Chapter 24
Trollolol and a bottle of rum.
I don't own one piece (but if I did …..)
/
"Amber what the hell are you doing here?" Ace lifted an eyebrow, Marty sounded positively dumbstruck.
"I could ask you the same thing! You've been missing for more than two weeks, there was a search party!" The girl who was supposedly called Amber shrieked, "This is what you've been doing? Dying your hair and running around with-!" Ace met "Ambers" stare. She was a beautiful girl, all tall and slim, with massive doe eye's set in a face framed by shiny black curls. Ace wasn't sure what to make of the costume (uniform?) she was wearing.
"Hel-lo, nice tattoos Macho Man," Ace forced himself not to step back at the purr that suddenly appeared in Amber's voice. Damn the girl had a voice, "Been looking after our Marty for us? That's so amazing of you; I can't thank you enough-."
"Amber," Marty said clicking her fingers in the pair's line of site, "Focus – a search party? Who organised a search party?" Amber's eyes flicked to her, annoyance flashing over her face, before her gaze and smile returned to Ace.
"I dunno the police I guess –pity they weren't half as talented as Macho Man here, they would have found you ages ago," Amber said sweetly.
"Oh… do my parents know or..?" Amber sighed turning to Marty with a slight frown, obviously irritated by her persistence.
"Of course they know, we don't live in the stone ages, they have phones," Amber snapped, Ace glanced at Marty confused.
"I thought you said your parents are dead," Ace said.
"Dead?" Ace blinked at Ambers tinkling laughter, as her attention returned to him, "Indifferent, yes, Dead, No. They are still overseas, far as I know they told the police they couldn't abandon their work. They aren't due home for another month."
Marty sighed quietly, Ace could have sworn he heard he mutter 'Typical,' but when he looked at her she was studying Amber with an amused expression on her face.
"Are you actually batting you eyelashes at him?" Marty snorted.
"Oh bugger off Marty," Amber said through her teeth. Marty laughed, holding her hands up in surrender, looking over her shoulder as someone walked up behind her.
"Hey, I hate to break up the re-union but we still need weapons-."
"What did you do to you hair?! Why would you dye it such a horrible colour?" Amber gasped. Beth drew back slightly shocked, before her face went blank.
"Excuse me?" Beth said slowly, Marty glanced at the older girl alarmed.
"WHOA Amber! I am not picking up your body pieces," Marty said practically jumping forward to push her friend away, "This way to your house right Beth?" Beth narrowed her eyes keeping them fixed on Amber who was bitching as she was propelled down the street.
"Right," Beth said in an expressionless voice, following them with a walk that was almost predatory in Ace's opinion.
Ace kind of stood staring after the trio, before turning bewildered to Marco who had emerged from his hiding place.
"What just happened?" Ace demanded, Marco was staring thoughtfully at Marty's retreating back.
"Not sure, but apparently you're a Macho Man and Marty has rude friends," Marco said shrugging.
"Excuse me, one rude friend," Cake sniffed stalking past them after the other girls, with Jack strolling along at her heels. Marco watched the blonde girl march away.
"I don't know whether to agree with her or just feel sorry for Marty," Marco commented, just as Polo piped up behind them.
"Um, shouldn't we be following them?"
/
"Nice house Beth," Marty said with a whistle as they walked into a shop fit to supply an army. A shop that was completely empty except for them. Which Marty could see worried Beth deeply, regardless of how well she was hiding it.
Beth flicked a grin her way as she pulled a gun taller than Cake down from the shelf.
"I was thinking this would suit Polo," Beth said thoughtfully, doing something complicated with her hands that Marty assumed included checking if the weapon was functional, "Do you want a gun as backup, or are you good to fight normally?" Beth asked passing the gun to Polo who looked thrilled to finally have a weapon.
"Mmm I'd probably shoot myself in the foot, I wouldn't mind a knife or something though," Marty said studying a sword that had three points and a barbed hilt.
"A knife," Beth said thoughtfully, "Knife, knife, knife" She chanted under her breath as she wandered nonchalantly through racks of everything ever designed to kill you painfully.
"No wonder she so calm in deadly situations, growing up surrounded by instruments of death," Marty said cheerfully to Marco who was in the process of edging past her, in the opposite direction of Amber. Marco glanced after Beth.
"She's in her element," Marco agreed admiringly, inching slightly to the right. Marty glanced over her shoulder.
"Any reason a big bad pirate needs to use me as a hiding place?" Marty asked curiously. Marco looked ashamed.
"She doesn't like my hair," Marco muttered, "I was sick of hearing about it."
"She doesn't like you hair," Marty repeated after a moment, taken aback.
"She said I look like a pineapple," Marco said glumly, Marty laughed, she couldn't help it.
"Jeez you and Beth are meant for each other. Amber didn't like her hair either," Marty snorted turning to watch her old friend flirt outrageously with Ace, who looked like he wasn't quite sure what was happening.
"There is nothing wrong with Beth's hair," Marco said sounding slightly insulted.
"Mmm she doesn't like the colour," Marty said raising an eyebrow as Amber laughed loudly at something Ace said. Marty could basically feel Marco bristling beside her.
"She has- her hair- I like it!" Marco snapped, Marty snorted.
"Not the only thing you like," Marty murmured, as Marco went red, "Beth has beautiful hair, Amber just isn't used to hair like hers." Marco blinked.
"I could almost swear you're defending her," Marco glanced at him.
"I've known Amber a long time," Marty said quietly, "You don't have a few friends that you can excuse the surface nonsense? Or at least live with it."
"Charlene is generally my limit," Marco said dryly, Marty flicked her eyes to Cake who was testing out a blade she had pulled from the shelf on amused looking Jack.
"Mm Ambers mine," Marty said looking at the girl thoughtfully, "She's good people, even if she refuses to act like it."
"…How do you know Amber," Marco asked quietly, Marty turned to him with raised eyebrows.
"That was an out of place question," Marty said guardedly, "Why do you want to know."
"She's the first person I've met who has known you, let alone seen you, prior to three weeks ago. Neither Beth or Charlene know of her, and yet here she is wandering around their empty island. Also you both..," Marco frowned comparing the two girls with his eyes, "I don't know, feel the same? Like you don't quite … fit your surroundings." Marty snorted.
"That was honest, and lengthy" Marty said matching his quiet tone, before sighing, "Look, its kind of-."
"Knife!" Beth said triumphantly, emerging from the piles of weaponry brandishing a sheathed knife in her hand. Marty grinned at the blade.
"Cheers," Marty whooped delightedly, relieving the knife from Beth to examine it.
"She's just going to stab herself with it. Since when did you need a weapon?" Ace demanded approaching them with Amber in tow. Amber stared at the knife.
"Jesus Christ," Amber gasped, "is that real?" Beth snorted.
"What happened to you being a Christian? I thought you didn't approve of the whole lords name in vain," Marty said attempting to strap the blade to her pants.
"I am a Christian, I go to Church," Amber said offended.
"Right and standing in a garage makes me a car," Marty retorted still struggling with her knew knife. Ace shook his head, once again unable to follow. He had eavesdropped on their conversation several times on their way to Beth's house; he wasn't any closer to understanding what the hell they were talking about.
"You're doing it wrong," Ace finally said exasperated, stepping forward to pluck the knife out of her hands.
"Right un-do your belt," Ace said without thinking.
"Whoa there Cowboy, buy me dinner first?" Marty asked raising an eyebrow as Ace rolled his eyes. Beth watched Amber's eye's narrow and stepped closer to Marty. Amber's eye's flicked to Beth's to be met with a smirk.
"Your belt not your pants," Ace muttered poking her in the forehead with the knives shaft, Marty laughed and did has he asked.
"You have to take it back out of the first loop to be safe," Ace instructed, showing her how to hook the knife cover to the belt when she complied. Amber flicked her eyes back to the pair.
"Wow you're so good at this," Amber gushed with a smile. Ace didn't even glance at her as he finished securing the weapon.
"Well they're my pants so," Ace said absently re-doing Marty's belt up, now finished with the knife. When Marty batted his hands away to buckle it up herself, he blinked realising what he had just said, "Wait – that sounds bad." Marty laughed.
"I won them off him in a game of strip poker," Marty said, Amber blinked surprised then snorted in distain.
"You actually played poker? Against Marty? You're kidding, you know she counts cards right?" Amber said shaking her head, Ace shrugged defensively before freezing.
"Wait, count cards? I thought she was swapping them," Ace said fixing his glare to the Purple haired girl, who grinned back unrepentant.
"Oh she does that too," Amber said after moment, Ace blinked glancing between the two girls.
"He didn't do too bad," Marty said cheerfully, crossing her arm's, "he kept his underwear." Ace turned to stare at her.
"You can count cards?" Beth said surprised.
"Course she can, everyone in our class could," Amber said disdainfully earning a glare from Beth. Polo looked scandalised. Ace glanced at Amber impressed.
"We? You know card counting too?" Ace asked, Marty rolled her eyes.
"It impressive when she does it," Marty said with a laugh testing her knife, earning a grin from Beth when she pulled it out too hard, almost nailing Marco in the nose.
"The hell kind of school did you go to?" Cake asked as Marco whacked Marty upside the head. Amber waved her hand dismissively.
"One filled with scholarship nutters, mad geniuses and rich brats," Marty said cheerfully.
"There's a school like that on Billion's?" Cake asked baffled.
"No," Marty said with a tight smile.
"Where is here anyway?" Amber said eyeing of what appeared to be an old fashioned bazooka. Marco stepped between Marty and Amber with his Arms crossed.
"Ok, enough," Marco said firmly meeting Marty's eyes, "Who are you and Amber and where the hell do you come from." Marty stared back at Marco with a level gaze. Ace glanced between the pair confused. Beth sighed putting a hand on her friends shoulder.
"I would like to know that too," Beth said as Marty glanced at her, "You don't come from here. Why did you let us think you did." There was a slight undercurrent of hurt in Beth's voice that finally made Marty cave.
"Fine," Marty said quietly, "First though, Amber," Marty flicked her eyes over Marco's shoulder, "What do you last remember about home?" Ace blinked at the serious tone that came out of her mouth. For the first time she didn't sound cheerful. Somehow even when she was in a full blown argument she still managed to throw some cheekiness in.
"I was walking home from school, and… I just fell. I thought I had tripped except I landed in some random street out of the middle ages," Amber said with a shrug, before glancing at Ace, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."
"Wrong era, and there are a few things wrong I should think," Marty said with a snort as everyone turned to stare at Amber, "Right well seeing as we really don't have time for this, and I don't actually know everything, everyone needs to stay shut up until I've finished," Marty sent around a warning glance around as eye's returned to her.
"Ok, so we don't come from here. Not just billions, we don't come from this world. Or universe I suppose," Marty added thoughtfully, "the day we three were hauled onto that slave ship, I smacked my head on a tree in, well, Ambers and my 'universe.' I knocked myself out and woke up on a beach on the other side of the island. Oh and my hair had turned Purple, Amber, don't bother asking me why, I don't actually know. That was when I found the devil fruit, weirdly enough; I thought it was a weird ass strawberry. Anyway, I managed to wander myself past someone's house. She was nice enough to take me in, and feed and re-clothe me. I went to Market with her that afternoon and met Beth and Cake for the first time, we were cage mates," Marty said glancing at Amber, "I jumped from the slave ship to a pirate ship were I met all the boys. Also a Sea Monster… Any questions."
"You guys are pirates? What's a deil fruit-" Amber began breaking the awkward silence before Ace snapped.
"Are you kidding me?!You are actually joking right?!"
"You didn't think to mention this sooner?" Marco asked quietly still trying to wrap his head around the idea of another world. It would explain some of Marty's idiosyncrasies, and Amber wasn't disputing anything Marty said, just looked intrigued. Marty shrugged.
"Didn't come up," Marty said quietly.
"Didn't come up!" Ace said incredulously as Beth and Marco glanced at each other, "I've had to listen to Princesses entire family history and you couldn't find the time to bring up the little detail that you jumped worlds?" Marty glanced down at her shoes.
"Does it matter so much?"
"I think it's pretty important yeah!"
"Oh calm down Ace," Cake said stepping forward with her hands on her hips, earning a surprised glance from Beth and Marco. As well as a re-directed glare from Ace, "She was never obligated to tell anyone that. You were privileged to hear my ancestry, it isn't a right."
"She's nearly drowned, frozen, and stressed Marco and I to death, I think we had a right to know," Ace growled.
"Maybe," Jack said cheerfully, stepping up to put a hand on Cake's shoulder, ignoring the offended glare she sent at it, "Maybe not. You realise that's not what's important." Ace blinked, confused out of his anger.
"Jacks right, it's weird I'm here at all," Marty said eyes still on the floor, "but Amber being here, on the same island, means something brought us here. Accidentally or not, we need to figure out who or what's doing it, also why. Probably a good idea if we stop them doing it as well. Not everything from our world is as fun as we are."
"Maybe it can get us home too," Amber said hopefully, there was stares shot between the two of them as Marty sighed. Glancing up at Ace she brought up a smile that was more forced then not.
"Yeah home, yay," Marty said, "you -," Marty was reminded of her kitchen incident, except the explosion sounded at least fifty time larger and louder.
Whatever people tell you, a shop full of sharp pointy weapons is not the best place to be when bombs are going off. After shocks of the blast were dislodging the swords of the walls and destroying heavy weapon stands like they were toys. While Jack pulled Polo and Cake under the door frame to safety, Amber screamed and threw herself at Ace. Ace staggered, cursed, and then wrapped his arms around the wailing girl, throwing them both out of harm's way. Beth jumped forward to snatch guns from a falling from a rack, then began protesting as Marco wrapped an arm round her waist, wrenching her backwards.
"Let me GO!" Beth yelled straining against his hold, "Those are my Dad's treasures! They are priceless!"
"Yeah well so are you, so cut it out- MOVE!" Marco roared launching them through the shops window as a large rack of swords tipped.
Marco held Beth down from throwing herself back into the shop until he was certain the ground was finished shaking.
Ace glanced up as the clattering of steel died down, loosening his arms from around the girl who had tucked herself under his chin. Amber pulled her face from Ace's chest to peek around, before throwing herself at him, knocking him over.
"My Hero!" Amber wailed, Ace shook his head bemused.
"You two may come from the same place, but you and Purple ain't anything alike," Ace muttered managing to manhandle them back to their feet with Amber still hanging of his neck. He glanced through the hole in the window as Beth threw herself back through to survey the damage. Marco followed shortly after flicking his eyes to Ace, a flash of amusement passing over his face.
"Everyone alright? No one's been impaled?" Marco asked, moving his gaze to the three in the doorway once he was sure Ace and Amber were unharmed. Ace grunted, patting Ambers head absently.
"You saved my life," Amber sobbed, grabbing his head, she wrenched it down, planting a kiss on each cheek.
"Yes, yes," Ace said confused how to handle the situation, he glanced up searching for someone to off-load the problem onto, "Wait," Ace said sharply, pushing Amber away from him to glance carefully around the room, "Everyone shut up! Stop Moving!"
"Why?" Cake grumbled kicking a knife stand out of her path, causing Beth to turn and glare at her. Beth opened her mouth to reprimand her.
"Where's Purple?" Ace snapped, taking a step forward. The room froze, realising for the first time who was missing. The room dropped into silence as everyone basically stopped breathing to scan the room. Searching for any signs of movement.
Ace whipped around glancing at a mess of weapons racks, many of which would have brushed the ceiling if they weren't on their sides, just as someone from underneath it said.
"ow."
/
Whoop there it is,
Also I'm at uni now so I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update.
Does anyone have any problems/concerns/seen things that are wrong with this story(spelling errors)? If you have do me a favour and let me know but either review/PM – it would help so much.
