Title: Ace: King of Pirates
Genre: Hurt/ Comfort, Adventure, Friendship, Family, Romance
Pairing: ? X Ace
Summary: This is the story of Portgas D Ace and how, despite everything and even his own misgivings, he became the King of Pirates.
Or
Where being reborn as a fictional character from a favourite anime is not what fanfictions made it out to be. Mistakes are made… and some cannot be reversible. Instead of saving everyone and having a grand adventure like in those stories, you end up ruining the whole story by killing the most important characters.
Warnings: Slash (Yaoi, Boy X Boy…), Semi-Self Insert, Canon Divergence, Suicidal thoughts, No OC
Chapter Three
They were barely a couple of hours at sea when they came across the ship. Ace leaned back against the dinghy's side and stared, ignoring Nami's panicking in the background and Zoro's snores. It was pink. What was up with that, seriously? This was the second time he came across the excessive use of the colour. And during the same day too.
The black flag indicated that they were pirates but they would have known anyway, with how they were suddenly threatened and jeered at, Zoro being awoken with all the noise and Nami, funnily enough, trying to hide behind Ace. Finding the situation awfully hilarious, Ace stopped Zoro with a glance when the other made for his swords.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Nami hissed at him as they were dragged aboard the ship.
"Shush. I want to see if they have some food," Ace replied quietly.
"Do you think with your stomach!?" she whisper-shouted. Beside them, Zoro yawned, choosing to see what their new Captain was planning. He crossed his arms and leaned back, the perfect picture of nonchalance.
Ace glanced back at the girl and then added, "Hey, they might have treasure. You like those, right?"
Nami's attitude made a complete U-turn, her eyes transforming in berrie signs. "Treasure!" That made Ace grin and Zoro snort.
"You sure change your tone fast," Zoro commented drily.
"Shut it!" the girl snapped.
"Hey you three! Stop muttering among yourselves and listen up!" one of the thugs shouted at them. His companions had swords and guns trained on the three newcomers. "You'll give us all the treasure you have on you and we might choose to let you leave with your lives!" The other thugs added in some threatening comments, sneering and jeering as if they were having all the fun in the world.
"HAH!?" Nami shouted. "AS IF!"
Clearly not expecting her reaction, the old pirates gapped at her for a moment before they became even more incensed. They waved their weapons threateningly once again.
"Do you know who we are, little girl?" the apparent spokesperson growled. Nami squeaked and jumped back behind Zoro, peeking around his form to glare at the pirates. "We are the Alvida Pirates! Our Captain is the fearsome 'Iron Mace' Alvida herself! You'd be lucky if you can leave this ship with your life!"
"Never heard of her," Zoro yawned.
"Where's this Captain anyway?" Ace raised a sceptical eyebrow at the group.
"There's no need to bother the Captain for lowlifes like you, kids! Now give us your treasure!" Why they did not simply go get the 'treasure' themselves instead of asking was beyond Ace. Apparently, they were just that stupid.
"You got any food?" was Ace's intelligent question, ignoring the weapons pointed at them and the pirates only a step away from trying to take their lives.
"Why you insolent –!"
It was as one of them made a move towards Nami that Ace reacted. It was not long before the group of older pirates found themselves lying in a heap at their feet, unconscious.
"Alright! Let's go see if they have some food!" Ace exclaimed, a large grin on his face as he turned to his companions.
"And treasure!" Nami was quick to add.
"And booze," Zoro decided to inject.
Decision made, the three made their way through the ship in their quest for food, treasure and booze. They heard noise from the galley, most likely from the rest of the missing crew and probably along with their captain too. Choosing to leave this alone for the time being, they instead made their way down under deck. There they actually found what Nami wanted: the treasure.
Piles upon piles of gold and gems could be found lying there in front of them, as if asking them to take them away. It was not a particularly big hoard but was big enough that they needed to grab two sacks to fill them in instead of one.
"Hey, I'll be keeping all the treasure," Nami announced as they made to go back to deck.
"Sure," was Ace's easy reply. The girl gave him a suspicious look but refrained from saying anything. Despite now working with those two, she was still not completely comfortable with them. She did not know what kind of people they were and worse yet, they were pirates; in her mind that meant they were untrustworthy by default. Still wary of them, particularly the 'captain' – since unlike Zoro, she had never heard anything about him before – she chose not to provoke them too much.
They had just stepped back on deck when they came across a young boy not much younger than them, cowering in the corner, hidden behind some barrels. His eyes, hidden behind large round glasses, were fixed on the pile of pirates the three had left in their wake, and he had his hands fisted in his pink hair while he muttered worriedly behind gritted teeth.
"Oh, no! What to do? What to do? What to do?" they heard as they came closer though they were still unseen by the boy. Seeing that the boy was not going to notice them any time soon, Ace crouched down behind him, hoisting the bag higher on his shoulder. Zoro, who was carrying the other bag, and Nami chose not to join him and instead stood behind him.
"Hey," he said, trying to catch the boy's attention. He did not expect said boy to suddenly jump and let out a shrill shriek. Ace blinked while the boy whirled around to stare at them, chest heaving. Ace raised a hand casually, "Yo."
The boy stared. "Who are you!?" he whisper-shouted, finally coming out of his shock. Behind Ace, Zoro and Nami snickered at the boy's theatrics.
Standing up, Ace gave the boy a crooked grin. "I'm Ace. That's Zoro and Nami. Say, can you show us where we can get some food?"
"And booze."
"And booze," he added fluidly.
The boy stared. "What… What are you doing on the ship?" And then, as if a sudden thought coming to his mind, his face gained a horrified look. "Are you stowaways!? Oh, no! you need to get away before Alvida-sama sees you!"
"Alvida, huh?'' Zoro voiced lightly.
"Yes! This ship's captain!" Then the boy froze, gaze fixed on Zoro. "Did you say Zo-Zo-Zoro!?" His eyes bugged out. "As in, Pirate Hunter Zoro!?"
"That's the one," Nami smirked. "Except he's not so much a Pirate Hunter anymore."
"Hieeeeee!?" The trio leaned back as one, blinking at the shriek coming from the boy who backed away from them quickly, hands coming in front of him as if to act like shields. "You – You are Pirate Hunters!?"
"No way," Ace replied.
"What are you doing on this ship!" He backed further away.
"To get food," Ace replied promptly.
"Do you ever stop thinking of food?" Nami grumbled.
Ace blinked at her. "But we forgot to stock up on supplies before setting off from the island. We don't exactly have much on us, so we kind of do need food."
Nami was the one who blinked this time. She had not wondered before this why the male had been so fixated on food but now that she thought of it, she realised that he was right. They really had not stocked up on food before they had left and if they had not been stopped by this crew, they probably would have starved before they could even reach the next island. At that thought, Nami paled. How could she have been so careless? Could meeting those two and striking a deal with them really have unsettled her enough that she would forget such an important task!?
While Nami panicked in her corner, Zoro yawned. "Hey, you guys got booze too?"
"No way! No way! No way!" the boy crossed his hands and shook his head furiously. "You guys don't know on whose ship you are!? It's Captain Alvida's ship! She'll kill you if she finds you here!"
"Nah," Ace replied lightly. "Don't worry about that. We're strong. She won't be able to hurt us."
"Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! You'll die!"
Before he could say another thing, Nami hit him over the head. "Stop it with that!" she demanded. "You're getting really annoying!" The boy whined while the other two males snorted. "Besides that, you seem really scared of this Captain Alvida. Why are you on this ship?"
"Eh? Oh, that's because –" He went on explaining his situation and how he was now prisoner on the ship because of a mistake when all he had wanted was to go fishing. He was now stuck on this crew, more or less as their slave.
"Pirates," Nami spat, real hatred in her eyes as she glared in the distance. "That's what you can expect of scum like that!"
"Why don't you just fight back and leave?" Zoro asked simply.
The boy's eyes widened in horror. "Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! I'd surely die if I try!"
"With that kind of attitude, yes, you will," Ace commented. "You're a pretty weak guy, huh?"
"It's not… It's not that I don't want to," he tried to explain. It seemed like the four of them had forgotten where they were, too preoccupied by their own conversation. They did not notice the galley's door opening. "If I could, I would fight. And maybe… maybe I'd even accomplish my dream!"
"Dream?" Nami asked, curious despite herself.
"Yes! My dream! I wish I could be a marine and arrest pirates like Alvida-sama!"
"YOU WANT TO ARREST WHO NOW!?" an angry voice interrupted their conversation. It was almost comical the way the boy's face froze and then fell into a sick shade of pale blue.
"Ho~? That must be the captain then," Zoro commented, a feral grin on his face as he thumbed one of his swords. Nami turned and glared at the pirate who thundered her way down to the deck. Ace hummed contemplatively, looking over his shoulder to the whale of a woman making her way to them, a large mace swung over her shoulder. He glanced back at the pink-haired boy one more time before fully turning to face the woman. Others had joined behind the older woman, looking as scruffy as the other pirates the trio had already beaten earlier.
"You," the woman hissed, narrowing her eyes at Zoro who was standing in front of the others since he had been at the back during their conversation. "You're Pirate Hunter Zoro. Have you come to claim my bounty?" Then she turned angry eyes at the cowering boy behind Ace. "Conspiring against me with Pirate Hunters, huh, Coby?"
"Never! Never! Never!" was the immediately reply, the boy crossing his hands in front of him while shaking his head furiously, much like he had done earlier when facing the trio.
"I'm not here for your bounty," Zoro decided to speak up. "Never even heard of you before."
"Impossible!" was the vehement reply from the woman, swinging her mace around to rest at her feet. "I am 'Iron Mace' Alvida! The most beautiful woman in the world!"
"The what now?" Nami questioned incredulously behind Ace.
"Who am I, Coby?"
"You – You are Lady Alvida-sama!" the boy squeaked behind Ace.
Ace sighed. He took a step forward to stand before Zoro. "Geez, I hate weaklings like you," he muttered. Then louder, "hey, old hag. You got any food?"
It was like time froze for the Alvida Pirates. They froze with equal looks of horror on their faces at the young man's daring. Alvida, on the other hand, looked like she could not believe she was hearing correctly. Soon enough, however, her face took on an ugly shade of puce and her expression contorted in rage.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Nami shrieked, backing away. Zoro, on the other hand, let out a loud laugh, taking in the incredulous looks around them.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, BRAT!?" the woman bellowed, swinging her mace around to point it at him. "I AM 'IRON MACE' ALVIDA! THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD! I AM THE WOMAN WHO WILL FIND THE ONE PIECE! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THIS!?"
The woman's face had taken on a horrible puce colour and Ace could only stare in stupefaction. She called herself the most beautiful… woman? Okay, to each their own, he supposed, but still, there was one thing…
"Woman, you wouldn't even make it to the grandline," he noted slowly.
His brief moment of absolute bewilderment did not stop him from ducking when Alvida swung her mace at him. Zoro unsheathed his sword but with a cock of Ace's head, he hung back and stood in front of Nami and the pink-haired boy. With the knowledge that the two were safe, Ace let a crooked grin slip on his face as he slipped around and around Alvida's clumsily swinging mace like a demented snake. It was clear the woman had no training in using the weapon and had relied on it being large and heavy to deal damage. As such, for Ace who was trained, it was laughably easy to move his body just so to avoid it.
"STOP RUNNING AWAY, YOU COWARD!" the bellow from the red-faced 'Captain' came almost as a last-ditch effort to get Ace to stay still. Surprisingly enough, her crew had stayed behind all this time, cheering on her will jeers, until it became clear that the fight was definitely not in her favour. Now they were silent as they watch with rapt attention as their captain became even more worked up.
Deciding that enough was enough, Ace ducked under another swing of the mace, gave a knifehand strike to her wrist and when the mace fell from her finger, he kicked it away and off the ship, straight into the sea. With that done, and his audience left with boggling eyes and dropped jaws, Ace swung himself up and into the air, fell in a downward kick, hitting her over the shoulder. However, he had overestimated how much she could take; instead falling to the deck, Alvida fell through the deck, down through the hull and into the sea.
There was a brief moment of silence where they all leaned over and looked down at the hole - holes. Even from where they were, they could see the sea water filling in. Clearly, it would not be long before the ship sunk. The other pirates gave Ace, and subsequently his companions, terrified looks but the young pirate Captain paid them no mind. Instead, he threw the bag that he had dropped when Alvida had first attacked at Nami who caught it with a shriek.
"Abandon ship," he ordered. "Get Coby a boat and get off. I'll be with you after I get the food. Go!"
The last thing he saw before he turned away was Zoro hauling away Coby, the other pirates getting out of their way. He made it to the galley and haphazardly grabbed any edibles he could find, stuffing them in a nearby empty barrel. He grabbed the unopened bottles of alcohol stashed in a nearby cupboard, swung the barrel over his shoulder and ran out. The ship had tilted since he had left the deck, already sinking in the ocean. Cries of panic could be heard from the other pirates but Ace paid them no mind while he dashed to where they had left their boats.
With one mighty jump, he landed on the dinghy he had been sharing with Zoro, the boat wobbling dangerously at his sudden added weight. Another little rowing boat wobbled languidly beside it and in it sat a shrieking pink-haired boy. Taking count that everyone was present, Ace threw the barrel on Nami's ship, since it was the biggest, and gave the order to sail off.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Coby bowed as much as he could in the little boat he found himself in, a little bag of food from the barrel Ace had pilfered from the Alvida Pirates beside him. The four of them were far enough away from what remained of the Alvida Pirates that they could no longer hear the cries of panic from the crew.
"No worries," Ace replied with an easy grin.
"So, you're really going to join the marines?" Nami asked from her place on her own ship, the ship she had explicitly forbidden any of them from stepping foot on, not that it was not an easy choice. Clearly the girl wanted her space and both Zoro and Ace were content enough in their little dinghy.
"Yes!" the boy exclaimed eagerly. "I'm free from Alvida and it's all because of you. I can finally follow my dream and become a marine, and one day I'll catch so many pirates, just you see!"
"Heh, good for you," Zoro smirked.
"What about you guys?"
"Oh, you know, get a couple more guys on the crew and make way for the grandline," Ace replied, leaning back on the side of the boat.
"Crew…?" Coby frown in confusion before, a moment later, his eyes boggled at him, a shriek leaving his lips, "EH!? You're pirates!?"
"Of course," Ace blinked at him.
"But – but! You don't act like pirates!"
"I'm not a filthy pirate," Nami was quick to object.
"Where's the rest of your crew!?"
"Good question. Where is the rest of the crew, Captain?" Zoro said.
"Oh, yeah," Ace said with a blink, as if remembering something. "I haven't told you guys yet, have I?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Right now it's just four of us: us three and another one waiting for us in the grandline."
"Hey, I'm just a temporary partner," Nami added quickly.
"But until you leave, you're still part of the crew," was Ace's simple answer.
"So, there's someone else? And he's already in the grandline too?" Zoro questioned curiously.
"She," Ace corrected. "And yeah, she'll be waiting at the beginning of the grandline, only a couple of islands in if I'm correct. She had some unfinished business so while she takes care of that, we'll have enough time to get a ship, a few more guys and then it's off to the grandline."
"But – But, the grandline is said to be really dangerous!" Coby cut in, looking extremely worried and anxious even if he was not the one who would sail there. "It's called the pirate graveyard, you know!?"
Ace blinked. "It's not that bad. Or at least the first half."
"You've already been to the grandline?" Nami asked, leaning over the railing of her ship to peer down at the older man, curious despite herself. With a slight frown on her face, she wondered why he agreed to their deal if he had already been there.
"Only a bit in the first half," he answered. "Mostly I've travelled across the four Blues."
"Huh," Zoro hummed contemplatively. "Why start now to gather a crew then?"
His only reply was a bland smile before the older man turned back to the pink-haired boy, "So, Coby, you want to join the marines, right?" At the boy's sudden nervous stutters, Ace gave a crooked grin, leaning forward to pat the young teenager on the head, kind of how you would a dog, "relax. Just because we're pirates doesn't mean we'll stop you." As the boy blinked at him in surprise, Ace continued, "so we just left Shell's Town. It should be a couple of hours that way," he used his finger to point the direction. "We might have left the marine base there in a situation and they'll definitely be in need of more recruits. You can chance your way in there if you want."
"Wha-Wha-What kind of situation!?" Coby stuttered, almost not wanting to receive an answer.
"Eh, the Marine Captain there was a rotten piece of work."
"No way! Marines are the good guys! I'm sure that –"
"Coby."
At hearing his name, the boy's mouth snapped shut. His eyes widened in surprise, watching as the no loner smiling man gave him a serious look. He gulped.
"Look, I'm not going to tell you you're wrong," Ace said. On the other side of the dinghy and up on her own ship, both Zoro and Nami watched him with surprised eyes. "But I'm also not going to tell you you're right. Just like there are good and bad people, there are good and bad marines. But…" Here he paused before he continued, "because I'm a pirate you're probably not going to believe me anyway so all I can tell you is: don't just categorise people in black and white, good and evil; people just don't work like that. Because if you do, you'll just end up disappointed. If you want to know what really happened in Shell's town, go there and ask around. Then you can decide for yourself what you think." Then, as if to lighten the suddenly dark mood, he added with a wide grin, "but, hey, I've got a good feeling about you. If anything, you'll probably end up one of those good marines. So, don't give up."
He ended with giving the now wildly blushing boy an encouraging wink.
It was hours later after night fell, after Coby had already left for his own journey, that Nami thought back to her two companions. Roronoa Zoro was just like the rumours had said but at the same time not. He was a swordsman, a really strong one at that – she thought back at what had happened in the marine base at Shell's Town with a wince – but he was also not that savage monster the rumours made him out to be. The man was pretty content sleeping and drinking – as seen after Ace got the booze he had robbed from the Alvida Pirates out. He did not just go around killing people like some irrational killing machine. He had been content to stay back when Alvida had 'fought' Ace – it could hardly be called a fight with the way the young man had clearly been way out of the woman's league – and instead protect Coby and her.
And then there was her new 'Captain'. She… was starting to really not know what to think about those two pirates. Ace, as he called himself, was a cheerful man and clearly kind in the way he had helped Coby. He had seen that the boy did not want to be there, had got him out of a situation he was clearly unhappy, and decided simply that if the boy dreamt that he wanted to be a marine, then he might as well send him off. He was a pirate and yet he had encouraged Coby, given him some of the food he had stolen and he had even given him some advice without just telling him what he wanted him to do.
(He had given Coby the option of choosing for himself and Nami who knew what it was like to be forced on a pirate crew, to have no choice but to serve the captain's selfish demands, knew at least a bit of what Coby had gone through… she knew that having the option to think and chose his own life for himself meant a lot for the boy.)
Ace had helped the boy without asking anything in return. Sure, he had called the boy a weakling, but that was kind of what he was.
(Coby could have fought. He could have left, escaped. He did not have a whole village or island depending on his staying loyal to the pirate crew. He was just a coward.)
Ace… was not the image she had of pirates. And yet… that did not erase the fact that they were pirates. From what little she had seen of the man, Ace might be a good enough man now, that did not mean it would last.
AN: Well, here's a longer chapter than what I usually write. Anyway, I hope you like it.
The 'she' mentioned is not an OC. You can pretty much guess who she is and I'll explain everything in later chapters.
I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think.
Leight