Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

A bit of this and that will happen in this as the story is moving on

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Ace gave a breath as he relaxed outside on deck. It was a clear night, which they haven't had in awhile, and it felt good.

There had been a few storms, and generally bad weather the last days, so this was a good change. Most were asleep, being tired from all the ruckus and work the storms caused, and used this calm night to relax. Ace didn't need too much sleep, one of the perks about being a vampire, at least in his mind. Ace would have enjoying being with Aoba, but the blue-haired man was asleep now, having been up a lot the last days. Shanks and his crew were stopping by for a small bit, not having to worry about the marines as they were on the side of the Grand Line, close to the Calm Belt. The marines didn't overlook this place, so they could meet in peace. The Red-haired pirates were here because of the devil fruit Thatch had found last week, being called Yami Yami no Mi or something, Benn saying it was bad news, and wanted to check it out. They would let Thatch keep it, they just wanted to make sure.

As Ace was relaxing, the clock closing in on midnight, a voice behind him had him turn. "You're up late, yoi."

Ace gave a smile as he looked at Marco, giving a nod. "Yeah. It's a calm night finally, and I don't sleep much. I can choose." Marco gave a small chuckle. "Sounds nice, yoi." Ace gave a nod. It was nice. He looked at Marco. "You have night shift?" Marco gave a nod. "Blenheim asked if I could trade, yoi." Ace gave a nod. That made sense, as Marco had the night shift 2 days ago, so he should get a week off. They stood and talked for a small bit, enjoying the calm day, before Ace frowned a bit. He felt something was off, but not sure what. He tried not to think of it, and enjoy the evening.

But, after a few more minutes, Ace blinked, a familiar scent hitting him, which he shouldn't be smelling. Ace gave a frown, smelling the air more conscious to see if he was right. ¨Ace, yoi?¨ Ace looked at Marco, who looked at him with a small frown. Ace shook his head a bit, turning and smelling. It couldn't be.

¨I can... smell blood. A lot of blood.¨

The scent grew, meaning it was bleeding more and more. Marco gave a frown to him. ¨Where, yoi?¨ It was late- no one should be injured now. And, the smell was still a bit faint, but still smelling really sweet, meaning it was really new and inside a room a bit away. Ace felt he knew this scent, and closed his eyes and concentrated as he smelled, before he opened them in shock and looked at Marco.

¨It's Thatch!¨ Marco blinked and looked at him, already starting to move. ¨You sure?¨ Ace nodded, following Marco. ¨Y-Yes. It's his blood. And, it's a lot.¨

They quickly moved over the deck, Ace feeling the scent of blood becoming stronger and stronger the more they moved towards the fourth commander's room, becoming even more strong, meaning the person was still bleeding, and bleeding heavily. Ace prayed it wasn't Thatch, that someone had snuck in and the fourth commander had killed that person, his senses just being off. When they got to Thatch's door, they quickly opened it, not caring about privacy as the smell was almost overwhelming.

When they saw the inside of the room, Ace froze as the smell hit him full force, seeing Thatch on the ground, bleeding badly, a knife in his back as he laid on the floor.

Someone had attacked Thatch.

Ace moved before Marco could speak, running towards the infirmary, both because someone needed to get Bay and Ace felt his senses going in overdrive at the intense smell and seeing Thatch injured, his instincts coming forward. Ace needed to get away from the smell and sight.

When he got to the infirmary, he basically ran the door down, yelling for Bay. When the doctor appeared, Ace spoke before she could, seeing her shocked look and also a quick reflection of his red eyes in a cabinet. ¨Thatch is injured bad! He's in his room! Please hurry!¨ Bay gave a quick nod, grabbing a bag as she ran and ran out of the infirmary, heading to Thatch's room.

As the doctor was gone, Ace used a few seconds to gather himself, trying to get himself back to completely normal, but found it hard as the really strong scent was still there, especially as the door to Thatch's room was open. As he was trying to ignore the scent, he looked to his left when a hand touched his shoulder, seeing Whiskey there and handing him a cloth. Ace gave a nod and took it, holding it over his nose and shielding most of the scent, the smelling salt in the cloth helping too.

Whiskey looked at him. ¨Go and tell Pops what happened. I'll go and help Bay.¨ Ace gave a nod and left for Pop's room, Whiskey running towards Thatch's room too.

When Ace got to Pops' room, Ace knocked on it hard and fast, until the tired man opened. It was still late. ¨Ace?¨ Asked the man, looking worried at him, most likely seeing his red eyes and the cloth Ace held, knowing that never meant good. Ace shook his head a bit. ¨Someone attacked Thatch! It's- he's- I don't know, he's bleeding a lot.¨ Pops gave a worried look. ¨Is he getting help?¨ Ace gave a nod. ¨Bay and Whiskey are there, same with Marco.¨ The man gave a nod, looking a bit relieved Thatch was getting help, which was good.

¨How are you?¨ Asked Pops, looking at him. Ace gave a small noise. ¨I'm okay. It's just a really strong smell. And, I don't like someone attacked Thatch.¨ His vampire was really overprotective, which was normal. Pops gave a nod, moving a hand to his head. ¨I get it, son. We can't do much other than wait for Bay to tell how Thatch is now.¨ Ace gave a nod. He knew that, but didn't like it.

Pops quickly told a person on watch, who came to look at what the commotion was, to go and get every commander, aside from Marco and Thatch, to the meeting room right away. The man nodded and left, Ace and Pops heading to the meeting room too.

It took only around 10 minutes before everyone was gathered. When they were, Pops asked Ace to tell everyone what he had seen, and Ace did, making everyone scared, mad, and shocked, knowing someone had attacked Thatch. Even though many wanted to go and check on Thatch, Pops said they needed to wait. Bay, or Whiskey, would come and update them later. After half an hour, Ace carefully took the cloth away from his nose, the scent basically gone. Ace wasn't sure if it was a good sign or not. The others noticed this and asked, looking more worried when Ace said he couldn't smell the overwhelming blood anymore, meaning the bleeding had stopped.

After another 10 minutes, the door opened and Marco came in, giving a sigh. When he sat down, Marco gave a sigh. ¨Bay's taking Thatch to do surgery; It's bad, yoi.¨ Everyone nodded, being worried about Thatch and wondering who might have done this. Had someone snuck on the boat? They decided to wait for an update from Bay or Whiskey for now, before they went to do anything, everyone being worried. When Pops asked Marco what had happened in the room, Marco said there didn't look to have been a fight, but someone had snuck up on Thatch and stabbed him in the back, then leaving him to die. This made their anger grow, seeing as that was a low shot.

After almost 3 hours, Bay entered through the door.

The doctor gave a sigh when she was inside, looking at everyone. ¨Commander Thatch is alive, which is a miracle.¨ Everyone gave a relieved breath at that, before the doctor continued. ¨Had Portgas not smelled and went to check, or been only a minute or so later, he would not have made it. Commander Thatch had been stabbed in the back, the knife going into his lung and tip grazing his heart. He will be out for a long time, and might get small issues with his lungs, but he will recover.¨ Everyone nodded.

¨Do you know who it might have been?¨ Asked Pops, looking at the doctor. Bay gave a small sigh, shaking her head. ¨No, we saw no sign of it. But,¨ Bay moved and took a knife out, holding the blade with a cloth, the same that had been in Thatch, Ace recognizing it. It was thankfully cleaned. Bay looked at Ace.

¨No one has touched the handle, aside from the one using it. Are you able to recognize the scent?¨

Ace felt a bit uncomfortable when everyone turned to look at him. Ace was able to smell who it was if he knew the scent and it was still on the object or in the air, but it couldn't be too old. Ace gave a small nod. ¨I- I can try.¨ Bay gave a nod and handed him the knife, Ace taking it and holding it on the cloth as Bay had done. When Ace held the knife, he got a bit unsure if he could do it, never having done anything like this before, only smelling the air.

He felt someone carefully pat his back, and looked up to see Pops giving him a smile. ¨Just do your best, son.¨ Ace gave a nod, before he took a small deep breath, closing his eyes as he concentrated, trying to see if he could get anything from the blade. A second later, he opened his eyes in shock, a few looking at Ace in shock and small worry as his eyes was red, seeing as Ace needed to turn them to use his scent better, same with his fangs. ¨Son?¨ He heard Pops ask. Ace looked at Pops.

¨It was Teach.¨

Ace could see everyone was shocked, before Pops spoke. "Are you sure?" Ace gave a nod, not sure what to say. He knew the scent on the knife was Teach's, it was a specific kind. After a second, he heard Bay give a small sound, hand on her face. "Bay?" Asked Pops, looking at the doctor. Bay shook her head a bit. "Which division was it that was in charge of last re-stocking, especially infirmary?" Ace gave a frown, before he knew what she was speaking off. "The blood." Bay nodded. It had been Teach who had tried to posion Pops! Bay gave a sigh. "He probably did it to weaken only, as it wasn't enough to kill someone Pops' size." That hit Ace as he put it together.

Teach had planned this. Planned to poison Pops to weaken him, then betray them and run away.

Izou gave a frown. "Blood?" Bay gave a nod, before she explained it, telling how the blood had been poisoned, and it must have been Teach. He had been the one to handle the blood bags, Bay seeing him coming with the things to the infirmary. When she had finished and everyone had taken it in, Marco spoke. "Have we seen him leave the ship, yoi? Or at all? Not the ones on watch either?" Everyone shook their heads. Marco gave a nod.

"It had been a bit of time before Ace and I got to Thatch's room, meaning the man fled from that scene. He is most likely still on the ship."

Everyone nodded. They needed to catch him. Pops looked at everyone. "Alert everyone to watch out for him, and subdue him at all cost. Don't be afraid to injure, or potentially kill." Everyone nodded, faces hard. They didn't like to injure family members, but Teach had attacked Thatch and left him to die, meaning he betrayed them. They needed to stop the man before he injured someone else, or he got away. He needed to face what he had done and pay.

The commanders quickly left and updated everyone and told everyone on watch what was happening, getting everyone ready. If Teach would run away, he would do so in the dead of night, like now, and they couldn't have that. And, the fact no one had seen him yet, might mean he was still on the boat somewhere, hiding. They would search the entire boat, being sure to go in groups, not wanting anyone else injured or worse. Pops himself had gone and asked the Red haired pirates for help, them being willing to help. No one betrayed their crew, that was lower than lowest. Shanks did say Aoba had felt something, but not smelled, but Ace's senses was stronger, and Aoba was much further away and inside his room. Ace knew Aoba had a shielded room for smells.

As everyone started to search, Ace stayed up on deck with most, not sure where to go and what to do, unsure. He had a feeling he didn't like. It did seem like Aoba felt the same, the other staying close to him, both staying a bit to the side, guarding that part of the railing.

Ace hoped they would find Teach on no one got injured.

-x-

Whitebeard watched as all of his children were either guarding the deck or searching, most being up on deck in case the man came out, so they could take him on. The ones searching were more to lure the man out, hoping he would try and flee, but they would stop that. There was no way off the boat now, not without them seeing him. Whitebeard hoped no one would get injured, as it was bad enough Thatch was injured.

It was still a shock that it had been Teach that had attacked Thatch, but he believed Ace. The captain knew Ace's senses was extra strong, even for a vampire, and he trusted them. He knew Ace would never say anything unless he was sure, and he wouldn't lie about this. The fact they couldn't find Teach only supported Ace's claim, which many had issues believing. Why had Teach suddenly decided to betray them? The captain shook his head a bit. This wasn't sudden, this was planned. Teach had planned to weaken him with poison, then flee. He might think he was weak now, which might help. Maybe he would try and take him on. Teach might be strong, stronger than they believed, but he wasn't strong enough to take him on.

The Red-Haired pirates were in the back and keeping watch there, aside from Aoba, who was in the front with Ace, the blue-haired vampire maybe keeping Ace company and for a bit of comfort. This was hard on everyone. After searching for an hour, and no Teach had been found, one of the navigators sighted a ship heading for them, which had no flag. The captain told everyone to be ready, but it didn't look battle-ready, Whitebeard hoping it wouldn't be a battle, not needing that right now. The boat, which wasn't a big one, seemed to be heading to the front side, where Ace and Aoba stood, the two being a bit alone as everyone was a bit away from them, the two seeming to want that and many still unsure about the two as they were vampires. The captain would handle that later.

When the boat was not far away, the captain almost able to make out a few people on it, a gunshot had him understanding it would be a fight. But, a second after the gunshot was heard, Aoba fell down to the deck, the bullet hitting him in the forehead, blood coming from the wound. A second later, before any could react, the captain not even making the first syllable to say 'Ready to attack,'

A man appeared behind Ace, grabbing his head, and snapping it, the crack sounding through the entire deck, before Ace fell down limp next to Aoba.

Everyone could just stare, shocked and scared. Who would dare to come and do this? The man who had appeared behind Ace had black hair, pale skin, and black jumper pants, even a bit of makeup on his face. The man tilted his hat at them. "My good people, as you see, we are not afraid to kill, taking the worst out first. So, unless you want more dead, you should let us leave."

The man was hinting at the fact the two were vampires, but how did he know? Before anyone could react, scared to move, but also wanting to get the man away and get the two to the infirmary- Bay could do wonders- a laugh had them all grow mad as they turned to look to the door to the lower decks.

"Zehahaha. They probably don't want to lose more, so we can leave, Laffitte." Whitebeard turned to see Teach there, looking pleased, a bag over his shoulder. He had dared to attack Thatch, and now Aoba and Ace? They should just kill them now. Teach gave another condescending laugh. "Now, Whitebeard, don't forget we have a sniper on my ship." Teach was right, he couldn't risk more people dying or getting injured, and there was a chance to save the two vampires hopefully. Aoba didn't look to bleed much, but vampires might not bleed much. And, maybe Ace hadn't died from the neck snapping. The captain desperately hoped so.

All of them watched as Teach just walked off the ship, Laffitte close, not able to do anything as they couldn't chance to lose more members. Whitebeard hated it. He felt like he failed his family. He might have just lost Ace and Aoba, and Thatch was even close. The captain could see many of his children looking unhappy by this, but seemed to understand. The commanders having their heads downcast.

As soon as the two were off the Moby and started to sail off, them on their way to check on Ace and Aoba, a voice behind the captain had him turn. "Why you letting him get away?" Whitebeard turned to see Shanks and his crew there, looking a bit confused. Shanks then looked at Aoba and Ace. "Oi, brats. Get up." That had Whitebeard mad. How could the man be as calm? Ace and Aoba were either close to dead or dead, and the man told them to get up?

Just as the captain was about to tell the red-haired captain his thoughts, a groan had him turn, seeing Aoba standing up, mumbling. "-at least give me a minute to get up. He shot me in the head."

When the blue-haired kid was up, the wound on his head got smaller, before the bullet fell out, Aoba catching it. Then, the wound was healed. "I swear, this hurts." The captain was too shocked to speak. Aoba was fine? That was good. But, how? Were vampires immune to bullets? Everyone looked as shocked at him, aside from the Red-Haired pirates. Before the captain could collect his mind, a crack had his attention, the captain feeling hope at the sound, turning to look at Ace, whose neck was literally snapping back into place, before the kid gave a groan and sat up, hand massaging his neck. "I feel like someone broke my neck." Ace mumbled, before he blinked, and looked at them.

"Why'd you let him go?"

Everyone was shocked, Izou speaking first, half-yelling in shock. "Why?! Because we thought you were dead!" Ace gave a small shrug. "He only broke my neck…" Mumbled the kid. Izou waved his arms a bit. "Only? Only?! Well, I'm sorry. One normally doesn't live after that!" Ace looked a bit downcast at that, mumbling. "We do…" Before Izou could respond, still looking to be in shock and scared, Marco stopped the other with a hand, walking over to Ace and Aoba. "You feel fine, yoi? You both sure?" Aoba gave a nod, hand massaging his forehead. "Feel like someone hit me hard only." Ace also gave a nod. "Yeah. Just an awful crick in my neck." Marco gave a nod, looking relieved.

Whitebeard gave a breath, glad to know they were okay. "That's good. The most important is that you're fine, and no one else got injured, or worse. We can't afford to lose anyone, not now. It was too close with Thatch." It did thankfully look good, though it was still unsure, but Bay was the best. Everyone gave a nod, Izou appearing more calm and looked at Ace. "Sorry for saying what I said." Ace shook his head. "No, it's fine. It's not normal." Izou shook his head. "Still." Ace gave a smile and thanked the other for the apology, before Aoba helped Ace stand up, Ace using a hand to massage his neck. It probably hurt, but that was better than being dead.

When everyone calmed down, Whitebeard got everyone's attention when they started to tell they should head after Teach, or that they should have attacked. "Yes, Teach got away. But, no one else is injured or worse, and we should be thankful for that. He may have gotten a few things of value, but we can handle that. We're all safe now, and Thatch is doing fine. Let's just be glad about that." Everyone nodded at that, agreeing. Whitebeard was glad everyone did. Right now, it was good to know they were all safe and not injured, Thatch would be fine with time, at least according to Bay.

They would let Teach get away thinking he injured or killed more of them, hoping to catch him off guard later.

They wouldn't let him get away with this.

And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed

So, Teach is still betraying the Whitebeards in this, and I decided to do it like this and hope it was good. There is a lot that will still happen with him, but also a lot not with him, especially when he says things and finds out Ace is fine

If you have the time, I greatly appreciate feedback

If you like this story, please go check out my other stories