(Welcome back guys! Sorry for the bit of a break! Life's busy right now…so yeah. But here's the update! Sorry I didn't reply to a few of the reviews! I just didn't really have time…so…sorry. :( But I hope you like the chapter!

WARNING: this chapter contains Violence and Language)

~When the sky turns grey~

Ace stared, wide-eyed, down the barrel of the pistol currently pointed at his chest. The man holding it was Top-hat, one of the tall lanky guys. The sneaky one. Which explained how he was able to climb the tree without Ace noticing. Ace looked into his eyes and knew, knew instantly, that he was going to shoot. Which meant Ace had, like, 2 seconds. Tops.

Shit shit shit shit! What do I do? WhatdoIdo?! The tree was pretty damn tall, high enough that the fall would do some pretty serious damage if he tossed himself out of the tree. He could use his devil fruit to spare himself the harsh landing, but this guy…Ace instinctively knew he was good. That he'd killed people before. He'd be expecting Ace to jump out of the tree. Shit shit shit.

Normally, Ace wouldn't even bother trying to dodge the bullet. Bullets didn't hurt him, after all. But these guys had been able to get the drop on Thatch. Ace didn't doubt that they'd be smart enough to bring along seastone ammunition and/or weapons. Which meant taking the hit wasn't an option. Damn it. Damn it ALL.

Ace could just light on fire in the middle of this tree, but the guy'd still have time to pull the trigger before he died, and Ace would end up taking the hit anyway. Ace was pretty much stuck- a thought flashed through Ace's mind. His eyes focused on Top-hat again. No. No. It won't work. Even if- Shithisfinger'stighteningthegun'sabouttogooff- FUCK!

The idea had been crazy. But it was his only option. Ace launched himself at Top-hat. Even on the ground, accurately tackling someone is hard when sleep-deprived, but Ace had, somehow, aimed perfectly, and his shoulder collided with Top-hat's mid-torso. The gun went off harmlessly, the force of Ace's leap knocking his arms aside and aim astray. And then they were falling.

Ace had his arms wrapped around Top-hat's middle, and the force of his jump plus their center of gravity kept Top-hat under Ace. He'd act as a cushion, when they landed. They were only in the air for an instant, taking what could be a deadly fall, and yet, Ace only had one thought running through is mind.

Marco would kill me for this.

When they hit the ground, Ace felt and heard at least two of top-hat's ribs break. Along with probably his left shoulder blade. Or both. But he was still conscious and Ace wasn't about to let him get off that easily, so when they were still, Ace didn't hesitate to reach out, grab a rock, and smack that motherfucker as hard as he could.

The rock cut his head, blood quickly staining the ground around them, and Ace hit him with enough force to at least dent his skull, if not outright shatter it. If the man wasn't dead, he'd be seriously concussed, and the forced unconsciousness could become a coma. Ace didn't care. He shot to his feet instantly, ready to fight or flee as the situation called for it.

The other pirates had seemingly been aware of the confrontation in the tree, but apparently hadn't expected this outcome. Ace had the element of surprise, and he was more than willing to use it to his advantage. He raced out of the trees, heading, seemingly, straight for the group. They, as expected, braced for an attack, but Ace darted aside, turning instead to the still packed-and-waiting backpacks. He easily recognized his own and slung it on, fluidly drawing a throwing knife and a smoke bomb from it simultaneously.

Teach and his group were reacting now, ready for the offense. Well, let's change that, now shall we? Ace thought. He threw the smoke bomb to the ground with enough force to shatter the clay casing, and thick grey smoke erupted in a low plume. It stung the eyes, causing instinctive blinking, and reduced visibility to the single digits. Well…it did if you weren't wearing some kind of goggles or eye protection.

Ace, of course, was. He wasn't stupid enough to detonate something without the proper response all ready to go. The goggles may have looked a little silly, but they did their job. With this backpack and the shit he kept in there on a regular basis, Ace could take over a small country. As it was, he was more than prepared to take on a crew of mutineers.

The goggles, with their lenses designed to cut through smoke, granted him near full visibility. He didn't hesitate to launch the throwing knife at Big-arm's chest, and it was no surprise when the buffoon took it in the left shoulder. The blade was drugged. A powerful sedative, enough to take down a moose for six hours in four minutes. In a human? Well, judging by his size, it'd be about 30 seconds before Big-arms collapsed, but he wouldn't be up for another 10 hours, at least. Big-arms was howling in pain. Oh yeah. That shit's pretty damn acidic too.

Ace pulled a series of bombs from the pocket on the bag (he'd made sure it'd be somewhere he could reach during combat), and took aim at Teach.

Before he could throw it, however, the clay casing shattered in his hand, the report of a gunshot not an instant later. The fluid within the shell spattered out, spraying across the ground. Ace turned and saw Monocle was the one who'd shot. Ace hadn't been expecting him to have moved in the smoke. When people lose visibility, they tend to stay in one spot, for 'safety's sake'. Ace hadn't moved simply because he didn't think he needed to, but apparently that wasn't quite true. Monocle had aimed right where he'd been standing before setting off the smoke bomb, and if Ace hadn't turned to throw the knife at Big-arms, he'd have a bullet in him right now. Well. Two could play at his game.

Ace took careful aim, watching Monocle. He threw the bomb far to his left, the shattering clay releasing another splatter of liquid. Monocle instantly spun in that direction, listening intently. Gotcha, bitch. Ace slunk carefully to the right, moving absolutely silently. Big arms was on a rampage, charging randomly through the smoke, spewing profanity and challenges. The noise covered what little sound Ace himself made as he threw another bomb, this time more to the right.

At the shattering sound, Monocle jumped and spun again, looking about wildly. The next Ace threw landed right at his feet, splattering him with the contents as well. Instantly he shot in the direction the bomb had come from, missing Ace by a hair. For the first time Monocle raised his voice.

"Scared to actually fight us, Portgas? That the reason for this little show?" he sneered. Ace crept around, sidestepping as Big-arms charged through the smoke again. Don't rise to the bait. He hears your voice he shoots you. "Pathetic. And I see what you're doing, using the sounds of your smoke bombs to distract me. If Burgess weren't being so fucking loud I'd have shot you by now." Ace tossed another bomb, making sure its trajectory wouldn't be visible to Monocle. He could do without getting shot. Monocle didn't even turn this time. Ace drew a throwing knife silently. This bastard was too clever to keep alive until the end.

Ace took careful aim. He had one shot at this. If he missed, Monocle would trace the trajectory back to him and be able to shoot him. So this one had to work. He could see Monocle clearly, could see the spot, just above his left eye, that he wanted to hit. He raised his arm, knife ready-

It was sheer dumb luck that he was caught by the pole of the scythe rather than the blade. As it was, all the air was driven from his lungs and he felt himself sailing through the air, only coming to a stop when he collided with a tree. He didn't let himself shift to fire to avoid either blow, however, as that would have revealed his location to the others. Ace clung to consciousness and forced himself to rise again to his feet. He was on the very outskirts of the smoke cloud now, and a steady breeze was already blowing it away. He let it. It was time, everything was ready. Ace allowed a victorious smile to come to his face.

The moon shone large and full on the scene. The last wisps of smoke floated away, and it looked almost like a scene from a book, two opposing factions facing off, one against daunting odds. Big-arm (Burgess?) was on the ground. It seemed the sedative had taken effect. The others still stood, facing Ace. Ace wiped blood from his chin and smiled at them challengingly. Monocle moved to take a step forward, but Ace cut him off.

"Don't move." His voice was harsh, commanding. It gave Monocle pause. After a moment, Teach laughed.

"And what gives you the authority to give orders here?" he asked. Ace smirked at him.

"The mixture of gasoline, isopropyl alcohol, and paint thinner you all are currently standing in." Horse-guy's eyes widened. Ah. He's the smartest, then. "For those of you who aren't versed in chemistry and pyrotechnics, I'll elaborate. It's one of the most flammable mixtures in the whole damn world, and it's had plenty of time to generate vapor." Ace raised his hand. "I snap my fingers and you all die. I have to admit, it is tempting."

"But you won't. Because if you were going to you would have done it already." Teach said. He seemed perfectly relaxed, perfectly confident in what he'd just said. Ace froze for a moment. Teach continued smugly, "And I know why you can't, too. Dear Thatch is still in the blast radius, isn't he?"

Ace grit his teeth. Damn Teach. Damn him for knowing Ace so well. Thatch was currently bound to the porch, gagged and mostly unconscious. Blood dripped from his face. Teach took a step forward and Ace's attention instantly snapped back to him.

"I said don't move!" …If they started coming at him again, would he have any choice in detonating the liquid? But Thatch… Teach stopped, but was still smiling smugly.

"Alright." He raised his hands placatingly. "I'll admit, currently you've got us pinned. But not for long, Ace." Ace clenched his teeth. Damn it. Why did I teach him about flammables? "The flammability range of this liquid can't be endless. All we have to do is wait until it exceeds that range. So either blow us, and Thatch, up now, or get ready to lose." Teach grinned at him victoriously. "Tick tock, Ace. Tick tock." Shit. God fucking damn it. He's right. This will only be flammable for another minute or so. Ace's eyes flicked over Teach, his crew, Thatch… If I blow it up, there's no way Thatch will survive. If I don't blow it up, Teach and his crew are coming after me. …I can probably handle a few of them at a time, but not all at once. His eyes landed on Thatch. Thatch was staring back at him, eyes set, determined. Do it. His eyes said. Do it. Ace stared desperately into his eyes, trying to absorb some of Thatch's resolve. DO IT. Ace could tell Thatch would have been shouting it if not for the gag. His best friend. Gagged, bound, bloodied. In pain. The one who'd first welcomed him aboard the Moby Dick, the one who laughed, drank, sang, and dreamed with him. Ace broke and looked away. I can't. I can't do it. I'm sorry.

"Damn you forever." He said. Teach continued grinning.

"Well alright then. Since we've reached an understanding, why don't you tell me where the devil fruit is?" Ace's eyes snapped up to Teach.

"And why in hell would I do that?" he asked. Teach drew a lighter from his pocket.

"Because you just named your price." he said, smiling. Ace stared at him for a moment.

"…You're one suicidal bastard." He murmured. Teach's smirk widened.

"I do hope that wasn't a 'no' I just heard." Ace exhaled.

"Fuck you." He said, eyes burning defiantly. He slung the backpack off his shoulder, placing it gently on the ground and opening it. There, right on top, wrapped in cloth were the devil…fruits?

Two?! But…where- The fake. The fake Eve had given them. One of them wasn't real. That was the one he had to give Teach. Ace had a tiny problem though. The two were identical. Perfectly. In every way. Eve would have made sure. Ace's eyes flicked between the two. How in hell was he supposed to know which was which? He had a 50-50 chance of getting this right or horribly wrong. So did he just take the chance? Ace's eyes flicked between the two.

Thatch was left handed. He would have carried the more important one in his left hand out of instinct, right? Or would he have carried it in his right, that his more dexterous hand could open doors and stuff without him needing to put it down? His gaze shifted from left to right. This wasn't helping. Shit. Teach would be getting impatient right about-

"Ace, I don't think this should be taking this long."

-now. Ace was running out of time and he had no idea what to do. His eyes caught on Thatch, only letting his gaze rest there a moment. Teach couldn't suspect that he and Thatch were communicating. Thatch was staring right back at him, and in that instant where Ace looked at him, his eye gave the barest of twitches.

His right eye.

Ace instantly reached for the fruit on the right, withdrawing it from the backpack. Teach's eyes snapped on it hungrily. Ace spoke.

"And now that I have something that you want, why don't we have ourselves a trade?" Ace turned the fruit absently in his hand. "My and Thatch's lives and freedom for this. And the promise that we, and all of Whitebeard's crew, won't come after you." Ace spoke evenly. Teach laughed again. When his eyes refocused on Ace his gaze was dark.

"Oh no. The best you can hope to buy with my devil fruit is a 30 second head start."

(A/N: Howdja like it? Was it acceptable, even if short? I apologize for the recent chapter length…life keeps cutting my writing time. :( I hope you enjoyed it anyways.

I don't really have anything to say down here…so…yeah. Hope you have a nice weekend, and I'll see you all next time! Please review! Pretty please?

-Stuff'nStuff)