Hello everyone, here is another chapter

This is a bit of this and that

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Whitebeard sat out on deck, they had docked a few hours ago, but now, Haruta was gone. She was supposed to check something quick out and had never returned. As he informed the others of this, Ace hummed. "I can go do a check, she couldn't have gotten far." That was true, Ace should handle this, he was the best. He nodded. "You should." Ace hummed. "I'll go search, give me a couple hours, it shouldn't take longer." Whitebeard nodded, that sounded good.

But after a couple hours, there was no sign of Haruta or Ace. So Trevor went to check if he could find them. But after an hour, Trevor came back and looked troubled. "Did you find them?" Trevor shook his head. "No, but Ace should have boarded a boat, but never came out, and then the boat left. I think they are in trouble." That didn't sound good at all. "Did they see where they went?" Trevor sighed. "Not really, just that it seemed to be north, which would be smart as we're close to that phenomenon where you have no fruit." Whitebeard nodded, that did sound smart of them. Especially if they had Ace. "How did they capture Ace so easily?" They might not have done that, but they most likely had. Trevor sighed. "My theory? Either they used Haruta, or Ace voluntarily went to get Haruta back, let himself be captured. He's done that before." Whitebeard blinked. "He has?" Trevor nodded. "Best way to get prisoners out at times is to be a prisoner yourself." Made sense, and he hoped Ace and Haruta would be fine.

They then headed on after gathering everyone, to find Ace and Haruta, and they didn't really know where to head, but decided to attack anyone they saw. They found nothing in a week, and he felt his hope falling each day. This couldn't be good. But after a week and 2 days had passed, they attacked a boat that attacked them and then decided to search it, hoping to find something.

-x-

Marco walked through the boat, hoping to find something, just anything. It had been over a week now and he was worried. He had offered to do a swipe from the air, but Trevor said they were too close to the phenomenon where no fruit worked, so he could possibly fall and drown, so he couldn't do that. But as they were searching, they found a heavily secured door, and when they got through it, there was barely anything in the room, just a desk, some paperwork, a Den Den and some chests. Trevor went over and checked the paperwork, while he searched the chests.

Marco frowned when he opened the 3rd chest, frowning more when it was a paper with numbers on it. "It's a Den Den number, yoi." The others frowned too. "Who is it to?" asked Thatch, and Marco shook his head. "I don't know. Don't say. Let's try it, yoi." Everyone nodded, and they moved to the Den Den and dialed the number, the Den Den being answered after some seconds, but no one spoke, making him frown. "Hello? Anyone there, yoi?" The Den Den frowned. "Marco?" Marco blinked, feeling his breath caught in his chest. Was it? "Ace?" The Den Den smiled. "Marco! How are you doing?" Ace sounded… calm. "Ace! Where are you!? Are you okay?! Where is Haruta?!"

The Den Den shrugged. "We're fine, Haruta is here, I don't know where we are. But we are up north, my devil fruit doesn't work. Let me head outside and see, we're on a boat." Marco blinked. "On a boat? How are we speaking to you, yoi?" The Den Den shrugged again. "We fought our way out. Ah, let's see. I think we're close to Bogildo it seems like. Where are you?" Trevor moved forward. "We're a couple days away, we never left. Let us get there. Are you safe?" The Den Den nodded. "We are. A bit banged up, but fine." That was good. Marco then looked at the Den Den. "We will get there as soon as we can, yoi." The Den Den nodded. "Yeah, that would be good. I miss the boat. Haruta does too." The Den Den nodded, before Haruta was heard. "Please hurry up! I think there's more enemies close by! We set off an alarm of sorts." He heard Ace chuckled. "Nah, we're fine. If they come, we will just kill them." That sounded good, and Ace hummed. "Now we will search the boat, call if you need anything." He nodded and before he could talk again, the Den Den hung up. He then turned to Trevor, who chuckled. "Of course he is fine. Let's go get them." Sounded to be the best.

They then headed towards where Ace said they were, which took almost 2 days. When they saw the small boat ahead, they headed there and boarded it, finding Ace and Haruta on it, both a bit banged up, Haruta looking to be the worst. When they got them to the boat, everyone flocked around them, everyone hugging Haruta, and asking Ace if he was fine. Ace wouldn't like a lot of hugs, which everyone seemed to get, which was good. Not that it stopped Marco from hugging Ace, just glad he was back. As everyone had, Pops looked at the two. "How are you? You look beaten up, especially you, Haruta." Haruta blinked, a hand moving to point at her face. "This, Ace did this." Everyone blinked. "What!?" Said Thatch, and Ace shrugged. "They wanted me to do it, it was how we got out." Marco blinked. "They wanted you to hurt Haruta? And they let you guys go because you did?" Ace shook his head. "Oh no, not that simple. I staged a fight with Haruta, people came to separate us, I got a knife, and I got loose, and got Haruta free as well, before we fought our way out." Haruta blinked. "I wasn't in on it, I just actually fought back since you hit me." Ace shrugged. "I didn't want to tell you, it needed to look real. If I wanted you dead, you would have died long ago." Haruta nodded. "Well, yeah, I thought it was weird you just hit me, and not anything else. I thought you were delirious." Ace chuckled. "Not my first capture, I knew what they were after, I just needed the opening and the right people to be on watch, the reason it took so long."

Haruta nodded, and Whitebeard looked at his two children. "How are you doing aside from the wounds?" Ace chuckled. "Fine. Haruta was treated kindly. The way they wanted to get to me." Whitebeard frowned. "How would that work?" Ace hummed. "It's very simple. They separate us, treat me badly, and treat her kindly, and make sure I see that. You know, give her food, real food, just speak with her instead of other things, make sure I see this and know this, hoping the lack of food and torture would fog my mind, I kill her or injure her bad, and then they fed me up so I get back to normal and feel bad, then they up the damage to both, hoping it would crack me as it would be my fault. Very simple." That was smart, on both ends. He was sure it would have worked if it was someone else. "You do look fine, aside from the bruises." Haruta blinked. "Well, I am fine, but I saw them waterboard Ace, and doing God knows what else when I didn't see." Ace shrugged. "Nothing much worse. Not my first rodeo. I'm fine."

That was a bit good, and he was about to say both should head to Bay, when Ace spoke. "Haruta should head to Bay, I don't need it." He was about to argue, when Trevor crossed his arms. "Why not you too?" Ace hummed, giving a look to Trevor. "Because I am fine." Trevor shook his head. "Nope, don't believe you. Take a deep breath." Marco frowned. Why did Trevor ask for that? Ace rolled his eyes. "Come on, I don't need to do that." Trevor hummed. "And since you didn't do it, you can't do it. Go to Bay." Ace gave a look. "Who's gonna make me?" Trevor gave a glare. "I will legit go call Mike." Ace rolled his eyes. "He is hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. What's he gonna do?" Trevor made a motion with his head. "If you don't go, you will find out." Ace was on his way to speak, when he closed his mouth and gave a glare to Trevor. "Fuck you!" Trevor grinned, and Ace looked at Haruta. "Let's get this over with." Haruta nodded and the two headed to the infirmary.

As they were gone, Marco looked at Trevor. "Why did you ask for him to take a deep breath, yoi?" Trevor hummed. "Waterboarded. If he was, he most likely has some water in his lungs, which will come out fine after some days, but he can't take a deep breath as he will cough." Ah, that made sense. "Sounds… painful." Trevor shrugged. "Not so bad actually. Or depends on which waterboarding. The fake one hurts bad, the one where they place a cloth over your face and then pour water. Just dunking your head in water is chill." They all blinked, Jozu speaking."How can you call that chill?" Trevor shrugged. "Compared to other things, it is chill." That was probably true when he thought about it.

Haruta and Ace were away for a bit over an hour, before the two came out, Ace having a hand on his side, and gave a glare to Trevor. "Because of you, I got a needle in my chest." Trevor hummed. "Probably needed it." Ace rolled his eyes. "It wasn't necessary. It would have fixed itself." Trevor shrugged. "Bay didn't see it that way." Ace sighed. "Bay never sees it my way." Trevor hummed. "You can't always go how you want to go, not when you need help." Ace gave a glare to Trevor. "I didn't need help!" Trevor nodded. "Yes, yes you did." Ace sighed, but didn't say anything. Ace had probably needed it, and things were fine now.

-x-

Whitebeard sat out on deck, them having been sailing for a small while now and had docked 2 days ago. Almost everyone was out on deck, aside from those on duty and Ace, who was working, and had been for the last 2 days, but was due to return soon. What had been a bit weird the last day, was how Marco had been a bit… off. He hadn't really done his duties and was acting a bit off. He was sure Marco was tired and needed a break, and would wait a day before he brought up the idea to take a day off, maybe with Ace if he had the time to take some time off.

But after a couple more hours, Ace came on the boat, and looked around, before he looked at him. "Where is Marco?" What did Ace say? Marco was there, right beside Ace. Marco gave a breath, moving his hand. "Why can't you let me have one sliver of fun! Why must you ruin everything!" Whitebeard blinked. Why did Marco say that? What did Ace ruin? And why was Ace asking for Marco when he was next to him. Trevor frowned. "What are you saying? Did you go blind?" Ace gave a sigh. "Okay, Trevor. I will speak to Daisuke, and we might have you demoted to level 1." Trevor blinked. "What?! Why!" Ace shook his head a bit. "Because you have no idea what's going on." Ace then looked at Mika. "You got any idea?" Mika blinked. "I have no clue." Ace nodded. "Then you might be demoted too." Mika gave a sad look. "No!" Ace shook his head a bit, and crossed his hands looking at Marco. "How long would you have gone?" Marco shrugged. "A week?" Ace hummed. "Not good. Where is the real Marco?" The real Marco? What was Ace speaking about? Marco shrugged. "I actually don't know." Ace lifted an eyebrow. "If he is injured, you're in trouble, I hope you know that." Marco nodded. "He should be fine." Ace nodded. "Good."

Ace then looked at them. "No one wonders where the yoi went? No one wonders why he hasn't done his duties? No one wonders why he is acting weird?" Well, Marco had been a bit off, but he just brushed it off as he was tired. Maybe that wasn't the case. Ace then looked at Marco. "Either you show yourself, or I shoot you, you got it?" Marco held his hands up, before he snapped his fingers, and a stranger stood where Marco had. What was this? Trevor gave a gasp. "Oh no! It was Kristian! I suck!" Ace nodded. "You do." Trevor gave a small pleading look to Ace. "Please don't have me demoted." Ace sighed. "I will speak with Daisuke, and we will see what we will do." Trevor sighed. "I deserve that." Ace nodded. "Yup." Whitebeard still felt confused. "Who is that? What happened to Marco?" Ace hummed, and looked at the stranger, this Kristian. "How long have you been here?" Kristian shrugged. "A day and half." Ace blinked. "Wow, longer than I thought."

Ace then looked at him. "This is Kristian. He has a Devil Fruit that allows him to look exactly like another person, the exact same body. He apparently decided to pretend to be Marco." That made sense why Marco had been off for the past day. Ace chuckled. "I can't believe none of you noticed it." Ace then looked at Mika and Trevor. "Especially you guys. You should really feel bad now." Trevor nodded. "I do. I feel ashamed. I knew something was off, but I just brushed it off." Ace shook his head. "You shouldn't have." Trevor nodded. "Yeah, I now realise this. Damn, I suck." Ace hummed. "Yes, you do."

Ace then looked at Kristian. "Where is Marco?" Kristian moved a hand. "I last saw him in my house." Ace gave a look to the man, who gave a small hiss. "Which may be laced in seastone and a maze?" Ace gave a breath, putting his hand out to Kristian. "Key." Kristian nodded and handed a key over, and Ace asked where the house was and was given a direction and headed there, saying he would get Marco.

Whitebeard didn't really know how to react. Someone had impersonated Marco and they hadn't noticed? That was really bad. He knew something was off, but he had just brushed it off, which he really shouldn't have done. It took an hour, but Ace soon returned with Marco, and when they got on the boat, Ace looked at Kristian. "You really impersonated me?" Kristian hissed. "Maybe?" Ace shook his head. "Go, be on your way, stop having fun on others' behalf. Kristian nodded and was on his way away, and the captain looked at Marco. "How are you, son?" Marco hummed. "Fine, I was just stuck." Whitebeard nodded. "Why did you go with him?" Marco hummed. "He was Ace. He was acting off, so I was sure something was wrong, yoi. So I followed." Whitebeard nodded, that made sense. He was glad he had Ace in his family. The next day went by fine, before they set sail again.

-x-

Haruta sat in her room, doing some paperwork, when there was a knock at her door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see Mika. "Mika, what are you doing?" Mika hummed as she walked inside. "I think you need a new style, and I'm here to teach you." Haruta frowned as she closed the door. "New style?" Mika nodded. "Yes, you are so… timid." Haruta nodded, she knew that. And she didn't really like it, but she didn't know how to change. "O-okay." Mika hummed. "My point exactly, don't stutter. Be sure of yourself." Haruta nodded. "Okay." Mika nodded. "Better, but we have a lot of work to do." They probably did, Haruta was really shy and not that assertive, she probably should get better. She really did hope Mika could teach her.

-x-

Whitebeard sat in a tavern with his children, a few having joined, which included the three assassins. They had been there for a while and it was getting late and they probably should head back soon. They had docked yesterday, after being out on sea for about 2 weeks. But as they were enjoying themselves a man came up to them and looked at Ace. "Hey, want a drink?" Ace shook shi head. "Nope. Go away." The man gave a small groan. "Oh come on Cutie!" Ace's eye twitched as he looked at the man. "Call me Cutie one more time." Ace didn't sound pleased, and he shouldn't be pleased by that name. The man blinked, before he made a small motion. "Okay, but come on! One drink, Sweethea-" Ace gave a twitch, before he stood up and punched the man, sending him to the ground. Ace then shook his head, before he just left, Marco following.

The man then gave a curse, before he stood up and wiped some blood from his nose, before the man went and sat down some tables away, and Whitebeard could see Trevor standing up, but before he could move to the man, Mika held her hand out, stopping Trevor. "No, I think Haruta should handle this one." Whitebeard blinked. What? Haruta blinked too, looking shocked, as Haruta was on her way to speak, Mika spoke, looking at Haruta. "No, remember what I taught you. You can do this." Haruta nodded, but still looked unsure, which had Mika hum. "Remember what I said. Get your mind clear, and then go. You can do this." Haruta nodded, closing her eyes and took a breath, before she looked determined, and stood up. As she was a few steps away, Mika spoke. "She can do this." Whitebeard hoped so.

Haruta sat down on the other side of the table from the man, looking at him, and the man snorted. "Listen here, Little Girl, I did nothing wrong. And he already punched me." Haruta gave a hum. "I disagree. You were obnoxious. We can't let you get away with that. You deserve more than a punch." The man rolled his eyes. "Little Girl, I did nothing wro-!" The man cut off as Haruta moved her leg and kicked him the shin, hard, making his head move downwards, and Haruta moved her hand over the table and moved his head to bang against the table, making him give a painful sound. Haruta then held a finger out and pointed at the man when he lifted his head and held a hand over his bleeding nose. "Now you! Stop being obnoxious!" The man nodded. "O-okay!" Haruta nodded, before she gave a smile, and then she left, heading back to them. The man then left with a hand on his nose and head upwards, and when he was gone, Haruta clapped her hands. "I did it!" Mika nodded. "You did. But you should have bashed his head one more time for the name 'Little Girl'." Haruta blinked. "I didn't care about that." Mika shook her head. "Not important. It is a nickname, which is a no no, no matter what. I don't have issues with 'Missy', but I still do an extra bash because of it, as I did last time." Haruta blinked. "Oh, okay, I can do that." Mika nodded. "You can and will."

The captain looked at Mika. "You taught her this?" Mika nodded. "I did, she needs to reinforce her name and reputation. The reason she was chosen for the hit when that was a thing, was since they think she is weak, she needs to show what she can do." Made sense, and he looked at Trevor. "Why do they choose Ace?" Trevor sighed. "Have you seen Ace? He is cute, young, and has one hell of a reputation. People are interested in him." That did make sense, he wished people would leave Ace alone.

A barmaid came over to them and gave a smile to Haruta. "Thanks for that. I've wanted to do that for months." Haruta smiled. "No issue, it was fun." The barmaid smiled. "This is half off." Whitebeard blinked, that was nice. Haruta hummed. "No, we will pay full price, we are guests." The barmaid looked shocked, but gave an okay before she left, and when she had Mika hummed. "Nice, you learn quickly." Haruta smiled. "I remember you did it." Mika nodded. "Yes, I did, and glad you did too." Haruta smiled, but didn't say anything. Haruta was changing, and it seemed to be for the better. He was glad they had Mika.

-x-

Whitebeard sat out and enjoyed a sunny day. They had docked some hours earlier and would enjoy being on this island, which is a sizable one and neutral one. They hadn't docked for a few weeks now. As they were docked, a man came towards them, and started being obnoxious as he was against pirates, and as he was about to handle it, Haruta moved forward, and she had a smile, looking kind. The man looked at her and snorted. "Oh, the little lady think she ca-" Haruta moved and stomped on his foot, making him yell out and lift his leg up, and Haruta moved to kick him in the knee on the other foot, making him fall down and Haruta moved and did a spinning kick to his chest, sending him flying backwards, and Haruta punched her hand. "Want more?" The man quickly shook his head. "N-no, no."

Then the man scurried up and then walked away. When he was away, Haruta looked at Mika. "I like this." Mika nodded. "Knew you would. This fits you." Haruta blinked. "It does?" Mika nodded. "Yeah, I think so." Haruta blinked again, before she looked at him, and he gave a nod. "It is new, but it looks good on you." It did, even though it was a bit weird. Haruta had never been the one to act like this, but when she did it now, it was fitting and they were getting more used to it. Haruta had been bothered a lot at times, but he was sure it would end now when this got out, that she could act like this. Mika hummed. "If you want, I can have Ace fetch one of my training dummies, a piece of some wood and things, to make it look like a person, so you can train on moves." Haruta blinked. "Yeah, I would like that." Mika smiled, and then looked at Ace, who nodded. "I can do that. Wanna go now?" Mika nodded. "Sure, I wanna speak to Daisuke anyhow." Ace nodded and the two left.

When they were gone, Trevor hummed. "Wonder what she will speak about." Nothing special happened after that, and when there was a cloud of black smoke and Mika and Ace appeared, Mika holding a wooden dummy of sorts. Mika held it a bit up. "Here, have fun." Haruta nodded and took it and headed for her room, most likely to place it there.

When she was gone, Mika looked at Trevor. "You're demoted to level 1." Trevor moved a hand up. "Yes!" Why was he happy about this? Mika nodded. "And I am level 2." Trevor blinked. "What! No!" Mika nodded. "We both got demoted due to the Kristian incident, and we can't be on the same level." Trevor blinked. "Did you ask to be the one getting demoted to level 2?" Mika hummed. "Maybe." Trevor sighed. "I wanted to be the one to be demoted." Mika nodded. "I know. And to be fair, Daisuke said it would be me, no matter what you said." Trevor blinked, and looked at Ace, who nodded. "Yep." Trevor blinked. "Why?" Ace shrugged. "You've done more than her lately. But, you might get up to S1 again soon, we will see. And then Mika will be level 1. Or maybe level S2, and Mika S1." Trevor blinked. "I might be level S2?" Ace nodded. "Yes, your work has been on spot lately." Trevor moved a hand up. "Yeah! I might be level S2!" And then he looked at Mika. "And you will be S1 again. We need to celebrate." Mika nodded. "I am for that." Everyone around them cheered. They were for celebrations, as that meant to party. Not that they needed a reason, but it made it better.

-x-

They had docked a few hours ago, and another drunken man had tried to get on the boat, but Haruta had stopped him, she was really growing into a strong personality. As she had, Haruta hummed as she looked at Mika. "This is fun, I wanna join you guys in doing things if this is how this feels." Haruta had grown greatly the last few weeks, with the help from Mika. Mika hummed, him sure she would say yes, when she looked at Haruta. "Don't say that when Ace is here. He will get mad at you, then really mad at me." Haruta blinked. "Why?" Mika sighed. "Ace doesn't encourage people to be like him or us, he doesn't want people to be assassins, since it's a hard life, and he doesn't wish that on anyone. You can't join us, just have your small fun here and there, as a pirate, nothing more, nothing less." Haruta nodded, and Whitebeard thought for a second, and it sounded right. Ace had never encouraged people to be like him, even when he helped them, he always showed what they asked for, nothing more. He got why Ace didn't want people to wind up like him. He didn't have an easy life, so he got that. He was sure Haruta wouldn't bring it up around Ace.

-x-

Whitebeard sat out on deck, them having docked again on a new neutral island. When a person came towards the ship, and she looked familiar and was about to ask who it was, when Trevor spoke. "Eivor? Whatcha doing here? A fight?" Ah, it was Eivor Wolf-kissed, the number one mercenary. Maybe she came to fight Ace. Eivor shook her head. "No, I just want to talk." That was good, and Ace came from around a corner. "Ah, Eivor, what brings you by?" Eivor hummed. "Just wanted to say, when you get number 2, come find me. And yes, when, not if." Ace smiled. "I will. Want a death visit or a duel visit?" The mercenary hummed. "A duel, I don't want to die so soon." Ace chuckled. "I get that." Eivor nodded. "I know I will most likely lose, but I want a fair duel." Ace nodded. "We will have that." Eivor nodded. "And no coming for me before you're number 2." Ace nodded. "I won't. How's business?" Eivor sighed. "Never had this much work before. So many people need help these days. How's yours?" Ace hummed. "Okay, nothing too bad." Eivor nodded and the two started to chat about this and that, most things were about the world and what they had done to help people here and there.

Eivor gave a breath. "If you're headed East, be prepared for a lot of work as a mercenary." Ace nodded. "I will." They were headed East, but he was sure Ace would handle it. Eivor stayed a bit, before she left, and they headed on, sailing for a few days, and when they had, Trevor gave a breath as he came into the galley and looked at Mika. "We're needed for a while." Mika nodded. "How long?" Trevor shrugged. "2-3 weeks." Whitebeard blinked. "You're needed?" Trevor nodded. "Yup. Daisuke needs the help." Whitebeard nodded, he knew Mika and Trevor could be called for periods, as they still were with the Red Cloud. So it would probably go fine.

When they did dock a couple weeks later, Ace was quickly off to see if anyone needed help and it seemed someone on the dock did and Ace headed away. He was sure Ace would handle whatever this was. But after some hours, Lance came up to him and had a worried look. "Pops, I'm worried for commander Ace." Whitebeard frowned. "Why is that, son?" Lance gave a sigh. "I saw him running around town, seeming to be really busy, and he had been seen with the War Chief, and now he's gone, and Ace did look a bit troubled." Whitebeard nodded, that didn't sound good. They did have a meeting in two hours, and he hoped Ace would show. "And," Continued Lance. "I kinda said you needed to talk to him, and he, while running, went 'In a few hours, I'm busy, take care'." Whitebeard frowned with that as well. Ace was too busy to speak with him? He gave a reassuring look to Lance. "I will speak with him next time I see him. Do you think he did anything to the War Chief?" Lance sighed. "Not like that, but he just lost his sister, and he is supposed to be at her funeral in half an hour, but not shown yet. He was supposed to be there hours ago." That really wasn't good.

He didn't see Ace the next hours, and when they were in the meeting room, Ace still hadn't shown up. But as they were about to start the meeting, without Ace, when the door opened and Ace came through, a hand fanning at himself. "Okay, I have an hour, then a few meetings on the island, then things, so let's get this started." Whitebeard nodded and watched as Ace sat down with his hand still fanning himself. "What are you doing on the island, son?" Ace hummed. "Oh, nothing special, just helping around." Whitebeard nodded and was about to speak when Ace stood up. "Why am I still hot!" Ace then made his way to the window and opened it, it was colder outside than inside. "Why are you hot?" Ace hummed. "Been running all day, and fighting." Whitebeard nodded and was about to ask more, when Ace sent a look at him. "This meeting going to happen? Or are we going to speak about my business? If so, I am leaving. I have a busy day." Whitebeard nodded and decided to start the meeting, sure Ace had control.

The meeting went fine, and when it was over, he looked at Ace. "Ace, have you-" He didn't get to finish as Ace stood up. "Later! Busy day!" Then Ace was gone, and Whitebeard frowned. Ace didn't sound or look worried, which was good. Thatch looked at him. "Is he fine?" Whitebeard hummed. "Probably as he says, he has a busy day." They didn't see Ace for the next hours, before Whitebeard and some of his children headed on to the island to buy some things and look around.

As Whitebeard was in town, just to look around, and everyone was a bit on edge since the War Chief was gone still. Which was weird. As they had been in a shop and were now outside, there seemed to be someone muttering between themselves as they were looking towards the gate, and when he looked, he could see 2 people, one of which was carrying another person. When they came more into view, he saw it was Ace and someone else, the other person carrying someone. As they were walking, someone mentioned it looked like the War Chief and the mercenary. The mercenary meant Ace, but was he with the War Chief? Who hadn't even showed up to his sister's funeral. When they were closer, everyone said it was the war chief, who was carrying a female, and someone said it looked like his sister. How was that possible? She was dead.

When they were closer, a few ran up to help the War Chief with the body and then they headed to the castle, and they were curious what just happened, so they stayed outside. And as they did, the king came out with the War Chief and Ace, and the king got everyone's attention, before he started to speak. "Everyone! I am happy to say Ellie, our presumed to be dead War Hero, is alive!" Everyone cheered, and the king continued. "The one to thank for this miracle, is this mercenary, Ace The Raven Speaker!" Ace gave a small bow, and everyone cheered again. The king then said a few more words, before he headed back to his castle, and Ace shared a few words with the War Chief, before ace went off, probably to the next thing he needed to do. He needed to ask about this, how he made this possible.

As they were looking at things, they heard about a special merchant a bit away, which had some things that would fit them, so they headed there, and needed to walk up a steep cliff, barely enough space for him. When they got there, they bought what they needed, before they headed back to the town and looked around there more.

As they were walking toward the path down, as everyone needed to walk, seeing as they were at an island where no fruit worked, so Marco couldn't just have flown and bought the things for them. But as they were close to the edge, a voice behind him spoke. "Coming through!" That was Ace, and when he turned, he saw Ace running towards them. He was probably headed down too, as he couldn't just teleport around, and as Ace had said, he had a busy day. As Ace ran past them, and he was sure Ace would run down the path they had come, he could only stare in shock as Ace jumped over the cliff's edge, making many of them yell out and move hurriedly to the edge. And when he got there and saw Ace falling, he saw Ace turning around in the air and throwing a rope with a hook on it up and it hooked to the edge, and Ace repelled down, before he moved the rope so the hook came off, then Ace was off, running through the village.

Many of them were shocked, but Ace was obviously fine, so they headed down, looked through the town more, before they headed to the boat again. And when mealtime was, Ace came into the galley and when he sat down, he gave a breath. "I am beat. It is as Eivor said. No one has needed as much help before." Whitebeard nodded. "Are you done for today?" Ace shook his head. "No, I have 5 meetings left. I just need some food." He nodded, and Ace sat down and took some food. He then looked at Ace. "You shocked us when you jumped down the cliff." Ace shrugged. "I needed to get down fast." Thatch nodded. "Well, yeah, but how did you know that would work?" Ace hummed. "Done it many times, very easily done when you know how." That was probably true. Ace was a gifted person. "How did you find the War Chief's sister? She was dead." Ace hummed. "Had a hunch. So I checked the place she was found and trailed some trails to another place and found clues that the one they thought was her was not her, so I followed more trails with the War Chief, and we found her." If Ace had a hunch, it meant something was wrong as Ace was amazing in every way. All of them nodded, then they went back to their food and chatted.

As they were eating, Claus came with a note and said it was a small emergency on one of their islands, and that they maybe should head there next. It wasn't so serious as they needed to leave at once, but they should drop by maybe. A few did say they should go, and a few said it would turn out fine, so, while he was reading the note, he spoke. "What do you think, Ace?" When he didn't get an answer, he turned to Ace and saw he had leaned his elbow on the table, and his head resting on his hand, and was fast asleep. "Ace?" Ace gave a jolt. "I'm awake!"

Whitebeard frowned. "Maybe you should take a break." Ace shook his head. "I have 5 meetings today." Thatch blinked. "You legit just fell asleep at the table." Ace nodded. "Meaning I got a quick nap and is ready to go." Whitebeard blinked. "I don't think you should." Ace hummed. "And? You gonna stop me?" Whitebeard sighed. He couldn't stop Ace. Ace was much stronger than him. "I can't, but I don't think you should go." Ace shrugged. "I'm fine. I also should go." Ace then left, and when he was gone, Thatch gave a breath. "I miss Trevor." Whitebeard nodded, he did as well. He was sure Trevor would have stopped Ace somehow. That, and Trevor was a character of his own and was likable. He missed Mika as well. He hoped they would return soon.

But as the day progressed, some hours passed, Mika and Trevor came into the galley and Trevor gave a breath. "Finally back!" All of them smiled, giving a welcome back, and when the two sat down, he looked at them. "We've missed you." Trevor hummed. "I have a feeling that it is a mix of actually missing us and that Ace did something." Whitebeard sighed. "Ace was really busy and he was obviously tired too. He fell asleep at the table out of nowhere, then went back to working right after." Trevor nodded. "Sounds right. Why didn't you stop him?" Whitebeard gave a breath. "We can't stop him, he didn't want to listen, I tried." Trevor hummed. "Also sounds right. Where is he?" Whitebeard sighed. "Probably working." Trevor hummed again. "I'll go see if I can find him." Trevor then left, and Mika shook her head. "Ace is a workaholic at times." That was clear.

The weather outside then turned bad, so they stayed in the galley, and after two hours, Trevor came into the galley, and when he sat down, the captain looked at him. "Where is Ace?" Trevor hummed. "In bed, most likely. I took the last meeting for him." They all nodded and Marco stood up and headed out, probably to see how Ace is. Whitebeard looked at Trevor. "How was Ace?" Trevor hummed. "Tired. But okay. Been some long days for him." It probably had. Whitebeard looked at Trevor. "Ace also jumped down a cliff." Trevor chucked. "He repelled down?" The captain nodded and Trevor chuckled. "It is the fastest way down, and he is amazing at it." Everyone nodded, Thatch speaking. "Can you do it?" Trevor nodded. "Yeah, but I am a bit bad at the end, getting the hook to unhook the edge as it takes a special set of movements." That did make sense.

They then enjoyed the evening, before they went to set sail, and headed on.

-x-

It had been a few weeks, and as Ace was working and due to return any minute, Ace came into the galley and sighed. "I am so done." Trevor hummed. "Hard day?" Ace nodded as he sat down. "Yeah." Mika moved her bottle towards Ace. "Here, vodka." Ace smiled as he took the bottle and took a swig, and Haruta moved her hand a bit. "Why is it that every time you offer your bottle it is vodka?" Mika hummed. "'Cuz it is vodka, all the time. Always good to have." Haruta blinked. "You just walk around with vodka?" Mika nodded. "Yes, always smart. The reason I never leave it behind, so no one accidentally drinks it." Haruta nodded. "Can I taste it?" Mika nodded and Ace poured a small glass for her, and when she tasted, she moved a hand to her mouth. "How strong is that?!" Ace hummed. "86? Right?" Mika nodded and Haruta blinked. "But, we're not allowed to have that strong stuff!"

Mika blinked. "Wait. You're legit pirates, and you have an alcohol limit?" Haruta nodded. "Yes, but it is since we often drink a lot and we don't want to get poisoned." Mika gave a 'huh'. "Weird, you're weird. You're pirates and have a limit? Live your life! I've never gotten poisoned. And I've drank a lot. Sometimes I borrow Ace's which are 98% pure." Everyone blinked and looked at Ace, who nodded. "I have that." Izou moved his hand. "That's dangerous!" Ace shrugged. "I can't get poisoned. My fruit keeps it from it. I can get drunk, but nothing more."

All of them nodded. That did make sense and he had seen Ace drinking a lot, and Trevor had said Ace wouldn't get poisoned. Everyone then looked at him, and he nodded. "I knew about it, and I've allowed it. They have control." Whitebeard did know they had control, not like his other children who often forgot how much they drank. He was sure the assassins had full control. He knew his children wouldn't be completely okay with this, as he had rules for a reason, but he trusted the assassins, and it was as Mika said, she never left the bottle behind. He would think about this for a bit and see if he would do anything or not, if he should let the assassins keep this strength. But he also remembers what Trevor said all that time ago. Take away the booze, and they would most likely kill themselves.

And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed it

This was just some small things and hope it turned out good. I also know there is someone with the same powers I gave Kristian, but I didn't like that guy, so I made a new one

This story is also not finished, my main things are done and now there are just ideas left, and if anyone wants some scenes to happen and I can make those

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!

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