Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
There was a storm.
He didn't know when it crept up on them, but they were right smack in the middle of it. The skies were screaming as the sea raged, its volatile waves shaking the small ship. The Whitebeard Commander though, didn't even seem to care for the sudden bad weather as he somehow miraculously kept his balance on the ship's deck. His pants and bare body was soaking wet, bored eyes not leaving the enemy ship in front of him where a large man with graying hair stood, shooting his shirtless self a menacing glare. The men behind him were either frozen in shock or trembling and panicking at the sight of the infamous Phoenix Commander as they brought out dozens of cannon balls. Some even brought out their rifles, fully prepared to shoot the blond.
Marco stared the Marine ship down, his blue flames alive in his hands and his body unnaturally tense. He had been hoping for a challenge out here in Paradise, but he wasn't expecting this. There, on the Marine ship's deck stood the hero, Monkey D. Garp, the Marine hero giving a large grin of excitement that the Phoenix did not reciprocate. How the hell did they coincidentally come across a man like Garp? This was dangerous. He didn't want to take the man head on, not right now, not with Aiko injured and sleeping on the ship. If Garp destroyed their ship, they'd be in a lot of trouble. Especially with the storm raging around them.
He eyed the Marine ship, planning to destroy or at least damage the thing first, before engaging Garp.
"Surrender yourself, Phoenix Marco!" Some Marine yelled, he was wearing a jacket, so he must have been of considerable rank. Most of the other Marines took out their rifles, pointing them at the tanned blond in a way that was supposed to be threatening. But, unfortunately for them, Marco didn't even respond, his eyes only on the real threat in front of him. The rest of the Marines were all small fry compared to the likes of Monkey D. Garp.
"We don't negotiate with Pirates!" Garp yelled out as ruthless as always. He grabbed a cannon ball and threw it at the ship, Marco immediately shifted into his Phoenix hybrid form and kicked the damned thing away. When he shifted, he could see absolute terror pour into the eyes of the other Marines. Some even fainted, falling to the ground in a motionless heap.
"Of all the times, yoi…" Marco muttered as he tried to find a way to get their ship out of Garp's range.
"Give up now, pirate!" Garp yelled as he threw a dozen more cannon balls in quick succession. Marco kicking away all of them as he grit his teeth together. One of the cannon balls had come dangerously close to putting a hole straight through the deck.
"Oi, oi!" Marco yelled out, the lower ranking Marines wincing as they heard his booming voice. "Watch it, yoi!"
"Phoenix Marco!" Garp called as two Marines jumped into the air, attempting to get onto his ship with Soru. He could tell right away that they were different from other Marines, one had a full head of pink hair and the other was blond with strange shades. "YOUR HEAD IS MINE!"
"RAAAAHHHH!" Came the battle cry of the two Marines that had bravely jumped in an attempt to board their smaller ship.
"Tsk." Marco moved in the blink of an eye, mercilessly kicking the two younger Marines straight into the ocean, his superior Haki completely shattering the bones in their bodies. Their unconscious forms created large waves that made the two ships suddenly jerk away from where they had plunged. The Marines still on the warship panicked, each shouting orders to retrieve the two as others began readying more weapons. The blond really wished that he had Conqueror's Haki right about now, it would have made his life so much easier.
So much easier.
But, Marco couldn't be bothered by the screams or his fantasies of Haki at the moment because a round of shots were fired at him. Followed by the amazed gasps of the Marines when their bullets had absolutely no effect. Their surprised faces had the Phoenix letting out a smug smirk as he caught one of the cannon balls Garp had thrown and threw it right back. Garp, -on instinct- dodged the heavy black ball instead of destroying it. Making the thing collide with the large warships mast, the force of Marco's throw effectively snapping the thing in two, like a twig.
"AHHHH!" Came their panicked yells as Garp donned a more angry face.
"THE MAST! HE BROKE THE MAAAAST!" One Marine shouted out the obvious.
"HELP!"
"GET RID OF HIM ALREADY!"
"IT'S NOT THAT EASY!"
"STOP ARGUING, IDIOTS!" Garp yelled out to his subordinates as he cleaned out his ear with a finger. His face was so carefree as if it wasn't his fault for dodging instead of getting rid of the black ball that everyone knew he had the power to destroy.
"EHHHH?!" They yelled right back at him, clearly offended by the man's insult. "YOU'RE THE IDIOT, VICE ADMIRAL!"
"SHUT UP!" Garp argued, punching an unfortunate subordinate into the ship's deck. His pouting face out for the world to see. "GO GET THAT!"
Marco watched as they argued amongst themselves, their ship drifting further and further away because of the storm and their current lack of a main mast. While they were busy arguing, Marco made quick work of adjusting Tofu's sail, pulling it up, so that the storm's fierce winds wouldn't break the thing. He saw from the corner of his eye, the Marines pulling up the two he had kicked unceremoniously into the ocean. So they were still alive, huh? Even after being kicked by him? Those two had some sturdy bodies.
"MARCO!" His head snapped to the entrance of the ship, eyes widening at Aiko who stood there with a strained look on her face.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP, YOI?!" Marco yelled out over the storm, anger at the Marines for waking her coming out. He could see her gripping the door frame for dear life, donning the only gauntlet she had left. Her hands were tense, there was no doubt in his mind that she had seen Garp. But, danger there or not, he quickly reprimanded her for getting up. "YOU'LL REOPEN YOUR WOUNDS!"
"HOW COULD I SLEEP WITH ALL THIS RUCKUS?!" She shouted right back, coughing afterwards at the strain. Of all the times for a storm, it had to be now? "I'M GOING TO HELP!"
Marco jumped from the sail down to where she was, watching as she began coughing up blood because of the lung he had punctured during their fight. It was much too soon for her to be moving around, the salves hadn't completely healed her yet.
"Can you fight yoi?" He asked with urgency, a part of him wanting her to go back inside, but the more logical part of him knew that he couldn't protect the ship and fight someone of Monkey D. Garp's caliber at the same time.
"Enough to protect the ship." She coughed out, the feeling of vertigo making her nauseous as she tried to focus her vision. She could hear the Marines yell something about two of them now, they were urging Garp to do something. What, she didn't know.
"I'm counting on you, yoi." The Whitebeard Commander muttered, and she silently nodded. A determined look on both their faces, she was kind of surprised at the fact that Marco wasn't grinning sadistically at the sudden fight.
"Let's go." Aiko said and the two began their counterattack.
The Phoenix was quick to go airborne, hovering over the large Marine warship. Aiko hastily ran, bare feet padding across the wet deck as she punched back a cannon ball, the thing hitting some unlucky Marine in the face before creating another hole in the Marine ship's deck. Her body ached in protest at her sudden movements, but she ignored them as she swiftly hit another, the black ball exploding midair, shaking the already volatile ocean and making the two ships jerk once more. Marco boarded their larger ship, knocking half a dozen Marines unconscious in a matter of seconds. He was about to go after Garp only for his eyes to widen at the thing the grinning Marine hero suddenly held in his hand.
It was a cannon ball.
Quadruple the size of Tofu.
Where in the world had he been hiding that?!
The Phoenix's face contorted in rare worry as the man threw it. The blond flew back to the small ship with all his might, cursing Garp to Hell and back in his mind. "AIKO, YOI!" He yelled out.
The raven haired woman's eyes widened as the impossibly large cannon ball came barreling towards her. She wondered for a moment if she was having a hallucination, but when she saw Marco's rare panicked face, she mentally shook her head at the thought. Aiko didn't think twice, she carelessly dropped the heavy gauntlet on her hand, exposing her fist that suddenly erupted in Haki induced flames. She had to get rid of this thing.
Now.
"MARCO!" She screeched as she punched the ball, the thing moving upwards straight for Marco who was hovering above the ship.
The Phoenix reinforced his leg with Bunsohoku Haki as he kicked the oversized ball on the side. The black sphere flew with amazing speed away from their small ship, before blowing up mid-flight. The force completely disrupting the ocean and blowing their small ship into and through the air. Marco's eyes widened as their ship almost hit him head on, his sharp reflexes allowing him to dodge as he grabbed the ship's railing as tight as possible. His fingers cracking their ship's expensive wood in the process. With his Kenbunshoku Haki, he could feel them getting further and further away from Garp and his ship filled with crazy subordinates. Which was a good thing, but now they had a whole new problem on their hands as their ship sailed through the fucking air. He had never experienced a ship shooting through the air before and he never thought he would.
The skies were his playing field, a place not meant for ships.
"AIKO, YOI!" He called, pinpointing her with his Kenbunshoku Haki. He found her, with her only good hand barely wrapped around the ship's mast, holding for dear life.
"MARCO!" Aiko swore that the last time they had called each other by their actual names this much was when they were in bed. "WE HAVE TO STOP THIS!"
"THE SAIL, YOI!" Marco yelled out, mind moving a mile a minute. He jumped up onto the top of their sail with the help of his Devil's Fruit.
Without giving it too much thought, he tore their large white sail and threw a piece of it down to Aiko, who took it in her unsteady hands. Her eyes widened in understanding as she tried to get across the deck on unsteady legs to tie the sail down. Marco was quick to fly over to the other side of the ship, tightly tying his part. Once all parts had been tied down, Marco flew upwards, lifting the sail up as the entire ship suddenly slowed. Aiko's rear hitting the deck at the sudden change in speed.
Tofu was now finally sailing through the air at a leisurely pace.
The two pirates let out a relieved breath, adrenaline leaving their bodies.
Eyes meeting for a moment in silence.
Before their laughter filled the air.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" They both laughed, Marco's quiet chuckles mixing with her much louder voice.
"What the hell just happened?" Aiko asked, wiping a tear from her eye. Mind not really accepting just what had transpired.
"Damn Marines." Marco complained, shaking his head. He had a small grin on his face. "Look, yoi."
Aiko quickly stood, ignoring her aching body and what she saw took her breath away. They were high in the air, over the clouds with a beautiful view of the Grand Line. She saw a giant monster goldfish a ways from where they were and the dark clouds of the storm they had just left in the far distance. The ocean sparkled and she could make out small dots that must have been islands. Was this how Marco felt when he was flying? She was beginning to envy his Devil Fruit. He may not have been able to swim, but this feeling was just as good as being in the ocean. The wind caressed her face and she couldn't help, but smile widely.
"Ow." Aiko flinched at the sudden poke she felt from her shoulder, the slight prod stinging and making her entire arm erupt in pain. She turned her head to see Marco carefully examining her wounded shoulder. It had begun bleeding again, no doubt because of the constant movement of her already injured body.
"Hold still, yoi." Marco said with authority as he moved her stained shirt sleeve up and eyed the bandages completely soaked in blood. "We need to fix this."
Aiko pouted at him, clearly no longer dizzy or sleepy. She had no intention of leaving the glorious view just to get something she could have treated at literally any time. It wasn't everyday she got to see something like this and no way in all the four blues would she be missing this once in a lifetime opportunity.
"Don't give me that look, yoi. We'll be up here for a few hours at least." He said with displeasure.
"Bring the supplies out here." She suggested with a grin.
The Phoenix raised an eyebrow, before tripping the woman with a kick to the shin that had her yelping in pain. He quickly caught her and hoisted her over his shoulder, careful not to touch her damaged arm.
"Don't manhandle me you stupid turkey!" She yelled, punching his bare back with her fist. It had him wincing because she wasn't wearing her gauntlets, but his blue flames immediately went over the area. Relieving him of any pain he felt.
"Stop, yoi." He muttered, back to his usual bored voice.
"Ah." There was realization in her voice and Marco was surprised that Aiko actually did stop with her constant hitting. He could feel her soaked clothes as they rubbed against his body. "Why are you half naked?"
He smirked, shrugging his shoulders as best he could with her hoisted over one of them. "I'm giving fan service today." He could hear her trying to hold back her laughter.
"To Marines?" Came her teasing voice. "Marine men?"
"Just showing them they don't stand a chance with you, while I'm around, yoi." The Phoenix replied easily, a smug smirk on his face.
"Yes, yes." Aiko muttered, the man was getting more infuriating as the days passed. She suddenly began running her good hand down the length of his back, trying to get a reaction. Clawing at his skin with blunt nails, she swore that he shivered, but she didn't say anything. His hand tightened its hold around her, her wet clothes the only thing between him and soft skin.
"Stop testing my self-control, yoi." He said under his breath, trying not to lose his composure at her touch. 'I'm losing.'
He suppressed a groan at her touches, he'd have to go find a girl and get laid at the next island because his sudden shivers and sinful thoughts just from a few caresses were getting ridiculous. He mentally nodded at this new plan of his as he walked inside the ship.
Their room and the rest of the ship was an absolute mess. Things were strewn about, furniture overturned, treasures out of place, but neither actually cared enough at the moment to fix anything. Instead, Aiko took a nice, long shower, and after, Marco tended to her tender shoulder in their shared room, carefully applying a thick green salve, before rewrapping her arm in bandages. He felt somewhat guilty and a sickening sort of pleasure when he looked at her mangled hand and shoulder, his talons had really left their mark over her skin. He wasn't a good enough doctor for the thing to heal without leaving a scar.
"We've probably passed Peak Runner Island by now." Aiko said suddenly, his listless eyes moved to watch her. It was obvious that she was in deep concentration, her mind thinking over the sudden turn of events. If they couldn't go to Peak Runner then they wouldn't be able to follow the route Ace would be travelling on. She cursed Garp and his crew of Marines under her breath, knowing Marco heard her when the man smirked. "That's a problem."
"A big one, yoi." The Phoenix Commander agreed, he wondered where exactly they'd end up. They couldn't just suddenly drop the ship, their little boat wasn't made of wood from the legendary Treasure Tree Adam. The thing would snap and break long before it reached the ocean. "We'll never reach Ace at this rate." He bit out.
Aiko held his bare shoulder when she saw the irritated expression flash briefly across his face. He let out a labored breath, forcing his body to release its tension. "Relax, Phoenix."
Because she said so, he was able to.
"I should be saying that to you, yoi." He told her as he procured a small vial filled with a transparent liquid from seemingly out of nowhere. "This'll help you sleep."
She shook her head at him. "I can't be half unconscious the next time something happens."
"You need to rest." He insisted, his eyes drifting to her shoulder for a second, before focusing back on her face. "Don't be stubborn."
Aiko narrowed honey eyes at him, before retorting, "You're the one that hasn't gotten even a wink of sleep."
"Not by choice, yoi." He defended, his mind drifting to Garp's sudden appearance when he was about to take a well-deserved nap and now he still couldn't rest because he had to be awake for when the ship would land back in the ocean. He didn't even understand how their ship was still sailing in the skies in the first place; as if it were some kind of Sky Island. He bet that the people that saw their little ship flying through the skies must've thought themselves crazy.
"Rest for a bit and leave things to me."
The last time he had said that she had woken up to Garp at their doorstep. She didn't want any more surprises and she didn't want to think of what would happen if another strong enemy would appear again. She didn't want to be a burden to the Phoenix, she couldn't be, not when her sole purpose on this mission was to help lighten the load on his shoulders.
"Just give me something for the pain." She muttered and he sighed loudly. Digging through the small med kit and taking out another small vial, except this time it was filled with a light blue liquid. She took it from his hands and drank the thing in one shot, scrunching up her face right after at the horrid taste.
Marco carefully regarded her with listless eyes, taking the small vial form her hands as he said with slight frustration in his tone, "You should just let me take care of you."
Aiko ignored the sudden tightness in her chest at those words.
She wanted to kiss him, but refrained from doing so. If her feelings were to grow any more than they already had, she was afraid she'd end up bringing them back with her to the Red Force. She couldn't have that. They had to stay here, all their memories, all their small moments, all her feelings, had to stay on this ship. She couldn't have ghosts of him around, couldn't have the thought of love haunting her, trying to show her how empty life was without it. If she brought her feelings with her she'd end up needlessly worrying over where he was, who he was with, what kind of adventure he was having—without her. Wondering when she'd be able to see him again, she couldn't live like that and she knew that he couldn't either.
"Don't say things like that, Phoenix." Aiko mumbled, her voice soft. She swore that tonic he gave her was doing things to her mind. Bad, awful, appalling things. "I'll get greedy."
"You're a pirate." He reminded, grabbing her bandaged hand and giving her injured fingers a soft kiss. He didn't really know what he was doing, but with everything that had transpired in just under forty hours served as a good reminder of how many things could happen in such a short amount of time.
He could feel it.
Somewhere in his gut.
Their time together was coming to an end.
It made him think and feel things he thought he had buried back on Weatherton Island, but –as always when she was involved- it seems that wasn't the case. But, this time, this time he'd make sure to let out all his feelings, let it out before they separated, let it out because he couldn't bring such feelings and thoughts back with him to the Moby Dick. He'd take their remaining time together and use it to shower her with affections of sweet nothings, simply because that's just how it has and will always be between them.
"Then… can I depend on you?" Aiko asked, watching as he carefully put her hand back down.
"As much as you want, yoi."
She smiled up at him.
"You smooth bastard." Aiko and Marco snapped their heads up at the sound of the foreign voice, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. Their eyes spotting a small Den Den Mushi with Whitebeard's Jolly Roger on the floor at Marco's sandaled feet. The Phoenix couldn't help, but notice how if he had just stepped a little more to the side he would've accidentally killed the thing. The tiny transponder snail had fallen to its side during all the ruckus, Marco guessed that the thing had fallen over right during a call. So, that meant the voice he had heard on the other line heard everything they were saying.
His eye twitched at the thought.
"Who's there, yoi?" He said with hostility.
"UUUUSSSS!" The corners of Marco's lips tugged down when he heard the sound of hundreds of voices. Was half the crew listening in?
"You guys are all dead next time I see you, yoi." Marco muttered darkly into the receiver, fingers itching to shove their faces into something. Their only response was laughter, before he slammed the receiver with a resounding 'bang.'
Kacha.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Aiko began laughing uncontrollably at him, only to stop as she held her side in pain. Marco shot her an annoyed look, before sighing loudly.
"If you bruise your ribs any more, I won't help you." He said dead serious, eyes just daring her to laugh again.
"Your mates… are the best." She said in between breaths.
Marco didn't bother responding, instead he brought his head up when he felt a strange sensation. It felt almost as if… they were tilting? He could see some of the books sliding across the room and his eyes widened. Couldn't they have a moment of peace? Were they already coming down? It had only been an hour at the most. Aiko's eyes seemed to widen at the realization of their tilting as well, and they both ran out of their room. Marco donning the shirt he had tossed aside, before their feet brought them to the deck; only for them to find something that had their faces gaping in shock. There, in the distance was a sea covered with a fog so thick that it blocked out all sunlight.
Was that…?
"OI!" Came Aiko's disbelieving voice as she held onto the rail of the ship. They were about to pass right through the dense fog, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that they didn't have enough speed to pass through to the other side. "DON'T TELL ME THIS IS THE FLORIAN TRIANGLE?!"
"Nine islands, yoi…" Marco said more to himself than to the woman currently freaking out, they had been blown deep into the fourth route of Paradise. He didn't even know if Ace was on this route. "We passed nine entire islands."
His fists clenched, they had most likely passed right by Ace.
He was gonna fucking find and kill those pesky Marines.
Shove their faces into flames until their skin melted right off their sku-
"We don't have time to navigate our way through the Florian Triangle." He heard Aiko say, snapping him out of his sadistic thoughts as he focused on their current problem.
"Yea." He was quick to agree. "We need to shoot right through the fog, yoi. With the way we are now, we'll land somewhere inside the Florian Triangle."
"Kick the ship forward." Aiko said with zero hesitation.
"Are you crazy, yoi?!" He argued, he'd completely destroy their ship if he kicked it forward.
"MARCO!" Came her enraged yell, "We don't have time to get lost inside the Florian Triangle!"
"I KNOW!" He yelled right back, losing his composure at the thought of them passing right by Ace. He took a deep breath, trying to think clearly. If he kicked the ship, he'd definitely break its body beyond repair. They weren't fast enough to be able to repair it, they weren't professional shipwrights.
Her mind raced, wondering if they could pick up some speed if they both hit the air with Bunsoshoku Haki. She looked at her fist for a moment, hesitating because her gauntlet was nowhere in sight. "Do you think we could propel ourselves forward with Bunsoshoku Haki?"
He thought it over in his head, before nodding. It wasn't the best idea and he wasn't sure if it would work, but it was worth a shot. "Hit the water once the ship does, yoi."
The two pirates nodded at each other, running over to the back of the ship. They only had one shot at this. Their vessel entered the dense fog, making it hard to see. It reminded her of the Mist Mist no Mi they had in storage. The two miraculously kept their balance as they stood on the rail of their ship; Tofu descending lower and lower at a fast rate, both pirates getting into their own individual stances. Once the ship came crashing down into the water, Marco and Aiko threw a Haki infused kick and punch right at the water. The combined force, propelling the ship forward again as they held onto the railing of the ship for dear life. Their entire bodies were flailing out of the ship as it moved forward in a crazy speed, their hands cracking the ships wood in the death grip they had on it. Aiko noticed that the force of their attack had somewhat damaged the hull, hopefully not too much though.
The ship soared once more through the air, only landing back into the ocean when it broke through the dense fog. Their bodies roughly came in contact with the ships exterior as it stopped, Marco quickly shifting into his hybrid form and helping Aiko. He placed her carefully back onto the deck, before dropping in a crouch beside her. The two were panting heavily, trying to catch their breath. Tofu was an absolute mess. Her hull broken, its rails and mast chipped from all their death grips since the start of this troublesome day and they had a torn sail. Their white sail now a useless make shift parachute.
"I want this day to end." Aiko muttered, still a bit shocked that her stupid make shift plan had worked. Too many bad things had happened today, it was getting ridiculous.
Marco let out an aggravated sigh. "We need to fix the ship, then focus on finding Ace again."
"I'll fix the sail." Aiko volunteered.
He simply nodded, digging into his pocket to take out Ace's Vivre Card.
Their heads though, once again snapped to where they felt another presence. What now? There, right before them, emerged a much larger ship. Its color scheme was strange and it had a large sun at its head, the sound of boisterous laughter could be heard, but the two pirates' only seemed to tense up at the thought of yet another enemy. Just how many problems were they going to have today?
"What now?" Aiko said with disdain, her eyes briefly flashing to the Phoenix. Only for her entire body to turn to him in concern, completely disregarding the sudden appearance of the much larger ship. He was staring into his palm with something akin to worry, the fire in his eyes was bright. As if he were in silent fury over something. "Phoenix…?"
He didn't speak, it was as if he were in some kind of trance as he stared into his palm. She walked up to him, letting her hand trail up his clothed back, over his shoulder and down his covered tattooed chest. The comforting act didn't do anything to ease the rare expression over his face. In complete and utter silence, he turned his hand to show her something that had her breath hitching. Mind now fully understanding the meaning behind the sudden fire in his usually lethargic eyes.
Held tightly between his fingers was the once extremely large scrap of paper that was Fire Fist Ace's Vivre Card.
Now only two inches wide.
Still, slowly burning.
A/N: I released a DOFLAMINGOXOC!
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