Yo, I'm sorry for the late post! I've been off on all my stories because I posted one one day late. -_- Anyways, USJ is next chapter, and Ace is a damn badass! Look forward to it! Enjoy~


Ace stared at the ceiling of his room at the school, wishing he would be staring at his own ceiling in his own bed. Daytime was easy to be distracted when he was helping All Might out, but at night was when the loneliness came. He couldn't sleep. He sat up and put his boots on before opening his window and jumping down, landing in the grass before walking to the middle of the nearest grass field.

He looked up and couldn't see any stars from the lights around. The stars he would name with Izo, argue about when they were drunk. He curled up and put his jaw on his chin. "Wanna go home," he sighed.

He ended up falling asleep outside, on the grass. He woke when the sun rose, and wished hopelessly that he'd open his eyes and be back home. Or better, all of this was just a dream, and none of it had happened. But it wasn't a dream and he didn't know when he'd get back.

Ace stood up and stretched before going to the wall and sitting on it, looking out at the city. It was so big and… unfamiliar. Too shiny. There weren't any roofs, just flat surfaces. Too complicated. He felt stupid, complaining about such things.

Walking along the wall, and he came across a handful of real creepy looking people.

He knew that if someone was targeting the gate, they wanted into the school. Ace rose his arms and said, "Fire wall!", creating a thirty foot wall of fire around the perimeter of the school to keep anyone from going in. He stood in the flames. "Who are you?" he asked in a flat voice.

He stared down at the creepy guys. "Better question is, who the fuck are you?" Ace sat down, looking completely calm.

"Just a passing guest. So, are you guys villains? You look like them," Ace commented. One of them had a costume of fake hands all over his body…? How was having one on your face not hindering sight or smell? Was it only to look creepy that he was sacrificing some of his senses. "Well, anyways, I'm not gonna let you in. Not when you seem so damn suspicious."

There were only a handful, so they weren't there for a massive invasion. They were scouting. He'd been around enough marine bases to know a small group was usually not for starting a war, but sneaking in of performing an assassination.

"Nomu, attack him," Hand-Guy said. Ace had noticed it before, but could tell it wasn't human. At least, it was some kind of beast. And it was strong, but an arm. The guy he was talking to was the head.

The nomu flew at him, but Ace coated his hand in haki, as thick and hard as he could, and punched it in the head, on the exposed brain. It exploded outwards and landed on the ground, the entire head a bloody mess of mush. He looked at his own hand in disgust.

The small group of villains looked horrified. "Is that the best one you have?" he asked, not sounding taunting, just a bit disappointing.

"Who. Are. You?!" Hand-Guy shouted, seeming pretty furious.

"I already told you. I'm just passing by. I don't care much about the politics going on here, or why you are villains, but I'm tied to this school for now, and I'd rather you not hurt anyone here," he said with a cheeky grin. He turned to the side to see Eraser Head, Midnight and the other pro-hero teachers who lived there.

"Ace, what is going on?!" Eraser Head shouted.

Ace simply said there were people wishing to intrude, and released the fire at the entrance, giving the heroes full view of the villains. Ace reformed the fire wall once they stepped out. But, the group of them suddenly disappeared into a blackish-purple vortex. The nomu was still there, dead with it's brain splattered everywhere.

"You can release the wall," Ectoplasm said. Ace knew they were gone, sensing them no more, so he let down the wall. "What happened here?" Ace dropped down from the wall. And explained that he'd come over and saw some creepy people that he didn't let in.

Ace poked the thing's body with his foot. "This thing showed up, they seemed pretty confident in it. All they did was demand who I was, didn't give me any reason why they were here. Don't worry, my fire didn't damage anything," Ace said and his stomach growled. "I'm sure All Might is on his way, so I'm gonna go try and get something to eat," he said casually.

Midnight asked, "Why did you protect the school? You have no tie to it," she pointed out. Ace turned and smiled.

"Everyone's been pretty nice to me here. Why would I let their place get trashed or harmed? Plus, fighting with the kids was pretty fun. I'm not a hero, but dead kids aren't good in any case," he said simply.

He walked inside, passing All Might, who looked worried and stopped in front of Ace. "Did you light the fire?"

Ace nodded, saying it hadn't damaged anything. "There were some shady guys wanting in, so I blocked them." All Might nodded and ran to the other pro-heroes.

Well, he sure had an entertaining story to give his family. Maybe this world was more interesting than he thought. Even if he considered himself a neutral party here, he protected people he cared about. All Might had helped him from the start, so he wasn't about to repay his constant kindness by letting a place and many people special to him get damaged or killed.

He may be a pirate, but Ace was not heartless. He headed inside to the empty cafeteria.

Jozu was going to tease him about this. Protecting many people he didn't care about personally. Well, he was a pirate but not a villain. Well, to the marines he was, but fuck the marines.

-x-

Two hours later, he was sleeping in the middle of a meeting he was supposed to speak in. It only lasted three minutes before he woke up. Everyone was glaring at him. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," he said in humiliation. "I have narcolepsy and it gives me sleep attacks sometimes. I'm fine now. I promise," he swore, face bright red. But they moved on.

It was a room full of costumed people he didn't know. They all knew each other but Ace was just sitting in a chair at the back of a huge table. "Ace, what happened?" Nezu asked. They turned to Ace, who started fiddling with his beaded necklace.

"I slept outside, since the room was too muggy, and when I woke up I walked to the wall for no real reason, just wanted to walk aroun. I saw creepy guys trying to get through the gate, so I put a fire wall up. Not much happened, they just asked who I was and got pissed when I beat up their beast-monster. I didn't give them any personal information.

"I was just in the right place at the right time I guess," he explained. "He called the beast a 'nomu'. It was really strong, but I put it out pretty quickly. They gave me no reason why they were there or what their plan was." He was done with his story, and the pro-heros started talking about protecting the kids, hunting down who the villains were, and Ace was uncomfortable.

Sure, he was used to meetings as a commander, but he knew almost nobody here. Only All Might, really. There was another man, who was tall, wearing a suit and with glasses and black hair who was eyeing Ace, and it made him sweat a bit.

"Ace, why did you protect the school?" a guy wearing what looked like pants all the way up to his nose asked. Man, Thatch and Haruta would find him hilarious. Well, he had something else funny to talk about.

"Well, I live here right now. All Might's a nice guy and the kids I fought with all seemed good. Who wants dead children?" Ace asked. "I'm not a hero, I just did what I thought was the right thing to do at the moment," he finished.

Nezu said, "Well it is true he is not a pro-hero. You may leave, Ace."

"O-" and then he was back on his bed, no All Might in sight. He sighed and grinned, jumping up and finding Marco again. "Maaarrrcccooo!" he screamed and jumped his brother. "I missed you again!" Marco pushed him off, and Ace was blubbering.

"Whoa, Ace calm down. Where'd All Might go? I was going to do a check up and he wasn't there," Marco said in annoyance.

Ace said he had disappeared with Ace, going back to the other world. "Soooo much stuff happened this time, oh my GOD," Ace said. "I gotta tell everyone!" and he went running around, shouting for people to come if they wanted to hear a cool story. Some gathered and Ace stood on Pops' knee, who found the situation funny.

Well, All Might had a lot of explaining to do, unless he popped right back only moments after he'd left, like it had seemed to do this way. He was gone for three days, and it had only been a couple moments here. He didn't miss anything, thankfully.

"It was crazy, guys. First, I got all this praise for helping All Might when it wasn't even me who did it -and he'd doing well, Marco. No complications- so that was annoying. But then I don't have to guard the wall anymore, and I got to help train the kids.

"My god children there are weak. They're all fifteen, but the time I was fifteen I was fucking king of the jungle! And these brats don't know what they're doing! And they look down on my childhood even though they can't do shit…"

Then he resumed. "Anyways, I beat their asses as training. I was given a new room instead of sleeping in the back of the infirmary anymore. I missed everyone so much. I wished you guys were there to see me fight all these different power users. I kept thinking about you guys, but it was a good distraction.

"But this morning, there, that is, I was walking along the wall of the campus when I found some shady dudes trying to get in the school. I used my firewall and that sure made them pissy. It was funny, they kept getting mad at me, especially since I one-shotted their pet monster!" Haruta and Thatch cheered. "Then they ran off. I had to go to this boring meeting and I fucking fell asleep in the middle of it. It's not funny! They were all glaring at me! But I told them why I protected the school. I mean, it has a bunch of kids. I know I am and we are pirates, but who wants to help hurt or kill children, right?

"Then I was back. And now here I am," Ace finished. Thatch and Haruta, his closest brothers, were clapping at his story and accomplishments.

Thatch lamented that he didn't get to go. "I don't want to bring anyone else. They're suspicious enough about me there already, bringing random people with me wouldn't be good. But I did wish you were there," Ace said with a bright grin.

Marco smiled. "Well, you're back for now, and that's what matters. Thatch, make Ace breakfast." Thatch said it was after lunch. "Don't you want to cook him a welcome home meal?"

"Yes! Of course!" Ace ran inside to spend time with Thatch while he cooked, talking enthusiastically with him. Thatch asked to know more about All Might while he cooked Ace bacon, sausages and pancakes.

The youngest said, "He's a nice guy, and I'm glad Marco fixed him up. He shows me respect and trust, which is nice. You know, since I'm a leader and then suddenly I'm nobody and have no power. He doesn't treat me like one of his students anymore, which I'm appreciating.

"I wonder what the situation is gonna be when I get back. If I do. Maybe the universe will take my good deed as payment and gift me with never going back," he said hopefully. Thatch asked if he would miss it. "No. I mean, it's not so bad when I'm there, I guess. But it's lonely. I don't know anyone there well. I can't be myself. Nobody knows I'm a pirate. That place is really big on the "good and evil" thing. Having me be a wanted criminal wouldn't be very good news there."

Thatch looked concerned, too. What if Ace becomes an enemy there? "I'm not gonna do anything stupid, Thatch. If something happens it's just bad to cross them while being there. I'm never gonna become a villain. I'm already a pirate, but like to think of myself as a good person who does bad things.

"I would never lower myself to being a villain like those there. But I also don't want to be one of their 'heroes'. Can you believe they get in trouble if they fight off villains? They have to have permission!" Ace exclaimed, not understanding how anyone dealt with that, having their powers so restricted in that way.

Thatch served him his food and replied, "Well, that world is more organized, right? So less crime and violence would be best. Our world is rough, kill or be killed, right?" Ace nodded, thinking that was a good point. He was comparing two completely separate worlds, governments, ways of life.

Still, he didn't want to be restricted. Well, hopefully he'd be fine as long as he didn't do anything dangerous. He wasn't a kid who didn't have control of his powers or was immature. He was an adult now. Sure, he was still immature sometimes, but he was a commander, had been for three years, and that came with a dose of responsibility and seriousness. He could do that easily, switching from his laughing and pranking times.

He loved being able to do both. He enjoyed his time with Thatch as they talked about things other than the separate world only Ace could visit. But, it didn't take long for that topic to come back. "Thatch, does it bother you when I go missing? Does it show? I've only been gone from hours to minutes when it's been days to me."

Thatch frowned. "I think it's different for us. You aren't gone long enough for it to really sink in that you're gone. I'm sorry, it sounds heartless. We worry about you when you leave, but we have high hope that you won't be long. I am glad we don't miss you long, but I do feel bad for not understanding your pain. I'm sorry, we're sorry," Thatch said, reaching over the counter and putting his hand on Ace's shoulder.

Ace nodded, understanding how they felt. "I'm glad I'm not missing anything, but I'm just depressed when I get back there, having just been with everybody. I want to stay here," he lamented, putting his head on the cool counter. Thatch rubbed his back.

Then Marco came in with Pops, heading straight for Ace. "Ace, we're thinking of a possible way to stop all of this. Make you stay home indefinitely," Marco said, making Ace perk up and sit up straight again, eyes wide. "This all started cause you walked into that cave. We can have you try and walk back in to stop it, or we can try destroying it to stop it from affecting you." Ace's face lit up, but not too long before Pops spoke.

"There may be some serious downsides to that. You could get stuck in the other world. Or it may just hurt you. I think we should wait a while to see if it ends naturally," Pops said seriously. "It will be a long time, son, but for now you have hope for it to stop.

"Since time moves there slower than here, it will take a long time. We are at least six weeks away from there. So far, you've spent less time in that world, but time moves slower while you're gone here. We still know little about the time difference, so that will have to be taken into account.

"But, we have an outline of a plan, and we will head to that island as soon as possible. Okay?" Ace grinned nodded, feeling so much better with having a plan. "We need to stop at the next island for supplies and to restock, but after that, we will backtrack and do our best to fix this mess, and keep you where you belong. With your family," Pops finished, face soft and kind at the end.

Ace sniffled, but was smiling. "Having a plan will make me feel so much better now. I finally feel hope," he said with a sigh. Thatch said they'd do everything they could to return things back to normal and resume their adventure. Ace nodded, and Pops walked forward to hug him.

"I'm proud of you, son. You are handling this well. Though I know it must be scary to be in a different world, you have behaved well," he praised, and Ace blushed. Marco and Thatch laughed. Soon, more people were there for dinner, and Ace was still hungry. The commanders all talked to him about things other than the big topic. They were all excited to try the plan and get Ace back to normal.

They were worried about anything happening to him on the other side. Where they couldn't get him back ever again. "Don't worry, I'm strong there. Nobody has haki and all of their powers seem to have weaknesses. I think devil fruits are much better. My only weaknesses are haki, water and seastone. I did research in the library on minerals, and there was nothing named seastone or looking like it. They don't have haki, so my only weakness is water. And it's not an island, so I should be safe from drowning.

"I have told All Might about the water weakness, so I have somebody to save me if something happens. I trust the guy," Ace explained. The others didn't look mad at him for revealing a weakness anyone could use. Haki and seastone were out of the picture, so Ace was invincible to any blunt attacks.

Plus, his fire could keep people at a distance from him. He didn't know all the quirks, since they weren't filed or known in a book like devil fruits were. The fire guy, Endeavor, had weaknesses Ace didn't have.

While in his home world, he would have competed to be the best fire user, he wasn't in that world to protect anyone or compete. He didn't care about being stronger than the number 2 hero. If he had to be there for a long time, he'd probably just chill on the campus.

He hated to admit it, but he was wary and nervous, almost afraid, of venturing out into the different world. Someplace new was fun to explore, like unknown islands, but the other world was so different and he didn't trust anybody but the staff of the school. He would feel so much better about leaving campus by going with one of his brothers. Maybe All Might, but it would still be stressful and he has a job he has to do.

Ace did wonder why he went from being the number 1 hero to a teacher. Teaching had to be much more boring than doing whatever he wanted with his powers. Well, what he wanted was to save people, and he obviously took joy in that. But then he remembered that he had been terminally injured. Would he go back to hore work once school was over? Ace was told that they had breaks during the year.

Ace was overjoyed to spend a whole two weeks with his family, the longest time he'd gone yet. What if… what if this was it? That the last time had been the last. For good? He tried not to get his hopes up, but he couldn't help doing it. He was scolded by Marco, though, to not get his hopes up. "Whether you go back or not, we still have a plan that we will carry out. Don't worry, Ace. We can function fine without you if you stay longer. You don't need to worry about us in any way okay?"

Ace looked down, and then up to Pops, who was connected to his machines. Marco gave a sly smile. "I've been giving him blood from me to try and heal him. He already is doing better with breathing. I will use my powers to help him," Marco said quietly. Ace grinned and asked how he was doing it. "Disguising one of the bags as his usual medicine as it isn't a clear bag or clear tube."

Ace laughed, calling him a sneaky traitor. Going against Pops' will. "I am not a traitor for helping him, dumbass," he said, hitting Ace on the side of his head, making the younger laugh. He went inside and then disappeared at the wrong moment. He'd walked into a trap, and was now covered in blue paint, dripping down his face and onto his chest.

"Damn it," he hissed, balling his fists. He took a few deep breaths and stood up. He knew burning paint was no-no from firsthand experience. He didn't know how long it had been since the last time he was here, but walked inside, trying not to drip paint, and found Midnight eating. It was early, based on her food.

"Hey, Midnight. I'm back again," Ace said quietly. "How long has it been?"

"Ace! Wha- why are you covered in paint? And it's been three days," she said, looking over the blue covered Ace.

Ace sighed and said, "I walked into a trap from my brother. They like to play pranks. How did the meeting end? Did I need to be there at all, was my timing bad?" Ace wondered. Midnight handed him a napkin that he dried his face with, even though he was still covered in paint.

Midnight said, "Why don't you get cleaned off, first? Go take a shower and some new clothes?" Ace nodded, knowing he couldn't sit anywhere without getting paint there. Luckily, it was dripping down his chest and into his shorts, and not onto the floor.

He hoped he didn't run into anybody on the way, holding his hat so paint didn't get on it. He was pretty much unrecognizable besides his clothes. His tattoos were hidden by the thick, dark blue paint and his face was hard to make out. Plus, his hair was flat to his head.

"Ace-san!" All Might called, and Ace turned around to see him looking both confused and entertained. "It's good to have you back." He didn't address the paint, so Ace did.

"My brothers set a trap. They like to use paint for pranks. I'm going to go wash off before talking to anyone. Where is the nearest shower?" he asked, trying to wipe the paint out of his eyes. All Might said he'd walk him there and they would get him new shorts before. Ace was glad there were no kids there. They would find it hilarious.

They saw Present Mic there, who started laughing at Ace covered in paint, who glared at him. "How the hell did that happen?!"

Ace sighed. "My brothers aren't the most mature."

"Ah, kids'll be that way!" Ace snorted, and replied that the one who did this was in his forties. It made Present Mic laugh louder. "I thought your world was rugged and rough." Ace pointed out that it didn't mean they never had fun or joked around.

They went to Ace's room and got a new pair of shorts, Ace leaving his hat there to go take a shower. He knew he still was going to have paint crusted into his hairline since it was drying already. When he came out, he looked paint free besides it under his fingernails. "So, what happened after I left? Was everybody mad?" Ace wondered.

All Might looked contemplating for a moment. "While the pro-heroes are grateful for your help, they want you to stay on campus. I didn't explain too much about your world, but I did tell them about your fire powers and the two types of haki. But, since we don't know much about you as a person, they want you to stay here. I'm sorry," All Might explained.

Well, Ace wasn't bothered. "I mean, that was my plan the whole time. I never planned on leaving, don't know anything else about the world," Ace replied. He was glad he hadn't told anybody about his conqueror's haki. He was able to use it in a stressful situation, but over all, it wasn't fun to use. It drained him a bit if he wasn't pumped full of adrenaline. Adrenaline kept sleep attacks away, which was why he rarely fell asleep during a fight.

"Still, I feel like you'd get bored," All Might replied. Ace just said he wasn't bored helping the guy out with his classes. "It is good and surprising that they accepted you helping me with training. They trust me to watch over you. Keep you 'in check'," the pro-hero explained. Ace was glad he was still able to do that.

Ace asked what had happened since he was gone, if the bad guys had done anything else. "We haven't seen any activity that is suspicious, nothing out of the ordinary with villains. You may have scared them off. We did testing on the nomu, and it's body seemed incredibly durable. It was right to go for the brain."

"That's good. It felt pretty powerful. But still, one haki punch to the head killed it, so I may be wrong. But, I don't think so," Ace said, thinking. "It definitely wasn't as strong as Pops or Marco, but it was pretty strong for this world."

All Might said that haki would be quite helpful there. "No, it wouldn't. All the villains would have even more advantages. Besides, our world needs it just to survive, not to have just the upper hand. "I can wish for it personally, but as a whole, I don't think it would be good for your world. There are only a small percentage of people with devil fruits at home. Here, almost everyone has some sort of power," Ace explained. All Might nodded. Ace was glad the man no longer treated him as a kid. Ace wasn't in his looks or power.

Ace expressed embarrassment for falling asleep during the meeting. "You don't have medication for the disorder?"

"We do, it just doesn't work on me. My fire burns any meds out of my system almost immediately," the commander replied. All Might commented that Ace seemed to be in a better mood today, and he smiled.

He said, "We have a plan about how to make me stay home permanently. To destroy the portal I went through that caused all of this. It's the only lead we've got. Will take a while to get there, so I might be here a long time. Don't know how long, but I hope not too long." All Might said that he'd been very helpful and was a nice young man.

Ace thanked him, saying he was glad at least one person respected him as an authority figure, even if he wasn't one here.