Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!
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Whitebeard hummed as he sat in his chair out on deck. The last weeks were calm, and nothing major happened. They had had a couple fights with enemy crews and some marines, but that was it, and it had gone well. No major injuries. Which was good. The day also went by fine, but as they were eating dinner in the galley, Trevor came into the galley as he had been doing something. "Hey, Ace, I need you to listen to this." Whitebeard frowned, sure this was something serious as Trevor used Ace's name and not bunny. Ace looked at Trevor, who was holding a Den Den. "What is it?" Trevor sighed and sat down and let the Den Den speak, and when it did, he had to frown. He didn't get one word, it was like gibberish. But it had Ace move his head down to the table and groaned. Trevor sighed. "Is it right?"
Ace moved his head up and moved a hand to it. "Yes. But please, not now. Maybe in a month's time, but not now." Whitebeard frowned more as Ace sounded genuinely upset. "What is it?" Ace sighted and spoke in unison with Trevor. "War declaration." Whitebeard blinked, that didn't sound good. "Against who?" Ace sighed. "Us. No wait, not us us, but me and those with me. Basically, the assassins. They are saying both the Red Cloud and me specifically." That really wasn't good. Whitebeard shook his head a bit. "If it is against you, it is against us too." Ace gave a sound, moving his hand to his head, before he listened to the Den Den again, who repeated itself, before he moved his hand down, banging on the table. "But this doesn't make sense! They have no army! When I was there 5 months ago, they were very compliant. Why go to war against us now?" Trevor gave a nod. "That's why I needed you to hear, as it actually doesn't make sense." That also didn't sound good.
Trevor looked at Ace. "What do we do?" Ace sighed. "Get ready I assume. God damn! I am not in the mood for a war right now!" Trevor snorted. "Are you ever?" Ace hummed. "Neh, but still, this isn't good. I need to speak with Moira, see if she has heard." Ace then stood up and left, in a somewhat haste. And as Ace was leaving, he looked at Trevor. "What do we do?" Trevor sighed. "Are you sure you want to stand with us in this? Before you answer, if you do, people will know. The marines will know, the enemy will know, other pirates will know. And believe me, no one will like it." Whitebeard shook his head. "I don't care what others say. We're a family." Trevor nodded. "That means a lot." Whitebeard shook his head. "No, as I said, we're a family, I will always stand with my family." Trevor nodded and gave a smile, and he hoped this would go fine. He had never really been in a real war before.
Ace then got back after a bit, and when Trevor asked how it had gone, Ace nodded as he sat down. "I just answered the call, said we were ready. Moira is gathering everyone now." That was good, they needed to get ready. Ace then said to do their best to relax for now, as this could take time, wars took time. Ace did say to not tell everyone just yet, just the commanders and him, and he agreed, he didn't want to worry everyone. Ace did also say, that when they would tell everyone, to give them the choice to either join or not, to not force them. And that was probably smart, but he had a feeling everyone here would stand by Ace.
They then went by the day normally, and after an hour, Claus came to the deck with a Den Den, and looked at him. "Pops, Shanks is calling." Whitebeard nodded and took the Den Den. "What is it, Shanks?" The Den Den sighed. "Just, a warning." Shanks sounded serious, which was rare. Whitebeard nodded, sure this was about the war declaration. "What kind of warning?" The Den Den gave a breath. "Don't fight with Ace. This is not your war. It is his and theirs, but not yours. If you do, it will have consequences, and none good." Whitebeard felt himself looking at the Den Den sternly. "I don't care who's war it is, but if one of my children is involved, it is my war too. I don't care what others think." The Den Den sighed, but nodded. "Don't say you weren't warned." Whitebeard shook his head. "I don't care, this is my family's war too. Goodbye, Shanks." He didn't wait for a response and hung up, when he had, Thatch spoke. "Did… did he really just say that?!" The captain nodded. "He did." Whitebeard wasn't happy with Shanks right now, that he would say that. He would always support Ace in his work, and it was clear Shanks didn't do that.
When he saw Ace some minutes later, he told what Shanks had said, and Ace nodded. "Yeah, I expected that." Whitebeard nodded. "I would have thought he would have stood with Benn, who is Daisuke's brother." Ace sighed. "Shanks doesn't want to get in too deep in this. He is, and wants to be, a gray zone. Nothing more." Whitebeard nodded, that made sense. "Will Benn join?" Ace moved his hands a bit. "Who knows. Maybe, but I have a feeling it is a no. He is done with this life." Whitebeard nodded, that also made sense. The next hours went by fine, and they then met in the meeting room to discuss what to say to everyone.
As they were talking, Claus came into the meeting room, not even knocking, looking out of breath. "Commander Ace, there is a Mort King calling. He says it is a matter of life and death." That really didn't sound good. When the name was mentioned, Ace looked stern, before Ace just stood up and left, seeming to be in work mode again. As Ace was gone, Claus followed slowly, probably so Ace would have time to speak to this person. And as the door closed, he looked at Trevor. "Who is this?" Trevor sighed. "The guy leading the ones we're up against. This can't be good." Whitebeard blinked. "Why is he calling? Why call?" Trevor moved his hands up. "Beats me. Hopefully nothing bad, but I believe it will be bad." It sounded bad. Izou then frowned. "But if we're up against them, a war, why would he ca-!" Izou stopped and blinked, and he felt himself blink too as a feeling of dread washed over them, as if independent doom was happening. "What is happening!" Asked Haruta, and Whitebeard had no idea and it looked like all of them were affected, beside Trevor and Mika. Maybe the call was a distraction? Trevor hummed. "Ace is mad. Very very mad. He is yelling at someone, this is how that feels when he is mad." Whitebeard blinked. He had never felt this, but Ace had never been this mad around them.
Trevor hummed. "I just wonder why he is so mad." Whitebeard did too. Trevor then stood up. "Imma head and see why he is so mad." Haruta blinked. "You're going to face this feeling?" Trevor nodded. "Sure. As long as it is not me who is in the wrong, I don't really care much." That he got, he had felt this beside and been at the end of that anger. Whitebeard decided he was curious too and stood up and walked with Trevor. The feeling of dread got a bit better, but still there as they walked, before they got to the door to the media room, Claus on the outside of it, looking scared, which he got. Trevor then opened the door and Ace sat by a desk, hands in fists and head resting on them, elbow at the desk. Ace looked mad. "So," Started Trevor. "What's up? He retreated as we said we are serious?" Ace shook his head. "No, worse. It was a mistake." Trevor frowned. "What? Mistake? He accidentally declared war? Nope, don't believe it." Ace nodded. "Apparently, they said it as a joke, some guy took it seriously and made the call, when we answered it, they freaked out and had no idea why, before he just confessed it. He got killed though. But yeah, a mistake." Ace sighed. "I wished I could channel all this anger through the Den Den." Whitebeard agreed with that, and was about to speak when Ace did, standing up. "I am going to go see them. Yes, I am going to see them. And say that if they ever do this again, I will not care if it was a mistake or an accident. We will go to war against them. They can not do this!"
Whitebeard blinked, same with Trevor, who spoke. "You sure?" Ace nodded. "Yes, I am. You call Moira and call this off, while I go to a stupid meeting with a stupid guy." Ace was then gone in black smoke. Trevor hummed. "Ace is a bit annoyed, understandably, so they will probably never do anything like this again as Ace is still scary." That was true. He then went back to the meeting room, while Trevor called Moira, and when he got there, he looked at everyone. "The war is off." Mika blinked. "Wait, what? How is a war just off?" The captain hummed. "Apparently, it was a mistake. Ace is speaking with them, while Trevor is speaking with Moira." Mika gave a 'huh'. "That's a new one." Whitebeard nodded, it was a weird thing. Curiel frowned. "So, that's it? Nothing is going to happen?" Mika looked at him. "Ace went to speak with them?" He nodded, which made Mika hum. "I think it depends on how they act. If they don't act nice, maybe a war will still happen." That made sense. He did hope a war wouldn't happen, but he could only wait and see.
Trevor did come back first, and said that Moira wasn't happy either, as it had all been a mistake and they were ready. He got that, they had been ready too, but he was glad it was off. Ace then returned half an hour later and gave a sigh as he sat down. "They were so scared to see me, they basically threw themselves on the ground. They promised to never do this again. And I did say that if they do this again, that we won't care if it was a mistake." Trevor nodded. "Good. Moira is mad." Ace nodded. "I'm mad." Trevor nodded. "And you have every right to be." Ace rolled his eyes. "As I've said before, I don't need your approval to be mad." Trevor chuckled. "I know, but this time, you got it. You want to go on a small killing spree?" Ace nodded. "I will, Moira is picking a place I can go to." Trevor nodded. "Nice."
Ace nodded, before he went a minute later to go on a small killing spree to let out some steam. When Ace came back, he seemed like himself. Then the days went on, and they got an invite for a meeting with an island who were known to have power around and they could use this deal he felt. But something also felt off with it, and the others agreed and would be on the alert as well, and Ace would also join them. It was by a calm area, so it should be fine to leave, and Trevor and Mika would help watch the boat, and he trusted his children would manage.
-x-
Marco hummed as they walked to the meeting they would have with this island. They hadn't been here before, but they wanted to see what they had to say. It was a bit of a small walk, and there were some of the commanders and Pops, going to this meeting. It was a calm place, so it wasn't that dangerous for so many of them to leave, and he trusted his family that they could manage this. They were all strong. And no one was close by that they knew about and Ace had said it should go fine.
But as they walked, they soon met a group that at first seemed nice, going to lead them to a place, but he saw Ace acting a bit off and when Ace sent him a looking and shook his head a small bit, and Marco got he meant they weren't good ones maybe, and to be on the lookout. As they had walked for maybe half a minute, they turned on them and started a fight, and more soon came, before what he believed to be a small bomb was thrown, but smoke came from it, and then it wasn't long before Marco felt dizzy as he breathed in the fumes, and they all fell as the enemy had on gas mask he now saw. He did half manage to see Ace fighting a bit, but he seemed to be getting dizzy as well.
-x-
Whitebeard blinked his eyes open, and saw he was in a cell and tried to stand up, but noticed he had on cuffs and they were seastone and he felt weak. He did see some others awake and looked around, but while he saw almost everyone, he didn't see Ace. Marco then spoke. "They took Ace, he woke up first. Said something about wanting information, yoi." Whitebeard nodded that wasn't good. They needed to get out. Izou also was awake and was trying his best to open the cuffs he was in, but also had to stop when the guards passed their cell, which was often. Then, he heard a yell of pain, and it was from Ace. He was about to yell to release them, when Marco spoke in a low voice. "He's okay. He added a small pitch, Ace has said, when he does that, he is okay." And Whitebeard would do his best to believe that.
He did hear Ace screaming some more, before a man came to their cell and spoke. "Your little friend will spill. Or you will. And when you do, we will win." Then he left laughing, and Whitebeard didn't like this at all. Then he saw some people leaving the room Ace was in, before it was silent for a small bit, then 3 guys walked into the room again, and for some reason, the captain got a bad feeling.
-x-
Ace looked up at his chains he was chained with, trying to get loose from them. He was chained to high up on the wall, hanging by his hands over his head. They were high end, he looked at the door when it opened and saw 3 men coming into the room, and Ace looked at them. "Round two as well? What information do you want?" They had been here for a bit now, and most knew Ace had information by now, even if they didn't believe he was an assassin or informant, they knew he was the son of Roger from what he had heard, or think to half believe it, and thought he knew where One Piece was, or something like that. And they had seen his back, so they knew he was someone special.
The first man looked at him. "We will just have some fun right now. We know you know something." Then the second man took out a whip and readied it by doing one whip, before the first whip was given to his chest, and while it stung, it wasn't that bad, but he couldn't let them know that, and gave out a yell of pain, more fake than real. It had the third guy, which he recognized from earlier, the first round, smirk. "Hear that voice, he is perfect. We will get one hefty sum for him, and the rest as well." Okay, now Ace was the one getting information. They were going to sell them on the market, and those they couldn't sell, would most likely be given to the marines. But most would most likely be sold as they were Whitebeard pirates.
Then they went on with some basic torturing, Ace screaming with each one, more a play than actual screaming, being sure to add a small pitch, as Marco knew that meant he was okay, he had control. After some minutes, the door opened and a man stood there, who had on some other type of jacket, most likely one higher up, and looked at them. "Hey! You can't be too loud right now!" The first guy looked at him. "Sorry, sir. But he is close to spilling." The higher up one gave a look as he thought for a second, before he spoke. "Then figure out a way to keep it down! Do what you can! He will be shipped off tomorrow, we have a buyer, who will be on the line soon." The second guy nodded and walked towards him. "We will, sir. We promise. We will do more silent torture, promise." The higher up by the door nodded. "Good! Now, you got an hour, then I will be back, you got me?" All 3 nodded, then the door closed.
The second guy was close to it now and locked the door and took the key, before looking at him. "Now that Titus has given us an hour, let us get to the fun part." Then the third guy took out tape, while the first guy took out a piece of cloth. Ace blinked. "I will never say anything." The first guy nodded. "We are counting on it. But the mark on your back, that family only marked the tightest and best fucks, we need to put that to the test." Ace blinked. "You can't if you want to sell me off the market. You can't sell just used goods." The third guy spoke. "Yes, but who will know? We already took the pic, and no one will know until you're already there and we got the money." Then he dragged the tape out as he got ready to gag him with the cloth and tape his mouth. And that was when Ace realized they were serious, this wasn't torture anymore. And their looks proved it.
Ace knew when you torture someone, you tried to look intimidating, but these 3 now looked at him with hunger. And this was well planned. Make up false things Ace would say something, do a session where the ones who checked in would be busy, getting a last check in, then gag and rape him. This was serious. Ace looked up at his chains and tried to get loose, but he couldn't. The third guy spoke. "There is a panicked look. Please panic, scream the last bit you can." As one guy was close, the first one, Ace kicked him as hard as he could, but it wasn't enough as he got up and grabbed his leg as he said. "You bitch! You will pay for that! Kyle! Other leg!" The third guy grabbed the other leg and held him, as well as starting to drag his pants off as Ace tried to fight as he yelled out at times to stop, but no one would do anything. The boss had said to quiet him down and then continue. Ace was on his own.
As his pants were off and his legs were grabbed again, Ace felt panic cloud his mind, and he stopped screaming and did more muttering to them to stop, and just as the cloth was about to be placed in his mouth, he didn't know why, but one last word got out of his mouth in a whisper. "Buttercup." Then the cloth was in his mouth and tape over it, and Ace felt tears start to go down his cheeks. He wasn't ready for this.
-x-
Marco looked at his cuffs, which were weak seastone, but did enough and he couldn't really use his powers, but it wouldn't help as the cell they were in as the bars were stronger seastone. He did his best to try and get out as Ace had teached him, but it would take some time as Marco wasn't as skilled yet and many eyes were watching them as they were in a hallway that had 6 guards. 2 on each end and 2 going up and down. They knew what they were doing. Then he heard Ace speak again, as his phoenix powers still somewhat worked, which meant his hearing was still enhanced. But based on the screams, Ace wasn't really in pain. He did notice the one who was in charge go and speak to the room and he was sure things would calm down now and Ace would be returned to the cell with them.
But then as the one in charge left, he heard the plan, but he was sure Ace would get loose or find a plan before then. But then Ace started to hear more panicked as he explained that they couldn't use him, which the enemy had an answer for, and Marco felt his mind still as he got it. They were going to rape Ace for fun, since he had a mark on his back from a man who only marked the best ones to rape. Then he heard it, one last whisper before it went quiet, and the word was a word he never wanted to hear. Buttercup.
As he heard the word and the silence after it, his mind said one thing; save your mate. And with that, Marco moved his his knee up, planting his foot in the ground as he was sitting, moved his hands to dislocate his thumbs, hearing a noise from Pops, but didn't care right now, before he moved the chains above his knee and down as hard as he could, and that did the trick. The cuffs got off, same with a lot of skin and some muscle tissue, but Marco didn't care as his powers came forth to heal it, and he felt some flames on him as well. Then he grabbed one chain, as the chain itself wasn't seastone only the cuff, and used it to go around the bars and drag the bars off, before Marco got out, by now all 6 guards were there, but Marco needed to be quick and so he ran and kicked the first guard, making hit the wall with his head first hard as he fell. He couldn't change into his phoenix right now, the place was too small.
As the guard was down, he heard a gunshot and felt a bullet in his shoulder, a seastone one, but also badly made one, and quickly used his hand to dig into his shoulder, get the bullet out, and threw it hard at the guy who shot him, making sure to use his powers to make some fire in his hands the moment it was off his skin that made the bullet get extra momentum and hit the guy in the chest and he fell down, before Marco headbutted and bit off the 3rd guard's nose as he fell down screaming, to which Marco stomped his head in, before he changed his arms to his wings and used his wings to slice the enemy, whom burned as the wings touched them, something Marco wasn't sure how he did, but didn't care right now. The last guy ran away streaming and Marco didn't care about it, and ran to Ace's room, kicked the door down, handled the 3 guys in the room fast as he used his talons to slice them as he changed his wings back to his arms and ran to Ace, who was crying and shaking as he hung by his arms, but still had on his boxers. He had been fast enough.
As he got to Ace, Marco moved a hand to his cheek. "Are you okay, yoi?" Ace nodded shakingly. "I- I am. I think the guy with red hair has a key." Marco nodded and got the key and released Ace, before he hugged Ace as he fell and Ace seemed to want the hug as he leaned into it and cried. Marco used one hand to stroke Ace' hair as the other held around Ace. "I got you, yoi. You're safe. You're safe." Ace nodded as he cried, and Marco was just glad he got to Ace before they could start.
-x-
Whitebeard didn't know what to do as he heard Ace screaming now and then, but he felt this was just Ace playing along as Marco had said Ace did it when he had earlier. Which made sense. But then he noticed Ace stopped screaming after a man had checked into the room, but suddenly it was like a switch clicked in Marco's mind as his body jolted into movement, he instantly broke his thumbs, which had Whitebeard yell out shocked and to stop, but Marco didn't as he got the cuffs off as he smashed the chain down on his knee, but it also took a lot of skin and maybe some muscle, which had all of them yell out, but then Marco's powers came forth and healed it instantly, before it was like his powers enveloped his body a bit, it was like it created a sort of armor, even had a sort of helmet with horns, Marco's eyes determined, before he used the chain to get out of the cell as he broke the bars.
Then came the enemy, who Marco dealt with in a way he had never seen. They even burned as the flames to Marco touched them, especially the two he used his wings on. He knew Marco's fire wasn't hot, so this was odd, then as the guards were dealt with, Marco got to Ace's room and he heard more commotion. Right now, as no one watched, Izou got loose and found the keys to their chains on a guard and released them, before they went to the room Ace and now Marco were in and found them on the floor, Marco holding around a crying and almost naked Ace, who was shaking. And he understood Marco must have heard something that happened or Ace said something. But that had been terrifying to watch. He had never seen Marco like that before.
Marco then gave Ace his clothes and he got dressed before they left, and he did see many running away, and they would handle them if they approached them, but none really did. Then they got back to the boat and quickly set sail again, giving an explanation that there was no meeting, and they were bad people. He did see Ace going to his room and Marco followed, but he had a feeling Ace would be okay, or so he hoped.
Ace and Marco did come out after a bit and both seemed okay, which was good. Whitebeard did send Ace a quick trip to Bay, and Ace would, but he was quickly out again and said Bay said there wasn't much she could do, and Ace seemed okay and calm. Marco did say Ace got something to calm down on, which was good, Ace deserved that. Marco also explained when no one was close by what had happened. And he was glad Marco had stopped them.
-x-
The next day, Thatch looked in the newspaper and blinked, before he showed it to Marco. "They are calling you the Demon Duo." Marco blinked. "What?" Thatch showed it more where it said they called Marco and Ace the Demon Duo, as some had watched it from the security feed in the hallway they had been in and saw what had happened. And as Marco had read it, be blinked. "Why not, yoi." Thatch then looked at Marco. "Is this demonic aura and power something Ace has? And if it rubs off him. I would like some." Marco looked at him. "Yes, yoi. You just need to hug Ace." Thatch blinked. "Are you joking now?" Marco shook his head. "No. If you go up and just hug Ace randomly, believe me, you get a lot stronger. Or dead. It is about 50/50, yoi." Thatch looked at him. "I knew you were joking." Marco shrugged. "No joke. And you know I am right. The moment you just go and hug Ace, you are brave." Thatch opened his mouth to retort, when he realized Marco was right. Thatch would never do that, that was a death sentence. Thatch looked at Marco. "Fine. I will let it be a secret." Marco chuckled. "No secret." Thatch needed to know how Marco suddenly did that. But he would not just go and hug Ace. He didn't want to die.
And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed!
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