So this chapter is like the shorted in the entire story hehe... Still over 2,000 words though! But yeah, just a quick update. The writing is really dull and boring for this chapter because I basically forced myself through it. *sigh* It had to be done. Stupid boring chapters... Don't worry - future chapters will have more interesting fights. The 'fight' in this chapter wasn't meant to catch your attention or keep your interest, just needed to be there to get to where the story's gotta be.
Oh and LinaFair made some awesome fanart of the last few chapters :D So check it out! You can find the links on my profile :) Seriously, it's so amazing to get fanart for one of my fics... I never thought I'd see the day ;_; Thank you so much, Lina!
By the way, don't get mad at me for the end, kay?
Dislaimer: I am not responsible for any boredom-related deaths resulting from reading this chapter. Oh and I don't own One Piece.
"And no matter how stupid he is…"
Ace looked over at Luffy who was dead to the world as he slept face-down on his bed, trying to wait out the hangover. His eyes narrowed as he hugged his legs close to his chest on the other side of the room, watching him calmly.
"…you have to protect him, okay?"
The boy turned to the lamp beside his bed, watching the flame flicker and dance from behind the glass. Since the room had no windows it was always dark—even being noon like it was he needed a light source to see. The fire was comforting, though. He loved the warmth it brought. It seemed to be the only thing he could trust. How long did the Pirate King know? How long had he hid the truth from him? Could he trust him knowing that he was being lied to?
"That's what older brothers do."
Older. He was the older one—the one that was supposed to watch over and protect his younger sibling. But that wasn't right. It was—or he thought it was—yet there he sat, barely four feet tall. He stared at his hands, studying them. They were small and weak, decorated with paper-thin scars from his many battles. How was he supposed to protect anyone as he was? He couldn't even protect himself.
Ace was a child. He was the youngest aboard the Thousand Sunny by far and, though he hated to admit it, was weak. There was no way anyone his age—much less someone whose growth was stunted by malnourishment—could stand up against whatever dangers the world brought with it. How was he supposed to protect Luffy and keep him safe with a body like that? Besides, he didn't remember ever being an adult… He didn't remember much besides the island, to be honest. The rest felt like a dream, or nightmare. Marco said that he lived before, though. He was Luffy's brother before. So what was he now?
Portgas D. Ace. That was Luffy's brother's name—his name. He knew that. But Portgas was dead. He was dead and gone and that was the end of it. Or… it should have been. While Ace didn't remember anything about that he knew from speaking with Marco that it was true. All he needed was that one line the Yonko spoke to confirm his most outlandish hypotheses. He was Portgas D. Ace, the man who made Luffy drink himself into a stupor. He was the man buried next to Oyaji—the one who sacrificed his life so that Luffy could live. But how?
Listening to the Pirate King's snores, Ace closed his eyes and tried to organize his thoughts. He remembered back to that day a month and a half earlier when he first met the man. The memory was hazy because his injuries muffled his cognitive processes but, from what he could recall, Luffy stared at him for a long period of time after he attacked. Was it… Did he recognize him as his brother? Did he look like Portgas? Thinking back to the poster on the wall, he probably did. They both had freckles, among other things…
As he contemplated their encounter more he bit his lip. Did Luffy know from the start? Was that why he helped him out—why he took him in and gave him a place to stay? They were brothers. Was that all? He only cared because they were related?
No, stop. Luffy's not like that.
Ace took a deep breath and remembered the day he was given a name. Luffy looked so unbelievable pissed when Sanji suggested they call him 'Ace' but, at the time, he ignored that in favour of being given something Luffy could call him. That whole time he would say the Pirate King's name, it being the first word he ever vocalized, but Luffy would have nothing to refer to him with. It felt good to have a word all his own and the familiarity of 'Ace' made him feel warm. He could have kicked himself now that he knew 'Ace' was his name before… whatever it was that happened to him.
"Ace?" Luffy asked with a yawn, spotting the black silhouette of his brother on the far wall.
"Feeling better?" the younger questioned, turning to face the tired pirate.
"A little… Stupid alcohol…" he replied while rubbing his head.
"It's your fault for drinking it."
"I only did it because—" Luffy stopped dead in the middle of the sentence before he could say any more. He sighed and held his forehead. While he didn't remember what happened the night before he had a feeling he said something stupid. It was in his best interest not to say anything else. "It's nothing. Forget it."
Ace's eyes narrowed. Ordinarily he wouldn't think much of the Pirate King's words, but knowing what he did made him all-the-more suspicious. Even then Luffy was trying to hide it from him. Even then he didn't want Ace to know about their relationship. The kid was starting to wonder if learning the truth really was a good thing. It didn't feel as great as he thought it would.
Ace jolted awake as the ship shook, swaying violently in the sea. He didn't remember when he fell asleep but there was no time to wonder about that. What was going on?
Instinctively he ran out of the room, down the hall and up the stairs to the main deck. His eyes widened as he took in the three ships closing in on Sunny. They had white sails with blue writing and something in the pit of Ace's stomach told him they were a bad sign.
"Shit!" cursed the swordsman as he steadied himself after another projectile was thrown into the water beside them. The ships came out of nowhere and the Straw Hats had no chance to prepare a counterattack. Normally it wouldn't have mattered if they were ambushed or not but since they were still close to the island Ace's grave was on they figured the government wouldn't dare attack, especially knowing that the eleventh anniversary of the Pirate King's brother's death was the day before. They let their guard down.
"Damn it! Stop being so loud!" Luffy shouted to the Marine ships as another cannonball splashed into the water in front of the ship, throwing waves and seawater onto the Thousand Sunny's deck. He clenched the side of his head as he desperately tried to stop the pounding that rang through his skull. Unable to focus, he regretted drinking so heavily the night before. He was at a disadvantage.
"…What's going on?" Ace asked as his eyes widened, watching the enemy as a deep fear emerged from his chest. He was terrified—something about the symbol on their flags made him want to run.
Nami turned at the sound of the boy's voice. "Ace?" She backed up so that she was closer to him, shielding him from any possible attacks. The last thing she wanted was for the one person aboard Sunny who couldn't fight to get caught up in the middle of the battle. "The Marines are after Luffy," she stated, readying her clima-tact. It had been months since their last encounter with the Marines so they were all unprepared. Even being as strong as they were, they could always be taken out because they weren't prepared. She was more aware of that than anyone.
When a cannonball was sent flying towards his nakama, Luffy stretched and expanded his stomach, catching the ball and bouncing it into some random direction. He winced when it came into contact with his skin and shakily lowered himself, kneeling onto the wooden surface of his ship.
"Luffy, what's wrong?" Usopp asked frantically as he spotted his captain lower himself with a look of exhaustion. He was in crow's nest, readying his slingshot.
"Those jerks… They're using seastone," he announced, panting as he waited for his energy to come back. He hated the new World Government—they used seastone in everything when they were up against him. Cowards.
"Then you guys stand back and let us handle it," Zoro commanded as he placed one of his swords in his mouth. He and Sanji stepped forward and launched themselves at the nearest ship as the Marines prepared a gangplank, thinking that they were going to board the Thousand Sunny while the pirates were distracted by the other two ships. Like they would let that happen. Stupid Marines.
As two members of the monster trio hacked away at the invaders, Chopper went to join them. Usopp fired a series of exploding plants at one of the other Marine ships, Franky joining him after repairing a part of the ship that had been hit. Brook went to aid the monster duo, using his violin to put some of the men to sleep, and Jinbei took to the sea to get them from below. Robin was using her ability to attack from afar while Nami stayed behind and guarded Ace, waiting for her attack to ready itself. Being on such a large scale it would take more time than her usual attacks.
In the midst of this none of the pirates noticed the man who crept up the side of the ship. He passed the swordsman, musician and cook fighting his comrades and went undetected by the other members of the pirate crew. When he saw that Luffy was recovering from the seastone he made a mad dash for the Pirate King and removed a syringe from within his uniform.
Ace spotted the Marine and his eyes widened. Before he could react he saw a syringe being plunged into his brother's arm, its contents emptied into his bloodstream. He watched as the Pirate King fell right back onto the soggy wood of the Thousand Sunny, unmoving.
"Luffy!" he shouted as he ran past the navigator.
The Straw Hats heard his scream and all looked to see their captain's limp form and the man responsible for his state trying to run back from where he came, Ace reaching Luffy's side within a matter of seconds.
Zoro was the first to act, dashing over to the enemy and plunging his sword into the man's stomach. Ace froze as blood splashed from the man's gut, splattering against anything nearby, including him and his unconscious brother. He trembled, watching as the blade was pulled from the Marine's body.
Faintly he could hear one of the enemies shout their retreat. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Nami's storm raging over the Marine's ship and striking them. His ears picked up the sounds of the pirates' attacks. But he didn't care. Their fight didn't matter to him because all he could think about was the still figure of the captain lying at his feet. He fell to his knees, taking in the sight of the world's strongest man being reduced to such a defenseless state.
"…Luffy?" he called quietly, getting no response. Swallowing heavily in his throat, he attempted to shake the man awake. "O-oi, Luffy…" Ace's pushing became more frantic.
Satisfied with the damage her attack did, Nami turned to where her captain fell, expecting him to be up and ready to fight. Her blood ran cold when she saw that he was still down, his brother frantically trying to get him to move. "Chopper!" she screamed, catching the attention of all her crewmates.
Ace's trembling worsened and his breathing grew erratic. His lips quivered as he gazed down at the unmoving pirate. "Oi, Lu… Wake up… C-come on…" He went to grab the elder's hand and his breath hitched when he was met with ice-cold skin. "…Stop joking around. Come on, Lu…"
Tearing pricking at his eyes, Ace cautiously lowered his head to Luffy's chest, ignoring the approaching deer. His mind drew blank. Never before did he hate silence so much. It was unfair. It was cruel. It tugged at him like nothing before it. There was no heartbeat.
He screamed.
A/N: Yay it's over! Feels great to be done reading that, eh? Ah well, I'll do better next time. Next chapter I get to use my knowledge as a psychology major and completely butcher it to fit into fiction :P As some author I don't remember said: you gotta know something before you have permission to skewer it. Or something like that. I don't know what I'm talking about. I'll go now...
Been updating pretty well for someone with an injured hand, eh? ;) Oh and the bonus will definitely be up at 450 reviews :D I just need to write like 8,000 words more and it should be done... Yeah, it's that fucking long. So when it's uploaded you guys better be nice and review because it's going to be like 20,000 words! It'll be a while before I can complete it, which is why I said 450 instead of 400... Wow. Can you believe it? We're at 370 reviews right now. Wow. Just... Wow. I seriously never thought I'd make it to 50. I love you guys ;_; I say this like every chapter but I really do. You're so supportive!
Oh, and just to rub in the ending of the chapter... RIP Pirate King :P
To my lovelies~
samettikettu: Hehe yes XD If only an identity crisis was all he had to worry about...
britt4x4: I'm glad you do XD This chapter was rushed though hehehe... I love you too! :D
trisha23flow: Awe I'm glad you like my stuffs ;_; I forgot I even had a facebook page XD Oops. I'm not active on it... But anyways, thanks! My hand's doing better so I was luckily able to update this :) Still not healed though...
xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx: Jinbe is part of Luffy's crew ^^; He just hasn't been mentioned much yet because his role isn't big until later.
Diclonious57: Isn't he? XD
MysteriousEyez: Yep, though knowing just makes him even more confused. Ace is going to be dealing with some stuff, as I'm sure you can tell from the end of this chapter.
siquwathaQ: As stated repeatedly before, it is not Buggy :P Sorry about that. I didn't read it over before posting. That's not the only mistake, though. There were TONS last chapter. I fixed them on my file and at some point I'll probably replace it with the edited version but I'm too lazy to do it now :P My excuse is that typing with only your left really messes you up. It DID cause a lot more mistakes =_=;
Kitsune Foxfire: Yep, Luffy was a moron.
azab: Yes he is :P Glad you like!
Neko-VongolaPrimo: Hehe I'm happy you enjoyed! Yep, Luffy's a moron.
Son Goshen: Well he does see :P He figured out he was Luffy's brother but he didn't think he was the older one because, well, he was younger... And he contemplates it this chapter. Though it's not a good thing...
LinaFair: Yep, VERY confused. And troubled. And angsty. Well, you'll see :P Hehe yep, Ace makes an awesome little brother XD
Queen Lily Tiger Ellyssa: Thanks.
StrawberryGirlKairi: Lol I find that funny too. Gotta love how the 9-year-old is prohibiting the 27-year-old's alcohol intake XD Ace is very divided on the matter of the information...
99 luffy: I will.
Sealing Mistress: Hehe yesh XD I enjoyed putting that in. I was going to keep it serious throughout but I couldn't resist. Glad you liked it ^^
WeissDragon: Hehehe bet you're not so excited now, huh? :P Muahaha! Gotta love plot twists. And trolls.
Starry Roses: Never mind, it's not important XD Lol who's childish? Luffy or Ace?
deadlycute17: Yeah, I miss Ace ;_; And have you read the recent chapters of the manga? Oda keeps rubbing in the fact that he's dead! That jerk! I wish he would too but sadly I don't see that happening u_u
shimmering shadows: Lol I know how you feel XD Every time I watch AMVs with him in them or watch clips of him in the anime or even read parts with him in the manga I get all teary-eyed. All of my fav One Piece characters die! Ahem. Ordering me to write an update is just going to result in poorly-written chapters and character death :P And, low and behold, this chapter was born.
shimaxkutau: Yep, sadly Sabo is dead. We'll need to just stick to some of my other fics for him :( Garp... you'll see ;)
ASLfangirl: Lol yep, he's going through some issues because of what Marco said XD
TheRoseJr: Lol glad you like. Awe you don't like reincarnation fics normally? But you can mess with the characters so much! Rabid fan? XD Well, here's an update!
Cyborgnetics: Lol don't like it then? Meh it's okay. It seems most of the readers have the same problems looking for hints :P
SioQu: Nope, that's not why it's called A Pirate's Resolve :P Good guess though. You'll find out the real reason later. Hehe yep, there are both pros and cons to him knowing... Mostly cons...
(Well, I'm out! Gotta rest my hand and eat. Or update To Be a Boy... Hmm... Decisions... Well, we'll find out what I decide in a 1/2 hour or so :P Adieu~)