Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

I hope you will enjoy this

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Whitebeard looked at the enemy crew they were up against. They had docked at an island and an enemy crew had approached them. It didn't seem to be the hardest battle, but the enemy crew had a few tricks up their sleeves. But as they really had the upper hand, the enemy captain moved his hand, and suddenly, he was in darkness. It wasn't as if he had passed out or anything, it was just as if the sun went out. But, he could barely see the outline of others and hear shocked sounds from his children. It didn't seem like everyone was here, but most of the commanders and a bunch of others. As they were confused, a voice spoke, sounding like it was spoken from above. "Welcome to Hell! Not all of you will get out of here, so have fun!" It was the same voice as the enemy crew's captain. He had teleported them here? How? Trevor, who was with them, sighed. "I've heard about this. It is believed to be another dimension, a dark one, made by a devil fruit. There is an exit, we just need to find it."

He could maybe see the outline to Trevor, and saw him turning a bit. "Can you do anything, Bunny?" He heard a sigh. "Nope, my powers are gone." That wasn't good news. They needed to get out of here. They then started walking, being sure to speak as they did so everyone stayed together. His eyes adapted some to the darkness and could see the outline of the others.

Whitebeard gave a sigh as he still couldn't see any end to the place they were in after some time. Not that he could see much from before; it was completely dark. The guy that sent them here had said it was 'hell;' he doubted it was the actual hell, but the captain could see the similarities. It was dark and they could hear sounds, not sure what that was, sounding like animals, or maybe monsters were more right. The guy had also said they would not get out, at least not all of them. Whitebeard hoped they would get out here fast; there had to be an exit somewhere. Their powers did work, although not as strong as usual. Ace was not even able to speak to Dust or teleport; they were stuck here. After walking for a few minutes, him, half of the commanders and the assassins in front, they soon saw something moving in the darkness in front of them. As they halted, in case it was something dangerous, a pair of yellow eyes opened, before they could see the outline of something looking like a dragon. The thing, dragon, gave a roar, before standing ready to fight them.

Everyone got ready to fight it, taking their weapons out and getting into stances. When Marco changed into his phoenix form, it helped as they now could see the monster they fought, and if Whitebeard had to be honest, it looked like a demon. It had pale skin, big teeth, head formed like a dragon, but no scales, clear skin with no hair. It was big, almost towering him. The beast didn't seem to like the light that came from the phoenix, most likely used to the darkness, which gave them an advantage as it didn't seem to see well now.

They soon ran at the beast, getting an upper hand as Ace managed to take a leg out, making Whitebeard able move the blade on his war scythe to a scythe and plunge it into the beast's head. The beast gave a few spasms, before going completely limp, dead.

As it was dead, Whitebeard was on his way to tell Marco to stay in his phoenix form, but Trevor spoke before he could. "Change back to normal, now." It was said in a serious tone, no room for arguments. Marco did, and when he was on the ground, everything back into darkness, the captain, somewhat managing to make out the outlines of everyone, looked at Trevor. "Why not have Marco stay in his phoenix form? We can see that way." Trevor shook his head.

"No. Think of it as the depths of water, where there is no light. Place a light there or have a fish that glows, everything will go that way. We will be like a beacon. You can hear there are more like those here, even bigger ones. Mika, Ace, and I can see well here, not minding the dark as that's when we work; we can lead."

The captain gave a nod. That made sense, they should try and stand as much as they could out of view. "Do you know where the exit is? Or where we should go?" Trevor gave a sigh. "Have heard about this place, and the best way to get out is walk until you find the exit. For now, our best opinion is to walk straight, until we either come to a dead end or exit, and take it from there." The captain nodded, that sounded like a plan. Trevor took a few steps forward, Ace and Mika beside him. "We will walk in the front, as the chance of something sneaking up is unlikely, and we will notice if anything does. You will get used to the darkness with time." Trevor looked at Marco. "Try not to use the phoenix form too much." Marco gave a nod to that, and they soon continued walking, the assassins at the front.

As they walked, they met more monsters, thankfully not as big as the first one. They had met all kinds of creatures, things that looked like dogs, birds, apes, lions, and small demon-like creatures like the first one, but not as big. None of the creatures they saw had any color, fur or scales, just pale grey-ish color. Trevor had said it was because of the darkness here; the creatures having been here for long, most likely even born in here. They had, at one point, met some even smaller creatures, looking like mice and spiders, the latter making many quiver and walking closer in groups, not liking the creatures.

As they continued to walk, the captain had noticed Ace trailing more and more behind the other assassins, now being around the middle of everyone. Whitebeard had guessed it was to make sure nothing would sneak up on them, so he didn't think much of it.

As they had been walking for something that felt like hours, the assassins came to a stop, a hand out to stop them.

They all stopped, not sure what had them stop; the captain couldn't see anything that would make them stop. He had gotten more used to the darkness, but he was sure the assassins saw much more than them. The captain saw Trevor whispering something to Mika, and Mika giving a nod. Trevor then slowly moved a hand to a pocket and grabbed something, doing something with it, before aiming to throw. "Don't look; it's a flash."

The captain nodded and made sure everyone had heard it too and shielded their eyes, the captain doing the same. He was sure the assassins had seen something there and they would use the flashbang to do a surprise attack. When Trevor threw the small ball and the captain saw a flash through his hand, he looked as it calmed down, the main flash being the worst as it blinded, but would still light up for a few minutes. When Whitebeard saw what the assassins had seen, he could only stand in shock and small fear.

It was a gigantic spider, fighting something that looked like a mixture of a dragon and snake, equally as large, both beasts bigger than him, much bigger, not far away from Oars in size.

The spider was also pale, only being grey aside from its eyes, which were almost glowing red. The spider also had something looking like claws next to its big other being had a head like a scaleless dragon, grey in the skin and yellow eyes, the eyes being a bit inside the head. But, its body was what stood out. It had front legs looking like dragon legs, but it had no back legs, only something akin to a snake's tail, but not as long as a snake's, maybe double the size of the beast's front, but it was thick. On the back, it had bumps, not as sharp as spikes, maybe bones, protruding from the head to the end of the tail. The dragon-like snake had a leg from the spider in its mouth, a leg on its body as it was pushed to the ground, giving a small screech at the light, but not letting go of its prey. The spider was trying to move its legs to hit the beast, but the dragon-snake evaded it.

As the two beasts were blinded by the light, Ace and Trevor had their guns out and shot at the beasts, the gigantic spider dying with one direct hit from Ace, the dragon-snake flinching as a bullet hit it in the eye. The snake-dragon let go of its prey and gave a roar at them. As the pirates got ready to fight it, Trevor stopped them with a hand, telling them to stand by. The captain was on his way to ask why, when the creature gave a roar again and grabbed onto a leg from the spider, dragging it off into the darkness, most likely to eat its prey. The beast, thankfully, went to the side, no longer being in the way for them.

They soon started walking again, Trevor giving a mention that they needed to do that to pass it; the beast could have thought they came to take its prey if they didn't, also shooting it in the eye to make it understand they could fight, for them to not attack again, telling it to leave in a way. The pirates understood that; it was what animals did, protecting their prey from other predators. The captain was glad they didn't need to fight it; that would have been a hard fight.

As they continued to walk, they met some smaller creatures and killed those who were too close or tried attacking them. As they continued on, the captain had noticed Ace trailing more and more behind, now being behind everyone, even sending looks to the darkness behind them, making him a bit worried something might be following them. The other two assassins didn't look too worried, which was something that helped, although he still didn't like it. When Trevor also started sending looks back, seeming to send them at Ace, the captain got more worried, but the assassins didn't seem to say or do anything, so he guessed it was under control.

After something he believed to be half an hour of Ace being behind everyone, Trevor stopped and looked at Ace. "Ace, what's wrong?" That was something the captain didn't like. Not only because there wasn't a reason for Ace to walk behind, as he had thought it was to see if anything followed them, but because Trevor thought something was wrong and even used Ace's name. Ace gave an unsure look at that, looking behind him again and moving a hand to his chest, before looking at Trevor. "I-, The darkness... It's getting to me."

Whitebeard wasn't sure what that meant, but was sure it was something bad, especially when Trevor looked a bit shocked and half-scared, going back and basically forcing Ace to walk up in front with him and Mika. When the captain tried to ask about it, Trevor and Mika shook their heads, a silent telling to not speak about it. The captain did understand it was something serious and hoped it wasn't anything dangerous.

As they continued on, everytime Ace started to slow down, turn to look behind him or to the side, to the lasting dark, Trevor would give a small shove, grab onto him or whisper something, forcing Ace to walk forward and not getting a chance to look around or trail behind. As Trevor was focusing on making sure Ace walked there and didn't look around, Mika focused more on looking ahead and guiding them. The captain was sure there was a reason for this, but he didn't know what, but they would hopefully find an exit soon; this place was a hellish place, they wanted to get out and never return.

They mostly walked in silence, staying together in a group. It was good it was only them that had gotten trapped here; it would have been bad if it was everyone on the crew, much harder to keep track on everyone. But, it was still bad that around one tenth was here, maybe a bit less; it was too many in Whitebeard's opinion, and he hoped everyone was fine. They did have Jozu, Blenheim, and Speed Jiru; the three could take charge for a while, while they got out of here.

As they continued further, meeting more beasts and fighting them, getting a few injuries here and there, but nothing severe thankfully, they soon saw a light in the distance, the light looking like a beacon or door. Trevor had stopped for a second and looked at it, before giving a nod. "That's the exit."

Whitebeard looked at the assassin. "Are you sure?" Trevor nodded. "There is a chance I am wrong. But, from what I have heard about this place, the exit is a big open window like door, it will make us get out of here and appear wherever the door is now located as it moves." Whitebeard gave a nod, that was good. "The door moves? Can people walk in again?" Trevor half-shook his head. "To be honest, I don't know; no one has ever tried it. It follows the one with the devil fruit." The captain nodded, that made sense. Who would go back into a place like this anyway?

They made their way towards the door, not seeing any beasts close to it; they might not want to be close to it as it was bright. Something that worried the captain was that Trevor needed to focus more on Ace the closer they came to the exit, Ace looking more and more around and trying to slow down. Whitebeard would make sure to ask why he did this when they got out.

When they were closer to the exit, he could see it was like a doorway, a very large doorway, and they could see a sunny beach through it, they would get out of here. But as they were around 200 feet away from it, a beast, looking to be the dragon-snake from earlier, only smaller, around Whitebeard's size, came from the side of the darkness, charging at them. They reacted fast, taking their weapons out, and those who used guns started to shoot at it. The monster gave a screech at them, running to the left as it didn't like the bullets that hit it, but still tried to get closer, thinking of them as prey. As the monster came towards them again, Ace pointed his now-unfolded gun at it. "Trevor, go for the left eye, I'll take the right." Trevor gave a nod and aimed his gun.

A second later, they both pulled their triggers and sent a bullet at each eye. Both hit, and made the monster screech again as it moved its head in pain, before giving a roar and blindly charging towards them. They moved out of the way, and when it was close enough, Ace unfolded his scythe and used it to cut one of its legs off, making it fall to the ground, giving a screech and trying to move on its one leg, tail swinging around and head moving to bite at nothing. As it was down, Whitebeard moved his scythe over his head and decapitated the monster. It gave a few twitches, before going limp.

As the monster was dead, before anyone could react, it gave a weird sound as its body started to inflate.A second later, it exploded. It was a somewhat big explosion, sending some of those who stood close by a bit back, but nothing bad. As it had exploded and smoke lingered in the air, the only thing of the beast left was its head and a half-carcass, many moved towards the exit, no one seeming to be injured, thankfully. As everyone seemed to be okay and everyone was at the exit, Whitebeard was just about to say they could go through, Trevor's voice had them turning around. "Ace, come."

It was spoken in a serious manner, having a small tinge of something at the end. When they saw Trevor, they saw him having his back to them, in front of him, 20 feet away, stood Ace, not moving. Ace shook his head, looking at Trevor. "I don't belong out there. I should stay here." Whitebeard was shocked, no idea where this came from. Trevor shook his head, taking a step towards Ace, hand out. "No. It's the darkness speaking, Ace. You don't belong here, come." Whitebeard now understood what Ace had meant before with the darkness getting to him and why Trevor had reacted the way he did. The darkness was telling Ace to stay; to not leave.

As Trevor took the step towards Ace, Ace took a step backwards, shaking his head. "No. I know what to do here; it's kill or be killed. I know that, I fit here. Not out there." Trevor shook his head. "That's not right! We want you with us, Ace. You belong with us, out there. Think of us, your brothers, your family! You are engaged! We want you to come with us. We need you." Whitebeard took a step forward, going to help as Ace still shook his head. "Son, come home with us. You belong with us, with your brothers, your family."

Ace shook his head and turned to look behind himself again, into the darkness. Marco took a step to stand beside them too, looking scared and shocked Ace wanted to stay here and sure he wasn't wanted out of there, not needed. "Ace, yoi. Don't think that. You are wanted, we want you out with us, your family." Ace shook his head, an unsure look at his face. "I- I don't know… I-." Ace turned to look at the darkness behind him again, seeming to want to go back into it. Whitebeard wanted to go and get Ace, but he knew Ace could outrun all of them. They needed to make him agree he should come back, to leave this hellish place. This was maybe what the guy who sent them here had said. He had said not all of them would leave, he knew Ace would think this.

Trevor tried to take another step forward again. "Ace, think reasonably. This is not a place to be, it's darkness, it's death and decay. No one belongs here aside from monsters." Ace took a step back and shook his head, a quick look at the darkness again, before looking at them. "Then what am I if not a monster?"

Whitebeard was shocked at that, not knowing Ace would think that of himself. Yes, he did kill, but he was far away from a monster. Trevor shook his head, same with all of them, Trevor on his way to speak, but before he could, Thatch spoke instead. "You're not a monster! You are our brother, our family member. We chose you because we love you." Ace shook his head, looking unsure. "I.. Don't know..." Ace looked genuinely unsure why they would want him, making his heart ache. People had told Ace he was a monster, and this showed as Ace was doubting if he was one or not. That was way wrong, so far away from the truth as possible.

Before any of them could speak, a roar had them look to the left, seeing the gigantic dragon-snake from before, charging at them. They didn't need this now, they needed to get Ace to understand they wanted him.

As the monster was into view, Ace got his gun out and unfolded it to the sniper, sending a shot at it, making it screech again. As it screeched, it moved its head and the eye that Trevor had hit before was shown, hole into his head. Ace aimed at that and fired a shot, hitting dead in the hole, sending a bullet into its brain, hoping it would work.

The monster fell down, coming to a skidding halt in front of the pirates, a few feet away from them, looking to be dead. But the relief was short-lived as they saw the monster start to inflate, and knew it would explode, and it was over 6 times bigger than the last one; this explosion would be big. They tried to shield themselves, and the explosion soon sounded and they felt the shockwave hitting them, sending them moving backwards.

When they opened their eyes again and moved their hands away, they were shocked to no longer be in darkness, but on a shore of some kind, sun setting in the distance. They had been taken in the place when it was morning, so they had been gone long. Whitebeard could hear yells and sounds of happiness, finally out of the place, and the captain was happy himself, finally out. As he was checking to see if everyone was there, everyone seemed to get thrown through the exit, some getting their breath back as it was knocked out. But as he was looking around, one voice and sentence had his fear rising. "Where is Ace?"

The captain looked at Trevor, seeing him looking around and helping Mika up. The captain looked around himself too, seeing everyone but Ace. That was when he remembered it. Ace had been on the other side of the monster when it exploded. He didn't get thrown out, he got thrown back the other way. Trevor seemed to realize this too, going up to the doorway that was still there, seeing Ace through it and standing alone in the darkness, panting, probably because he was unsure what to do and stressed. This was really bad. Ace was doubting himself and thought he belonged in there; he might not come out. Ace might stay inside there.

Trevor gave a punch to the door, looking mad that Ace was still inside there. "Ace! Come out!" Thatch was soon next to him, trying to hit it with his sword, but to no avail. The chef gave a curse, not liking this. Ace just stood still, panting. All of them had a look of shock and fear, since they might lose a family member if Ace didn't come out. As they were yelling for him to come out, Ace shook his head, and took a step backwards, before another, and another. "No! No! No!" Yelled Trevor. "NO!" Ace shook his head, before he turned around and ran back into the darkness. Trevor banged his hands on the doorway. "No! Fuck!" Trevor gave an upset sound, before he started moving away from it, which had him frown. "Where are you going?" Trevor shook his head. "Finding that guy and making him send me back in so I can get Ace back. I am not leaving him alone there." Whitebeard agreed, and started to follow Trevor, as all of them did. "Where are we?" Asked Thatch, and Trevor shook his head. "The right island, just the other side of it. Hopefully, the rest are here and that guy is alive." Whitebeard hoped for that as well.

They then walked for a few hours, the sun setting more, before they could see the Moby in the distance, and when they got there, everyone was happy to see them well, but a few asked where Ace was, but no one could think of answering as Trevor moved to grab the guy who had placed them in the place, and was still alive, by his shirt and pushed him against the mountain. "You are going to send me back!" The guy gave a chuckle. "You will never get him back. He's staying." Trevor shook his head, pushing the man harder against the mountain. "I don't care. You are going to send me back and I will drag him out." The guy gave a laugh. "You just try, but it won't work." Trevor growled. "Make an opening!" The guy laughed. "Fine, you just try." The guy then snapped his fingers, and a door appeared into complete darkness. The guy then chucked. "Just so I can watch you fail." He then moved his hand, and the darkness got less dark, not light, but not as dark. "I will watch you fail." Trevor moved his hand back and punched the man, hard, making him fall down, and Trevor sent a look at those out. "Keep him from leaving and dying! I will speak to Daisuke, then we will get Ace! Who wants to join?" Whitebeard gave a nod, he wanted to join, and so did a handful of others, like Thatch, Marco, Izou, and a few more.

Trevor then went and grabbed a Den Den, calling Daisuke and asking how to get Ace back, explaining what had happened. And the older assassin wasn't surprised Ace had stayed. He said they needed to make Ace sure of himself, he was unsure and scared to go back, to face the real world, face his issues. That made sense in a way, and they headed back into the place. They then moved through the place, meeting a few monsters they took care of, before they met none, which was a bit weird. And after what felt like hours, they saw a shape some distance away, which looked like a human lying down, and a thing beside the shape looked like Ace's gun. His first thought was that it was Ace and that he was dead. Why else would he be lying down? But as they got closer, he saw it was Ace and he was breathing. Maybe he was injured? But it didn't seem like it, Ace laid with his hands folded on his middle, looking relaxed.

When they were close, Trevor moved over to Ace, and the captain expected Trevor to lift Ace, but instead laid down next to him. "Huh, there's stars." Whitebeard frowned and looked up, and there were stars. Ace gave a nod. "Yeah, there are. There weren't any before, it suddenly came on, like lights." Trevor nodded. "Probably because of us. He turned the lights on." Both spoke with calm and soft voices. For having been so upset before, Trevor was very calm now. Ace nodded, before he sighed. "I knew you'd come back for me." Trevor nodded. "I couldn't let you be here alone. Have you been able to think?" Ace sighed. "I think so. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to head out again." Trevor gave a small nod. "Why not?" Ace sighed again. "Because… There are no rules here, there is silence here, there is…" Trevor sighed. "No evil, no memories, no pain." Whitebeard got it now, why Ace had turned around. There were no memories connected to this place, there was nothing here. A blank slate for Ace. Trevor gave a breath. "But, there is also no happiness, no future… no hope."

Ace gave a breath. "I know. I know things are bad. I know things are bad when you are this calm and careful. I won't run again." Trevor nodded. "It is. You think you're not wanted. And I know. You're more in your senses now." Ace nodded. "I am." Whitebeard had a feeling this was a thing that would take time and sat down carefully, and he noticed Marco walking over and lying down next to Ace as well, and moved a hand to hold onto Ace's. The others also sat down, being quiet. Trevor could handle this.

It was silent for a bit after that, before Ace let out a breath. "I need to go back out, don't I?" Trevor nodded. "Yes. If it helps, the guy who did this is sure you won't come out. Let's shove those words down his throat." Ace gave a small chuckle. "I would like that." And then he sighed. "Can we stay for a bit more? Enjoy the silence for a bit more?" Trevor nodded. "Sure." Then it was silent, actually completely silent. No sounds of other things moving to making sounds. Ace had probably cleared out everything in close proximity. After some time, maybe half an hour, Trevor gave a sigh and stood up, moving his hand out to Ace. "Come on, we're leaving." Ace sighed, and laid still for a few seconds, before he moved his hand to take Trevor's and was helped up, and they all stood up, and Ace looked at Trevor. "Know where the exit is?" Trevor shrugged. "I think this way. I think this guy kept the way we came in open this time. Let's go prove him wrong. You came out." Ace nodded. "Yeah."

They then started walking, and walked for an hour. Ace didn't look around himself and didn't trail behind, walking up with Trevor, Mika, and Marco. Things were good. When they did come to the exit, they walked out and it was where the man had made the entrance, so they walked out next to the boat and the man who had put them there, who gave a look to Ace. "You weren't supposed to come back out! You were supposed to stay!" Ace shrugged. "How can I, with friends and family like this?" The guy sneered. "I hate you!" Ace shrugged. "Many do. Now, ta ta, we don't like you." Trevor frowned. "Wait, we're letting him go?" Ace shrugged. "We can beat him a bit up?" The guy looked afraid with that, and Trevor hummed. "I was thinking more of killing him." Ace shrugged, and before he could speak, the man moved his hand and made a door behind himself and went inside, closing the door, both the one he went into and the one they had come out of. Ace chuckled. "He will stay away from us now." Whitebeard nodded, that was good. He was still concerned for Ace, that he felt like he did, like a monster some called him. It didn't seem like Trevor and Ace wanted to speak about it now, but Whitebeard would do his best to prove to Ace he was wanted and loved.

-x-

Marco moved after Ace to Ace's room, and when the door closed behind them, he just moved up and hugged Ace, and Ace gave a breath as he moved to hug him back. "Sorry I ran." Marco shook his head with a sigh. "No, I get it, I do. This isn't the world you want to live in at times, yoi. I am just glad you're back." Ace nodded. "Yeah, I am as well. I would have come out, after some time." Marco nodded, that was good to hear. "How long would you have stayed, yoi?" Ace gave a sigh. "I don't know. Maybe a week? A year? A day? I don't know." Marco nodded. "Okay, that is good to hear. I thought you wouldn't, yoi." Ace took a breath. "I could never leave for good." That made him glad, and Marco closed his eyes. "I really hope you understand we want you, yoi. That you're not the monster some people say." Ace didn't answer that, and Marco felt bad for Ace, that he believed that.

He stood with Ace a bit before they went to bed for the night, and when morning came, Ace had to leave for an assignment and Marco headed out, and as he did, people asked where Ace was, and Marco said he was working, which had some a bit unsure, since Ace had just almost stayed in a place called hell. But, Marco did say what Ace had said, that Ace would have come out after some time, which had most of them relax. Marco was sure everyone would do their best in showing Ace they cared for him and that he was wanted. Because he was. He was their family member.

And that the chapter, hope you enjoyed

This was just a random idea I had and wanted to get it down and post it and I hope it was good

This story is also not finished. I know it is marked finished, but that is since the main part I had planned is over and now it is just the rest as well as ideas that I have. We still have some loose ends, like the wedding, and other things

Also, come check out the one shot series to this story! It contains one shots of missing scenes, past events, and alternative scenarios, etc.

If you have any scenes you would like to see, don't be afraid to leave a comment, or send a PM

And I love feedback too; it is what keeps me going!

If you want to, come follow me on Twitter, where updates will be posted, and if I'm late. My twitter is Azuruko You can leave comments, requests, ideas, or just say hi (a link is also on my profile).

Or, you can join my Discord server, Azuruko's fiction, for the same reasons as my twitter. Instant invite: discord . gg / 6hzMhbR