Will of the Sea

Chapter 9: Shells Town

Warnings: abuse of power, mentions of PTSD

Getting to Shells Town wasn't difficult, it only took a few days, and they didn't need to deal with any odd and unexpected storms like they would have if they were in the Grand Line.

"Land fall, Shells Town up ahead!" Aggie called out.

Coby was shaking slightly. "W-well, this is it."

"Don't worry Coby! I know we'll meet again someday!" Luffy said, bouncing near his new friend.

Ace and Sabo watched their little brother with the pink-haired child.

"He'll be a good one, I can tell." Ace said quietly to his blonde brother.

"How do you know?" Sabo asked, gazing at the nervous child.

Ace grinned, he knew thinking about Marineford would bring about a panic attack, but he remembered Coby trying to save lives, both Pirate and Marine alike on the battlefield.

Smoker is also a good Marine and knows when to prioritize the lives of the people over the job. Ace thought about their first encounter in Alabasta. Now he would be going to the Kingdom of Alabasta for a different purpose, not to hunt down Teach and avenge Thatch, but for Crocodile, he wondered if he would get the Warlord position again or not.

Eh, it didn't really matter right now, but it would be a good opportunity to get some dirt on the World Government, maybe find something about his Mom or where the other Roger Pirates are and if they are still alive.

But more than that, Garp trained Coby, according to Luffy, and Gramps was a decent judge of character…most of the time. But the point remained, Coby would be a Marine he would be glad to face off against and know that neither of them were aiming to kill, just friendly banter like Whitebeard and Garp, or hell, even Garp and Roger.

Speaking of Roger…Ace still didn't know when the right time would be to tell his crew about his father. But he would figure it out, it would have to be before they reached Saobody Archipelago since he wanted to speak to Rayleigh and find Shanks again, this time he knew where to look.

"You really believe that?" Sabo asked, glancing at his older brother.

"Garp will train him and he will at least pass on his Will and Code of Justice onto Coby and whoever else he takes on as an Apprentice." Ace tells the blonde.

"What? What are you talking about? Why would Gramps train a kid he doesn't even know?" Ace didn't say anything else, just made his way towards the young boys.

"Coby, this is your stop, but we won't leave until you're settled into town. Also, you are an ally of the Spade Pirates, so if anything goes wrong, you call us and we'll be here as fast as possible, got it?" Ace said, crouching down toward the boy and ruffling his hair.

Coby sniffled and started crying, launching himself at Ace and thanking him and the rest of them. "Thank you, Captain Ace! I'll never forget what you've done for me!" the little boy gave him a large watery smile, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

"Become a great Marine, Coby. I know you'll be one of the good ones."

"I…how do you know that?" Coby asked the young Pirate Captain.

Ace smiled warmly, thinking on his adopted grandfather and Smoker. "Because you won't abuse your power and will know when to pull out your crew and those under you out of situations that they can't handle." He paused, "…and what Luffy said is true. I'm sure you two will meet again. Lu still needs to gather his crew before he goes out to the Grand Line, so he'll be stopping by to at least see you before he heads out there with me and 'Bo."

"Yep, that's right! I'm gonna come back to see you and so you can meet my crew! And then we'll be allies as well. So you'll be allies with both the Spade Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates!" Luffy smiled widely at his friend.

"Thank you so much." Coby said, wiping the tears from his face. Ace could have just killed him when Alvida brought him to the other Pirate Captain, but he didn't. Ace let him live and even encouraged his dream to become a Marine, even if it was in direct contrast to his own dream as a Pirate.

"You're always welcome on the Spadille and Striker, Coby. Never forget that." Ace said as they docked and paid the small fee that the town had for foreign ships. Ace had told Deuce to take down the Spade Jolly Roger just in case the Marines at the base here would attack them outright. His crew wasn't ready to fight Marines and get bounties.

At least not yet.

Ace wanted to wait until he had a few more crew members and until the Grand Line before his crew got any bounties, by Marines or Pirates.

"Coby, Lu, with me. Sabo will stay on the ship. Aggie, Deuce, I want you two to find weapons that fit your fighting styles." Ace commanded.

Aggie and Deuce jerked at the sudden command but nodded. "Sure, but why?"

"You'll need it." Ace said, a dark frown on his face. Ace's brothers, Coby, Deuce, and Aggie all looked concerned for the young Captain. Whatever was weighing him down was starting to get to Ace.

"Come on, let's get Coby settled, we may be able to find someone to add on the crew." Ace muttered to his small group.

Aggie and Deuce watched as their Captain and the two boys left the Spadille. "Hey, Sabo?" Deuce asked the blonde boy.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking up at the teenager from his spot near the wheel.

"What is Ace to you and Luffy? I've seen you guys are close." Deuce said, wanting the boy to finish the thought since he and Aggie were curious about the strange relationship between the three boys.

"Oh yeah. We haven't told you, have we?" Sabo said, slightly sheepish. "Ace, Luffy, and I are adopted brothers. Luffy's grandfather adopted Ace when he was a baby 'cuz his parents couldn't take care of him, and he adopted me when I was five, I didn't have the best life growing up." Sabo explained.

"Wait, what about Luffy?" Aggie asked.

"His parents couldn't take care of him, so his dad gave him to his own father." Sabo didn't want to give too much information away to the two others on the crew, not yet at least. And not before Ace said it was alright to tell them about who they were, more than that, who Ace and Luffy were.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to pry." Deuce said, apologizing to the blonde.

Sabo waved him off, "Don't be. You were curious, it's fine." He said, smiling to the blue haired teen.

"We better get our supplies. Do you need us to buy you supplies Sabo?" Aggie asked, he was the oldest on the crew, being 20 years old.

Sabo handed the Shipwright-Helmsman a list that he took out from his pocket. Aggie raised an eyebrow at the list. "That's a lot of food, are you sure we need this much?"

"Yes. Ace and Luffy have bottomless pits as stomachs." The 12-year-old said simply. "Luffy especially, because of his Devil Fruit."

"Alright, we'll be back in…about an hour. Will you be okay here by yourself?" Deuce asked the boy.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. East Blue is the weakest sea for a reason." The blue themed boy said, taking his pipe from where it sat next to his brother's pipes.

However, Ace had told him that he didn't need a pipe as a weapon, Ace already had a weapon for himself in mind, so Sabo now had two pipes, but he didn't really know what to do with Ace's yet, so he just left it there for the time being until he had an idea for it.

"We'll be back soon, Sabo. Keep Spadille and Striker safe for us!" Deuce said, waving back to him as the two left the ship to get their supplies as well as the list of food that Sabo had requested.

Sabo sat on the railing, watching the people in the small port town. He hoped that Ace and Luffy haven't gotten into trouble, but from the conversation that Sabo and Ace had last night it seemed unlikely that Ace would cause any trouble.

…

"What's going to happen tomorrow?" Sabo asks his brother as he enters his room, the captain's quarters.

Ace turns to look at his brother and then turns back to what he was doing before his younger twin brother entered.

"What do you mean? I'll take Coby around, get him comfortable around the town and try to see if I can find anyone who's willing to either train him or take him in until he's 15 or so, and make sure Luffy doesn't run off. Why?" The grey eyed boy asks.

"I want to know what happened with Captain Buggy, Ace." Sabo said sternly.

Ace glared at him, and Sabo jerked back. His blue eyes wide with concern for the D-Bearer. "Nothing that needs to be repeated."

Ace then sighs and closed his eyes. "Look, I'll tell you later when we get to the Grand Line. All of this…it stems from the Grand Line, from…what I told you before. We will face hell when we get out there, same with Luffy. And it all comes back to who we are, who our families and fathers are. 'Bo, I'm keeping this close for the time being because I need to know that you can handle the truth. Please, don't fight me on this."

"I…okay. But I expect you to tell me all of it, the full truth. Got it?" Ace nods to his twin.

…

"Don't do anything crazy Ace." Sabo whispered, hopefully keeping to his promise of not making trouble in this town since this place had a Marine base.

Coby and Luffy followed Ace dutifully off of the Spadille. The three boys walked through the small port town, looking around for somewhere to eat and hopefully get information at.

Ace watched the people of the town carefully to get a feel for what he and the others could do without getting the Marines' attention.

"Ace, food. Meat." Luffy pointed to a small restaurant.

Ace chucked at his little brother, of course he would think with his stomach, Ace wasn't much better, but he at least some restraint. "Sure, Lu. Let's go eat. We might be able to find some things out too." He took Luffy and Coby to the restaurant.

"Hello and welcome. Just three?" The hostess asked the three boys.

"Yes please." Ace said politely.

The hostess guided them to their table and brought over the menus. "Whenever you are ready to order, just flag one of us down, and we'll come by to take your orders." She told them.

"Just so you know, he eats as much as a grown adult man." Ace told their waitress, who just looked between Ace and Luffy.

"It's true! I eat a lot!" Luffy smiled brightly at the woman how just gave the three boys a polite smile before going over to another table.

Luffy and Coby looked at the menus, talking about what they wanted to eat, but Ace was occupied with watching the patrons of the restaurant. Most of the people in here were locals of the town so he skipped over them, but when he saw a group of white uniforms, he immediately knew that they were Marines.

Let's see what they do. Ace thought as he leaned back in his chair, observing the group of marines.

"We gotta get rid of Morgan. He's a bad influence on the newbies and is just bringing us down." One of them whispered, but Ace heard them.

Morgan? Is that the captain here?

"But how? He's really strong." Another pointed out.

"East Blue is the weakest sea for a reason." Another Marine at the table said, this one was deeper but also kinder as well.

"What do you mean, Ripper?"

Ripper grinned, "We need to lay low for a little while longer. We can't rebel against him, not outright, but we can make it look like pirates took him down. We just need to figure out which rookie crew in the East could make it look like a defeat and not a slaughter."

Ace's eyes widen. This is perfect! If this town holds out a few more years and Luffy's the one that gets rid of the corrupt Marine Captain, then he'll have this island. If Morgan doesn't catch onto Ripper's plans, then it will be fine.

The three boys got their food and started eating, Luffy was making a mess of everything as was expected, Coby staring at him in shock, still not used to seeing the way Luffy ate.

"Luffy! Manners, like Makino and Sabo taught you." Ace reprimanded his younger brother. Luffy pouted but ate more slowly.

As the Pirate Captain, future Pirate Captain, and future Marine ate…the door was kicked open. Ace frowned as he saw the dark-skinned, blonde haired man with an axe for one of his hands, entered the small restaurant.

"Axe-Hand Morgan." The patrons started whispering.

"Captain Morgan…what can we do for you today?" The owner of the restaurant asked politely but fearfully.

"Don't do anything, no matter what you see or hear." Ace whispered to Luffy and Coby. They both reluctantly nod.

"Word from the docks is sayin' we've got some pirates in here." Morgan stated, leering down on the woman.

Shit! This isn't good, I don't want to reveal myself now! I wanted to wait until Loguetown. Change of plans, I guess. Ace sighed as Luffy and Coby looked to him for what to do in this situation.

"I won't let you two be hurt, or anyone else in here." Ace promised the boys.

"Pirates?" The woman stammered. "There aren't any pirates here, I swear."

"Oh? Is that right?" He looked to where the small group of Marines was sitting. "Boys! Tear this place apart and bring those filthy pirates to the base!" He shouted at his men.

The group tensed but didn't move. "What are you waiting for?!" He shouted, that got them moving. "In the meantime…I guess I can play with you a bit." Morgan smirked.

"No!" the woman yelled as he grabbed her.

"Are you disobeying me, woman?" He asked, gripped her arm tightly enough to almost break the bone.

"N-No." She whispered; fear clear on her face. The woman glanced back toward the kitchen doors as a little head poked out to see what the commotion was.

It was the woman's daughter.

"Hey, asshole! Let her go." Ace commanded, standing up from his table. The D-Bearer didn't want to reveal himself right now, but it would be better than letting an innocent woman get hurt or worse by this corrupt Marine scum.

Morgan looked up and saw that Ace was walking towards him and the woman. "Huh? Who're you, kid? You think you can take me on? I'm Axe-Hand Morgan! Who the hell are you?" He yelled at Ace.

The Spade Captain wasn't fazed, he just frowned even more. "You're a fucking idiot, that's what you are. Let the woman go and leave."

"Why you-" Morgan advanced on Ace, swinging his arm, aiming at the boy's head.

But the axe was stopped cold, but not by Ace. It was of the person standing in front of Ace, sword in hand, blocking the attack.

Grey eyes widen as he stared at the back of one of the few good Marines there were in the organization, Isuka! He had found her! But what was she doing in East Blue? The first time they had encountered each other, it had been on the Grand Line.

"What do you think you're doing, Captain Morgan? Why are you attacking a kid?" Isuka asked, teeth gritting against each other in anger.

"Out of my way Ensign! That's a direct order!" Morgan hissed.

"Now, you two really shouldn't fight about little ol' me." Ace said, grinning at Morgan. "Though, I thank you, Isuka. It really wasn't needed."

"How do you know my name?" Isuka asked.

Morgan was staring at Ace like he had grown a second head. "Out of my way!" He slapped Isuka when she was turned away from the Marine Captain.

"That was a mistake." Ace stated, icy anger flashed in his eyes, but Morgan was too preoccupied to notice how utterly screwed he was.

"I'll kill you, boy!"

"A lot of people have tried; no one has been able to!" Ace snarled, his hand tinted black with Armament Haki as he punched the captain in the face. The only person that noticed Ace's use of Haki was Isuka who was staring at the boy in shock and amazement.

"You…" She mumbled.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked the restaurant owner and Isuka has he helped them up.

"Are you really a pirate?" Isuka asked.

"Why'd you ask that?" Ace asked, glancing back to Luffy and Coby.

"You're odd of a pirate, most wouldn't care." Isuka said.

"I'm not most pirates, or most people." Ace shrugged as he caught Luffy in his arms, knowing the boy would launch himself for a hug.

"That was awesome Ace!" Luffy grinned big and wide as he hugged his older brother.

"Thanks, Lu. But I gotta talk to Isuka for a bit." The D-Bearer turned to the woman, "Would it be alright if you watched Luffy and Coby for a bit? I want to talk to Ensign Isuka for a bit."

"Of course, it's the least I can do. You saved me." she said, bowing.

"Don't worry about it, you didn't and don't deserve harassment like that." Ace leaned in to whisper in the woman's ear. "I think your daughter could use some friends."

She smiled and led Coby and Luffy away. Most of the people in the restaurant left when they saw Captain Morgan try and attack him, so they were alone.

"What do you want to talk about?" Isuka asked.

"Are you alright? That must have hurt." Ace pointed to her cheek.

"It'll heal." She waved off the young pirate's concern. "You are really odd." She commented.

"Thanks." Ace smiled at the teenager. Isuka had to be around Deuce's age, so about 14 to 15.

"What did you want to talk to be about? Also, how do you know my name?" Isuka wondered why this young pirate wanted with her. And which crew he was an apprentice for.

Ace smiled gently at the young teenager. "My name is Ace; my epithet is Vulcan. I'm the Captain of the Spade Pirates. The reason I know your name is 'cuz I've met you before, but you probably don't remember me."

Isuka's lightly tan skin paled in horror. "You're a Pirate Captain…but…you're a kid." She stuttered in fear.

"There are people in this world that are younger than you but are as powerful as the Sanko Commanders. I am one of those people." Ace said, his face straight, and the redhead Marine instinctively knew he wasn't lying.

Ace remembered that Shanks only got the Emperor title a year before he went out to sea, when he was 16. He had turned the world and the Sanko on their heads as the Sanko became the Yonko.

Isuka paled at the implications of his statement, but knew it was the truth. "So…. what do you want with me?"

"Would you be willing to train the pink-haired kid for a few years before he joins the Marines and then take him as your Apprentice?" Ace asks, wanting to get Coby's situation sorted.

"I…why?" Isuka asked, her brown eyes narrow.

"I know he'll be a good Marine and I know that you are a good person and could be a good Marine as well. So why not." He shrugged.

"Sure, but I live at the Marine base, I don't have a personal house in the town since I'm still a minor until I'm 18." Isuka told him.

"How old are you?" the D-Bearer wanted to know.

"I'm 16. What's the boy's name?" Isuka gave Ace her age and asked about Coby.

So, she's a little older than Deuce. She didn't look too much older than us when we met in the earlier part of the Grand Line. Ace hummed in thought.

"His name is Coby, he wants to be a Marine, also, maybe also help that little girl as well." Ace nodded his head toward the back of the restaurant, toward the kitchens.

"Little girl?" Isuka asked, turning around and looking around toward the back.

"Rika, the owner's daughter." Ace said, grabbing a few sandwiches that had been given to him for free by the owner, Ririka, her name was, and ate them in almost one bite.

"She's barely a child and has to be 4 or something. I don't think that Miss Ririka would let me train her young daughter." The redhead pointed out.

Ace shrugged, "Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to ask."

Ace then went into what he really wanted to talk to Isuka about as he grinned. Isuka tensed in nervousness but was still willing to sit and listen to the young Pirate Captain.

"You will never be truly respected in the Marines since you are a woman, very few women get far without someone powerful backing them." He started, and Isuka tensed. "You don't have that, but you could."

"What…what do you mean? Why are you telling me this?" the redhead was confused at the topic of conversation.

"Morgan will continue to be a problem here; I know that, and you know that. So, I was thinking…how would you feel about having someone who could back you." Ace told her of his offer.

The fire user knew that Isuka was set in her ways of being a Marine, but he knew that she was a good person at heart, same with Smoker and the girl with him, Tashigi. They were both good, he figured getting his and Luffy's Marine allies together would be a huge help when it came to exposing the truth of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. He knew that the massacres of Baterilla and Ohara will never come to light without someone exposing the government.

Ace was a D-Bearer, he followed the Will of D, and he was a member of the Family of D. That meant something to him, it was one of his identities, one he's proud to share with those that will respect and follow him.

"You want…why would you help me?" Isuka asked, after thinking on Ace's offer.

"As I said before, you're a good person and you want to fight the actual scum of the seas, which aren't just Pirates and Bandits, but also Marines too. You know this; you know that the government's Absolute Justice is wrong. You don't follow it; you follow your own brand of justice, because at the end of the day, it's all based on perspective." The 12-year-old said.

"I…thank you. And you're right, I don't follow Absolute Justice. But who did you have in mind for someone who would be willing to back me and possibly also train Coby?" The redhead teen asked, she was very curious about who Ace thought would back her, because he was right. Women very rarely got up to the position of Rear Admiral, maybe up to Vice Admiral if that woman had a powerful Devil Fruit.

Vulcan Ace was an odd boy, but he was a Pirate Captain, that meant that he and his crew were here in East Blue for a reason. "Your apprentices will be Coby, the pink haired boy and Ririka's daughter, Rika. I want you to start training them, but don't go overboard, they are kids. As for who's backing you…" He paused for a few minutes to build up the suspense.

"Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp."

Isuka choked as she heard who would be backing her from Ace.

"Monkey D. Garp? The Hero of the Marines?! Why in the hell would he back me?! Or want to take me on as an Apprentice when you wanted me to train Coby?" Isuka asked all of this to Ace in rapid-fire.

"'Cuz he owes me. Big time. More than that, why not? It'll be a great opportunity for you to learn from Garp as well as Coby and Rika as well. I'm sure it'll be good."

"He will kill us. I've heard of his training methods, Vice-Admiral Garp will kill us." Isuka deadpanned.

Ace waved off her concern. "He only does that if he sees your potential, which he will. But he won't kill you; he has at least some self-control. If not, how would you expect him to have an active Marine crew?" He asked her, genuinely curious about her answer.

Isuka blinked. "Well, that's true. But what do you get out of this? You still haven't told me."

Ace grinned, something that made the redhead Marine shiver. "I want you to join my crew as a temporary member in four years. We'll be heading to Loguetown then and going into the Grand Line when I'm 17."

"Why 17?" Isuka asked, confused as to why this young Captain would wait so long if he's that strong at this young of an age.

"Easy, I don't want my crew to die. So, I want you to train as well, along with Coby and Rika. I want you to be ready for what we may face." Ace breathed in. "How about it? Want to join the Spades, Ensign Isuka?"

Isuka went back and forth, debating with herself about how stupid of a decision this was. This boy was a Pirate Captain, at the age of 12; he was a kid and was already this strong. Ace also had an epithet, which meant the kid had a bounty out there somewhere.

But what made Isuka ultimately decide to join the boy was his connection to Monkey D. Garp.

She wanted to know more about him and the perfect way to do that is to be the Vice Admiral's Apprentice.

More than that, she wanted to see what Ace would accomplish along with his crew. He cares about his crew, which is odd to her, since he's a Pirate. Rarely will she meet a Pirate or person that would care for the wellbeing of others unconditionally like that.

"You've got yourself a deal, Vulcan Ace." Isuka and Ace shook on it, sealing the deal.

"Welcome to the Spade Pirates, Ensign Isuka!" Ace grinned happily at the teenager.