Ace was pulled out of a shallow sleep by the sound of his cell door being slammed open. Fear and dread curled in his stomach; this wasn't normal; he had already been watered today, and Sabo had been hooked up to an IV to make sure he didn't die of dehydration, much to the ire of the pirate who had inserted it. If sticking to the strange routine the pirates had been following, it was too soon for them to return.

Ace felt his mouth go dry and had to stop himself from shaking when he walked Marco The Phoenix, whose eyes were filled with disgust and smile-promised pain.

"Vacation is over, puppy; it's time to get to business."

. . .

Marco almost pitied the kid being dragged to the interrogation room. His shoulders had been under immense stress in the past days, and the muscles had probably spasmed so hard that it would be abhorrently painful to touch them, let alone be dragged out by them. Marco wouldn't have been surprised if they were dislocated by now.

But as soon as that flash of pity came, Whitebay's voice flashed in his mind; Strychnine and every ounce of pity turned to grim satisfaction.

Marco's eyes flicked to the other Marine, who was still unconscious. They agreed to insert an IV to keep the dog alive until he could be tortured and wrung for all possible knowledge before dealing with them.

Just as he turned around to meet Izo, Kato, and Jozu and begin his questioning, he heard a groan and murmur from the other Marine.

"Ace.. Lu is sick.. gotta get meds." Marco froze at the soft, desperate mummer as the other Marine seemed to slip back into unconsciousness.

. . .

Ace must have blacked out from pain. He chastised himself as he looked around this new room. He was cuffed to a metal chair, and they also added a seastone collar around his neck. That meant the bindings in his cell were made of seastone; he filed the information away for later use. He hoped they didn't collar Luffy. Luffy did not do well with collars.

He was alone in this empty room, save for his bindings and a wooden table with two empty chairs in front of him. Before he could do anything, the door swung open, and in walked three very familiar but different from their wanted posters pirates: Izo, Marco, and Jozu. He was fucked.

But he did not let himself panic; he could not let himself panic. The door opened again, and a pirate Ace did not recognize stepped into the room and sat across from him. Marco took the other seat, and Jozu stood in front of the door, looking at him as if daring him to make an escape.

But what disturbed him the most was Izo, ghosting across the room to right behind his back, out of his line of sight. Silence rang across the room like the calm before the storm.

He felt a manicured hand land on his shoulder, and he jumped out of his skin, jerking against his bindings; laughter rang out from the pirates.

"Aren't you a jumpy puppy?" said Marco with a smirk; he felt himself turn red. Shame creeping in; Akainu was right; he was just a worthless piece of scum if he was letting pirates see his weakness like this.

He had to stop himself from growling; he would not give the Whitebeards the pleasure of seeing him break.

"Marco, brother dearest, we shouldn't toy with the pup. He hasn't proven to be a bad dog yet," Izo said, gripping his shoulder tighter. He yelped at the squeeze, pain searing down his shoulder, making him dizzy.

"I suppose," drawled Whitebeard's first mate.

"Don't you want to be good for us, puppy? It will hurt so much less. All you have to do is answer our questions," Izo said, sliding his hand up his shoulder before grabbing his chin and tilting it up.

"Not your fucking puppy. "Ace's mouth moves before he can stop himself, and the next thing he knew, he was slapped across the face, and he felt blood trickling down his nose.

Marco scoffed before saying, "How uncivilized, but I should know by now that all Marines are feral dogs."

Suddenly, Ace felt all his fear, worry, and pain turn into white-hot burning rage, and he did something incredibly stupid. He spits in Marco the fucking Phoenix's eye.

He thinks even Akainu wouldn't cause him much trouble in doing so.