Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!
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Whitebeard sat in the meeting room as they were in a meeting with Lionel, speaking about the island Lionel controlled and if they could become acquaintances and could restock. It was a large island and it would benefit them as Lionel controlled some here and there. They had set sail from the island Alex and Sandra were on last week, and Thatch had been with them a bit, seeming glad to see them again and that they had left that life as well. They would try and visit it again. They had also managed to restock some, which was good.
But as they were speaking in the meeting, he did notice Lionel coming with some views he didn't agree on, like dating someone who were the same gender was wrong, or females being in power was wrong, sending some looks at Mika and Haruta. And it seemed, for some reason, to anger Ace a lot today, who spoke against it, which seemed to anger Lionel, who gave a small growl as he looked at Ace. "And who are you! A cocksucking faggot!" Whitebeard felt shocked, and was on his way to speak.
But before he could, Ace stood up as he spoke in a forceful way. "You are not welcomed here!" Lionel rolled his eyes. "You are not the boss here!" This was quickly getting out of hand, and as Ace was on his way to speak, Whitebeard made a decision and looked at Ace. "Ace," That got his attention, before the captain spoke again. "Go to my room and wait for me." Ace blinked, on his way to speak when Whitebeard added what he hoped would work. "That's an order." Ace took a deep breath, before he looked at Lionel, and the captain expected Ace to start arguing again, when Ace nodded and left, heading out the door and away. That actually worked.
Thatch blinked. "I can't believe he left. He seemed so mad!" Trevor hummed. "He respects authority, Whitebeard is the captain, Ace is the commander, Whitebeard is higher, therefore when he gives an order, Ace will try to follow it." Made sense, and was what he had hoped for as well. Lionel looked at him. "You should get a better grip on your commander, Newgate. He is clearly out of control!" Whitebeard gave a glare to Lionel. "I agree with Ace, you are not welcomed here after how you have acted and what you have said." Lionel growled. "This is a mistake! I am powerful!" Whitebeard shook his head. "On my boat, you're not. Leave, or I will force you off." Lionel gave a growl, before he left, grumbling.
As he was gone, Whitebeard gave a breath, feeling bad for not stopping it earlier as Ace had really gotten man, which he got. As he stood up to head to Ace, Trevor spoke. "Also, Ace got pissed for some reason, want me to join? Or Marco? He usually doesn't get so annoyed." That was what Whitebeard felt too, that Ace didn't usually get so mad by things like this. Whitebeard thought it over, before he looked at Marco. "You want to join, son?" Marco nodded and stood up, and Trevor nodded as well, staying seated. Then he and Marco went to his room, where Ace was, standing by the window which he had opened and seemed to be trying to calm down by taking deep breaths.
As they came inside, Ace did send a look at them, before he went back to breathing, and Whitebeard spoke. "I am sorry for giving an order. But it was getting out of hand. I-" Ace shook his head. "No, it is okay, I get it. It was. And I just…" Ace sighed. "I don't know. I feel so angry! And I don't know why!" Whitebeard didn't know why either and Ace had been fine before. Marco gave a hum and walked over to Ace and moved a hand to his back. "Hey, it's fine. We all have off days, yoi." Ace sighed, moving his elbows to rest on the window frame and moved his head to his hands. "I don't know. I just… feel so mad, and warm. And I don't like it."
Marco frowned and moved his hand to Ace's forehead. "You are a bit warm, yoi." Ace gave a breath. "I swear, if I get sick now, people will die." Marco chuckled. "Or maybe you are a bit warm since you are angry, that happens. Want a hug, yoi?" Ace gave a breath. "Maybe." Marco chuckled and moved to hug Ace, who gave a breath as Marco did, seeming to enjoy it. After a minute, Ace gave another breath. "That helped I feel. But I still feel angry!" Marco chuckled. "But as long as it helped some, yoi." Ace nodded. "It did, really. I think I need to go kill some people now. Maybe go and punch Lionel." Marco nodded. "You go do that, yoi. Punch him extra hard from me." Ace smiled. "Oh, I will." Then they shared a kiss.
Ace then looked at him. "I am sorry for getting so angry." Whitebeard shook his head. "No, you had every right to. I am sorry for giving a command like that, but I didn't want it to get out of hand." Ace nodded. "I get it. Now, I will leave and kill some people. And then punch Lionel." Whitebeard and Marco nodded, Whitebeard saying it was fine, to go and do that. Ace did say he would be back in a few hours, which was fine. Then he and Marco went to the meeting room again and said things were fine, when Thatch asked how Ace was, Marco hummed. "He is okay, murdering some people now." Trevor hummed. "Not surprised. Wonder why he got so mad. Things usually don't get under his skin."
Marco sighed. "Ace didn't know himself, but he was a bit warm." Trevor blinked. "Well, that would explain it. Sometimes, when you have a very slight fever, you just get… annoyed." Thatch blinked. "That is true. I remember Izou snapped at me on time." Izou chuckled. "You breathed too hard. I was stressed and made myself get a slight fever." Trevor blinked. "Maybe Ace is stressed? If yes, I wonder why." Whitebeard did as well. He would try and keep an eye out on Ace. When Ace returned 3 hours later, he seemed like himself again, and the first thing Trevor did was to touch his forehead, and hummed. "You're not warm. Good. Are you stressed?" Ace blinked. "Stressed? What?"
Trevor hummed. "So not stressed?" Ace blinked. "Why would I be stressed?" Trevor shrugged. "I dunno. Just checking. Feeling better?" Ace nodded. "Yeah, I do. Helped to murder some people and I punched Lionel, hard. Broke his nose and jaw, I am sure of it." Trevor laughed. "Nice!" Then Trevor and Ace high fived. And Lionel sure deserved it. Then the days went on and Ace seemed fine. It was probably just an off day for him.
-x-
Ace hummed as he sat in the galley, being a calm day, being lunch now. As he was enjoying the food, he felt someone burn a feather to Dust, before Dust appeared to see Rayleigh, who uttered some words which had Ace freeze. Luffy had been kidnapped. So Ace disappeared, and he did hear someone saying his name before he left, but he didn't care, he needed to be sure he heard right. When he appeared, he saw a lot of destruction and an injured Rayleigh, and Ace spoke. "What happened!" Rayleigh gave a breath, holding an ice bag to his shoulder. "Saint Charlos took Luffy." Ace felt his ears ringing. "W-what?" Why would Saint Charlos do that! Why would a world noble come after Luffy?
Rayleigh gave a breath. "Apparently, Luffy punched Saint Charlos a bit ago, and he found out where Luffy was and came for him. I am so sorry, I tried to stop him." Ace didn't know what to do or think, but he needed to get Luffy back! He was about to leave, when Rayleigh spoke. "You can't just barge in there, you need a plan. He can be on his boat or in a safe house, he doesn't know you're an assassin I think, but he knows you are with the Whitebeards." Ace blinked. "That's it. That's what I need to do." Rayleigh blinked. "What?" Ace shook his head a bit. "He thinks I am far away with the pirates. I need to show up with them, freak him out. He can't take on a Yonko. I need to find out where he is and then charge, with them." Rayleigh nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Want me to join?" Ace shook his head. "No, that might throw him off. Just us. I need to update them." And Ace left before Rayleigh could speak.
When he appeared out on deck, he went to the galley and said he needed the captain and the commanders in the galley, now. They quickly complied as Ace's tone was sharp and not up for discussion. And when there, Ace updated them, that Luffy was taken by Saint Charlos, and they needed to get him. Everyone agreed, and Ace started to search on where he was, and he soon found out he was at a safehouse on an island not that far from where Luffy had been, so they all got ready. Ace also knew this safehouse some, it had seastone in the walls he knew, from when Moira had been there once. So they all went, Ace taking the others, the others being Whitebeard, as he was the most threatening, Marco, Izou, Thatch, Curiel, Jozu, Blenheim, and Namur. Trevor and Mika also joined as they were known as a part of them. Had Ace been thinking more clearly, he would have clued in The Red Cloud, but he just needed to get Luffy back now.
So, he sent Whitebeard first, to say a speech by the entrance, one chance of going this peacefully. Which was a lie, Saint Charlos would die no matter what. Screw this peace offering. Saint Charlos would die. But as he was doing the speech, using his booming voice, he heard a small sound and looked down to see small things coming up from the ground, before a hissing noise, and he knew it was a sort of gas, and held his breath. He couldn't warn the others, he needed to act, and started to run towards the safehouse, or more like a mansion. He saw Mika and Trevor doing the same. But then he felt something in his neck and moved a hand to see a dart, and Ace quickly felt dizzy, before he passed out. barely seeing Mika and Trevor also passing out.
-x-
Whitebeard felt himself waking up and saw he was in a cell, and then he remembered what had happened. Everyone else was still out and Whitebeard quickly felt he had no powers and felt weaker than normal, but Ace had said this place had seastone in the walls. He did look to see if everyone was fine, but didn't see Ace, before he saw Ace chained outside of the cage, chained by his hand to the wall. He did try and look for a way out, but he couldn't see one. Then the others started to wake, and they tried to find a way out. Mika and Trevor had not come to yet, which was odd he felt. When they were all awake, beside the assassins, the door opened and Saint Charlos came in, with him was Luffy, and he had on a collar with a rope, most likely seastone.
When luffy saw them, especially Ace, who was still out, he tried to run to him, but Saint Charlos dragged the rope and kept him from him as he spoke. "I just needed to show my new pet how powerful I am. I won't kill him, not just yet. And I will soon come and get you as well. Enjoy this." Then Saint Charlos left, dragging Luffy after him who fought and yelled a bit. They needed to get out, and fast. Izou did start to work on the lock, but didn't make much progress.
Then, he heard a groan and Ace was waking up, moving a hand to his face as he sat up, before he tried to move his other hand but found it cuffed to the wall. Ace then started to check the cuff out as Izou spoke. "It's a tough one. But we're working on a plan to get us loose." Ace looked at Izou and nodded. "Okay. Is everyone okay? Has anyone seen Luffy or heard him?" Whitebeard gave a sigh. "We're okay, no one is injured. He was here, but Saint Charlos took him away again. He did say he wouldn't kill him though." Ace looked shocked, before he looked around, probably for a way to escape, but there was none. This was well thought out. Their safest bet was to open this cell, and Izou was making progress slowly.
He turned to look towards Ace as he heard something shatter and saw Ace had moved to kick a window a bit away, barely reaching it with his foot, sending some glass shards flying, and that had Haruta blink. "No one is here, you can't scream for help." Ace didn't answer as he stretched as long as he was to grab a glass shard, one of the larger ones. Ace then moved the shard to the floor and broke it as it got a pointy end. That made Izou blink. "Ace, you can't pick this with glass, it will break." That was true, glass wasn't that strong. Ace didn't answer as he moved a bit away from the wall and stretched his cuffed arm out, looking at the cuff and he thought that maybe Ace would try and cut the chain with the glass, but that wouldn't work either. Seastone was tougher than glass.
Ace then took a deep breath and lifted the hand which had the glass shard up, before using all his force and and moved his hand down. And he was sure the glass would just break when it hit the cuff. But then he felt horror filled him as Ace stabbed the glass shard as hard as he could into his elbow. Did Ace miss? But then Ace lifted the glass shard again, before he once again stabbed it as hard as he could into his elbow, and that was when Whitebeard got it. Ace was going to cut off his arm.
They all started to yell for Ace to just stop, to please stop. But Ace didn't seem to listen as he continued to stab his elbow again and again, making blood flow down his arm and to the floor, making a pool of blood. Ace didn't even utter a single sound as he stabbed his elbow over and over, having a determined look. After stabbing about 15 times, his elbow was a mess of stab wounds and blood, and they were still screaming for him to stop, Izou trying all his might to hurry up. But when Ace went to stab again, the glass shard broke, which he felt was good as Ace couldn't stab himself more.
But then, Ace dropped the broken shard he held, moved that hand to his arm, a bit below his shoulder, took a breath, before he used his entire body to lurch backwards and pull his arm backwards. And with an audible pop, the joint and muscles and tendons got pulled from each other and Ace was free. Ace made a small sound of pain, his face wincing a bit as that must have hurt so bad, before Ace moved his one hand to the floor and got up, before he ran out the door.
They then heard some commotion, they all did their best to help Izou get the lock up, but they didn't manage. But then Mika and Trevor woke up and helped them, especially after seeing the arm on the ground and hearing what had happened, and they soon got the cage door up and then they all ran out to find Ace and Luffy.
It wasn't hard to follow Ace's trail, as there was blood spatter from where he had gone, as well as a few bodies lying here and there, a mix of unconscious and dead. But then, he felt a surge of conqueror's haki, which had them all move to a knee, before they got up and headed on, still feeling the Haki, but it was weaker now, but had knocked out everyone of the enemy out it looked like, as they weren't strong.
They then followed the blood trail fast, before they got to a large room, where they found Luffy and Ace. Luffy was holding onto Ace's shirt and crying into his chest, his upper body bare and he saw the back of Luffy and saw he had a clear brand on his back, which was the World Nobles mark. And it wasn't like the brand Luffy had from before, which was half done, this was a fully visible brand. Ace had his hand on Luffy's head, saying it would be okay, he was safe now. And as they moved into the room, he saw Saint Charlos lying dead, or soon to be dead, with a sword through his chest. He didn't pay him much mind, more concerned about Ace.
They then ran over to Ace and Luffy, and as they got closer, he felt the conqueror's was coming from Luffy, but he would take that later and looked at Ace, and he saw Ace's eyes were half open and his breath coming out in puffs, his skin looked clammy and his entire shape was shaking, and his skin was pale. This was all due to the blood loss most likely. Ace was also muttering soft words like "it will be okay" and 'you're safe", most likely for Luffy. At first, Whitebeard was about to just lift Ace, going to try and find help. It had to be a miracle he was even upright still. But Curiel moved first and grabbed Izou's obi and ripped it to be thinner, before he moved to Ace's left side and tied it tight around his arm to hopefully slow down the bleeding. Ace didn't even react to it at all, which seemed to worry Curiel.
Luffy was still crying and Curiel moved a hand to make him take a step back, but he still held onto Ace's shirt, which had Curiel move a hand to Luffy's hand as he spoke seriously but calmly. "Ace is hurt, Luffy. Go to Izou." Luffy looked up and it seemed he first now noticed Ace's state and that he was missing his left arm from the elbow down and it was bleeding badly. Luffy looked shocked and horrified at Ace, before Curiel pushed him a bit towards Izou and Luffy looked at Izou, who opened his arms and Luffy instantly went into them and cried, now both because of what had happened to him and that he was worried for Ace.
But as Luffy moved away, the hand that Ace had had on Luffy's head was still where it had been, it didn't even seem like Ace was able to even comprehend Luffy was no longer holding onto his shirt, and his hand shook so bad in the air. He looked back at his eyes, his pupils shaking and eyes seemed glazed over. Ace had lost so much blood. How was he even standing?
Ace kept muttering it would be okay, Luffy was safe. Ace didn't even seem to notice they were here. This couldn't be good. Curiel then moved his hand to Ace's shaking one. "Ace, Luffy is safe. Relax." It took a second, but Ace's eyes shakily shifted to look at Curiel, who nodded, and that made Ace swallow, before his eyes closed and he fell unconscious, but Curiel caught him before he hit the floor. Curiel then lifted Ace, before he looked at them. "Find the key to the chain and recover Ace's arm." He said as he started to leave hurriedly. He felt confused by that, when Haruta spoke as she started to search. "We need to hurry! So they can reattach the arm!" Ah, that was why Curel said to get the arm, so they could reattach it. But then, the door opened and they all got ready, when he blinked when Moira came through the door, some other with her and she said Rayleigh had called her, that was good, now they had a way off the island. She was quickly updated on the situation, and took Ace and Curiel away right away, as well as Luffy, and would come back for them quickly.
As Ace was getting help as they would head to Bay, they then started to search, and when they searched the world Noble himself, they found out he was alive. At first, Whitebeard wanted to stomp his head in, but that would be too good for him, then he got an idea and looked at Trevor. "Trevor. Why don't you handle this guy? Do what you want." Trevor blinked. "Free reigns? You're giving me free reign?" Whitebeard nodded. "I am, yes. I want him to suffer." Trevor blinked, before he moved his hands together and gave a small bow to him. "Thank you." Whitebeard nodded and gave a small smile to Trevor, and he knew this World Noble would suffer.
They then found the key to the chains and got Ace's arm, and Haruta took the arm before she ran out to Moira to get it to Bay. They then searched the mansion, taking out everyone and looting, before they went to the boat again with Moira's help and let the assassins handle the mansion. He then waited out a bit, for about an hour, before he headed to the infirmary to check on Ace. He might be in surgery, but he would just check with a nurse on how bad it was.
When he walked in, he saw the bed Ace was in, as he was now the only one here and the curtain was half drawn, and went there. When he got around the curtain, he saw Ace still unconscious in the bed, hooked up to 3 blood bags, and he looked to be in a better state now. His skin had a normal color and he breathed fine. And next to his bed on Ace's right side, sat Luffy in a chair, hand holding Ace's and head resting on the bed and seemingly asleep.
But what had him shocked, was how his left arm was still missing from the elbow down, and was banaged. Why hadn't Bay started to reattach it? Waiting was bad, he knew that. He then looked to his left and saw Bay coming out from the storage room and headed over to Ace and changed a blood bag which was empty he now saw, he spoke as Bay was done. "Why haven't you reattached his arm?" Bay sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, the arm was not salvageable." Whitebeard blinked. "Weren't we fast enough?" Bay sighed again. "No, the arm was still alive, but he didn't cut it off. He used a glass shard to stab it repeatedly, meaning it isn't a clean cut, it is a mass of flesh wounds and massive damage. I can't even make it a clean cut by removing the barely hanging flesh, since that would remove too much of the muscle and flesh. But even if that was doable, not only did he stab it, he ripped the joins, the tendons, the muscles, and the ligaments apart. I may be a skilled doctor, but no matter if I was a master doctor, no one can salvage this. I'm sorry, the arm can not be reattached."
Whitebeard felt shocked. They couldn't salvage Ace's arm? That wasn't good. Both he and Bay looked to the bed when a small voice spoke. "It can't be fixed?" Said Luffy in a small voice as he lifted his head. Whitebeard had been sure he was asleep. And Luffy had tear tracks on his cheeks, looking sad. Bay gave a breath. "No, we can't. I'm sorry." Luffy looked horrified and guilty, before he moved his head to Ace's chest as he sobbed. Whitebeard felt with Luffy. Ace had lost his arm in saving him. He did his best to comfort Luffy, but it didn't seem to work. Luffy sobbed for a while, before he stopped, but still had his head on Ace's chest. Whitebeard had gotten a chair to sit down and hoped Ace would wake soon. Bay said he should.
Then after half an hour, he heard a small groan from the bed as Ace moved his hand to his head as he woke, before he blinked and looked down to see Luffy there, and smiled as he moved his hand to Luffy's head. But as soon as Ace did, Luffy started to shake his head, before he started to say he was sorry. It had Ace blink. "Why are you sorry, Lu?" Luffy still shook his head. "Y-your arm! I'm sorry!" Ace blinked, before he looked at his left arm, before he looked back at Luffy with a smile. "Hey, Lu," That made Luffy lift his head and Ace moved his head to be against Luffy's. "It's fine. It's just an arm. I have another one."
Luffy blinked. "But… your arm…" Ace shook his head. "No, it's fine. It's just an arm. Are you okay? How does your back feel?" Luffy still looked guilty and sad as he nodded. "I'm okay… a bit tender, but fine." Ace nodded. "That is good. That's all that matters." Luffy shook his head a bit. "But your arm…" Ace shook his head. "No, it's fine. It's gone now. We can't change that. What's lost is lost." Luffy nodded slowly. "Okay…" Ace smiled "Don't be sad, okay?" Luffy nodded a bit. "I will try…" Ace nodded. "Good. Are you sure you're fine?" Luffy nodded and that made Ace smile.
Ace took this very calmly. At first, he was sure it was to not make Luffy feel guilty about it. But there was something that made him feel Ace was at total peace with this, with having lost his arm. He didn't seem to care that he had lost his arm at all. It might be all a play, but he felt it wasn't. Whitebeard needed to ask one thing. "Can you regrow it?" Ace sighed. "I've never regrown something that large, and to be honest, I don't think I can. Fingers and toes go okay since they are small." Ace then smiled at Luffy and caressed his cheek with his hand. "But I don't care, since you are okay. I don't care about anything else." He saw tears in Luffy's eyes, before he moved and hugged Ace, and Ace hugged back with his arm as Luffy started to sob, Ace doing his best to comfort him. Ace just sacrificed his arm to get to Luffy quicker. This would be a huge adjustment for Ace, for everyone.
And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed!
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