar with the reaction, but she was still astounded by the way a single word could make someone a monster.

"Do you even realize what would happen if someone found out I…I helped you!"

"The easy thing to say is that I forced you to do so."

"At least have a sense of shame."

"Why should I bow my head and hide? If that's the title they'll give to anyone wanting freedom, then I'll gladly accept it."

"Freedom?" Ikkaku laughed hysterically. "The Marines said Kidd killed thirteen people for laughing at him! I heard them this morning! What kind of freedom is that?"

"He's clearly a bit sensitive."

Ikkaku smacked her. Stretching her jaw out, Penny blinked. Ikkaku looked at her hand in horror as if it had moved on its own, a defense mechanism against the fear setting in.

Penny accepted the blow without retaliation.

Ikkaku's hand lowered.

Penny folded the notes, tapping Ikkaku's shoulder with a wink. The girl jerked away from the touch. Penny made to grab her uniform jacket but decided against wearing the drab thing. She was tired of the charade.

Nine Years Prior

Penny tugged on Shanks' cloak, dragging the man's attention away from the pretty lady behind the bar and toward her. He stared down at her and then followed her gaze to the wandering hands of a man in the corner of the bar.

"Go on," encouraged Shanks. "There's trouble worth starting no matter the consequences."

Hoping off her stool, she weaved through the other patrons and approached the pair. Penny waited patiently for them to acknowledge her.

"You're starting them off younger?" asked the man, a leery grin stretching on his face, revealing a row of pearly white teeth. He wasn't nasty or unkempt as some pirates were. His hair framed his face and lent him an easy charm.

"Can I get some juice?" asked Penny, folding her hands behind her back. "With an umbrella like the Captain has?"

"O-oh, sure!" The waitress nodded, clutching the empty glasses to her chest. Turning away from the men, she gave Penny a warm, genuine smile, and hurried away.

Penny dragged a chair away from one of the other tables and brought it close to the man. "I'm Penny. Are you a pirate?"

He nodded, turning to one of his men, before looking at her again in a way that made Penny slightly subconscious of her changing body. She wanted to snap that he was old enough to be her father but kept it to herself. "Captain Jack."

"But, are you a pirate?"

Jack laughed and his crew laughed with him. Penny laughed with them.

"Why don't you go play with someone more your level?" Jack gestured to Monster with a sneer. "You can come find me in a couple of years."

All traces of humor left her.

"You haven't answered my question," she said coldly. A pressure hummed in the air, warning of what would happen if she didn't get her way.

"We are," snapped Jack, growing annoyed.

"Being a Captain doesn't make you one," argued Penny, leaning forward. "Neither does scaring people. Anyone who gives you food or drink should be treated with respect, lest they poison you."

His crew tittered, not laughing fully, but having fun at his growing frustration. His hand wrapped in her collar, pulling her up as he stood. "Oi, you little cu—"

Penny cut him off with a quick, sharp punch. His nose crunched beneath her fist. Yasopp, seeing the movement, tossed his glass to the ground and loudly declared, "FIGHT!"

Penny smiled as the chaos started. The title of pirate belonged to few, but as long as she was part of the Red Hair pirates, she vowed to defend it.

"You mad or something?" asked Ace, handing her a stick of yakitori. Penny tore it with her teeth, crossing her arms over her chest, and maintained her stubborn silence. "I saved you that piece even though I could've eaten it."

"It's awful."

"Give it back."

"No," snapped Penny, taking another bite. "What is this? It tastes weird."

"Everything tastes like that—must be some spice they use or something. The lady there gave me a list of spots we should visit." Ace held up a crumpled paper, smiling widely as Penny made a face at the lipstick marks on it.

"Did you pay at least?"

"What? What's that?" asked Ace, squinting at something in the distance. Penny turned around to investigate, letting Ace take the opportunity to lean down and swallow the rest of her yakitori. She thrust her elbow back, barely missing his head as he straightened, cheeks round with food.

"There was nothing there," said Penny. She tossed the empty bamboo stick at the trash can in the distance, watching as it stuck into the metal rather than falling into the opening. "…I made a friend," she admitted.

"No way!" Ace held his hand out toward her. Penny tapped him with two fingers, not wanting to accidentally copy something from him.

"Like this," said Ace, holding her limp wrist and demonstrating a handshake. "You gotta put more force behind it."

"The longer you touch me, the more likely it is I'll steal your secrets."

"I don't have any." Ace smiled, shrugging lightly. Penny was sure more than ever that whoever Luffy had become under his influence was every kind of wonderful. "Who's your friend? Are you getting a crew now?"

"…she helped me out in the library." Reaching into her skirt pocket, Penny pulled out the loose papers full of notes. "We've got a starting place for Blackbeard's Devil Fruit…unless you're willing to break into Marineford with me…"

"Should we?" asked Ace with a grin. "It'll teach those bastards a lesson or two."

"We would be the first to do it."

Ace's grin died slowly and then he shook his head, "I don't have that kind of time. Pops is gonna get mad sooner or later and—"

"Did he not send you after Blackbeard?" asked Penny.

"If he catches up with us tomorrow, he'd probably skin me alive…Marco too."

"Wonderful!" Ace was more reckless than she thought. Penny clapped her hands together, refraining from the urge to squeeze Ace's cheeks together at the cutely, downtrodden expression he wore. "That'll give me even more leverage over Whitebeard when this affair is over."

"Alright, since Makino took the time to teach me, I'll teach you," said Ace, gripping Penny's shoulder to prevent her from escaping. "What do you say when someone trusts you with a secret?"

"You file it away for later use."

"No—thank them for trusting you and support them when they need it."

"Darling boy, Makino-san was teaching you how to keep a woman, not how to be a woman."

Ace pinched her cheeks, screwing his face up. "No human being says things like 'darling boy,' and quit being so annoying. You need to man up if you're going to keep following me around me."

"The only man I've ever followed around became an Emperor. If you want to match that, then become the Pirate King."

Before they can leave, they had to restock, which for Ace meant more food and for Penny meant a wardrobe change.

Her red coat with its gold buttons and trim reminded him of her older epithet, Akahime. The corset underneath had several small thin needles hidden in its boning, flashing only when the light hit the silver. Her sword hung by her hip, drawing his eyes to her lace-up boots. Ace realized that it was the first time he'd seen her look like the pirate everyone had in their minds.

"This feels so much better," said Penny, tying her long hair up with a ribbon. "I can't even stress how awful that fabric felt on my skin. Most people don't realize how much history there is in the things they wear."

"This is how you never get caught," realized Ace, thinking back to her costume room. He thought it a hobby but seeing the stark difference, the almost dangerous air hanging around her now, Penny proved far more cunning.

Penny winked, "Knowing how to make yourself somebody else helps in any escape attempt. I'm a master at disguise."

Despite her not telling him much about her life, she said a lot with what she showed him and did. Where Luffy took to life with a blunt punch the way Ace himself did, Penny did what she wanted underneath the world's watching eyes.

"Didn't this hurt?" asked Penny, fingers tapping against the tattoo on his spine. Ace shivered, moving away from the chill of her fingers.

"Not one bit."

Penny stopped following, foot hovering over Striker, and then turned her head back toward the town. She felt everyone moving toward the center of town, mind flashing with the image of a bonfire and the heated spark of anger.

Ace looked up, following her gaze, and frowned. "What are they all doing?"

"Something they shouldn't be." Penny squared her shoulders—they were on a mission, one that couldn't be sidetracked by every problem they ran across. "We should—"

"Let's go check," said Ace, surprising her once again. Her chest eased, relief flooding through her. Ace climbed onto the dock, following her as they weaved through town. The smell of smoke rose the closer they got.

Crimson flames stretched across the ground near one of the dorm buildings. A group of students milled about the fire, laughing and tossing glass bottles of alcohol against the ground making the fire flare every so often. Several officers shook their heads, warning them to be careful, but never to stop. The Marines loved burning things—ships, pirates, islands.

Most of what was in the fire was furniture, but a large pile of books provided kindling. Across the fire, Ikkaku's dull gaze stared, unseeingly into the fire. The officer closest to her kept the butt of his gun pressed to her shoulder, leaving her unable to leave even if she wanted to.

Penny's back hit Ace's chest. Horror swirled within her, thinking of Ikkaku's betrayed face at the admission of her being a pirate. Pricking against her skin were hundreds of eyes, spectators, and wardens at the same time. They cheered in unison, looking less human and more monster.

Ace's hand steadied her as the pile of books and furniture melted within the flames. She looked up at him, silver eyes wide and glassy. Fire blazed, crackling in the air like thunder.

"Don't worry," whispered Ace. "I'll deal with it."

Penny clenched her fist. A chill cut through the air warning those standing closest to them that the real danger was not the books they were burning or the life they were mocking, but the two pirates standing amongst them.

Silence swept over the crowd as the fire gained sentience, curling toward the night sky. Ace held his hand out in front of him. The flames answered, rising from the ground to circle his arm. He shot them forward, letting them fan over the crowd, but never actually touch them.

"You wanna see a fire?" smirked Ace, stepping into the flames.

"EVERYONE MOVE BACK!" screamed one of the Marines, holding his gun up. "THAT'S FIRE FIST ACE!"

Confusion riddled the crowd, fingers pointing toward Ace with both awe and slight apprehension. They were the coddled children of nobles who had never seen the damage pirates made but enacted it themselves without consequence.

A shot rang out, cutting through Ace and embedding into one of the buildings behind him. "That's not going to work," called Ace with a laugh. "If you wanna play with fire, I'm right here."

As the Marines encircled him, Penny pulled off her coat, smothering the last bits of flame on what was likely Ikkaku's belongings. The woman still hadn't moved, fingers digging into the stone until her fingers were ragged and bloody.

"Get up," ordered Penny.

Ikkaku didn't move.

"Get up."

"Or what?" demanded Ikkaku, glaring at her hatefully. "Will you kill me?"

Penny flicked out her sword, holding it against Ikkaku's chin with a blank look on her face, "Shall I?"

Craning back, Ikkaku stared down the thin edge of the blade and then at Penny with disbelief, "You really are a pirate."

"I apologize if our meeting created this—"

Ikkaku scoffed, "This wasn't because of you."

Penny crunched a chair leg beneath her foot, giving it an unimpressed look. "It seems like you've got little room to judge me for being a pirate when you're in trouble with the law as well."

"Look, just leave it alone, damn it!" Ikkaku smacked the sword away from her and stood, rubbing at her face. "Do me a favor and get out of this town."

"No, thank you. I shall investigate this delinquency fully and determine which of us is the bigger criminal. I feel as if my pride is at stake now and a pirate's pride is no trivial matter."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're an annoying bitch?"

A full smile crossed Penny's face. Leaning toward Ikkaku, she whispered, "Never to my face."

"Oi, Penny, quit laying on the moves!" called Ace, holding up one of the Marines. "You ever heard of some guy named Stainless? Apparently, his base is near here. This one says he's coming for us."

"The Vice Admiral," breathed out Ikkaku.

"Tell us what's going on or I'll cut you from head to toe," threatened Penny. "Nobel pigs aside, this whole place is a series of contradictions. The classrooms are all closed, the food tastes funny, and there are no jewelry shops in a place famous for its silver. Unless you expect me to believe that it's due to business malpractice, something else is taking place."

Ikkaku eye's widened. Ace finished his fight, leaving a platoon of Marines in various injured states around them. Breathing in the night air, Ikkaku sagged, shoulders dipping toward the ground. "Do you think you can help?" she whispered in a small voice.

"No," said Penny bluntly. "I don't like helping people." She waited for a beat and sheathed her sword, holding her hand out. "I do, however, find it worthwhile to prove that most people are incompetent."

Ikkaku laughed and sobbed in the same breath.

Ace seemed to find it infinitely interesting that Penny hadn't been lying about making a friend leaving her to wallow in self-pity at the thought that people might have found her to be strange or unwelcoming. Had she gained none of the respect Shanks had from sheer proximity to the man? Remembering a time when a Marine laughed himself silly at her threat, Penny decided having respect wasn't a worthwhile venture to begin with.

Ace was far better at small talk than her, "You're from the North Blue?"

"It's full of the worst people on Earth," said Ikkaku, violently. Penny kept her mouth shut on the fact that Beckman was from there and he was all kinds of wonderful.

"Never been—Penny, you been?"

"Once."

"Really?" asked Ikkaku, gaining the same excited edge Shanks did when someone mentioned the West Blue.

"We went to that place Noland is from, but we didn't stay long," said Penny with a shrug. She didn't remember the names of most places they visited, but she had a picture-perfect image of what they looked like in her head. "Where are we going?"

"I've been traveling for a bit. I was on a Marine ship for a while, training to be a field medic, but it didn't work out, so I ended up staying here. It was maybe a couple of months in that I started to notice it—everyone in the North Blue knows the story, so I thought it was something similar..."

"To what?" asked Ace.

"It doesn't matter—the symptoms aren't the same, but there's no doubt something is poisoning them."

Penny looked around, realizing how empty the town was and how narrow the streets were turning. Unlike the shining and glimmering student houses and university grounds, this part of town was run-down. The cobbled streets had grass and dandelions sprouting from the cracks. Peeled paint fell in flakes from the nearby houses and most of the streetlamps weren't lit.

In the distance, a small factory puffed away, showing the only signs of life around. "What do they make there?"

"Metalwork for the Marine ships. It's been here for ages though and the symptoms are too acute to be caused by an overflow from there."

Ikkaku stopped in front of a small building that had a washed-out banner labeling it as a school. One of the windows was cracked and the doors seemed to have no lock as Ikkaku pushed them open. The same slightly metallic scent that hung over the town heightened until it overtook everything else.

Ikkaku led them to a large room in the back, stepping aside to reveal what was inside.

Dozens of people lay in makeshift cots. The youngest seemed to be a small girl of just four or five and the eldest a man with more wrinkles than Penny when she stewed in her bath too long. Several men and women walked around tending to them, but none seemed to be doctors. The illness wasn't apparent in anything but the dry coughs that would wheeze from the patients at random and their gaunt appearances.

"Here," said Ikkaku, handing Penny a stethoscope and bringing her toward another girl who wiggled her fingers in greeting. Penny waved back. "You don't need to be a doctor to understand."

Ace frowned, hands curling and uncurling at his sides, "Is this what being sick is like?" he asked loudly, voice echoing in the small room. Penny wanted to warn him that you couldn't fight illness the way you could people.

Penny pressed the metallic circle against the girl's wheezing chest, listening carefully. A hollow gasp sounded, dry and arid like a coin rattling around in an empty tin. Her heart was quicker than hers, running off to the edge of a cliff. "T-they're all like this?" asked Penny quietly.

"Every single one of them," said Ikkaku tiredly. "When I first came here, it was one or maybe two cases a week, but now it's five or six a day. I went to the Marine Office here, but they told me to stop making trouble. They've been keeping an eye on me ever since."

The girl coughed lowly, mumbling in her sleep. Penny kept her eyes on her shoes, pressing her heels together, and remembered the cold grip of death that followed her during her year in Foosha, holding her hand as if to offer comfort. So, this is what it felt like to be on the other side, completely helpless while you watched someone quietly suffer.

Her heart murmured in quiet gratitude for all the smiles that had come during the time.

"Pirates won't help anything," said Ikkaku bluntly and forcefully. "The last group that came here had the Marines crackdown at the ports. The doctors at the University don't think it's worth looking into since no one can pay them."

"This is what you were looking up before," realized Penny.

"When you said lead, I thought it might have been that, but the symptoms don't match up. I've looked in every book in the library. If it gets out of hand, they'll—" Ikkaku shook her head, unable to bring the words out. It was likely they would burn the whole town down to keep the disease from spreading.

Ace's gaze grew dark. "The pirate that came before us, what did they do here?"

"They broke into the library, took some random books, and beat some kid who was in there up. The Marines chased them out of town."

Penny clapped her hands together, startling both Ace and Ikkaku. A smile crossed her face, jolly as a Christmas Day. "I know what to do. Let's go find some silver—I've got a commission from a very important person for a wedding ring, so I might as well get the material for it."

"What?" asked Ikkaku, looking at her stunned. The others in the room peered back with pleading eyes.

"I'm not a doctor, so I can't do much about all this," Penny gestured around the room. "You probably know more than we do, so I and Ace will keep out of your way."

"Penny's right," said Ace, not looking happy about it. "We're not doctors. When someone's sick…no matter how strong they are…beating them up won't help."

"You said you were going—what am I saying," whispered Ikkaku to herself. She tugged at her hair, pulling the curls into a ponytail and then ripping them free with an angry snarl. "You're pirates."

"That's right and make sure not to forget it," said Penny, waving over her shoulder as she dragged Ace out of the room. The door fell shut with a heavy thud, quiet whispering starting up.

Penny stood still as a statue, tracking their movement in her mind.

Ace nudged her shoulder, "I don't know much about medicine, but usually when there's a fire burning day and night, something's wrong."

"We don't need to do this. Blackbeard—"

"I'm not the kind who makes it point to have regrets, so if I want to do something. I want to do it."

"Alright," said Penny with a smile. "Then I'll warn you that I'm extremely delicate and will need you to do all my fighting for me."

"What kind of moron are you?" asked Penny, loud enough to shatter someone's earbuds. "I told you to be stealthy!"

"DO I LOOK LIKE I'M LOSING?" roared Ace, bringing his flaming knee into a Marine's gut. The man fell with a pathetic whimper.

"That's beside the point." Penny ducked beneath a swinging arm, slipping between two officers who lunged at her and spun around the blade of a sword, coming to a stop next to Ace. "The point is we'll have every one of them reporting that the two of us are together and truthfully, I could do better."

She avoided every Marine coming her way and kicking them toward Ace until he had dealt with the majority. "I've found a secret passage," revealed Penny. "And an odd thing these officers all have in common." She ducked down, ripping the sleeve on the uniform of a fallen Marine to reveal a tattoo of a winged skull. "I've never seen this before, have you?"

"No clue," said Ace, flexing his muscles. Penny had to pause and admire the action for a long moment…perhaps there was hope for Ace…He was rather well defined and kind.

And he had fallen asleep.

Penny sighed, wrapping a length of fabric to his wrist, and dragged him along with her before any of the Marines decided they wanted to teach her a lesson or two.

"Secret passage, secret passage." Penny skipped, along the hall giddy with excitement. "Do you think there's going to be treasure?"

Ace snored in response.

Penny nodded, "Yes, me as well."

As the long hall came to an end, Penny became aware of a slight shift in the dark. Ah, of course, a troll at the end of the tunnel was classic.

"Hello," called Penny to the man, trying to nudge Ace awake. The bald man approached calmly, stoic face unmoving. His unibrow was a straight line over his eyes, but rather than linger, Penny's eyes were drawn to the tattoo on his chest. Was every madman from the West Blue now crawling out of the woodworks to come after her? How many notorious killers did one ocean have?

"I'm assuming you're the firstborn," joked Penny, nodding at the character for the number one. "The Killer" Daz Bones moved forward stoically.

"Move aside."

"Excuse me?"

"Move aside. I'll kill the strong one firs—"

Penny gestured to Ace helplessly, "Ace is sleeping."

Daz Bones swung his fist. Penny ducked down low, sweeping her foot out as his hand screeched against the wall, leaving a deep cut in the surface of the stone. He avoided her attempt to trip him.

Penny rolled out of the way as his bladed foot came crashing down, severing the fabric she had been using to drag Ace.

Devil fruit, thought Penny, were the bane of her existence.

"We're out of your league," warned Penny, laying on the ground. "You won't be able to—"

He didn't let her finish the sentence, striking once more. Blades came out of his body, propelling him forward and toward the vulnerable Ace. Penny moved so quickly, that she seemed to disappear from view. Catching the knife-edge of his arm in her hand, she squeezed tightly. He was strong and would likely grow even stronger in the future, but Penny hadn't lied when she said that she and Ace had climbed up high.

He jerked his arm back, trying to dislodge her grip.

Penny reared her fist back, copying his strength ten-fold and then a hundred-fold. Swinging out, she clocked him in the face. He flew away from her, hitting the back wall and then the one after that, careening into the hilly valley behind the factory.

Penny shook out her bloodied hand, and turned her nose up high, reminiscent of a certain warlord. She kicked Ace, sending him rolling toward the rubble that had formed.

"What?" Ace groaned. "Let me sleep for a minute."

"I'm bleeding."

"Put some water on it."

Rearing her foot back to kick him once more, Ace caught it in his hand, climbing to his feet. "We gotta establish some rules. When I'm sleeping, let me sleep."

"Look, I found a room," said Penny, pointing to the hole in the wall that was left over.

Ace shot her thumbs up, abandoning all his annoyance had having been woken up as he excitedly headed into the room. Barrels were lined up on one end of the room as a conveyer built moved along, carrying empty ones to a small tube in the back where the powder was packed inside and then sealed.

Ace tipped one of the barrels over, cracking it open against the floor where the greenish powder fell out.

"They must've processed the silver in the front and then had all the dirty work happen back here," said Penny peering out to where Daz Bones had fallen. A small path curved behind the factory, leading down to the other side of the tall hill and likely to the ocean in the distance.

Penny leaned down, and dipped her finger into the substance. She stuck it into her mouth and then spat out the substance with a howl. She pulled out a napkin, rubbing at her mouth harshly. "It's revolting."

"And you ate it?" asked Ace, copying the gesture. He gave no reaction but looked at her strangely.

Penny wanted to point out that he had as well, "It looked like poppy powder. If you mix it with tea leaves like they do in the West Blue, then it gets that greenish color. But, it's not that—I don't know what it is."

"You just put random drugs in your mouth? Are you stupid?" Ace couldn't believe it, but he was starting to be grateful that Gramps had beaten some basic sense into him.

"I've put far worse in my mouth," said Penny darkly. "One time—"

"I don't want to know."

"No one ever wants to know. One day, I'll meet someone who does and have my wicked way with them."

Penny watched from a distance as Ace set fire to the factory. They hadn't known if it would fix whatever illness had befallen Reed, but it was better than letting any more of the powder get produced and shipped out.

A plume of smoke shot into the air as Ace turned back and raced away from the explosion.

Penny laughed as the first drop of rain spilled down from the sky, kissing the bridge of her nose. A monsoon followed after, slapping down against the earth and dimming the flames that Ace had created.

"I'll race you back," shouted Ace over the rain.

Penny kicked off her slippers and ran.

Ikkaku didn't think about the pirates. It was easier to move on from the encounter than linger on it for too long. But the odd taste coating the air seemed to have disappeared after they had left. The food didn't taste as weird, a trait she thought was simply because she was in a whole new world. The new patients in her makeshift hospital slowly dwindled, but the old ones remained, recovering slowly but surely.

Vice Admiral Stainless arrived hours after the pirates left and in a hush-hush operation, the entire Marine office on Reed Island was replaced. Ikkaku kept a low profile, stunned her name hadn't been given up for questioning despite the sneers she gets from the other students at the University.

Of course, they hadn't left, thought Ikkaku, every time she walked past the burnt remains of the factory. And then couldn't help but feel stupid for accepting that everything was okay after investigating it only once. Had she subjected people to more suffering simply because she had been afraid?

And then one day, when she was walking into the abandoned school, a bear was sitting on the bottom step, talking to a man in a penguin hat who waved warmly and said, "Are you Ikkaku? The Captain wanted to see you!"

"Me?" asked Ikkaku stunned.

"Yeah, you." Penguin squinted and then smiled at her, "You've got a rock—"

"Shut it."

He nodded right away, "All right, I will."

"Sorry," said the bear. Ikkaku nodded, walking inside in a dreamy haze—a bear had just spoken to her.

A man with long fingers, tattooed with the word DEATH on each hand, held her notes in his hands. A lab coat was thrown over his shoulders, a fur hat dropped on the end of a hospital bed, and his feet planted firmly on the furnace. He leaned back and smirked at Anna, a little girl whom Ikkaku was getting ready to discharge.

"Get out of here," said Trafalgar Law without a care in the world. "The faster, the better."

"Thank you, Trafalgar-sensei!"

Ikkaku sighed, drawing the pirate's eyes toward her. Anna whisked past her, smiling widely.

Trafalgar shut the file, standing and pulling his hat on. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, peering at her closely, "Your handwriting's shit, but you'll do. Are you a quick study?"

"Of what?"

"Engineering, medicine, whatever the hell I need you to do."

"Why?"

He shrugged and then gave Ikkaku an argument she couldn't refute, "Why not?"

EXTRA

"Shanks is calling," said Penny, chewing her nails. She wailed as the phone gave another ring.

Ace reached over to pick it up, only to get tackled to the ground. "Are you stupid?" she hissed, hitting him anywhere she could reach. "Benn-san will kill me! I'll be buried somewhere cold and monstrous, and no one will ever find my grave."

It was funny how she called Shanks all manners of names, but Benn Beckman was always 'Benn-san.' Ace threw her off, scrambling to pick up the phone. "Oi, Ace here."

Penny bit his ankle. The Den Den Mushi fell from his hands as he pulled his leg up to rub at the indent she'd made. She leapt to catch it, slamming the receiver shut, picking the snail up, and holding it to her chest. "If you ever pick up my calls again, I'll call Whitebeard."

"You're a real bastard, Penny."

"Takes one to know one."

She placed the snail on her desk, glaring at him heatedly. "See that one," she asked, pointing at a snail with snake earrings. "That leads directly to Bao Hancock. Anger me and I'll call her here."

"Is that a punishment? Isn't she supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world?"

"She is. And Amazon Lily is a paradise unlike any other, but—" Penny shook her head, mouthing puckering. "—she requires a great deal of patience. Luckily, she and I get along well."

"Are you sure about that?"

"We're best friends."

"Get that out of my sight!" snarled Hancock, ripping the newspaper into tiny shreds. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAID THAT I NEVER WANT TO SEE THAT—THAT INSOLENT FOOL'S FACE?!"

"But…it's just Penny…"

"Just Penny," whispered Hancock in a cold voice. Everyone in the room froze, turning to stone as her presence ballooned outward. "I could accept the brutish way she went about life given the thugs she was raised by, but I drew a firm line at her…" Hancock steamed, unable to even utter the words, "…her saying that I was cute—MY GREAT STRENGTH REDUCED TO A CHILDISH WORD! The next time I see her will be the last time she sees anything."

"Oh, can't you just forgive her," said Sandersonia with a flick of her tongue. "I'm sure she meant it in a good way."

"Don't even try," whispered Marigold as Hancock raged. "Penny sealed her fate after she copied nee-chan's 'looking down.'"

"But…"

"But nothing," snarled Hancock, throwing her plate at the wall. "I'll wring her neck and you'll all forgive because…I'm beautiful."

"Hehehehehe, what is that?" asked Penny, clutching her waist as the Empress bent over backward. Penny tried to mimic the movement, only being able to do so, by placing her hands on the deck to keep from falling. "Han-chan, no one ever said you had a sense of humor."

Hancock's heel slammed down on Penny's head, throwing her to the ground. "FUNNY?!" she roared, "WHAT ABOUT MY BEAUTY IS FUNNY TO YOU?!"

"Nothing, you're really cute, but—" Penny rubbed at her skull, "—ow, that hurts."

"ARREST HER!"

"You've amassed an army too?!" asked Penny as she was dragged to her feet by some of the Kuja Pirates. "Han-chan, let's dine together later!"

END CHAPTER