#the infamous moby dick fight | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

happyely2 · 1 year ago

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Pairing: Portuguese D. Ace x Fem!Reader

Rating: For everyone, even if there will be mentions of blood, physical and mental wounds, needles for stitching wounds and some small hints of cuddles (the right amount, because we like it that way). If you are sensitive to descriptions of blood or wounds skip the story. At times comical and at times a little sadder, I hope you enjoy this one as well as Cozy Autumn Prompts.

Summary: Being the girlfriend of Portgas D. Ace, the infamous pirate commander of Whitebeard's second fleet, isn't always easy. You know well that life as a pirate is a constant gamble, but every now and then you just want your man - and all the people you care about - to return to your room without wounds to patch up. It's fine that you're a scrupulous and attentive nurse, but damn these men don't have the slightest bit of restraint when they have to attack a ship or a new island, and Ace is the first to throw himself into the fray, but you love him so much that you are willing to always take care of him.

🪡Taking care of a lover’s injury 🪡

“Oh God, what happened?!” You whispered as you caught a bottle of alcohol that was about to fall to the floor. The ship had been shaken by a violent blow, it was as if someone had rammed into it and if someone had succeeded it must have been a very large ship.

“Put all glass bottles safely away and prepare emergency kits. I'm afraid we'll have twice as much work to do today!” You said to your colleagues as you adjusted your white shirt so that it wouldn't get in your way during the fight.

The New World was increasingly full of hotheads who aimed to become important pirates and to do so they targeted the ships of the big boys. Calm and tranquility were words unknown to Moby Dick.

"Goodmorning sweetheart! How was your morning?” Satch and the other men had set up a trench with the kitchen and dining room tables, you ducked to dodge the bullets and stood next to the commander of the fourth division, while the latter loaded a rifle with gunpowder to pass it to one of your companions.

“It could have been better! Who is attacking us?” You said as you opened your bag to get needle, thread and some alcohol, some of your people had been hit by bullets and needed to be treated immediately, quickly extract the bullets and stitch them up to avoid losing a limb or too much blood.

“A rookie, he has a stupid Mohawk. What poor taste.” Izo was next to you and in a short time he had fired three shots that all hit, but the enemies seemed to multiply. Meanwhile, you had finished stitching the leg of one of your companions who immediately picked up the rifle again and started shooting.

“Be careful, I just got the stitches!” You said while you were taking care of another wounded man, this time he had been hit under the cheekbone and almost lost his eye.

Luckily the barricades protected most of your comrades from even more serious injury, but the rifle fire continued to rage.

“We're running out of bullets here, we need to move on to strong weapons.” Satch was next to you, sooner or later the enemies would have to run out of cartridges you thought as you carefully looked at the enemy fence, those bastards were making excuses with thick metal shields.

“The main bridge? Do you have any news?" You asked quickly gathering your stuff inside your bag and placing it over your shoulder. Attacking the left flank where the kitchens and infirmary were located was a dirty diversion, your enemies were aiming for the main deck where Whitebeard generally remained to dictate orders, the left flank was less controlled than the others.

“None, they cut off communication, but everyone else is here, I don't think there will be any problems.” Izo said as he handed you a spare slugphone: “Try this one, it's another line.” He said as he continues shooting wounding five more enemies.

"Ready? This is the kitchen, main deck, can you hear me?”

“Main deck, we hear you loud and clear Miss.” Vista's voice made you breathe again, even though suspicious noises could be heard in the background.

“The Vista situation?” You asked without wasting any time, your other companions were arriving with more medical supplies, ready to follow you to the main deck.

“A bit bad, we have too many wounded among the new recruits. Nobody seems to be serious, Santa is organizing the boarding of the opposing ship." Vista replied as a sword blow could be heard cutting something in the background.

“Dad needs to rest dammit! Satch we have to pass now, there are injuries that need to be treated.” You said as you ended the conversation. Whitebeard may have been one of the most feared men in the New World, but at that time the treatments he was undergoing were so delicate that they could aggravate his physical situation.

Furthermore, the enemies had chosen a perfect day to attack, Marco had gone to deliver important messages to your allies, without the first commander you were at a disadvantage, his phoenix power was very useful in those situations and if Marco was missing it only meant a what: Ace was about to lead the boarding of the enemy ship.

The cook didn't have to be told twice and his entire division went on the attack while Izo's covered his back. It took some time before you and the other nurses made it to the command bridge safe and sound because neither Satch nor Izo would let anything happen to you, and once you got there you immediately started rescuing your crew.

Maybe Vista didn't want to alarm you, but the situation was quite inconvenient. You just hoped you wouldn't have to amputate any limbs.

“More enemies are coming!” Fossa, the captain of the fifteenth division, had raised the alarm. There was too many wounded who needed to be transported below deck, the infirmary would not have contained them all.

“Damn this was a trap.” You said as you approached the railing to check with your own eyes, the girls behind you were working to treat those who were at greater risk.

Four more enemy ships were arriving at great speed.

Your captain's laughter made you all spin. It was like him to laugh in those situations: “Let them come, they will only find defeat waiting for them.” Luckily Whitebeard wasn't injured, you breathed a sigh of relief and continued to move the injured below deck, so that they were safe and could be better cared for by the ship's doctor, you and your colleagues.

The cannon shots seemed to tickle your ship, but they were becoming closer and more precise.

Whitebeard had given the order to return fire and so all the men got busy.

“We need to get off that damned ship.” Satch said as he leaned out to see the damage, with the figurehead they had entered well into the side, destroying part of your house, you were with the fourth commander to understand the damage and to see if there were men to recover, they certainly were medical supplies have been affected.

“Ace comes here!” You said catching the second commander running across the bridge. Damn he was hurt! That idiot had gotten himself hurt and he had a Logia as a fruit of the sea.

“Love you are here! I didn't see you and I feared the worst. How is it going, do we have so many injured people?” He asked turning towards you and smiling warmly at you, she hugged you instinctively to check that you weren't hurt.

Either he was under the influence of a huge amount of adrenaline or Ace had such a high perception of pain that those injuries didn't bother him. This was a question you would never find the answer to.

“How the hell did they hit you? Ah, you're bleeding, stop here..." You looked at the long wound on his chest and the one on his right arm worriedly, his devil fruit made it difficult to stop the wound because the blood was too liquid due to the heat that his body was giving off.

“Some have Algamalotite weapons. They also resist my attacks which is why it took us longer.” He said Ace showing one of the weapons in question to the rest of the crew. He then explained how traps were scattered around the ship which had injured other people that his men were bringing on board.

Better and better.

“Where did they get them?” Asked Halta as he looked at her carefully, the workmanship of the sword was good, too good to have been made by any one person.

“We'll deal with this later. We need to free the ship and sort out the ones that are coming.” You said taking a needle and thread to saturate Ace's wounds, but your girlfriend stopped you in time and after placing his hair on her head he headed towards the Strider: "I can block them if I move now."

“ACE COME BACK HERE NOW!” You shouted trying to follow him but were quickly stopped by Izo before you jumped off the ship to chase him.

“Don't worry, he is not alone.” He told you looking up at the sky, Marco was back and was following Ace to give him back up.

“I swear that as soon as he comes back I'll sew him up properly!” You said the same as you watched the two commanders strike at the opposing ships. Whitebeard laughed loudly, commenting that you young people were so carefree that he envied you a little.

You sighed and turned towards the main deck, there were less serious injuries waiting to be treated and recovery operations to be carried out, so you rolled up your sleeves and started patching up your companions while who was still all entire effort was made to free the ship.

A couple of explosions followed one another in the following hours, marking the end of the fight. Ace and Marco had laid waste to the enemy ships and were returning, the strider was going slower than its normal speed and Marco was flying too low for his standards.

“Go on and check that everything is in one piece, big sister, we'll take care of it here.” Said one of your colleagues while you finished stitching a wound. You left the final directions and grabbed a new medical kit before heading to the main deck.

As soon as you arrived you immediately noticed the two commanders surrounded by the others who were asking for details of everything and more.

“Before you ask for anything, let me patch them up.” You said as you opened your bag and took out everything you needed, no one dared to argue. Marco had been wounded by the same weapons that had hit Ace, but his devil fruit was already taking effect so you fixed a couple of bandages and disinfected the wounds well, until you noticed a deeper one on his shoulder and that's when you cursed.

Ace was worse than a rag, lying on the ground and with his head spinning, he was kept conscious by Satch and Izo. He had lost too much blood, that imbecile.

You breathed in and out to calm yourself down and started lecturing them both, while everyone else laughed out loud.

“ESPECIALLY YOU ACE! IDIOT!" You said as you took the bottle of alcohol and opened it to clean the wound on your arm, it was deep, but it hadn't severed the nerves or any important blood vessels, Marco meanwhile was rearranging his shirt and was careful not to damage the stitches you had put.

“Stop squirming Ace!” You told him while using alcohol.

“That stuff bothers me.” Your boyfriend said with a grimace, then he told what had happened on one of the ships, that he had found other Algamalotite weapons, which now lay on the bottom of the sea and which all bore the same symbol, a skull with a sword that it pierced him in half.

There had been no need for anesthetic, the adrenaline was doing his job.

A couple of sutures later and you had completed the job, while Ace had finished his report: "I don't like this." You said as you put your tools back, everyone agreeing with you, it wasn't a normal Jolly Roger, it looked more like an anti-piracy symbol.

Ace leaned on your shoulder and held you close to him for reassurance, you all suspected that a fight like that was something premeditated and thought out down to the smallest detail, it was no coincidence that they attacked you at such a time. Marco's absence and the fact that we were without your other ships must have studied you for a very long time.

And if they had done something like this, none of you could rule out the possibility that they had thoroughly studied every single member of the crew.

“Daddy have you taken your medicine?” You asked turning to your captain. Ace was worried about that question too, because he knew how meticulous you were about reminding old Whitebeard about his medications.

“I hadn't gotten them yet. Are you afraid of something?” The man replied, then taking his favorite bottle of sake. Sooner or later you would have had to lock him up.

“It was too strange an attack dad, they hit us knowing our weak points too well.” He said Ace sensing your thoughts, thinking about it now, ramming the Moby Dick with a large ship on which traps and strong men were positioned was a diversion that didn't convince any of you.

Marco meanwhile was taking note of everything that needed to be repaired while with one ear he paid attention to the direction the conversation was taking.

“Attack or not, we should be more careful, anyone who can walk come and repair the ship, or at least let's try to fix it to get to the next island. Little sister tries to fix as many men as possible and give me an inventory of the medicines we lost." The first commander said, starting to give orders, conspiracies and suspicions would wait for the evening, for now you had to fix the damage suffered.

"See you this evening." She said Ace in your ear and leaving you his hat.

“Don't overdo it too much as the stitches might pop out and no devil fruit Ace.” You told him as you watched him run towards the hole to be repaired together with all the other men. You then gave the medicine to Father, because you always kept a reserve supply in case he didn't take it, and you said goodbye to both him and Marco to go below deck.

You had men to stitch up and put back together, and many of them.

“How bad is it?” You asked Satch in the late afternoon when you went to see how the men were doing, who as soon as they had been stitched up and treated had rushed to repair the ship, without even receiving the green light. And Ace was among them, not only had he rushed to free the ship, but due to the injuries he had suffered and the loss of blood he had also fallen into the sea and Satch and Izo had jumped in to save him.

Now your boyfriend was sleeping blissfully on top of your legs, covered in bandages from head to toe.

“It could have been worse, luckily the ship is repaired and thanks to you girls the men are back in shape immediately, or at least all of them and there is no one missing.” He said the cook as he took off his yellow handkerchief to wipe away the sweat. They had taken all the surviving crates of food and placed them safely on the other side of the ship.

“I hate how Ace put himself in situations like these.” You said while stroking his black hair rocking him to sleep, you knew him well, he had squeezed out every last crumb of his fire, he had saved many of your companions but this would have put him out of action for quite a while in the days to follow.

Satch laughed heartily and then helped you carry Ace into his cabin, you checked on him one last time and went out leaving him a note on the bedside table, in which you warned him that you would be back later.

You continued your tour with your colleagues, you had distributed medicines and painkillers to the men and then you went downstairs to take inventory of the medicines. By writing everything down meticulously, you realized that the situation wasn't the best.

“We've lost more than half of them Marco, and I can't ration the supplies we have because they don't even cover a third of the crew.” You said as you handed him the report you had made.

The first commander read the numbers you had collected, despite everything he remained apparently calm.

“We have to grit our teeth for a while, we have two days of sailing to the next island, with the ship in these conditions. We will have to work miracles." Phoenix said as he put down the book and checked the route she had chosen. Under normal conditions the Moby Dick would have arrived in less than half a day, but the ship risked taking on water and one of her engines was showing signs of failure.

Resisting for two days in those conditions, with the adverse weather of the New World would not have been so easy.

“Don't worry about my shoulder it's already recovering, go see Ace.” He told you immediately afterwards with a hint of a smile to reassure you, Marco had seen Ace fight and had confided in you that his health conditions worried him a bit.

“Okay, see you later Marco.” You replied, but not before leaving him a couple of painkillers. You quickly left the door and went towards Ace's room, the dining room was destroyed, so the fourth division would have brought food to everyone else and many accommodations were in bad shape, the men had organized themselves as best they could with mattresses, bunks and hammocks in the corridor.

You went to the infirmary to see if there was any news but your "little sisters" reassured you that everything was fine, you still said to call you in any case. They would have slept in the infirmary, because your rooms had also been hit.

When you entered Ace's room you didn't expect to see him already standing, you sighed and closed the door behind you joining him.

“Hey Love!” He greeted you with his usual smile, as if nothing had happened, you huffed but also smiled, luckily Ace seemed to be indestructible.

“You should stay in bed and rest.” You told him as you checked his bandages, they needed to be changed and surely a few stitches had popped off.

So you didn't waste any time and made him lie down on the bed, not without some protests.

“Wounds like this take longer to heal Ace.” You told him as you sutured him again, you had given him a shot of anesthetic, at least to not make him feel pain but his devil fruit quickly burned what was injected into his body, it was no small problem.

Ace was trying not to say a word or let out a single cry of pain, he was trying to hold on so as not to worry you further.

“I know it hurts, honey, I promise it's just for a few more seconds.” You said, better fixing the last stitch that had opened and then bandaging everything with a thicker and tighter bandage, at least in this way the stitches would have to hold up for the night.

Ace threw himself on you, complaining a little about the rest of his body hurting, so you asked to show you where he hurt. You discovered that he had at least a dozen bruises scattered here and there.

So you rolled up your sleeves and took some lotion from your bag to sober them up it can be absorbed more quickly.

“What is it Love?” Ace asked you as he ran his hand through your hair to caress you, he could see that you were tense.

“I hate seeing you in pain.” You responded, leaning against one of the pillows on Ace's bed. You had rubbed lotion on him and now you were lying next to each other. You traced the outline of his abs with your fingertips and with a light touch so as not to hurt him.

“One sleep and I'll be as good as new.” He said Ace smiling at you and kissing the tip of your nose, then your cheeks and finally his lips. He was an incurable romantic.

“If everyone were like you. We have two days of travel ahead of us, said Marco, supplies of food and medicines must be heavily rationed, but luckily no one has lost their lives." You said caressing his face and lingering more on his cheeks to play with their softness.

“It'll be fine, you'll see, we've faced worse and Marco will have chosen a fairly calm route.” Your boyfriend had taken your hands to bring them close to his lips to kiss them. He then slowly went up until he reached your neckline where he rested without asking your permission: "You're an excellent pillow and I'll recover faster this way." Ace had started purring like a cat rubbing against you and you had laughed, not chasing him away but holding him tighter to you.

“Are you still thinking about the symbol you saw?” You asked after a while, noticing the serious look that Ace had made while looking at the sea from the porthole of your cabin.

“Yes, I don't know why but I have a strange feeling.” And that strange feeling more simply translated into trouble ahead.

“They could hang up on us but they know that at this point Dad might intervene with his devil fruit.” You said playing with the locks of his hair, they had grown a little more, he would have to cut them soon.

“You know his power is so strong that it would wipe out the continent, and then I don't think it would be good for his health.” Ace had started drawing invisible circles on your back, slowly and in an almost hypnotic manner.

“Someone here doesn't want to sleep…” You whispered in his ear making your lover smirk.

“Come on Love, so I can heal faster.” Ace breathed on your neck allowing a rush of shivers to travel down your spine.

“You are recovering.” You insisted, standing up and straddling him.

“In fact, I won't make any movements, you will do everything, are you my personal nurse or not, Love?” Ace's warm hands ran along your sides rubbing against the bones of your pelvis, he knew that was a delicate spot of yours and that you loved when he squeezed it like that.

You held back a moan, just to not give him satisfaction, but the blush on your face made him smirk again.

“So I have full control? Can I start this visit?” You asked as you unhooked the clasp of your bra and Ace helped you take it off throwing it away on the floor of his room.

You wore a white top that tied in a bow at the back of your neck, it was Ace's favorite.

“Of course Love.” Ace had settled in better, he loved it when you took control in bed, it was a shame you weren't wearing a uniform.

You didn't have to be told twice and you gave him a kiss on the lips, then moving down to his chin, to his neck where you bit a little harder, drawing a small sigh of satisfaction from him, and then continuing your descent of kisses on his his abdomen.

Here you were a little more careful not to bite too hard and you helped yourself with your hands to tease him a little more. You traced the grooves of his muscles with your fingertips and went down to the V carved on his groin and dared to bite a little harder.

You smiled as you saw Ace's gaze starting to become full of lust.

You wasted no time fiddling with his belt, you knew it too well by now and knew how to remove it quickly.

“So far the control seems to be going well.” You said while playing with the elastic of his boxers.

"You say? I keep feeling something isn't right." He had said, caressing your cheek with his warm palm which you rubbed against.

You were about to continue, wanting to give him more pleasure, until the alarm went off all over the deck of the ship and made you freeze on the spot.

“Fuck.” He cursed Ace as you quickly got dressed to go check. You rushed out of his cabin to find yourself in a critical situation.

They were attacking you.

“I thought we were past the bad part.” She said Ace as you two reached the main deck. The sound of bombs hitting near the ship.

“These people here don't intend to give in, they attacked us waiting for us halfway.” Satch had arrived before you and handed you the binoculars to get a better look.

“That's ten ships! But what do they think they are doing!” You said as Ace grabbed your waist and quickly lowered you to avoid a cannon shot, he had grazed your head.

“They have the same symbol as the others, they must be allies.” Izo said taking cover as well.

“There's only one thing left to do, let's attack them.” Ace was about to come out, the Moby Dick was surrounded, Marco stopped him in time.

“It's not the right time yet.” The first commander had said, the ships were not within range, the snail near us had started to ring incessantly.

“This is the infirmary, where is the big sister?”

“I'm here, what's happening?”

“They hit us and we are seriously injured, come help us quickly.”

Damn, that's all you needed, more serious injuries to operate on in a situation like this.

"I am coming." You said, closing the conversation and turning to Ace: “Don't bullshit honey.” You told him and he smiled back at you.

“Go save our comrades.”

You ran downstairs to find yourself in total chaos, you quickly rinsed your hands and immediately put on gloves, there wasn't a second of time to waste.

“The situation upstairs?” One of your companions asked, handing you the tools to remove the pieces of wood that had stuck inside the body of one of your shipmates.

“Quieter than ours. The commanders were pissed off." You responded by starting to extract the largest pieces and immediately moving on to disinfecting and suturing.

The roars of some cannon shots or the sound of swords being drawn did not distract any of you while you operated.

You had lives to save and no one would die on your ship.

Twelve hours later the infirmary was a mess of needles, bottles of painkillers, scalpels, various instruments and blood. But fortunately all the most critical patients were stable, even those who had injured themselves on the command bridge and had been rushed to the infirmary.

The battle above had ended with the explosion of the enemy ships and Whitebeard had also played his part, he had regulated his power but this had cost him his health.

“Don't you dare lie. I can see it hurts.” You said as you set up his new IVs and increased the dose of antibiotic and painkiller to make him feel better.

“Enough is enough.” He replied, placing a hand on your shoulder: “You did a great job, you and the girls.” He added, looking at each member of his crew covered in bandages and painkillers.

You smiled, forcing yourself a little, the adrenaline in your body was starting to decrease: “Thanks dad.” Ace was next to you, his bandages stained with blood, but he was well enough to stand and support you. The fight had burdened him and despite this he also had responsibilities as a commander, he had to grit his teeth and set a good example for all your men.

Marco examined the nautical charts, the ship had suffered further damage and navigation would become more difficult, the island you wanted to reach was too far away.

“Hey…but that's an island!” You couldn't believe your colleagues' words, the girls were leaning over the bridge to get a better look.

In the end they were right, an island had appeared on your horizon.

“Marco please there is an island we can go to.” You had talked to the other girls, and all of you had introduced yourself to the first commander to convince him to go down to the island that you had spotted that morning at the first light of dawn when the smoke from the other ships had cleared.

Ace had tried to dissuade you, but he had no say in the matter.

“It is not part of our territories.” The first commander said while drinking his cup of bitter coffee.

“And whose would it be?” You asked for all your colleagues as Ace tried to calm you down. The island was only two hours away from you, you could have stopped to stock up on food, repair the ship and treat the wounded better.

“Del Rosso.” Marco replied, cursing himself for having taught us girls to navigate and knowing how to read a map and he cursed himself even more for having answered, the girls and you, hearing that name, had headed to Whitebeard to tell him to dock on the island immediately.

“They don't have a shred of restraint.” Satch had said, understanding well that landing on an island belonging to another emperor was not something prudent.

“It's Shanks the Red, of all people it's the best guess that could have happened to us.” Ace said, your boyfriend hadn't moved an inch after you glared at him, as if to say either you're on my side or I'll kill you. You could have a civil discussion with him, but it was still a risk.

“The problem is that knowing them they would face it without even thinking about it. Especially your girlfriend Ace.” He had said Izo, adjusting his Kimono to hide a bandage.

“Don't tell me anything, I have no say in the matter.” She said Ace, resigning herself to the fact that when you set your mind to something you managed to get it done. The boys started laughing heartily, your fervent spirit had brought back some joy to the crew.

In the end however, partly due to everyone's tiredness and partly because it was urgent to repair the ship, you had prevailed and for this reason you headed towards the island.

You could have expected anything when you got off, but not to find the Red's crew on dry land.

“Hey Whitebeard!” He had greeted the emperor with his usual smile that you couldn't identify. It was an idiotic smile. That's what the only explanation was.

"Red."

“Please, no fights.” You said, placing yourself between the two and glaring at both of them. You were sick of a lot of clashes and battles. The deathmatch for the sake of the good old days could wait.

No displays of Haki, no weapons being drawn. You breathed a sigh of relief and left the two emperors chatting while Marcus began supervising the construction of a camp. The redhead's crew also helped you, Ace was right to say that of all the emperors Shanks was the best case that could have happened to you.

Six hours later you were finally leaving the infirmary you had set up to get some fresh air. You had rechecked all your patients, fixed and splinted broken legs, destroyed wrists and sprained arms, all injuries that the men had hidden from you and for which they had received a severe lecture.

“The injured, even the serious ones, fortunately, they are all stable. Two days and they'll be as good as new.” You reported to your captain, explaining who the most critical ones were and what medicines needed to be taken as soon as possible.

“The ship has suffered quite a bit of damage, we should stop here for at least a week.” Marco said, listing the damage suffered, and it was quite a bit, but luckily it could be repaired.

The meeting was going to last late and Ace noticed the bags under your eyes and the fact that you couldn't pay attention. The lack of sleep was making itself felt.

“You should rest.” She had told you, making you sit on him. Nobody had said anything, in fact the discussions had continued.

“I will rest when I need it.” You said, trying to continue listening, even though the warmth of her body was an invitation to sleep, you had to resist. Three hours later, in the late afternoon you had emerged from the meeting room tent. From what had emerged, Red and his men had also been attacked in a similar manner a few days earlier and from the rumors circulating, an alliance seemed to have formed to eliminate the old emperors.

Better and better. If this was true you would have expected a clash in the days when you set sail again.

It was better to go and stock up on medicines.

“Let's go get the medicines from the village and come back.” You had told Ace leaving a kiss on his cheek. You had quickly changed by borrowing one of his shirts.

“Are you sure I don't have to come with you?” Ace didn't want to let you wander around alone, ok you were with your colleagues but he still preferred you to avoid it, despite everything there were bounties hanging on your heads that would have attracted many bounty hunters, but the sooner you went to get the medicine the sooner you could go back to him you answered him.

“Sure, just think about regaining your strength.” Ace had collapsed a few seconds after you had left the meeting room, sleep, narcolepsy and the wounds that had not healed had drained him of his last strength and carrying him to his tent had been a titanic undertaking.

“We'll be back in three hours.” You reassured him and left the tent, going to the girls and walking towards the nearest town.

Three hours later you returned as you promised and the whole crew breathed a sigh of relief that had not gone unnoticed by any of us.

“What do you want me to tell you, our nurses are known to be quite troublesome.” You could finally treat Ace with the right dose of painkillers and antibiotics, one that she would only wear off the next evening.

“We troublemakers?” You laughed as you took some cotton and soaked it in alcohol, you had to clean the wound on his chest and Ace was already glaring at you.

“Don't be such a baby, it's just rubbing alcohol.” You said placing it on his chest and pressing softly. Luckily the stitches hadn't broken in the previous clash.

“I never liked that thing.” Ace said glaring at the new cotton ball that was getting closer to his wound.

He was a child.

You gave him a kiss on the cheek to distract him and it happened.

“Big sister!” One of your girls had entered the tent: “Did I interrupt something?” She asked then noticing how you looked. You sitting on Ace's lap in a position that couldn't be misunderstood.

“No don't worry dear, tell me everything.” You responded, taking the gauze and starting to bandage it. Ace's torso, your boyfriend wanted to say otherwise but he held back.

“We found some natural hot springs, you have to come and bathe with us now! Commander Ace I'm commandeering our head nurse for the next two hours.” Your subordinate had said, grabbing you by the shoulders and dragging you out of the tent.

"HEY!" Ace was following you ready to catch you but the other girls prevented him: "This evening will be all for you, but for now we want to be with the big sister."

Luckily Izo and Satch had grabbed Ace by the shoulders and carried him to the other side to distract him. Telling him that it was right to leave some space for us girls.

“You are impossible, I don't even have a costume!” You said as the two of you arrived at the shores of the Hot Springs.

“Who said you need a swimsuit, we are all women!”

After all, they were right, but you regretted not spending time with Ace, you had been interrupted a few too many times for your liking in those hectic days, the only thing you wanted was to spend some intimate time with the your boyfriend.

But the thermal water was a panacea for your nerves that you would regret in the next few days. Only you girls, no man nearby and a lot of calm interrupted here and there by some otters that came close to smell you, were the inhabitants of that place and we had taken a liking to you.

There was so much calm that at a certain point you couldn't stand it anymore. You kind of missed the chaotic life that was with your sailing companions, but you missed Ace so much, you wanted to go and hug him, lock yourself in his tent and stay with him all night.

The spa had only partially dissipated the stress you had accumulated during those days, you knew well how to dispose of the remaining part with your fiery boyfriend.

“I'd say we go back to camp.” You said as you walked out and put on your underwear and white top. The cold air of the evening went perfectly with the feeling of warmth that the spa had left in you and this had made you even more nostalgic for Ace, usually he was the one who created that sensation that you liked so much.

"Already? But can't we stay a little longer?”

“It's been more than two hours, they'll be worried about us.” You replied as you looked around for your shorts and trying not to fall on the otter pups that must have been spinning around frantically. What naughty little brats.

“But boss, we're not enjoying this calm!”

“That's right and men can be alone, what could happen?”

You looked at each of your friends and just your look was enough to convince them that it was best to go back. You could already imagine what could happen to that rowdy gang of Pirates with the absence of you girls.

“We will come here more times in the next few days.” You finally said making the others laugh, they all agreed to go back to having some relaxation: "They took my shorts!" You added as you weaved through the vegetation to look for them.

The girls also noticed that a couple of their clothes were missing, but the otters that had kept you company were starting to get restless and seemed to want to tell you to forget about it and go back.

"That have?" You asked yourselves, not understanding the sudden agitation.

A sudden movement of air above your heads made you suddenly spin.

“Damn I didn't get them!” About ten men had appeared on the other side of the baths. A shiver ran down your spine as you slowly approached the others, that symbol they carried with them, a skull with a knife dividing it in two, were the men who had attacked you in the previous days.

“It's okay, just come here.” She tried to say one of them with a dodgy face, yellow teeth and some missing, his face marred by scars.

You remained f trying not to make any rash moves, you couldn't escape because they were surrounding you and you were disarming.

"Damnation." You said as the girls pressed closer to you. How long were they watching you? Had they come to you before? Did they know about the camp? Had they already attacked him? How was Ace?

It seemed to be a nightmare that didn't want to end, those men possessed Algamalotite weapons, Ace possessed a devil fruit and risked being seriously injured, he even risked his life.

You couldn't allow something like that.

Another blow forced you to duck to avoid a scythe hitting you, only then did you notice a scalpel on the ground, how it ended up there didn't interest you that much, it was always something to defend yourself with.

You took it without hesitation, hiding it inside your hand.

It was the seven of you against more than a dozen armed men.

You had to play smart.

And while the men surrounded you starting to list the worst things to do to you you tried to find a way to escape, the main path was out of the question, if they were intelligent they had put some men to guard it.

The forest seemed like the only way out, but it was characterized by such dense vegetation that it would only hinder you.

But it was the only option available.

“At my signal, run as fast as you can, no one looks back, let's be clear.” You said as one of the enemies approached you. If they had captured you you would have become a dangerous medium of exchange. You knew Santa so well that he would have done anything to bring you home safely, not to mention Ace, oh god if only he had found out about the danger you were in.

You couldn't let your boyfriend risk his life with the injuries he had. No, you would never forgive yourself.

“Big sister…” The man was a few steps away from you and the girls.

You inhaled deeply and only when he was one step away from you did you use the scalpel to hit him in the jugular. Blood splattered everywhere but you didn't care.

Some of the girls screamed at what had happened. The men in front of you were stunned. It was just what you needed.

“Leave now!” You shouted grabbing one of your little sisters and starting to run, you had the element of shock on your side and you had to make the most of it. The camp wasn't too far away, once you reached it you could have notified everyone.

Two gunshots made your blood run cold. Warning shots, they wanted to capture you without doing too much damage.

They wanted to avoid the wrath of your captain and his commanders.

“No one was hit. Let's run boss."

“In the vegetation! Hurry and don't scream, not even if a shot passes by you!” You immersed yourself in the forest among brambles and branches that hurt you every time you passed, your wounds burned and your muscles ached, but you had to keep running, soon the gunshots would no longer be a warning.

You were just thankful that you and your classmates had been through so much that you weren't scared so easily. The oxen and the silence were your best allies at that moment, but the voices of your opponents were too close, they seemed to have grown louder to boot.

And the camp fire still seemed to be so far away.

“Hold on, we're almost there!” You said as you saw Whitebeard's flag along with Red's flag waving in the night. Driven by a new spirit you overcame the last obstacles by starting to shout to attract attention, to hell with not getting caught,

“ACEEEE” You screamed seeing your boyfriend's hair near the fire.

The dark-haired man turned around looking for you until he saw you and he became alarmed along with the others. Ace started running in your direction without wasting time, without waiting for the others.

“Take them!” The men chasing you had increased and the shots were not sent as a warning but were trying to hit you.

“Run, don't turn around.” You said as you jumped over a log and helped one of your classmates up after she fell to the ground.

“Come on, come on!” you said starting to run again hearing Ace call your name.

Ace was running towards you, everyone was coming.

Then a gunshot and your world became darker. You fell to your knees as you tried to pack the wound on your pelvis. The blow was so strong that it knocked the bullet out and your body stopped reacting the moment your knees hit the ground.

“Run you fools!” You said trying to send the girls away but no one moved petrified of what had happened.

You felt the blood flow out of the wound, hot and thick and spilling onto the ground.

Ace stood in front of you motionless as if he was trying to act but he couldn't, but in his eyes you could see a fire you had never seen before.

He caught you before you fell to the ground and held you close to her: "Don't worry love, I'm here." He said standing up and facing the enemy.

There were few who had seen Ace's true anger when someone dear to him was attacked or hurt, and there were still few who had survived to tell the tale.

You felt Ace hand you over to someone else, you couldn't keep your eyes open from all the blood you were losing, but you felt Ace place his hair on you and tell you to hold on.

Then he went all dark and muffled and a white light covered your vision.

Waking up wasn't the best, you heard the sound of the machines you had in the infirmary intermittently and you couldn't focus on what was around you.

Breathing hurt, and the oxygen mask you wore scratched your cheeks. Only then did you notice a mass of black hair leaning on the same mattress as you and an orange hair, which you knew well, resting on top of you.

Ace was sleeping, he knew how long you had been unconscious or if he had been struck by an attack of narcolepsy.

You stroked his hair, lulling him to sleep and observing his expressions, until he opened his eyes.

“Hi Ace.” You greeted with a smile.

“Well woken up Love” He replied, leaving a kiss on your forehead and caressing your face and staring at you for endless minutes.

"What happened?" You asked trying to get up but being stopped by Ace.

“You pay attention to the points.” The brunette said as she helped you up without you trying too hard.

“She woke up! You woke up sweetie!” Satch's voice said as she walked in with a tray full of lots of breakfast things. Immediately afterwards she entered half the world into the infirmary.

“Big sister you recovered!” The girls did nothing but cry loudly, while the men tried to comfort them and make them calm down, they were full of bandages and plasters, only superficial wounds fortunately. Each one told how difficult it had been to operate because of the blood you had lost and that they hadn't stopped until dawn. Red Shanks' doctor had also come to help you.

The girls continued to cry and you were moved by that reaction and you also tried to calm them down, but they started crying more.

“You should have seen Ace after they took you and then the girls didn't let us get closer even with threats!” She had said Izo sitting on a stool near the bed and Ace had turned red with embarrassment.

“Not only did he knock out all the enemies who were chasing you, but this wretch here went straight to their camp, burning everything and everyone, without waiting for us.” Marco continued, hitting your boyfriend on the head with a newspaper.

“Ace!” You said, turning to him, “Stupid, you don't have to face so many enemies alone.” You grabbed him by the cheeks.

“Come on Love, they hurt you, I had to punish them properly.” The dark-haired man said, freeing his cheeks and squeezing your hands.

"Unconscious." You said with tears in your eyes.

God you nearly lost him, because if he had been injured you wouldn't have been able to treat him in those conditions.

“Commander Ace don't make big sister cry!”

A small argument had developed between Ace and the girls, Izo had promptly pulled you out to prevent your health from worsening while the others tried to calm the two parties down.

It was your captain's voice that called your attention: "Let her rest, Ace, keep an eye on her." So everyone had slowly left the infirmary and the two of you alone, the girls had first relieved you of all the devices and drips to which you were attached and now you felt freer.

They made sure Ace didn't do any harm and were very direct in saying in no uncertain terms that I shouldn't force myself in any way and then they left.

“Come close to me Ace.” Ace didn't have to be told twice and got into the infirmary bed with you, you were a little tight but feeling him so close made you feel good.

“Aren't the girls going to hang me somewhere?” He had asked as he kissed your cheeks.

“Don't worry, I'll stop him.” You said touching his bandage and looking when she was covered in blood.

“Ace…” You whispered, trying to get a better look.

“It's not mine…it's yours…” Ace said rubbing your back with his warm hands to calm you down. You could only imagine the pain Ace had felt seeing you lose all that blood.

“I didn't know how to fix this.” He whispered looking at your bandage and slowly caressing the area: "I was very scared, they held it down like you told me to do, but you kept bleeding and I..." Ace's eyes were shiny, you knew him well that yes he would have stopped himself from crying, but he needed it right now.

You held him tightly to you, hiding his face in your breast and whispering in his ear: "Love, I'm here, safe and sound, Grace and you, if you want to cry, do it, I'm sorry for having made you worry so much." Ed Ace had held you close to him and salty tears had started streaming down his face.

He had told you what he had felt in that moment, so much fear. His flames had become uncontrollable due to those emotions and he was grateful to be alone at that moment.

“Actually there was Marco who turned me off just in time.” He added as you wiped the tears from his cheeks. You couldn't see him in that condition, Ace never cried - the only time he did was when he told you who he really was and about his past.

"Unconscious." You whispered, kissing him lightly: "You can't do these things if I'm not there to take care of you." You added, kissing him again.

“I don't like that the roles have been reversed.” Ace had said as he kissed you back.

“For once we can take a few days to ourselves.” You told him, kissing him again and biting his lower lip.

A pang had suddenly taken you from his side all the way down to his stomach. Ace had noticed this and immediately put himself in a different position, raising your torso slightly even though you said you were fine.

“You're clearly in pain! Please, just help me.” He said checking your bandage, luckily everything seemed to be fine.

“Ace don't worry.” You tried to reassure him, in a couple of days and some painkillers they would have you back on your feet.

“Don't you want to go back to work right away?!” Ace had placed you on top of him, you were now leaning against his chest and the tray full of Satch's food rested on your legs.

“How long has it been since you ate?” He asked then taking a grape and bringing it to your lips.

“How long has it been since you ate?” You responded with the same question by cutting a slice of meat and giving it to your boyfriend.

“For once I can take care of you.” He said to, Ace exasperated and leaving kisses on your neck. You laughed and then you continued breakfast, during which Ace told you what had happened at the camp, Redhair had already left the island and there had been no farewell fights or anything like that.

You chatted and exchanged small outpourings of love until the doctor came in and decreed that you could leave the infirmary but that you absolutely had to rest.

“Losing a girl like you! I really don't think about it, Ace don't make her get too tired please." The doctor said, giving another direct and blunt lecture.

“But why is everyone like this?!” Ace was carrying you in his arms, he had been adamant, he wouldn't make you so tired. You laughed and hugged him. Only you knew the delicacy that Ace put into every gesture that concerned you, even when you made love, no one would have ever said it but Ace - in addition to being fiery and passionate - was extremely sweet and kind. He cared a lot about making sure he didn't hurt you and making sure he respected your every need.

Yet you were happy to only know this sweet and delicate aspect of him.

“Ace let me change your bandages.” You said, getting up from the bed and grabbing the medical kit you had brought with you.

“I should be the one to change them for you. My wounds have already healed.” Your boyfriend had said stopping you from grabbing something and double checking your bandages, they were still clean and perfect.

A suspicious noise had made you freeze on the spot, voices calling for help and the nurses had reached your ears.

“Oh God, not again…” You said ready to leave to go see the situation.

"Do not even think about it." Ace said taking you back to bed and snickering.

“Ace but what if someone is hurt?” You protested once on the mattress, you tried to get up, but there was no way Ace would die.

“The girls are here, you absolutely need to rest.” Your boyfriend said, kissing you between your collarbones and slowly unbuttoning the shirt you were wearing at the time.

No other alarming voices had arrived from outside so the situation was under control.

“Will you take care of me?” You asked, settling yourself better on the pillows and waiting for your boyfriend to come closer.

“I will be your personal doctor.”

He kissed you, a kiss full of passion and tension accumulated in the previous days, a kiss that only tasted of so much love that you absolutely wanted to give him to heal those wounds that had remained in the soul and not in the flesh of both of you.

You kissed him back as his hands came down to cup your hips.

At that moment only the two of you existed and nothing else.

#one piece #portgas ace smut #ace smut #ace x reader #portogasdace #op #portgas ace x you #ace x oc #portgas d ace x reader #one piece ace #Happy_Ely🪷#portugas d ace

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ginsakatoki · 2 years ago

Note

how about 4E from the event? you can choose any character that seems fitting :)

[Rules] [Masterlist]

This is a bit angsty so, if you don't like the genre, do not read! Also, this contains spoilers so if you haven't seen episode 483 yet, read at your own risk. Starts under the cut!

Portgas D. Ace, a name that was both famous and infamous in the Grand Line, New World and all the Seven Seas, a pirate that ate one of the rarest type of Devil Fruits, a Logia, and had the power of manipulate fire. A dangerous, dangerous man, but to you? He was only Ace, your Ace.

You knew it was hard to be the partner of the 2nd division captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, that he had responsibilities and expectations to uphold, that one of those days his rashness and impulsiveness would have him killed. You even knew back when he was the captain of the Spade Pirates and you were both newbies. You knew, and God be damned if you didn’t remind him every single time to be careful, to make sure he would come back. It was hard not to worry when he was out there being reckless while you had to stay on the ship, following Marco’s orders, knowing very well that he held you back from going on crazy adventures with your lover on Ace’s request. He wanted to protect you from everything, from everyone, even himself. Sometimes, especially himself. This had been the cause of many arguments between the two of you, but in the end he always won because you really couldn’t say no to his cute, freckled face.

One day the two of you got into yet another fight, neither of you seemed to want to back down this time. Angry shouts lingered on the deck of the Moby Dick, but surprisingly no one was around except you two: the folks on the ship had learned the hard way not to be around you while you were fighting because, even though Ace would never hurt you, his flames tended to get out of control and blaze suddenly whenever he got restless, anxious and even worse when he was mad. You were currently trying to persuade him not to chase Blackbeard, but he wouldn’t listen a single word you said. He had responsibilities, it was his duty as captain, that’s what he kept saying. In the end you broke up crying in front of him asking, begging him to stay. He walked up to you and cupped your face with one of his hands, dried your tears and kept caressing your face until you calmed down, his warm touch soothing you in no time.

“Wish we could stay like this forever, but I have to go, love. I have to”

“Alright. But hurry up and come back, Spades. I don’t want to miss you.” You snuggled into the palm of his hand, holding him on your face for a few seconds before letting him go. With no hesitation he started walking, turned around just once to flash you a smile and one last goodbye and disappeared into the ocean. You knew back then that he wouldn’t come back, but you still hoped because as much as a Queen of Spades is expected to be with a King, she only truly wants her Ace.

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caffeinatedseri · 4 years ago

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Why Dazai Slapped Atsushi

The infamous scene in which Dazai slaps Atsushi after battling with Q is personally one of my favorite scenes in the entirety of BSD.

I’ve definitely seen some takes that criticize this scene for completely valid reasons (it’s kind of a cliché to “slap” someone out of their mindset, Dazai’s behavior is unjustified, etc.)

However, I still think this scene represents an important point in Atsushi and Dazai’s respective character development, as well as their budding mentor-student relationship.

Atsushi

Let’s rewind to before the slap took place.

Atsushi truly believes in his ability to protect the agency, a moment of confidence that shows how much he’s grown from the beginning of the story.

Even when he’s under the influence of Q, his ideal to “protect everyone” remains.

This constant repetition of the need to protect others emphasizes how strongly rooted this ideal is implanted in Atsushi’s mind. It also sets up how Atsushi places immense pressure on himself in order to carry out that ideal.

As a testament to his growth, when faced with the intrusive thoughts of the Headmaster, he still pushes onwards by accepting the power he has and using it for good. Take note of his choice of words here: “I’m no longer who I used to be. I’m not longer powerless!”

Atsushi separates his past self and future self in diametrically opposed ways. His past self is a crying child, powerless to save himself and others (or ”a piece of trash,” as he says). His future self is confident, heroic, and has the necessary power to save others.

This panel is intentionally framed in an ominous way that changes once you learn that Atsushi was the one being controlled by Q.

At first, Atsushi uses his power to save others, upholding his ideal and proving to himself that he’s different from his past self.

In actuality, it’s Atsushi hurting the person he was supposed to protect, with the very strength that he was supposed to protect them with (thus the menacing silhouette).

Atsushi’s mind immediately becomes scrambled once he learns that it was his fault that Naomi and Haruno got injured. The intrusive thoughts of the Headmaster come back, and his prior confidence is crushed.

There’s two important ideas repeated in this oppressive mindset:

1. He hasn’t changed at all.

2. It was his responsibility to protect them and he didn’t do so.

Atsushi even sees Akutagawa (his rival, most hated person ever) in his thoughts. In BSD, the way eyes are colored carries a lot of significance towards each character and their “chance at redemption”.

In this particular scene, Atsushi’s eyes are completed colored in, as well as Akutagawa’s, to represent how Atsushi is as irredeemable as Akutagawa is, in this realm of his mind. Atsushi has gone back to square one, viewing himself as worthless, beyond redemption, and undeserving of life.

And then... Dazai slaps him, and says this:

You can interpret what Dazai says as insensitive or harsh, since Atsushi is clearly going through a rough time, but I think Dazai gave Atsushi some much needed advice.

It’s important to understand what Dazai’s really saying here. In brief, I interpreted it as a wake-up call to Atsushi — in order to continue living, Atsushi has to stop “pitying” himself, or shaming himself for not doing the right thing.

Atsushi has clearly shown growth from the beginning of the series, and he very well knows that. He did his best to protect Naomi and Haruno, and they hold no grudges against Atsushi for literally being manipulated out of his free will. Therefore, Atsushi has no reason to blame himself for what happened.

It’s definitely not as easy as it sounds to simply rid himself of these oppressive thoughts, but it’s an important message to hear from Dazai, his mentor and the man he looks up to a lot (for some reason).

In the following chapter, Kouyou says, “No one expects much from snotty brats like you anyways,” after a brief flashback to when Atsushi accidentally hurt Haruno.

Despite the fact that Kouyou is technically an enemy, she brings up a very important point: No one is expecting anything miraculous from Atsushi.

Atsushi desperately tries to separate his current self from his past, but that doesn’t erase the past — erasing the past is impossible.

Even Dazai acknowledges this; Atsushi is capable from growing from his past self of course, but the separation of identity that Atsushi forces on himself is unreasonable.

Atsushi is still young, he still has those parts of a crying child and a “snotty brat” in him. He doesn’t need to be brave or heroic, he doesn’t need to save anyone to redeem himself.

Dazai’s advice to Atsushi counters the two foundational ideas of Atsushi’s oppressive mindset, and brings light to these points:

1. Atsushi has changed, for the better, and he knows it. This moment of weakness doesn’t change the fact that he’s grown from his past, and there’s no need to dwell on it.

2. Atsushi was placing an unreasonable burden on himself to protect everyone. Success is never guaranteed, especially when fighting against a mind controlling ability user, so he shouldn’t blame himself for not protecting them.

Dazai

I won’t justify Dazai slapping Atsushi, because it was still unnecessary despite everything I’ve already written.

However, this is also a pretty pivotal point in Dazai’s development as well.

We get to see this moment of vulnerability in Dazai’s eyes. I have no doubts that Dazai genuinely cares for Atsushi, so this can be interpreted as a moment in which Dazai wants to comfort Atsushi.

However, the very next panel shows Dazai’s eyes hidden away, before they return to their usual darkness as Dazai says the famous quote.

Although Dazai wanted to comfort Atsushi, he decided to give cold, hard, unadulterated advice instead because he saw that as the best solution to Atsushi’s problem (whether or not it actually was the best solution is debatable).

This reveals a little bit of Dazai’s heart — he’s capable of compassion, but he doesn’t choose to show it.

This moment also starts the progression of Dazai acting as a more proper “mentor figure” to Atsushi. Later on, we have the Portrait of a Father chapter when Dazai gives Atsushi necessary advice once more, and of course the many missions in which Dazai trusts Atsushi to accomplish a lot of things (saving Moby Dick, finding Fyodor, etc.)

Although you could see that as Dazai overburdening Atsushi with responsibility (the very thing we were trying to avoid), it feels more like Dazai knows that Atsushi is capable of doing whatever he asks, and Dazai trusts him to do so. That sense of trust isn’t lost on Atsushi, which motivates him to do even better with the comfort of knowing that he is capable of protecting others.

#bsd #bsd meta #bsd atsushi #bsd dazai #bungou stray dogs #overtones of dazatsu bc i like them

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myonepiece · 4 years ago

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My Darling

Whitebeard x fem!s/o

Summary: Whitebeard reunites with the love of his life who he lost conatct with many years ago, and now shes a super powerful & feared pirate (like as well known as him but infamously)

*Told in 3rd person *______ is Y/N

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

“What’s going on?”

Thatch stepped last onto the deck of the Moby Dick where Whitebeard had called everyone to gather. Whitebeard sat with an unusual look in his eyes, one that the crew did not recognize.

“I sent out a letter a few days ago and I’ve finally recieved a reply. We’re going to set sail for {island name} and meet _______ there” Whitebeard concluded as he looked down at his sons who all wore faces of shock and fear.

“_______?!! WHY?!” Ace was the first to speak what everyone else was thinking, why would their captain want to meat up with the most violent pirate that sailed the seas around them. Known for her aggressive and brutal fighting style and her high bounty, she was not one people would go to voluntarily meet.

“Because I miss my wife and I’m going to get her back, you kids wouldn’t understand gurarararara” He puntuated his joke with a laugh which helped ease some of the mens’ minds, at the same time giving them something else to scream about-

“YOU’RE MARRIED?!”

“YOU’RE MARRIED TO ______?!!”

“WE HAVE A MOM?!”

“Gurarararara! Stop yelling! I lost contact with ______ years ago and whenever I reached out to her the past few years she’s avoided me!” The crew was simultaneously excited, scared, and still in shock, but still they set sail for the island.

Whitebeard sat as his sons returned to work with occasional glances in his direction, most likely questioning his sanity. But Whitebeard was determined to see ______ again, the woman who had stolen his heart years ago when he was with the Rocks Pirates. At that time she was a Noble’s daughter, but when news of her love reached her father, he had threatened to kill Whitebeard. With _____’s hot temper and powers of the devil fruit she had consumed, she had launched herself against her family, striking them down for threatening harm against the one she loved. But as much as ______ loved Whitebeard and longed to be with him, she craved more of the sensation she felt during the battle. So she turned to the seas herself, burning down villages and leaving bodies in her wake. Earning a name and high bounty had also brought the attention of the still lovesick Whitebeard. But everytime he had tried to rekindle conatct with her, she turned and left leaving no explanation.

And now as the Moby Dick approached the island, the sky grew dark and filled with clouds with the effects of her devil fruit. The wind picked up and blew harder the closer they got. We meet in the middle of the island, ______ had written in response to his letter- finally ready to join her lover. The crew docked and awaited orders from their fatherly captain, who was frozen staring into the forest outlines the clearing in the middle of the island. As he stepped off of the boat and on to the shore, Ace and Vista walked beside their captain, still suspicious of the sudden meeting between him and ______.

Whitebeard’s heart beat seemed spead up with each step, no battle nor enemy could cause this, but _____ could. His arms seemed to ache as he thought of holding her once again, it was as if his body had finally comprehended what was about to happen. He showed none of these feelings to his sons, keeping his composed exterior. And then through the trees he saw the figure, standing in the clearing facing the other way. The wind blew around her long navy blue dress, and her hair whipped around as she stood with an air of pride. Lightning cracked above in the dark sky, causing some of the crew to look cautiously at each other, some readying their weapons and stances as they moved forward into the clearing.

“______!!” Whitebeard called out over the sound of wind and lightning. ______ slowly turned, revealing her infamous wide grin. The wind immediately subsided as if the whole storm centered around her, making her the calm. A web of lightning cracked around her providing more light in the still dark atmosphere.

“Long time no see, my dear” ______’s voice echoed across the space and the men look up at their captain.

“Leave us” Whitebeard stated flatly earning looks of inquisition from his sons. He nodded down at them before they finally began to turn around. Disobeying their captain’s orders, the crew stood behind the trees, watching the events take place. The two mighty figures seemed to communicate through looks as no words passed either lips. Whitebeard stepped forward and slowly made his way towards ______. Standing in front of her felt like a dream, as that was the only way he had “talked” with her for years after the seperation.

“My darling” Whitebeard’s words were barely louder than a whisper as he peered down at _____ with a small smile. Slowly, ______ reached her hand up and carressed the man’s cheek gently. Whitebeard moved his hand to place on top of hers, this being what prompted the actual retreat of his crew. The two left in the clearing stood silently as they stared wistfully into the others eyes. Whitebeard carefully moved his other hand, placing it gently on the small of ______’s back, seeing no sign of objection from her, he gently pulled her closer until finally closing the space between. The kiss was soft from both sides, but slow and passionate as it continued. As if trying to make up for the time they had lost over the past years. They parted breathlessly but remained close enough for Whitebeard to lean his forehead against hers, his eyes silently asking her to rejoin him and conquer the seas together. ______ smiled softly and placed a small kiss on Whitebeard’s lips before pulling back completely and linking arms with him, her smile accepting his request.

So the two pirates walked back through the forest, arm in arm, returning to the sea together.

#one piece #one piece scenario #whitebeard pirates #whitebeard x reader #whitebeard one piece #one piece imagine

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the-piece-of-spadille · 4 years ago

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Anonymous asked:

“Hiya ! Idk if you’re taking requests still but I was wondering if you’d write for Marco and number 21 of the prompt list (^: if you’re not taking requests rn pls ignore this ! Hope you’re doing well 💕”

Hello! Thank you so much for requesting! Sorry this took a little while to get out. Nevertheless, I hope you like it!

Prompt: “I just feel safe with you, like nothing bad can happen”

It’s been two months since you’d last set foot on the Moby Dick. Since you were last able to be in Marco’s arms, safe and sound where you belong. At first, it was nice getting away by yourself, it wasn’t often you got to spend some time alone. But as time progressed, so did the feeling of longing for your loved one.

Word was spreading around quickly in the New World about a few new pirates causing trouble on an island that is under Whitebeards protection. The locals had reported that the pirates were stealing, robbing, and threating those who got in their way. Obviously, the problem needed to be taken care of, so Pops sent you out on business to check in on the island and take care of any unwanted pirates.

Once you arrived on the island, the pirates seemed to immediately change their behavior. They left you and the residents alone for the most part after seeing the mark of Whitebeard on your shoulder. You boiled it down to being too fearful of what could happen if they challenged a member of the Whitebeard pirates. Though, after seeing you hang around comfortably for a bit, a few pirates grew bold believing they had a shot at taking down the daughter of Whitebeard.

Honestly, it was more annoying than threatening, so you set the record straight with a few fights here and there. Crushing their dreams before they even had a chance. You sent them fleeing with their tails between their legs. You spent a couple weeks helping the locals recover from the damages and making sure the pirates didn’t return to retaliate with another attack.

It was in that down time when the feeling of being homesick really hit you. You found yourself trying to stay busy, picking up random tasks from the townsfolk to help distract yourself, but there was one thing you couldn’t avoid no matter how much you tried. The long nights alone. The feeling of an empty bed was one you hoped wouldn’t last any longer than it had to. Marco often helped you fall asleep at night, he’d play with your hair, scratch your back, and tell you stories of his younger days on the ship while you rested your head against him as his heart beat lulled you asleep. You missed your birdie dearly.

It was some time around noon when you heard a commotion coming from the sea. Some of the locals started to get wary that an attack would break out. Doing your best to reassure them that everything would be okay, you spotted that dinky boat that belonged to no other than the infamous Fire Fist, you couldn’t contain your excitement knowing you’d soon be home.

Shortly after you found yourself being brought back on the deck of the Moby Dick. Ace having told you in advance that the crew was going to be throwing a party at your return and he wasn’t kidding. Everyone was on the deck with mugs ready in their hands to welcome you back with. Pops being the first to greet you, asking if everything went smoothly. “Of course it did” you sassed.

Laughing, he pats your shoulder and sends you into the eager crowd of family waiting on you to fill them in on the details of your departure. Marco waits patiently, standing a ways back watching everyone hug you and ask questions while your eyes search the large group of people. You know they all missed you, as did you, so you try to answer all the questions everyone throws at you, but you can’t focus. No matter where you looked, you were simply to short to find the particular man you’ve been missing the most.

Figuring now is a good time to step in and save you, Marco makes his way over. “Oi, Give her some space would you. She’s only just got back” a familiar voice commanded. The men around you apologize and go back to celebrating knowing that the commander wants to spend time with his loved one. Ace, standing behind Marco, mocks the two by making kissing faces then fakes being sick.

“Marco!” making your way over to the man you with the biggest smile. Already knowing what you’re about to do, he smiles back at you and waits for you to jump into his arms to hold you close to him. Normally, Marco isn’t one for PDA. He’s a private man and knowing that the crew is going to tease him about it later, he opts for keeping it behind closed doors, but he makes an exception this time.

Your arms circle around his neck, burying your face into his jacket while Marco supports your weight. One hand securing your bottom while the other is on your back, pressing you firmly against him. Finally, you’re home.

Looking up into his eyes, you rest one hand against his face, slowly wiping your thumb over his cheek. “I missed you so much” eyes starting to tear up. “I missed you too – yoi” his hand rubbing soothingly against your back. You meet him with a sweet kiss, earning collective awes from the crew.

Pulling away from the kiss, both of your faces are flushed from all the attention. Pops commented something about young love, and that was enough for Marco to whisk you away before anyone else said anything. A loud wolf whistle that can only be done by Thatch, is heard over the crew making you giggle.

Making it into your shared bedroom, Marco lets you down onto the floor. It’s as if all of your emotions from being separated hit you at once. Clutching onto his shirt, you tuck your face back into his chest. It wasn’t easy for Marco either. He was constantly worried that something was going to happen, and he wouldn’t be there to help you.

Marco gently cups your cheek and brings your attention to his face “Everything okay – yoi?” Brushing and loose hairs from your face. Shaking your head, “I Just feel safe with you like nothing bad can happen.”

“Yeah?” he smiles. “Well I like protecting precious baby.” Leaning down, Marco gives you a loving kiss to preview what the rest of the night is going to be like.

#Marco the Phoenix #marco one piece #marco the phoenix x reader #marco x reader #one piece marco #One Piece Fanfiction #whitebeard pirates #reblog plz

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yukipri · 4 years ago

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On the Baratie, Prologue - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Thanks to everyone who sent in their opinion on the East Blue stories poll! I think Sanji’s had the most, so we’re starting off with more Baratie!

While there’ll be a continuation, here’s a bit of prelude, because they need a different reason to go to the Baratie. The ASL Pirates already have a cook after all!

Like a prologue to On the Baratie, Part 1

When Thatch makes up his mind to accompany Ace back to East Blue, he knows that there's one place he wants to visit no matter what.

He's only been to East Blue once, and it was honestly ages ago, and he doubts there'll be another chance in the near future. Not many opportunities to visit the weakest Blue as a commander in an Emperor's crew, after all.

And while Thatch doubts he'd travel halfway around the world for the sole purpose of visiting this spot, he's lucky. Because on this particular trip, it's practically along the way. They're passing right by the area on their way back to re-entering the Grand Line, so there's no way in hell he's letting this slip by.

It's the only request Thatch has made on this journey, and Ace and Luffy, who are the Captains and therefore technically get to decide where they go, have no objections. Luffy's already bobbing up and down in excitement, despite their guides estimating that they still have a ways to go.

"The Baratie, huh," Ace grins. "Never heard of it, we didn't pass by our first time through, did we Deuce?"

"You've never heard of it because you lived in the middle of nowhere, in a jungle with barely any contact with human civilization," Deuce says pointedly. "Most people in East Blue at least know of it, it's kinda famous."

Ace just shrugs, and Luffy whoops as the movement of his shoulders momentarily boosts her higher. Ace indulges her and repeats the movement more aggressively until she's bouncing, and Deuce sighs. The two captains' attentions have shifted, and now they're preoccupied by the most important topic of all: food.

"Food~!" Luffy sings, hopping from one arm to the other as Ace switches to spinning her around, and Deuce has to duck to avoid her tail. "Yummy yummy food at a restaurant! It's gonna be amazing!"

"It really will be amazing, if Zeff hasn't lost his touch," Thatch agrees, and Luffy and Ace cheer. "I've never eaten at this restaurant of his, but I was a fan of the Cook Pirates when I was a kid."

His expression darkens, and Ace stills, recalling that Thatch mentioned they all died or something.

"Sucks what happened to them," Ace offers.

But Thatch just shrugs. It was around a decade ago, and shit happens out at sea. "I'm just glad Zeff survived. He'll have trained the new cooks well, and it'll be funny to see the old man actually settled down as a civilian."

Thatch was still a teen the last time he saw Zeff, who was Captain of the infamous Cook Pirates back in the day. They were always picking fights, and picked the wrong one with Pops, and predictably lost. Pops let them live, and they had a grand party, and Thatch remembers being captivated by their culinary expertise.

Thatch chuckles to himself, and the two brothers look at him curiously, blinking with adorably similar expressions.

"I just remembered, Zeff tried to scout me. Pops wasn't thrilled."

Ace barks a laugh, hefting Luffy into a more comfortable position before she suddenly squirms out of his arms. Luffy makes a grabby motion towards Thatch, and Ace obligingly if reluctantly moves closer to let her swing up onto the taller man's shoulders.

Thatch perks up at the sudden attention, because it's not every day that the little mermaid chooses to climb someone other than her brother. Thatch knows she doesn't need it, but offers her a hand to get settled more comfortably, which she takes with a pleased little purring sound that makes his heart skip a beat. Thatch pointedly doesn't look at Ace, but he can still feel his burning gaze.

He's not sure what prompted the sudden transport transfer, but suddenly Luffy's leaning forward over his shoulder to peer directly into his face, and she's close. Thatch tries very hard not to blush.

"But if the Zeff-dude cooks are that good, are they better than you, Thatch?" Luffy asks, eyes wide. "That can't be right, because Thatch's food is the best in the world! Better than even Makino's!"

Those words do make Thatch flush crimson, and Ace snorts. Thatch ignores him, too busy trying to control the warmth bubbling up inside his chest.

Thatch doesn't think he's arrogant, but he also isn't unused to his food being praised. As ungrateful as most of his brothers back aboard the Moby usually are, he's still the head chef who leads the culinary division of their entire fleet, and it's a position he's earned. He's personally trained and assigned all of the cooks on every Whitebeard ship. He knows he cooks well.

But there's something special about Luffy's unique brand of painfully genuine praise. Even though they've been traveling together for a few weeks now, she never gets bored of singing her appreciation at every mealtime with, if anything, increasing enthusiasm. It's like every time is her first time trying his food. Thatch in no way needs her compliments to adore her, he was besotted far before she even knew he was a cook, but boy does he appreciate them, and he doubts he'll ever really get used to them.

Thatch has been called the "Best Cook in the World" by many, and he'd accepted their words politely. But to hear them from Luffy feels like the highest honor he can ever attain.

Thatch feels unbearably fond as he reaches up to fluff Luffy's hair, and she leans into his hand, eyes curving up into slits like a happy kitten, her tail curling back and forth at his back.

Ace cheerfully ruins their moment.

"We'll just have to see, Lu, and maybe if you like their cooking better, we can ditch Thatch and kidnap one of their cooks." Ace leers like the evil little shit he is, and Thatch gasps with exaggerated indignation.

"No, no!" Luffy boos her brother, clinging to Thatch like he's the embodiment of all the meals Ace had threatened she'd lose, before she swings her tail around to smack at Ace none too gently until he grudgingly raises his arms in surrender.

"If we like their cooking, then we can keep Thatch AND kidnap one of their cooks!"

"Lil Seastar, you're not satisfied with just me, even if my food is the best in the world?" Thatch teases, and sticks his tongue out at Ace when he scowls. The young Captain isn't so thrilled with Thatch's new nickname for his baby brother, and Thatch thinks it's fair revenge for him being mean.

"Thatch's food is the best!" Luffy cries again, and Thatch glows. "But if we steal a Zeff, then we have two cooks, which means more food!" She nods, pleased with her conclusion. "More food is always good!"

Well, she's a little confused, but her point is made. They hopefully won't steal Zeff himself, as Thatch doubts he'll be happy to part with his beloved restaurant, but perhaps nabbing one of his assistants isn't a terrible idea.

While handling even Ace and Luffy's appetites is no problem for Thatch, who's used to feeding the entire Moby Dick, some company in the kitchen might not be bad.

(And, a voice whispers in his head, that they'll need a cook that Thatch approves of when he inevitably has to leave to return to Pops. It's a voice Thatch ignores, so that he can enjoy this moment, for now.)

I don't think it's actually ever officially stated whether Thatch's Division is actually in charge of dining, but there are other divisions that are specified, so I thought it would be interesting, so I made it that way ^ ^;

(Edit: Actually it IS explicitly stated that the 4th Division is in charge of dining, this is canon and not just a headcanon whee~!)

And if Thatch as the head of the cooking division, then to me it makes sense that he'd be insanely good at it, not just your average chef. Because I mean, they're the Whitebeard pirates. And sure, they're not as food-centric as the Big Mom Pirates, but the WBs always have quality. Cooking, I feel, is a lot more subjective than say, "Strongest Swordsman in the World" but I don't think it'd be a stretch to say that Thatch is Up There.

This isn't at all to shit on canon!Sanji or his cooking which is probably also insanely good, but Sanji's a lot younger, and the places he's been, the people he's learned from, and the people he's cooked for are far more limited. He, like everyone else, is learning rapidly by stepping out into a far larger world.

Thatch, in comparison, has been on the Grand Line for a loooooong time, traveling with the most infamous crew currently in existence, and probably has picked up a LOT of things from a lot of people. While he doesn't have an official canon age, given the ages of the other Commanders (Marco 45; Jozu 42; Vista 47), I'm putting him at 41 here. That's decades of difference in experience.

It's one of the reasons why I think exploring Thatch and Sanji's mentor-rival relationship in this AU could be so much fun, because think of how much Sanji could grow with someone like Thatch in the crew.

Luckily, Sanji's dream is to find All Blue, not to defeat the cooking equivalent of Mihawk in Iron Chef Grand Line, so outside of fighting for the heart of the love of their lives, I think they can get along quite well ^ ^;

(also do u like his nickname for Lu. I had to consult a friend. But I think it's beginning to stick for me ^ ^;)

As always, any thoughts or comments make my day! Thanks for reading <3

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

Read the next part: 👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 1

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

#OnePieceMermaidAU #One Piece Mermaid Au #Thatch #ThatchLu #AceLu #Portgas D. Ace #Monkey D. Luffy #One Piece #text headcanons #longpost #long post #YukiPri replies

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gingyboo · 4 years ago

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Mirror Mirror

A/N: Again many thanks to @booglebug

Description- Soulmates existed. People knew that much. Soulmates were rare, a handful in each generation, an unexplainable phenomenon that formed a bond closer than blood and more sacred than marriage.

Bucky finds his soulmate when he needs her most. Little does he know how much she needs him too.

(Soulmate au that slots pretty much in to the MCU but with soulmates. Set after TFATWS.)

Pairing- Bucky Barnes x OFC

Warnings- Mentions of violence and guns, but its mostly fluff, drama and angst.

This is a multi chaptered fic.

Please like, comment, reblog!

prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 13

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Chapter 13

Shuri agreed to keep the prison safe whilst Sam, Bucky and Nancy headed for the raft. The US Marshalls could hardly say no to Captain America although they weren’t very happy about a British civilian going along as well. Torres had been sent back to America, no more unsanctioned missions for him. Shuri lent them a jet and a pilot. Before the left the princess had pulled Nancy to one side.

“I know he is your cousin, but he is a bad man. You should know it is only because of his excellent service and separation from your mother that has kept the Wakandan people happy for your father to remain here. You cannot trust this man.”

“Believe me I know, I know what he did to your father. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you, it’s something my family has tried very hard to forget.” Nancy responded. Shuri had nodded to her in understanding, pressing a wrapped bundle of cloth into her arms.

“For the Red Wolf.” She said simply.

Her father had tears in his eyes as he said goodbye, “You find him, you bring back to me.” She had promised to, there was no point hiding her intentions anymore, they had a lead, nothing was going to stand in the way of finding her brother.

On board the plane Nancy sat with Shuri’s package cradled on her lap. Bucky sat beside her, tracing patterns lazily on the back of her hand. Sam sat on the other side of the jet, he kept watching Nancy out of the corner of his eye. Sam hadn’t said much to her since her revelation. Not that there’d been much time for chatting but still there was a chill in his presence that wasn’t there before.

“Stop staring Samuel.” Bucky snapped after a while and Sam’s eyes jumped up to meet his. Bucky’s eyebrows were raised, daring him to say something.

“I don’t like this James.”

“I didn’t choose to be related to him,”

“You didn’t tell us, how do we know we can trust you?” He appeared genuinely hurt by her omission. Nancy thought for a few moments.

“I just want to find my brother, you don’t have to trust me, but can you at least believe that.” Sam looked away from her then, silent acceptance.

“I’ll talk to him.” Bucky whispered kissing her temple.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever had my back so much before.” Nancy remarked

“It’s you and me doll, we stand together.” He winked at her, and Nancy felt warmth spreading through her as she beamed uncontrollably back at him. “You gonna show me what’s in there?” Bucky asked gesturing to the bundle. Nancy looked at it carefully. She’d mention it as a throw away comment, a joke during training, she didn’t think Shuri would actually come through with it. She peeled back the layers of cloth to reveal the garment beneath. Black and deep red panelling made up the trousers, top and jacket. Red gloves and boots were tucked into the bottom of the bundle as well as a brief note.

“Flame retardant, knife resistant and a lightweight breathable material. Or so Shuri says, I’m amazed she got it made so fast.” Nancy said, running her fingers over her suit. The belt boasted two knife holsters and a pouch of metallic ball bearings. After Nancy insisted on not carrying a gun Shuri had got creative, when activated by the device built into the sleeve, the balls would give off an electrical charge. Not enough to kill, but enough to knock someone down. An extra two knives were stowed away in the jacket’s lining and the backs of the gloves had reinforced panels of vibranium.

“I like it.” Bucky said once she’d got back from the tiny cubicle the jet called a toilet, now clad in the ensemble.

“Fits like a glove,” she smithed the material out before a brief jolt of turbulence knocked her back into her seat. Bucky’s arms reached out instinctively to catch her, but she caught herself, sliding back into the seat gently. Turbulence seemed to increase as they neared the raft. Nancy became more agitated which didn’t go unnoticed by her companions. For the first time she had to accept what her brother working with Helmut could mean. Did their views align? If so why had he taken the serum? Had he betrayed his country? Her brother who swore to fight for queen and country. The main question burned through them all though, where was he?

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They reached the raft as were led through many security gates to a round room of cells. Zemo stood behind glass, he stared passively as the trio entered the room. No hint of surprise at the presence of Nancy.

“I wondered when I’d be graced with your presence dearest cousin. Family really is everything, wouldn’t you agree?”

“You’re nothing to me.” Nancy responded with narrowed eyes as she stalked round the edge of the room, each step bringing her closer to the glass.

“Don’t think I don’t know why you are here little one.” He smiled at her beckoning her towards him. She complied, briefly looking back to nod at Bucky first.

“Where is Kit?” She asked, staring him down.

“All in good time. I see you found him, I did used to wonder if you ever would.” Bucky made to move forward but Nancy waved him back.

“You knew?” She looked calm, inside she was screaming at him.

“You think your parents didn’t know, you think your mother wouldn’t have talked to mine. My parents were soulmates, your mother wanted to be certain. I heard things, not till later did I find out the metal armed man was him, I mean how many men like him are there.” He wagged his eyebrows in Bucky’s direction.

“Only one.” Nancy’s face turned to marble, she let the music rise up, calming her. “Tell me about Kit, we know he isn’t dead, we know you were working together, we know he took the serum. Where is he?”

“Is that all you want to know, don’t you want to know why? What if your precious brother doesn’t deserve to be found?”

“You want to tell me a story Helmut? Tell me a story, but it better end with where he is, or so help me god.”

“Your soldier won’t kill me, it’s not who he is anymore.” He smiled. Nancy Brought her face up to meet his against the glass.

“But I will.” She said it with a confidence she didn’t possess.

“Christopher worked for me, I knew about the British programme, I knew he’d be an ideal candidate, so I approached him, he wasn’t hard to convince, his weakness was glaringly obvious.”

“What weakness?” Nancy hated to ask.

“You my dear. His precious baby sister who he wanted to protect from the world. Little did he know the one he needed to protect you from was waiting in a mirror. Telling him that got him on side pretty quick. Who would want a monster dating their little sister?” Anger began to boil up inside Nancy’s head, drowning out her music.

“You Bastard!”

“Now come on, language, you were raised better than that.” he scolded with a frown before continuing ��So, I told him, to protect you from the infamous winter solider he’d need to level the playing field. Then it was a simple task of tracking him to the classified location and shutting the place down. Him taking the serum was an unfortunate side effect, I underestimated their progress, but I’ve set the programme back many years now.”

“So, Kit didn’t betray them?”

“Well, no technically not, my people had him removed, sadly he escaped my custody, and by that point I had bigger fish to fry.” he nodded at Sam and Bucky. “I made my peace with that. He knows you’re looking for him though, sent me a letter some weeks ago, instructions on where you could find him.”

“What instructions were they?” she demanded, her fingers lightly grazed the blade at her waist.

“I’ll tell you, if you promise me a favour in return.” He whispered to her. There was a rush of movement and Bucky was behind her, gun drawn, pointing it at the glass. Sam stood behind him, hand on his shoulder, as if to hold him back.

“No!” Nancy whipped round, brandishing her blade at Bucky her eyes pleading for him to back down, one wrong move and Kit could be lost to her.

“You can’t trust him.”

“He’s the only chance.” She insisted. Bucky smiled sadly.

“You won’t hurt me doll.”

“No, I won’t.” She realised, she turned the knife in her hand before bringing it to her throat. “And you won’t hurt me.” Bucky dropped the gun instantaneously. His face filled with pain and Nancy lowered the blade, her own face painted with regret.

“Alright calm down.” Sam said standing between the two of them, Zemo had moved to sit on the edge of his bunk.

“Really very touching.” He looked at the three of them.

“What’s the favour?” She spat back at him. Something softened behind his eyes as he looked at her. He took a deep breath.

“Lay some flowers for me, at the memorial, In Sokovia.” Nancy, taken aback, nodded slowly. “Does the name Thomas Gregory mean anything to you?” His eyes darted to the cameras above them and then back again. Understanding Nancy nodded.

“Yes,”

“That’ll be a place to start.” He picked a book off his pillow waving it at her. She saw the title, Moby Dick. “You know, some people think the ending is the best part, I tend to prefer beginnings.”

Sam and Bucky both looked confused, but Nancy understood.

“Thank you, Helmut, I won’t forget this.” She turned her back and made to walk back to the door.

“Nancy,” he called out to her. She turned her head quickly. “White roses were her favourite, she might not have been my soulmate, but at the same time she was.”

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They received many odd looks from the raft’s personnel as they made their way back to the jet. Bucky seemed to be constantly staring at her and for the first time she felt discomfort under his gaze.

“Buck…” was all she managed to get out once they were seated once more in the plane, before Sam started asking questions.

“Who is Thomas Gregory?” he started.

“He’s no one, it was a code, one he knew only I would be able to decipher. He wants it to be me that finds him. If Helmut knows where he is, he doesn’t want those watching him to know that. Which means Duncan Everett is the only one trying to find him.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“I’ve got an idea. Thomas Gregory was a friend of his, the first boy I ever thought I loved actually,” Nancy noticed Bucky tense up by her side, but she ignored it. “Kit knew I’d remember him. Really a cruel joke. They had been friends for ages, but his family was actually from Cornwall originally.”

“Prefers the beginning.” Bucky muttered, Nancy nodded up at him with a grateful smile. He, at least, was following.

“Moby Dick was a clue too I think. Kit loved the sea, he read that book for school once, he was obsessed with it. He’s got to be working the coast.” She pieced it together in her mind. He knew how to crew the greatest naval vessels, it makes sense for his cover to be working on the boats.

“In Cornwall.” Sam clarified.

“yes, I believe so.”

“Then we’ll head there, we’ll find him.” Bucky said, looking to Sam for any hint of protest.

“We’ve come this far.” Sam decided, rising up to let their pilot know the new course. he looked back briefly at Bucky who nodded. Then it was just Nancy and Bucky sat side by side, yet miles apart.

#bucky barnes #winter solider #sam wilson #captain america #mcu #mcu fic #soulmate #zemo

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anubislover · 4 years ago

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One Hell of A Ride

( It takes a lot more than a pretty face to lure Ikkaku away from her duties. However, when that pretty face comes attached to a hot, shirtless Portgas D. Ace along with a sweet ride, well, who could blame her for being a bit reckless?)

Growing up, Ikkaku’s grandfather had regaled her with wild stories about the Grand Line. Storms that came out of nowhere, monstrous sea beasts, mysterious islands, and, of course, pirates. He’d particularly relished telling the tales of Whitebeard—how he could shatter mountains with a blink, would start wars if you so much as looked at his sons, regularly kidnapped unsupervised children to add to his crew, and was tall enough to peer through the second-story windows of seaside cottages to ensure that curly-haired little girls were sound asleep in their beds and not reading mechanic manuals under the covers.

Looking up at the towering form of Edward Newgate himself, she decided that Gramps hadn’t been exaggerating that last part. And given the size of his crew, she was seriously starting to consider the kidnapping claims might have some truth to them, too.

If it were up to her, she wouldn’t even be on the deck of the Moby Dick, however the Heart Pirates had found themselves crossing paths with the Whitebeard Pirates a month after entering the Grand Line. Marco the Phoenix, recognizing Law as both a fellow doctor and the user of the Ope Ope no Mi, had requested that he give the Yonko a check-up since he was demanding a second opinion. For her part, Ikkaku was only brought along in case any of his medical equipment malfunctioned.

So, while Law Scanned Whitebeard and discussed the man’s extensive medical history, the mechanic busied herself with watching the waves and fighting off boredom. A cheerful man named Thatch had made polite small talk, but the rest of the crew, while not hostile, seemed more interested in keeping an eye on her captain in case he decided to cause trouble. The Surgeon of Death had earned himself quite the reputation in the North Blue, and there were plenty of cocky upstarts like him who would try to make a name for themselves by attempting to assassinate Whitebeard. With Law’s powers, he could quite possibly do it, too. So she couldn’t blame them for being cautious.

Just as she started an internal debate with herself over whether she found the uniforms the nurses on board wore sexy or sexist, movement on the horizon caught her eye.

It started as a small dot with a thin white streak behind it, but it gradually grew larger the closer it got until Ikkaku could see that it was a small, extremely fast boat. Honestly, it was more like a surfboard with a sail than a raft, being long and nearly flat. Ordinarily, Ikkaku’s eyes would be glued to the attractive, shirtless man standing on it, but instead drawn to the flames at his feet and what appeared to be an engine of some kind behind him.

Gramps’ stories had definitely never described a boat like that.

“Looks like Ace is back,” Thatch said from beside her, noticing what had captured the young woman’s attention. He gave a knowing snigger. “I’d be happy to introduce you, if you’d like.”

Her eyes widened a bit at the name. She’d heard of Fire Fist Ace—a rookie that made a name for himself so quickly that he’d earned a bounty of 550,000,000 belli and turned down the offer of becoming a Shichibukai within the first few years of his pirate career. Ikkaku was no pirate groupie, but she’d certainly noticed his wanted poster whenever they stopped at taverns and the like. Mainly because it was usually surrounded by ladies sighing wistfully. Not that she could blame them—he was a handsome man, and she’d yet to find a picture of him where he wasn’t shirtless.

Before she could properly answer, the man had pulled up beside the ship, all but vanishing behind the curvature of the Moby Dick’s broad hull. Ikkaku practically hung over the railing, trying to catch another glimpse of the boat and its sailor. Luckily Thatch was there to grab her by the back of her boiler suit, pulling her away just as Ace launched himself upwards in a bust of flame, vaulting over the rail and landing neatly on the spot she’d just vacated.

Seeing him up close, it was clear that the wanted posters didn’t do him justice. For starters, he looked like some kind of rugged model rather than a pirate. Wavy black hair framed his pale face, perfectly matching his obsidian eyes. The freckles that dotted his cheeks should have made him look childish, but instead they simply added a boyish charm to his grinning face. His shoulders were broad and muscular, supporting toned arms, one of which sported a rather interesting tattoo. Cargo shorts hung criminally low on his narrow hips, and if Ikkaku didn’t know better, she’d say he was sporting an eight-pack. He held himself with a natural confidence that bordered on cockiness, but given his bounty and reputation, it was probably justified.

Letting the awestruck mechanic go, Thatch strolled over to the man and gave him a hearty slap on the back. “Welcome home, Ace. You’re just in time to see Pops argue with trained medical professionals over his health again.”

“I’d hate to miss that,” he replied with a carefree grin, flicking up the brim of his orange cowboy hat. “It’s good to be home. And I see we’ve got some newbies,” he added, eyes landing on Ikkaku. He gave a polite bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to the family. What’s your name?”

Ikkaku’s jaw dropped, taken aback by his unexpected politeness and his assumption. “Huh? Oh, we’re not—”

“They’re just visitors,” Thatch said, winking at her. “For now. Wouldn’t be surprised if Pops decides to adopt them, though.”

“Yeah, once he’s made up his mind, you’re family,” Ace agreed with a cheerful laugh.

“Whether you like it or not,” Thatch added, elbowing him in the side, which only made him laugh harder. “You two have fun—I’ve got to go get dinner ready, especially since we’ve got so many visitors.”

The moment they were left alone, Ikkaku found herself once more looking over the side of the ship, wondering where the boat had gone. Was there a mooring station Ace had tied it to? A secret door in the hull?

“So, can I get that name?” Ace asked, raising an eyebrow pointedly as he leaned his hip against the railing.

A little embarrassed at her inadvertent rudeness, she quit her search and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. “Oh, yeah, sorry. It’s Ikkaku of the Heart Pirates,” she replied, holding out her hand to shake. Briefly, she considered bowing like he had, but it felt far too formal for her. Besides, Gramps had always told her that a handshake was the best way to get the measure of a man—test his grip strength, feel the callouses on his palm, see if he thinks he’s too good to touch common working folk.

Without hesitation, the pirate grasped her hand, shaking firmly as he looked directly into her eyes. “Pleasure to meet you, Ikkaku. I’m Portgas D. Ace.” His hand was warm and rough, the skin dry due to his flame powers. She could feel hard callouses on his palm and fingers, indicating that he put in his share of work and didn’t just laze about. And his grip was firm, but not crushing, matching hers equally. It was a good sign in her books—men had both tried to squeeze too hard as an intimidation tactic and held it too delicately because they underestimated her.

When he let go, he crossed his arms over his hard pectorals and leaned casually against the railing, though his eyes were keen and curious as they studied her. “So, what brings Ikkaku of the Heart Pirates into the company of the Whitebeard Pirates?”

She nodded her head towards Law, Marco, and Whitebeard, who appeared to be in deep discussion. “Marco asked my boss to give your captain a check-up.”

“Well, that explains what he’s doing here, but what about you? You the Surgeon of Death’s bodyguard?” he teased.

The corner of her mouth curled upwards. It didn’t feel like he was mocking her strength or potential combat prowess. After all, while there wasn’t an overabundance of female pirates, those that made it to the Grand Line had to be tough as nails. His amusement was clearly at the very idea that a man like Law would need a bodyguard. “Scarier. His mechanic.”

From the way his eyes widened a bit, it was obvious that her answer caught him off-guard, but his grin never faltered. “Yeah? Don’t meet a lot of pirates that employ full-time mechanics.”

“That’s because you don’t meet a lot of pirates whose ship is a submarine.”

A hearty, self-deprecating laugh burst out of his chest at her bluntness. “Got me there! You’re definitely a first for me, and I’ve seen a lot on the Grand Line.”

“It’s certainly a crazy place, but I like what I’ve seen today,” she replied with a chuckle. For a fairly infamous pirate, Ace was surprisingly easy to talk to. He was casual but polite, friendly, and that grin of his could melt butter. It would be no hardship to stand around and flirt with him all day. Ikkaku bit her lip, though that didn’t stop the corners of her mouth from curling up into a coy little smile. Should I ask? Or would that be too forward, she wondered, trying to figure out how best to get what she wanted. Should she just come out and say it, or should she butter him up first?

Seeing her expression, his grin morphed into a smirk, a flirtatious gleam in his eyes as they flickered down to the way her teeth worried her lip. “You look like you’ve got a question for me. No need to be shy—I don’t bite. Well, maybe if you ask me nicely.”

Ordinarily she’d counter that comment with one of her own, but she had far more pressing matters to address. “You got me. I’ve been dying to know; what was that?” she asked, pointing over the side of the ship to where she’d last seen the odd vehicle. “That boat you rode in on?”

“Oh, that’s Striker. It’s my personal raft,” Ace said, surprised at the unexpected change in topic. Not that he minded—it wasn’t often that a girl took interest in his boat. It filled him with an odd sense of pride that it was cool enough to catch the mechanic’s attention.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s beautiful,” she said sincerely.

That made his face light up a bit more. “You wanna take a closer look?”

Ace jumped back a few inches when Ikkaku eagerly leapt forward, hands clasped together and sparkles in her eyes at his offer. “Hell yes!”

XXX

He took her down into the belly of the ship where things like extra dinghies, weapons, carpentry supplies, and tools were kept. In the corner was a little workshop full of tools, nuts and bolts, assorted parts, and paint was kept. Next to it was Striker, the bottom still wet from the trip, but the yellow paint gleaming merrily in the overhead lights.

At Ace’s encouraging nod, Ikkaku dashed over, inspecting the boat from the sails to the bow before finally getting to the part she was really interested in. “Whoa. What kind of engine is this?” she asked, brushing her hands across the dark metal surface reverently.

“Uh, I don’t know the specifics or anything,” he admitted, looking a little embarrassed at his lack of knowledge regarding his own vehicle. “You’d have to ask Deuce—he’s the one who built it.”

The vibrant mechanic wasn’t dissuaded, though, simply peering at the propellers jutting out the sides. “I just might. How does it shoot flames like that? It must take a hell of a lot of fuel—not very practical for long trips, I imagine.” Her brow furrowed as she spoke, though; despite looking carefully, she couldn’t actually find anything resembling a fuel tank. Did it run on electricity, then, or some other power source?

“Actually, I’m the fuel,” he replied, raising his hand innocently but proud that he could answer at least one of her technical questions. “My Mera Mera no Mi powers are what propels the ship—the engine just focuses them.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice. Here she thought she was going to learn some amazing secret about fuel efficiency or a new power source that she could implement into the Tang’s engine. Yet as she further inspected the engine, the wheels in her head started turning, and she quickly got an idea. “You know, I could probably make a few modifications to the engine so it won’t drain you so much. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of stamina, but on long trips or in a fight, efficiency could be the difference between life and death.”

“Wait, seriously?” he asked, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. “You know how to do that?”

“Well, I’d have to take it apart, see how it ticks, maybe look over the blueprints if you’ve got them handy, but from the look of things, yeah!”

His face stretched in a massive, eager grin as he fetched said blueprints from the workshop desk. “Then go for it!”

For the next two hours, Ikkaku worked on Striker, examining the pieces, reworking the design, and rebuilding the entire engine from scratch. Dark, curly locks were pulled back in a messy ponytail to keep them out of her face, and some grease had splattered on her cheek, but she hardly cared. She was having too much fun, especially since she was basically given carte blanche to do whatever she needed to the engine.

Sitting on a barrel off to the side, watching the mechanic with open admiration, Ace said, “You sure know your stuff.”

“My job involves knowing the ins and outs of any engine I come across. I specialize in submarines, but I made sure to learn everything I could about mechanics as a whole. I can fix generators, medical equipment, and most other machines I come across,” she explained, replacing the propellers with newer models. Thankfully, the adjustments hadn’t been extensive—Ace’s own mechanic could probably figure out what she’d done, though she made extensive notes on the back of the blueprints just in case. She’d tried to explain to Ace what she was doing as she went, but he’d ended up staring at her blankly, and at one point he’d even fallen asleep. After she’d woken him up with a well-aimed screw, she’d let him dominate the conversation, filling the silence with the tale of how Masked Deuce had built it.

“Impressive.”

A faint tinge of pink rose to her cheeks at the compliment, though she doubted it was noticeable in the workshop’s light. “Honestly, I’m more impressed that your buddy was able to build even a prototype on a desert island. Most people couldn’t manage that.”

“Could you?”

She was torn between being modest and being honest. While she had total faith in her engineering skills, she knew that saying so could easily come across as arrogant. And, well, he’d seemed really proud of his friend while telling his story. She didn’t want him to think she considered such a thing child’s play. “I mean, probably, but that doesn’t make it any less of an accomplishment.” It was one hell of a feat, and she was loath to take that away from anyone.

He smiled at her answer, resting his cheek in his hand while he watched her work. “I’ll remember that if we ever get stranded on a desert island together.”

She raised an eyebrow, though a flirtatious lilt crept into her voice when she replied, “Expecting that to happen anytime soon?”

“Well, the Grand Line’s a crazy place—you never know what could happen. Better to be prepared, right?”

“Heh. Sure. Though, maybe I should be insulted; would you be that eager to escape? I can name a few guys who’d love to play castaway with a pretty lady like me,” she teased, winking over her shoulder.

She’d expected him to blush or try to backtrack. Instead, his smirk turned devious. “I never said we’d be escaping right away.”

This time her blush was obvious, and she turned back to her work, forcing herself to focus on properly screwing the protective metal plates back on instead of the inviting glint in his dark eyes. It wasn’t that she wasn’t used to men hitting on her—that happened often enough in bars and taverns, especially when she was wearing a short skirt and heels. But rarely did a guy take notice of her when she was on the job. Sure, she looked good in her boiler suit, but it still tended to ward away men. Mainly because of the grinning jolly roger stamped across the back, but the lack of skin helped.

It was…nice, to be honest. That someone like Ace was chatting her up while she was probably at her least sexy, and also being respectful to boot. No blatant comments about her ass and bust. No questioning her skills because she had a pretty face and lacked a Y-chromosome. Just playful banter and grins that bordered on naughty.

“So, how’d a girl with such a respectable skill set end up choosing a life of piracy?” Ace asked casually, linking his fingers behind his head as he leaned back.

“Didn’t have a lot of other options,” she admitted. “When you’re a woman trying to do what’s considered a man’s job, you’re either laughed at or seen as a threat. Law’s the first person who took me seriously and showed genuine respect for my skills. When he offered me a job, I didn’t even care that I was becoming a pirate—if you get an opportunity like that, you take it.”

“Heh. Makes sense. And your captain treats you well?”

“He’s a hardass and a grumpy bastard, but he cares about me and the crew,” she answered with a warm, adoring smile. Law wasn’t always the easiest guy to get along with, and to the untrained eye he was nothing but a rude asshole, but behind closed doors no one could say he didn’t care for each member of his nakama. “I couldn’t imagine following anyone else.”

“Not even Whitebeard?”

Surprised at the question, she stared at him over her shoulder, brow furrowed as she struggled to determine if he was joking or if she was about to get a recruitment speech.

He held up his hands placatingly, a sheepish look on his face. “Sorry. That came out a little strong, huh?”

“I’ve had drunken thugs at the docks proposition me more subtly,” she deadpanned, eyes narrowed in a glare. Briefly, she wondered if this had been Ace’s plan all along; act as a honey trap, get her alone with promises of getting to rebuild his engine, then seduce her away from her captain.

But he looked so thoroughly chastised that she instantly regretted even thinking he’d had ulterior motives. “Harsh, but fair. I really didn’t mean to imply anything. But I’m sure your captain will probably get an offer by dinnertime. Once Pops takes a liking to someone, nothing will stop him from adding them to his family. So, if that happens, would you join Whitebeard?”

Until now, such a thought had never crossed her mind. She respected Whitebeard as much as she feared him. He was powerful and there were some pretty terrifying stories about him, but there were also just as many tales singing his praises. Gramps had told both in equal measure, enjoying scaring her shitless as much as soothing her with the knowledge that the seas were home to a man like him. Even Law seemed to respect him, having found little reason to doubt his claims that he did, in fact, care for his “sons.” But respecting someone and serving under them were completely different beasts.

Finally, she said, “I go where Law goes, but he’s a stubborn control freak—hates taking orders from anyone. So, he might consider an alliance, but he’d never agree to be anyone’s subordinate, even if it’s prettied up with talk of family.” Especially if it was prettied up like that; Ikkaku might not have known all the details of Law’s past, but she did know he’d been part of the Doflamingo Family. And given the pure hatred in his voice when he’d alluded to it, she had the feeling they’d soured his opinion on the word forever.

Undeterred, Ace replied, “Pops is pretty persuasive. I never thought I’d join him. Hell, I spent months trying to kill him!” The sunny smile returned to his face, cheeks practically straining as he continued, “But he won me over, and I’m confident he could do the same with your captain.”

Ikkaku highly doubted that. After all, Law had plans. Big ones that were slowly but surely falling into place. Not that having an ally like Whitebeard wouldn’t be extremely beneficial to them, but in the long run, Law preferred to be his own man.

Still, the pure faith Ace had in his voice made her wonder. Could Whitebeard convince Law to become his son? How, exactly, had he changed Ace’s mind considering how he’d apparently hated him enough for attempted murder?

Well, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. In the meantime, the final screw was securely in place, and Striker was ready to go.

“There. All set!” she declared, stepping back and presenting the modified raft to her audience.

Black eyes widened as Ace leapt off the barrel, and his grin was excited and eager, like a child who’d been given a shiny new toy. “This is…this is incredible!” he exclaimed, inspecting her handywork. The engine was sleeker and less bulky than before, and while he was no mechanic, he could tell just by looking that she’d made it lighter, too, which would allow him to go faster.

“How about you take it for a test drive? Make sure it’s to your liking?” she said with a pleased grin as she wiped the sweat and grease off her forehead. Whether it was from her crew or a random stranger, Ikkaku did always love when her work was noticed and appreciated.

The bright smile practically split his freckled face at the suggestion, and he ran over to a lever on the wall. Upon being pulled, a small section of a side of the ship flipped open, becoming a ramp that allowed access to the outside world. Dragging the boat over, he eagerly hopped aboard. “Sounds great!” Yet, instead of immediately taking off, he held his hand out to her. “Come on! You fixed it up, so you should give it a whirl, too!”

Oh, that was tempting. Striker did appear to be big enough for two people, but was it safe? Ace had plenty of experience zooming around the ocean, but she doubted she could maintain her balance as easily. That, and it was better to test it without unnecessary excess weight. Then again, test drives were naturally risky; if she’d screwed something up and there was a malfunction, Ace could potentially find himself dead in the water, and with that Devil Fruit of his, it was better to have a copilot who could swim.

The real question was where she was supposed to stand. If she stood behind him, she’d be between the flames coming off him and the engine. That would only result in flame-broiled mechanic. There was definitely no room on either side of him, and even if there were, the uneven weight distribution could throw off the balance.

That left only the bow of the narrow boat.

At her hesitation, his grin became more teasing and he wiggled his fingers invitingly. “Come on; we might find a nice desert island to get stranded on!”

A laugh bubbled up in her chest. If he wasn’t bothered by the lack of space on his boat, why should she? “Well, who could say no to an offer like that?” she quipped, taking his hand. Like with his handshake, his grip was sure, and Ikkaku had no doubt he’d hold onto her tightly and wouldn’t let her fall.

Ace tugged her aboard, letting her plant her feet securely before wrapping an arm around her waist, muscular forearm settling securely right beneath her bust. “I’d say hold on tight, but I think that’s my job, huh?” he chuckled in her ear.

The heat of his skin penetrated through the thick canvas of her boiler suit, most likely due to his powers. No wonder he walked around bare-chested. She’d initially chalked it up to vanity or a public service act. Though, she highly doubted he’d be wearing more clothes even if he couldn’t turn into flames.

“Ready?” he asked as her fingers gripped his wrist for support. It wouldn’t do for her to get weak in the knees, even if she could feel the rumble in his chest as he spoke and the heat of his breath against the shell of her ear.

If Portgas D. Ace was a honey trap, he was a damn effective one.

At her affirmative nod they took off like a shot, bursting out the entryway and onto the surface of the water. Behind her, Ikkaku could hear the engine growl, flames crackle, and even steam hiss. For a moment, she worried about the wind blowing the flames at her feet against her ankles and her boiler suit catching fire, but it appeared Ace had total control over them, or at the very least enough to keep his companion from getting burned.

Striker was fast. She’d already known that from earlier, but her modifications seemed to have done the trick of speeding it up even more. She could feel the boat respond to every minor shift in its pilot’s weight, and she did her best to stay still so as to not throw off his steering. Not that she could really move around much anyway—the pressure from the wind, combined with the muscular arm around her waist, kept her pinned to his chest. Any other time she’d be wholly focused on the sensation of his chiseled torso and washboard abs against her back, but at the moment, she was more captivated by how exhilarating the feeling of the wind whipping against her face was and seeing the ocean around them speed by.

The hot, shirtless guy pressed up behind her was still noted and appreciated, though.

Despite the water spraying around them, not a drop of it touched their skin or clothing, most likely due to the intense heat produced by Ace’s flames. By the same token, any sweat that tried to coat her skin almost instantly evaporated. Law’s stern voice popped into her head informing her she should drink plenty of water when they got back to the ship lest she get dehydrated.

“Having fun?” Ace asked, interrupting her train of thought.

Turning her head to face him was too risky since she didn’t want to throw off the balance, so she simply exclaimed, “Hell yeah!”

“Good! Now brace yourself; I’m going to put this baby through its paces!”

Instead of wasting time asking what he meant, she did as he said, squaring her feet and bending her knees slightly in preparation for whatever he planned to do. She was not disappointed—with an extra burst of flame and a shift to his stance, Striker shot into the air, forming a neat arch before landing back into the water. Next, he performed series of sharp turns, practically turning the boat on its side as he did so, but his grip on Ikkaku never faltered.

As they turned back to the Moby Dick, Ace called out, “Do you trust me?”

“Yeah?”

“Good!”

Before she could ask him to elaborate or even brace herself again, he shifted his weight so the nose of the raft was suddenly pointed down, sending it beneath the choppy waves.

What the fuck is he doing?! Ikkaku mentally screamed, but all she could manage to do was let out a yelp as Ace hooked his free hand under her knees and leapt into the air, the flames at his feet shooting them high above the water in a wide arch. She heard him laugh as he performed a mid-air summersault, but she barely noticed; she was instead preparing herself for inevitably having to save his Devil Fruit ass and wondering if she’d be able to haul him to the Moby Dick before they both drowned.

Her concerns were for naught, however, as Striker popped up out of the water, and with practiced ease Ace stuck the landing.

After another minute of showing off daring tricks, Ace brought them back to the ship’s hold, Striker skidding across the floor a few feet before coming to a complete stop.

Ace gave the woman in his arms a devil-may-care grin before gently lowering her to her feet. “Looks like your modifications worked,” he teased, taking in Ikkaku’s flushed cheeks and elated smile as she spun around excitedly to face him. Locks of her hair had escaped her ponytail, giving her a charmingly disheveled appearance.

“Th-that was amazing!” she cheered, adrenaline pumping through her veins. “I mean, I should kill you for taking such a stupid risk, but that was seriously just incredible!”

“Glad you had fun!” he laughed, adjusting his hat. “And I wouldn’t have dropped you—Pops would be pissed if I’d recklessly put a pretty lady in any real danger.”

Lightly, she smacked his arm. “I was more worried about you, dummy! If you’d missed, you’re the one who would have sunk like a stone,” she scolded, but his smile was so lighthearted it was hard to stay mad at him. “I’d feel guilty as hell, and I don’t need your captain going after me because I let one of his sons drown.”

His grin faded slightly, and he lowered his head so the brim of his hat cast his eyes in shadow. “I’m sure there’s more than a few people who’d be happy to hear about my demise.”

The shift in his mood was a surprise, but after a moment of processing exactly what he’d said, she declared, “Yeah? Well those people are morons. The world sucks but having guys like around makes it suck a bit less.”

Dark eyes widened and his head shot up at her words. “You seriously think that?”

She tilted her head a bit, pretending to think it over. “I mean, I’ve only known you a couple hours, sure, but you sure as hell wouldn’t make my list of ‘assholes that deserve to die’. Though, admittedly, it’s mostly Marines.”

His smile returned, a little more lopsided, while the corners of his eyes crinkled warmly. “Heh. Brains, beauty, and a heart. You’re one hell of a woman, Ikkaku.”

Pleased to see his happier demeanor return, she playfully poked him in the chest. “And don’t you forget it, Fire Fist.”

He caught her wrist, leaning forward to look in her eyes as he chuckled, “Doubt I could, Miss Mechanic. A girl like you really revs a guy’s engine.”

Before she could even scoff at such a lame line, they were interrupted by the sound of booted feet clomping noisily down the stairs.

“Ikkaku!” Bepo called, bursting into the cargo hold like the Devil himself was after him.

The two humans broke apart, Ace clearing his throat awkwardly as Ikkaku rushed over to calm down her furry crewmate. “Whoa there, Bepo. What’s wrong?”

Leaning on his knees and panting hard, the Mink stared at her with panic in his black button eyes. “Captain’s been looking everywhere for you! He Scanned the ship, but you were nowhere to be found!”

Her stomach dropped. Right, she hadn’t told Law that she’d be with Fire Fist Ace, and they certainly hadn’t notified anybody that they were leaving the ship. Her captain must have been freaking out when he couldn’t locate her. “Shit. How mad is he?”

“He said if you weren’t found in the next ten minutes, he was going to start dissecting people. That was seven minutes ago.”

Brown eyes widened before she bolted for the stairs, knowing that was not an idle threat from the Surgeon of Death. More than that, Gramps’ stories had imparted a particularly vital piece of wisdom before she’d left home—do not get into a war with Whitebeard.

Nearly tripping as she ran out the door onto the deck, she desperately tried to catch her breath as she took in the sight before her; Law, with Kikoku halfway out of its sheath, was glaring at Vista and Izo while Thatch tried to calm everyone down.

“Look, the last I saw her, she was right here talking to Ace.”

“That was two hours ago! And considering how I couldn’t find him anywhere either, that doesn’t ease my concerns!” Law snarled at him. From where she was standing, Ikkaku could see the veins in his neck starting to pop, and behind him Penguin, Shachi, and Uni had drawn their weapons. She could only assume the rest of the crew was searching both the Tang and the Moby Dick for her, hoping that their captain’s incredible powers had somehow simply missed their mechanic. Bepo had simply found her first thanks to his incredible nose.

“We understand your concern for your crewmate,” Marco said calmly from his place at Whitebeard’s side, “but you need to calm down-yoi.”

That simply provoked more of Law’s anger, and his blade flashed in the early evening sunlight. “I’ll calm down when I see for myself that you haven’t kidnapped my mechanic!”

“I’m here!” she wheezed when she could finally pull enough air into her lungs to speak, heart pounding not just from the exertion, but from fear—Whitebeard had braced his hands on the arms of his chair as if he were preparing to get up and settle things himself.

All at once, the men’s heads snapped towards her, a brief flash of relief crossing Law’s face before it once more became an angry scowl. “Where the hell have you been?” he snapped, putting the nodachi away as he stalked towards her. “I Scanned the whole damn ship looking for you!” His face darkened as gold eyes swept across her disdainfully. “Really? I take my eyes off you and you run off for some new plaything? On an enemy ship of all places?” he asked spitefully.

She flinched. His tone was harsh, but she couldn’t blame him for yelling. Or the unspoken accusation. Her windswept hair, flushed cheeks, and mussed clothing surely gave the appearance that she’d been engaged in a roll in the hay instead of taking a joyride. Though, neither was really a good enough excuse for her to have left her post, especially without notifying him. And even if Whitebeard wasn’t the enemy, per say, they weren’t friends, and she’d taken a colossal risk blindly trusting Ace as she had. “Law, I swear—”

“It’s my fault,” Ace cut in from behind her, giving the surgeon a deep, apologetic bow. “When I found out she was a mechanic, I asked her to modify the engine to my raft. When she was done, I requested that she take a ride with me to test it out. I hadn’t realized I was stealing her away from her duties, nor that we’d be gone long enough for anyone to worry. I’m sorry for the trouble I caused.”

Law’s face twisted, looking like he wanted to rip Ace’s head off for said trouble, but at the same time holding himself back because, with his fear regarding his subordinate’s safety fading, logic was returning to his mind, reminding him that he was on a Yonko’s ship, surrounded by his crew, and that Fire Fist Ace would be a powerful opponent in his own right.

He glanced at Bepo for confirmation, who nodded, apparently confirming the story—the Mink’s nose could surely smell the salt and smoke that clung to their clothes, along with the absence of more damning scents.

“…fine. Apology accepted. Ikkaku, you’ve got cleaning duty for the next month for running off without notifying anyone. Like an idiot,” he hissed, clearly still mad at her irresponsible behavior.

She nodded mutely, accepting the punishment without argument. It was honestly a far lighter punishment than she probably deserved considering how she had done a seriously stupid thing. But at least Law wasn’t about to do an even stupider thing by attacking Whitebeard and his sons.

Her throat closed up a little at that thought. Her recklessness could have gotten Law and her crew killed. Normally, her captain was a clinical, cold man who didn’t rush into situations without a plan, but when it came to the people he cared about—like his nakama—he could turn into a hot-blooded fool. What had she been thinking, selfishly running off like she had?

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a warm hand against the middle of her back. Ikkaku turned to find Ace frowning at her in concern, his eyes flickering between her and her captain’s retreating form. She gave him a tight, reassuring smile, but from the look on his face, he was far from mollified.

The tension that filled the air was broken as Whitebeard pointedly cleared his throat. “Well, now that the girl’s present and accounted for, we should have dinner,” the Yonko said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “I could sure as hell use a drink after all this excitement.”

“Didn’t I just tell you to go easy on the alcohol?” Law groused, turning to the massive captain in exasperation. “I literally showed you how messed up your liver is!”

A few of the men turned green, and Ikkaku was certain he didn’t mean an x-ray.

Whitebeard, however, just scoffed. “Look, you gave your diagnosis, but I’ll decide if it’s a good enough reason to stop drinking. You’re a hundred years too young to tell me what to do.”

Beside him, Marco sighed and gave Law a commiserating look that clearly said “this is what I deal with on a daily basis”.

“Man, I think I can actually hear Law’s blood pressure rising,” Penguin muttered, to which Shachi nodded emphatically.

Pinching his brow in the faint hope of stemming the headache that was clearly forming, Law growled, “Fine. Don’t listen to the man who can literally take out your organs and juggle them. It’s not like you’ve wasted two hours of my life.”

“Maybe I’d listen to you if you agreed to become my son,” Whitebeard chuckled, a devious grin on his face as he looked down at the young doctor.

All the Heart Pirates froze. After Law’s fairly violent threats against the Yonko, the last thing any of them had expected was for an offer to join the crew.

Law recovered the quickest, scoffing. “Hard pass. Maybe I’d consider an alliance, but I’ve got no interest in joining your ‘family’ old man. Besides, at the rate you’re going, you’ll be dead soon enough, so what’s the point?”

Damn, Law, I know you’re pissed, but couldn’t you have sugar-coated that just a little? Ikkaku thought, wincing.

Whitebeard, however, merely smirked harder at the blunt refusal and instead turned towards the woman who’d caused such a commotion on his ship. “What about you then, girly? Maybe you’d like to join up? Becoming my daughter would get you out of cleaning duty,” he said with a chuckle.

Ikkaku’s jaw dropped, as did Law’s, Shachi’s, Penguin’s, Bepo’s, and the smattering of other Heart Pirates that had started to return from their search.

“I—you—wha—” she replied rather inelegantly, not quite sure if she should be taking it as a joke or running for the safety of her precious submarine.

Ace, however, seemed thrilled, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “Fantastic idea, Pops! Seriously, she’s an amazing mechanic; completely rebuilt Striker’s engine and made it better than ever!” he said enthusiastically. Turning to the woman in question, he gave her a brilliant grin. “How about it, Ikkaku? Leave your hardass, grumpy bastard of a captain and come join the Whitebeard Pirates!”

“You’re not taking her,” Law growled, hand once more going to Kikoku’s hilt.

The younger man flashed him a challenging smirk, the tips of his fingers turning into flame. “I’d like to see you try and stop me.”

Another growl sounded out, this time from behind them. The pair turned to find Bepo with his teeth bared, fists clenched and ready to fight. “Captain’s right; you’re not taking her.”

Ikkaku was torn between cheering the Mink on for standing up to someone and screaming at both him and Law for taking such a stupid risk. Clearly, their captain wasn’t the only hot-headed idiot when it came to protecting his crew. In fact, she was positive Penguin, Shachi, and the rest of the Hearts were already drawing their weapons. The whole crew is full of idiots! she thought, desperately trying to come up with a way to stop a massacre from breaking out. Apparently, it was up to her to be the smart, responsible one for once.

Finally, she grabbed Ace’s wrist and lifted it off her shoulder. “Here’s an idea; how about everyone stops acting like macho idiots so I can actually give an answer?”

Ace blinked in surprise before giving her a warm smile. “Heh. Sorry about that. Guess we got a little carried away, huh?” he replied, rubbing the back of his head.

“Bit of an understatement,” she replied dryly, though it was hard not to return his smile. He was just so charming without even trying; if Whitebeard really wanted daughters, Ace could probably recruit a whole army of them with just a wink and a grin.

Encouraged by her expression, he said, “So, can we get that answer? I promise you won’t regret joining us; Pops is going to become the King of the Pirates, after all,” he stated proudly.

At that, Ikkaku glanced at Law and saw his jaw had tightened to the point where she could see the veins underneath pulse in irritation. Man, Ace had only known Law for about fifteen minutes and he’d already managed to push nearly half a dozen of his buttons.

Turning back to the fiery pirate, Ikkaku gave him a warm, sincere smile. “Don’t get me wrong; you’re sweet. And you’re cute. And you took me on one hell of a ride,” she added with a wink, pleased when she saw Ace flush and heard Law’s teeth grind behind her. Before either of them could get the wrong idea, though, she cocked her hip and jerked her thumb towards her captain, pure confidence in her voice. “But I’ve already got a boss, and he’s the guy who’s going to be the next King of the Pirates.”

There was a moment of silence, and Ikkaku’s heart stopped briefly as she waited for the inevitable fallout. Ok, maybe her plan sounded less idiotic in her head. Had she really just sassed one of Whitebeard’s sons? Had she really just said, in front of Whitebeard, that some young upstart was going to become the Pirate King instead of him?

Gramps was going to be so ticked when he found out she’d died because she’d ignored his advice.

“Gurararara!” Whitebeard laughed, breaking the tension. His head was thrown back, and his chest shook so hard it was a wonder he didn’t knock his chair over. “Damn, boy! Your mechanic has guts!” There was a pause as he had a brief coughing fit from the exertion, though it failed to erase the grin from his mustached face. “Loyal, too.”

“Yeah. She is at that. My whole crew seems to consist of loyal, reckless idiots,” Law stated, relaxing a bit. He slung his sword over his shoulder and gave the gaping Ace a smug smirk. “Especially her. She might get briefly distracted by a new plaything,” he said, emphasizing the word scathingly as he gently grabbed Ikkaku’s arm and pulled her to his side, “but she always comes back to where she belongs.”

Ace glared at Law, but Whitebeard just continued to laugh. “My sons are much the same,” he said fondly, grinning at his men who seemed torn between defending their Pops’ honor and laughing along with him at the sheer audacity of these rookies. “Makes me think you’d fit right in. So, I’ll ask you, and the rest of your crew, again; become my sons and daughters.”

“Sorry,” Law said, his natural cockiness returning. “Still gonna have to refuse. I don’t take orders from others. More importantly, joining you would mean I couldn’t be Pirate King, and that would mean letting my gutsy mechanic down.” To emphasize his point, Law gave her head a little pat.

At last Whitebeard stood up from his seat, though instead of starting a fight, he grinned down at Law and the Hearts. “Heh. Guess I can respect that. Plus, I don’t need you and Marco squawking at me about my drinking. But the offer’s on the table if you change your mind. In fact, if we meet again, don’t think you’ll get off so easily. Now, can we hurry up and have dinner already? Might as well send you upstarts off with a full stomach as thanks for the entertainment. And I need sake.”

Rolling his eyes at his continued disregard for diagnosis but nodding in agreement, Law motioned for Whitebeard to lead the way. Cocky as he was, he knew he’d already been ridiculously lucky enough to avoid at least three fights with the Whitebeard Pirates and was not willing to chance a fourth.

As the majority of the Whitebeard and Heart Pirates, hungry after all the excitement, cleared the deck, Law hung back with Ikkaku.

“Your cleaning punishment’s cut down to two weeks,” he mumbled, trying very hard to hide a fond smile, “though I should really give you more for nearly starting a war with Whitebeard.”

“Then you’d be cleaning the deck with me, Captain,” she said sweetly, grinning like the cat who ate the canary. “I mean, clearly I was only following your example.”

“Smartass,” he replied with a chuckle, giving her head another pat before walking off, motioning for Bepo to follow him. “Get lured away again and I’m leaving you behind. You’ll be Whitebeard’s problem.”

“Whatever you say, Boss,” she laughed, knowing it was an empty threat. She paused as she felt a familiar heat against her back and looked up over her shoulder at Ace.

“Your boss is a real asshole, isn’t he?” he said, eyebrow raised critically, a look of disdain on his handsome face.

Her responding smile was full of fond exasperation. “Yeah, but he’s my asshole boss. And you may be able to rev my engine,” she teased, pleased to see him blush a little, “but I’m not so easily swayed by a pretty face, even if it does come with a sweet ride.”

He laughed easily at that, just as she’d hoped. “Just so you know, my offer stands, too,” Ace said warmly, friendly grin returning. “I’d love to have a mechanic like you around, and Pops is the greatest pirate in the world. You’d be treated well here.” Despite his words, his eyes held nothing but acceptance, already anticipating her answer.

“I don’t doubt that,” she said, nudging him lightly as they headed towards the dining hall, “but I’m as loyal to Law as you are to Whitebeard.”

“So, no chance I could change your mind, huh?” he said, smile becoming a bit melancholy.

Raising an eyebrow and looping her arm through his, she gave him a saucy grin. “Tell you what; if we ever get stranded on that desert island together, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to convince me.”

That brought the heat back into his smirk, and the red of the setting sun nearly hid the rosiness across his freckled cheeks. “It’s a date.”

#fic: one hell of a ride #op fanfiction #op fanfic #one piece ikkaku #ikkaku one piece #ikkaku #Portgas D. Ace #portgas d ace #Whitebeard pirates #one piece whitebeard #Whitebeard #heart pirates #trafalgar law #trafalgar D. Water Law #fire fist ace #One Piece Fanfiction #one piece fanfic #crackfic #crack fic

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luckyrabbithunter · 5 years ago

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@sunfirekid liked for a starter

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“I’ve heard of you; the son of the Vice Admiral turned pirate... that’s you, isn’t it? Sun Fire Kid?”

Seiko smiled at the infamous pirate; she recognized the face from his bounty poster. She brushed some hair from her face, offering a warm smile. “Has the New World been treating you and your crew well? It tends to be unforgiving towards those new to its waters...”

The enormous appetites of those on the Moby Dick called for extreme amounts of food eaten daily; it was the pride of the Fourth Division to keep Whitebeard’s fleet well fed, and one of their most important jobs was making sure there was enough food on the Moby Dick to actually cook it! And there were birthdays coming up; Seiko wanted to make a rabbit stew to celebrate... And sure enough over her shoulder was a giant bag, filled with well over a hundred pounds of rabbit meat, being carried as if it were nothing. She hadn’t expected to run into another pirate here, though!

“Don’t you worry- I’m not here to fight or anything! It’s always fun meeting other pirates though, as long as there is no fight; do you agree?”

#sorry for the delay!#sunfirekid #v: the whitebeard rabbit mama

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joysstar · 5 years ago

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His wishes

Writing prompt. Longer than I’ve expected.

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Garp reads the newspaper. As he always does in the morning, to make sure he doesn’t miss anything from the currect events. As a Vice-Admiral, he’s meant to know things. Even though he prefers being with his young ones, his trainees. He spots a name. A known one for him. Both on a professional and personal level. He frowns.

Since Ace refused to become a warlord, his fear increased for the boy, his boy, the very same child he saw growing up in front of his own eyes. Garp closes his eyes, Ace should’ve accepted, this still was the only one way he could be free. Still be free. As a pirate.

But well, Ace decided otherwise, preferring his own life on the see. Garp is honest with himself. He has mixed feelings. He’s proud his grandson went so far and yet he doesn’t like the way the events are turning out for him.

He sighs and reads the paper again. To say he’s surprised is understatement. He didn’t expect that. There is no way it’s happening! He swears to the sea, he wanted something else. But, the truth is just beyond what he believed.

Ace.

He joined Whitebeard’s crew. Roger’s rival. Only rival. Ace’s father’s rival. Is it a way to say he hates Roger? He prefers to stay with Newgate? He wants to prove he’s nothing alike his late father?

Garp respected Roger.

Garp fought Roger countless times.

Roger asked Garp to watch over his beloved son.

Garp wonders.

Life has a just a weird sense of humor. Garp almost laughs. At least, it’s funny. He has a thought for Roger. he just wants to know what’s currently running into Roger’s head in the afterlife. What’s his reaction? And then, Garp laughs for good, making tremble the walls of his house.

Ace has found a protector, an insanely strong protector. Someone no one even dares to fight. No one except Ace. Garp smiles a bit. He hopes, no he prays the seas. He wants Ace to stay forever on the infamous Moby Dick. He wants Whitebeard to make sure Ace never leaves. He wants to see the old man by himself but he can’t. he’s from the Navy and Newgate is a old foe.

“Ace, please, don’t leave this man, he’s your last hope.”

Because, as long as Newgate lives, no one will dare to touch a single hair of Ace.

#Portgas D. Ace #ace #fire fist ace #gol d. ace #monkey d garp #garp #garp the fist #garp the hero #whitebeard pirates #edward newgate #shirohige #one piece #eiichiro oda

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years ago

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461: The Beginning of the War! Ace and Whitebeard's Past!

Yeah, I can see why Ace crumbled and joined him.

Really enjoyed the reveal of Ace’s past and how he achieved his infamy. And it turns out Ace was an infamous, powerful pirate in his own right before he joined Whitebeard. That, I was not expecting.

Loved that part at the start of 461 when Luffy was chatting to Ivankov and pulled a Hagrid. Ivankov was wondering if Dragon would show up to the execution because he was certain, absolutely certain that Dragon would not allow the WG to kill his own son.

Luffy, the oblivious rubber child, said within earshot of the entire breakout crew: “Wut? No, Dragon is MY dad. Ace’s dad is Gol D. Roger. He got the cool one, eh? Wait... I shouldn’t have said that. I really should not have said that.”

Oh, Luffy.

Whitebeard

Then, finally, after I don’t know how many episodes of waiting, the main event arrived.

@mrkashkiet asked if I had any predictions on Whitebeard’s powers. I said my first predictions were for a fruit power. Then, when I learned about Shanks and his lack of fruit, I figured maybe Whitebeard would be one of those guys who is so strong he doesn’t need a fruit. If Whitebeard did have a fruit, since he is a big, physically powerful guy, I guessed he would have earth or earthquake powers to compliment the muscles.

Argh, I was so close!

Whitebeard’s entrance was understated but even that showed his supreme confidence in his power. The other two ships popped up beside his, revealing he had brought all fourteen of his commanders with him. Then, in deathly silence, came the chink, chink, chink of someone slowly, deliberately ascending a flight of stairs (there’s those stairs again. Might start shipping Oda x Stairs).

Of course it was Whitebeard. I cheered.

I loved the casual threats he sent Sengoku’s way. “It’s been a while. You’d better be telling me that my adorable, fiery son is alright?” Sengoku was sweat dropping like he was out at Nandos with the lads and regretted slathering on all the Vusa sauce to show off.

Then Whitebeard turned to Ace and was like, “Yeah, just gimme a sec, son.”

I thought, such bravado from the whitest of beards. But it was not mere bravado.

Whitebeard built up power and (this was so badass I’m still not over it) punched the air so hard it cracked. I wasn’t sure what was going on at first. I figured it was lightning (but then that had already been done with Enel) but Sengoku kindly explained the technique. Whitebeard has eaten the Tremor Tremor Fruit (not sure I got that right). It causes sea quakes! Not earthquakes. Argh, I was so close.

Then the action cut to flashback.

I have never welcomed a flashback as much. Come to think of it, I always enjoy One Piece flashbacks. Up until now, they’ve always served a plot purpose or as a reminder to a viewer (like remember when Luffy beat this guy two hundred episodes ago?) This is in contrast to something like Naruto. If you’ve seen it, how many times did you see Naruto having that sad day on the swings? Exactly.

The flashbacks revealed that Ace has ticked off some awesome boxes, just like Luffy.

Ace’s Past

The flashback opened with a young, fresh-faced Ace, waving goodbye to little Luffy. Almost immediately, Ace was causing chaos. He founded the Spades Pirates (I see what you did there, Oda) and tore the place up to the point he got himself into the OP News.

Garp was mad. He wanted Ace to become an accountant.

Whitebeard also read the OP News. Sage old man that he is, he shook his head. These young whippersnappers are too hasty. Whitebeard revealed that Ace even refused a request to join the Shichibukai (now that’s really something. I wonder if Sengoku had his suspicions about who Ace was. Maybe Garp was behind the request, subtly prompting the Marines to enlist Ace because it would keep him safe?)

But that wasn’t all. Foolhardy young Ace went to visit Shanks.

He dragged his crew with him up Caradhras a snowy mountain. Spade Crew expressed doubts because this was The Shanks they were crashing in on, uninvited. But Ace was like, “It’ll be fine, stop bitching!”

Ace rocks up with his crew and Shanks was not in Saving Tiny Children Mode, but in Badass Mode. He wasn’t too keen on Ace impinging on his chill time until Ace said, “Nah, I’m not here to fight. I want to say thanks for saving my little bro.” It’s amazing what mentioning Luffy’s name does to Shanks. He thawed immediately and it was party time.

The reveal that Ace wanted to become Pirate King when he was younger was unexpected. I totally assumed that he had grown up hating Roger and everything he stood for, so that when Whitebeard came along as a substitute father, he latched on.

The reality was different. It took a long time for Ace to come around. Now that I think about it, I like that much better. Ace gave up his dream to be the Pirate King but it took a long time, a lot of convincing and it was his own decision, taken after a great deal of thought and only when trust, mutual respect and a real relationship was established. Good.

I love that Ace fought Jimbei for five days. No idea why Jimbei felt obligated to screen Whitebeard’s appointments like his secretary, but it was cool to get a feel for how tough Jimbei is as an opponent.

I felt sorry for Ace when after he collapsed, done with Jimbei, Whitebeard sailed up out of the mist and was like, “So I heard one of you was looking for a fight?”

Exhaused, Ace said, “Yes, that would be me. Run, crew!” But Whitebeard was just too strong. Luckily, Whitebeard had taken a liking to Ace (maybe he saw Roger in Ace and suspected?). He extended a massive hand and said, “I like you. You are cheeky. You are valuable. Become my fiery son.”

It was a hard pass from Ace, but he woke up on the Moby Dick. He was not happy. Ace tried (hilariously) to assassinate Whitebeard over a hundred times and got reckt.

He met Thatch, the 4th Division Commander who came a cropper courtesy of Blackbeard (rip, Thatch). Thatch was nice. He gave Ace some good advice: “You can either get off this ship and start again, or stay and wear Whitebeard’s mark.”

Ace stayed. He made such a name for himself that the Whitebeards started talking about making him 2nd Division Commander. Ace was like, “Who, me? But there are people there who’ve been around longer.”

One of those people was Blackbeard!

That was another interesting thing to learn, that Teach was one of the original Whitebeard crew members. It makes his betrayal all the more disturbing. Ace was sitting casually, with him, worrying if BB would be offended if he went for 2nd Division commander. Blackbeard said: “Don’t worry...

Technically true, but also a such a huge, bare-faced omission of truth it’s equivalent to a lie. Sneaky, evil Teach.

The moment Whitebeard finally won over Ace fully was when Ace knocked at his door one night and told him about his heritage. Instead of being angry that his old rival’s son had infiltrated his crew, Whitebeard was cool about it. “That doesn’t matter. We’re all family.” Whitebeard didn’t care that Ace was Roger’s son. He cared that Ace was his son. Excuse me while I dab my eyes with a nearby handkerchief.

Then Thatch found the Yami Yami no Mi and it all went to shit, complete with black and white “is that a dagger I see before me” flashback with Teach looking demonic and pleased.

Ace was distraught when he found out. He took Teach’s betrayal personally. As Teach’s commander, Teach was his responsibility. Worst of all, Teach had disgraced Whitebeard, Ace’s father’s, name. Whitebeard tried to stop him, said, “This is an exception. I have a bad feeling about this,” probably knowing what fruit Teach had stolen. But Ace was too wrapped up in grief and anger to listen.

Ace knows that now. He admitted to causing the omnishambles that is about to kick off. He should have listened. Why did they come?

But Whitebeard said he told Ace to go? Wtf? I don’t get that yet, but I hope he will explain himself in 462.

Good episode, though. 10/10 would watch again.

During a late night father-son chat, Whitebeard reveals the secret of how he sculpts his facial hair.

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recentanimenews · 6 years ago

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10 Western Media That Would Make Great Anime

When we anime fans tire of lamenting for the adaptation of manga after manga, or light novel after light novel, we tend to turn our imaginations away from Japan. After all, anime is no stranger to adapting western media. Many books, shows and movies have been adapted from western media into anime form, including Deltora Quest, Spider Riders, Witchblade, Howl’s Moving Castle, Highlander, and Supernatural just to name a few.

This got me thinking of my own wishlist of western media that would make great anime. Here are 10 shows, books, and movies that would make awesome anime adaptations.

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve Book Series - Dream Studio: Production I.G. - Dream Format: TV Anime

If you’ve never heard of Mortal Engines, no sweat. It’ll be your new favorite thing in no time. This YA quartet from British author Philip Reeve follows Tom, an apprentice historian atop the city of London. When he’s thrown out of the city, he sides with Hester Shaw, an assassin with the resistance after the life of his master, Thaddeus Valentine, who she blames for the death of her mother.

Sounds pretty run of the mill YA right? My bad. I forgot to mention all of the cities run on tractor wheels. Oh, and the cities eat other cities for resources. Oh, and there’s this huge conspiracy surrounding the city-eating cities, and this huge plot to destroy them. It’s cool that Peter Jackson’s directing a film adaptation of the series, which is due out this December, but just imagine this as an anime...

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling Book Series - Dream Studio: A-1 Pictures - Dream Format: TV Anime

Does Harry Potter really need an introduction? I feel like we all know about the boy who lived and his battle with he-who-shall-not-be-named. The cliffnotes version of Harry Potter is that an abused orphan turns out to have an incredible magical gift required to stop some of the wizarding world’s most malevolent forces. In addition to his studies, he must juggle fighting the dark forces, and maintaining the friendships he makes at Hogwarts.

Harry Potter is essentially fantasy shonen in book format. It has the magical boarding school. It has the perfect shonen protagonist and sidekicks. The duels would be incredible to see animated. Hagrid would be moe AF. The mythical creatures would be a sight for sore eyes. But most importantly? QUIDDITCH EPISODES!

Railsea by China Miéville Novel - Dream Studio: Madhouse - Dream Format: Movie

China Mieville’s Railsea is an interesting reimagining of Moby Dick. Except instead of a sea, it’s a giant desert covered in endless, winding train tracks – the titular railsea. And there’s no whales. Only giant moles. The story follows Sham Yes ap Soorap, a young assistant doctor on a train that hunts giant moles for meat (think whaling but with moles). Her journey among the pirates, monsters, and salvagers alike kicks off when she comes across a series of photographs aboard a trainwreck that hint at the impossible existing.

The history behind the now-derelict world of Railsea, coupled with the mixture of gripping drama and havoc reminiscent of kaiju films, would make for a solid animated feature, the visuals of which I’d only trust to Madhouse.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin Book Series - Dream Studio: MAPPA - Dream Format: Movies

Okay, so it’s Game of Thrones, but all the characters are moe idols. That’s it. That’s the show.

More seriously though, A Song of Ice and Fire would make a downright wicked fantasy anime. This large-scale fantasy epic has such an incredible assortment of characters, rich history, and gratuitous violence that would be a treat to see in anime form. It’s tough to really pinpoint the plot, since so much is going on, but A Song of Ice and Fire centers on a number of noble families – such as the Starks or Lannisters – vying to claim the throne of Westeros.

If there’s one studio out there that could handle A Song of Ice and Fire, it would be MAPPA. MAPPA’s history with dark fantasy anime series such as Rage of Bahamut or Garo only strengthens my confidence in their ability to breathe some animated life into the franchise.

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick Novel - Dream Studio: SHAFT - Dream Format: TV Anime

You may know A Scanner Darkly from that weird rotoscoped movie where Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Harrelson play a rag-tag group of friendly drug addicts. The movie itself was based on the Philip K. Dick book of the same name. It follows Bob Arctor, who lives parallel lives as both a drug addict and undercover police agent. Undercover agents report to their superiors in scramble suits, which scramble their identities. The kicker here is that Bob Arctor’s undercover gig? Spy on Bob Arctor.

The drug-addled, paranoia-fueled philosophy behind the day-to-day of drug addicts living in a world where the war on drugs was lost makes for an interesting dynamic, especially with the sci-fi enhanced police work behind it. The only studio I’d trust visually with this would be Shaft, if only to see drug-addict head tilts.

Peep Show British Comedy Series - Dream Studio: Kyoto Animation - Dream Format: TV Anime

I know this sounds like a weird one, but stick with me. Peep Show is a British sitcom that follows mismatched flatmates Mark and Jeremy – Mark being the uptight 9-5er and Jeremy being the easy-going partier. They don’t always see eye to eye, but sometimes friendships need that. Sometimes Mark needs to loosen up a little. Sometimes Jeremy needs to grow up a bit. As long as they have each other, nothing bad can really go wrong, right? Well, as human nature would have it, things tend to go wrong – quite often, rather quickly.

KyoAni’s bread and butter tends to be slow-paced slice-of-life shows, so if any anime studio would revel in adapting a sitcom, it’d be them. The gimmick of Peep Show is that the camera angles don’t tend to be traditional, and often are shot from the direct view of Mark or Jeremy. It would be interesting to see how that worked in anime form.

Kitchen Nightmares Reality TV Series - Dream Studio: David Production - Dream Format: TV Anime

If Kitchen Nightmares were adapted into an anime, I think it’d probably be a lot like Food Wars!, but Gordon Ramsay yells at Soma every 5 minutes. More realistically, it would follow a rather manly Gordon Ramsay on his trek across Japan in search of crestfallen restaurants in desperate need of an upgrade. Now throw in some Jojo-styled manliness – the likes of which only David Production could replicate – and we have ourselves a recipe for the perfect anime.

The translation of Ramsay’s infamous potty mouth would be a peculiar one, but seeing a muscle-clad Gordon Ramsay faffing about a kitchen screaming oi, teme at the sous chefs would be a treat we could all sink our teeth into.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham Novel - Dream Studio: Wit Studio - Dream Format: Movie

There’s always room for more horror and suspense anime, ones about sentient walking plants doubly so. The book follows Bill Masen, a scientist who specializes in the care, study, and cultivation of triffids – towering venomous carnivores cultivated for their oils. After waking up from temporary blindness following a triffid strike, he finds everyone is now blind from green flashes brought on by comets the night prior. Now Bill must make his way through the streets of London in search of safety.

While horticulture itself usually isn’t scary, there’s something eerily unsettling about the fact that poisonous man-eating plants walk the streets. Wit Studio would probably be the only studio which could replicate that suspense and terror, having done it perfectly in Attack on Titan and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.

Star Wars Sci-Fi Media Franchise - Dream Studio: Ufotable - Dream Format: TV Anime

With Ufotable’s success at adapting large scale media franchises such as Fate, this sci-fi space opera could be in no better hands. Anime is no stranger to the world’s 2nd largest media franchise either. There are loads of references to the movies in various anime and manga, including Daicon IV, Berserk, Gintama, Doraemon, and Princess Jellyfish, just to name a few. Some fans have gone as far as to draw parallels between the Jedi of Star Wars and Newtypes of Gundam (whether that’s intentional or a coincidence being how close the two were to releasing).

The coming-of-age rebellion story, coupled with the gratuitous tie-fighter dogfights and lightsaber battles, would make for one show you’d be on the edge of your seat for week after week. I think each trilogy could probably be adapted in one cour, but at this point, I’d even take seeing Clone Wars reanimated in its entirety as long as Ufotable got their hands on it.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Book Series - Dream Studio: Bones - Dream Format: Movies

From spaceship-stealing presidents to poetry-loving aliens, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a special charm that boys, girls, and little green people across the universe can love. It follows the incredibly British Arthur Dent, who in attempting to stop the demolition of his house, learns from his best friend Ford Prefect that the Earth is about to be demolished. After a few pints at the pub, the two hitch a ride on a ship and proceed on a journey through the stars in search of answers to life, the universe, and everything.

Anime has the unique marketability to sell just about anything. Look at Dr. Pepper sales after the first series of Steins;Gate aired back in 2011 after all. If the Japanese towel industry ever finds itself in a slump, anime studios know just what British science fiction series to adapt.

BONUS: King of the Hill Animated TV Series - Dream Studio: P.A. Works - Dream Format: TV Anime

You got that right: we’re doing a meme entry! King of the Hill has already claimed some notoriety in anime fandom as being one of the greatest anime of all time (if only second to Cory in the House).

King of the Hill follows the Hank Hill, his family, and their dysfunctional band of friends and neighbors as they navigate the challenges of daily life, propane, diminished glutes, lawnmowers, and more. Sometimes Hank’s modest sensibilities are challenged, but as a man of his word and a man of character, he never stands down.

While the closest we’ll probably ever get to a King of the Hill anime was the 1-hour episode where they went to Japan, we can only hope that one day, you’ll get a Crunchyroll notification that says “Release: King of the Hill - Episode 1”.

What about you folks? Got a favorite book, comic, TV series, or movie you want to see in anime form? Sound off in the comments below!

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Zach Godin writes about the manga he reads and collects over at his website, Rusted Culture. Feel free to say hi on Twitter: @zachjgodin

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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phantom-le6 · 3 years ago

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Film Re-Review - Star Trek: First Contact

Carrying on the re-reviews of the TNG films, it’s time to look in on the film many consider to be the best of the films focused on Picard’s crew, namely First Contact.

Plot (as given by Wikipedia):

Captain Jean-Luc Picard awakens from a nightmare in which he relived his assimilation by the cybernetic Borg six years earlier (shown in the television episode "The Best of Both Worlds"). Starfleet informs him of a new Borg attack against Earth, but orders the USS Enterprise-E to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone so as to not introduce an "unstable element" to the fight. Learning that the fleet is losing the battle, the Enterprise crew disobeys orders and heads for Earth, where a single, damaged Borg Cube opposes a group of Starfleet vessels. The Enterprise arrives in time to save the crew of the USS Defiant which is being commanded by Lieutenant Commander Worf. After Picard hears Borg communications in his mind, he orders the fleet to concentrate its firepower on a seemingly non-vital section of the Borg ship. The Cube is destroyed after launching a smaller sphere ship towards the planet.

The Borg sphere generates and enters a temporal vortex. As the Enterprise is enveloped in the vortex, the crew briefly glimpses an Earth populated entirely by Borg. Picard realizes that the Borg have used time travel to change history, and orders the Enterprise to follow. The Enterprise arrives in the past, on April 4, 2063, the day before humanity's first encounter with alien life after Zefram Cochrane's historic warp drive flight. The Borg sphere fires on the planet; realizing that the Borg are trying to prevent first contact, the Enterprise crew destroy the sphere and send an away team to the Montana missile complex where Cochrane is building his ship, the Phoenix, to look for survivors. Picard sends Cochrane's assistant Lily to the Enterprise for medical attention, then returns to the ship and leaves Commander William Riker on Earth to make sure the Phoenix's flight proceeds as planned. The Enterprise crew sees Cochrane as a legend, but the real man is reluctant to assume his historical role.

Borg survivors invade the Enterprise, and begin to assimilate its crew and modify the ship, planning to use it to attack and conquer Earth. Picard and a team attempt to reach engineering to disable the Borg with corrosive coolant used in the warp core, but the android Data is captured and meets the queen of the Borg Collective, who gains his trust by giving part of him human skin. A frightened Lily seizes the captain but he gains her trust, and they escape the Borg-infested area of the ship by using the holodeck. Picard, Worf, and the ship's navigator, Lieutenant Hawk, stop the Borg from calling reinforcements with the deflector dish, but Hawk is assimilated. As the Borg continue to assimilate, Worf suggests destroying the ship, but Picard angrily calls him a coward and vows to continue the fight. Lily confronts the captain and, reminding him of Moby Dick's Captain Ahab, makes him realize he's acting irrationally. Picard activates the ship's self-destruct mechanism, orders the crew to abandon ship, and then apologizes to Worf. While the crew heads to escape pods, Picard remains aboard to rescue Data.

As Cochrane, Riker, and chief engineer Geordi La Forge prepare to activate the warp drive on the Phoenix, Picard confronts the Borg Queen and discovers she has grafted human skin onto Data, giving him an array of new sensations. She has presented this modification as a gift to the android, hoping to obtain his encryption codes to the Enterprise computer. Although Picard offers himself in Data's place, the android refuses to leave. He deactivates the self-destruct sequence and fires torpedoes at the Phoenix, but they miss and the Queen realizes Data betrayed her. Data ruptures a coolant tank, and the corrosive substance fatally dissolves the Borg's biological components. Cochrane completes his warp flight, and that night, April 5, 2063, the crew watches as Vulcans, attracted by the Phoenix warp test, land and greet Cochrane. Having repaired history, the Enterprise crew returns to the 24th century.

Review:

Back when I originally reviewed this film, I didn’t quite agree with the consensus of many that this film was somehow the high point of the cinematic run for Picard’s crew, but coming back to it several years later on the heels of watching and reviewing the whole preceding TV series, I’m re-considering my previous position. It’s certainly an improvement over the previous film Generations, in large part due to the writers not being constrained by a wish list of plot elements from the studio, as well as long-time Trek actor and director Jonathan Frakes being allowed to make his cinematic directorial debut. The films helmed by Frakes (who of course plays Riker in TNG) tend to be the best TNG films to me, which supports the idea that Trek films are best tackled by people who know Trek from having already worked with it.

Now annoyingly within the wider TNG timeline, First Contact is the third feature-length time-travel story; we had Picard time-hopping in the feature length series finale ‘All Good Things...’, then Picard and Kirk meeting via the Nexus and doing time travel that way in Generations, and now we have First Contact. However, the reason for the time travel this time has more than enough resonance to compensate for this kind of repetition, because this time we’re going back to the birth of Trek itself. TNG’s best villains the Borg go back in time, and they pick the moment in the franchise’s history where Zefram Cochrane makes his initial warp flight and triggers the eponymous first contact with the Vulcans.

Original series fans probably had some issues with how the film portrays Cochrane, due to the character having once appeared in that series, but as someone whose interest in Trek began with the Next Generation series, I don’t have that issue. In addition, I also tend to rail against how much Roddenberry hamstrung the earlier incarnations of Trek with his infamous rules of Trek, known by writers as the ‘Roddenberry box’. All too often, Roddenberry set the idealism of Trek too high, and at times probably didn’t think all of his concepts through (the no money one comes up in one scene), so I find it refreshing that this film took that character and made him flawed, suggesting the veneration of Cochrane within Trek is a kind of historical exaggeration of the man.

Of course, it’s largely thanks to actor James Cromwell that Cochrane comes across as a great character, and to be honest all of the cast perform their roles well across the three plot-threads of the movie. The first thread is an away team on Earth led by Riker helping Cochrane. Second is that as Borg begin to over-run the Enterprise, Picard begins to fall prey to his past trauma at their hands and has to be talked down from putting vengeance above the greater good, and third is Data’s arc with the Borg Queen. The last of these is interesting in that it brings Data a bit closer to his goal of becoming human by offering him the chance to take on flesh and experience physical sensation. It’s a great expansion on Data’s ‘Pinocchio’ arc within the series.

Picard’s arc used to be a bit non-sensical to me in terms of its timing, as Picard ran into the Borg a couple more times between his assimilation in the series and this film, but what I’ve realised after watching the show again is that actually it does make sense. Not because of the whole trap of the ‘Roddenberry box’, but because the circumstances of each story in the overall Borg narrative doesn’t really allow Picard’s trauma to really come back at him. After the follow-up episode to ‘Best of Both Worlds’ where Picard finally unburdens himself of the initial impact his assimilation had on him, he only faced any of the Borg twice, and in both cases, he dealt with one or more individualised Borg. First Contact is the first story since ‘Best of Both Worlds’ where the Borg collective itself is involved, and rather than being on some distant planet or being on their ships, they’ve decided to hit at Picard on his home ground.

In addition, the Borg just deal set-back after set-back to Picard and the Enterprise crew as the film goes on, which fuels his speech to Lily (played by Alfre Woodard) when he refuses to destroy the Enterprise;

“I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already. Too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again! The line must be drawn here... THIS far, NO further! And I will make them PAY for what they've done.”

I think this line speaks to everyone who at some time or another has been forced to compromise something in their lives to someone or something else. For Picard it’s having to give ground to a race of cyborgs who violated him, but this could just as readily apply to people seeking equality in the present day, who perhaps to compromise just to make progress or avoid being penalised for seeking equality. It could apply to people in relationships that are one-sided at best and abusive at worst, always having to give ground to be ok in the short-term. It’s not something that’s necessarily been with Picard all the time, but something that builds, and it takes the objective viewpoint of someone not of his era to call him on it and bring him back to the Starfleet officer he’s supposed to be.

This leaves the away team story to provide comic relief (the Deanna drunk scene is a great example), and when you look at the plot and the performance together with a fantastic score and the new-style Enterprise, it really is a great film. For the benefit of fans of wider Trek, the film even takes care to provide an explanation for the return of Worf, who after the previous films had become part of the main cast on Deep Space Nine, and we get cameos by Robert Picardo and Ethan Phillips of Voyager in the film as well.

Now discounting the fact this is the third time-travel story in a run as well as past quibbles I used to have with the film and don’t now, there’s not much I can say against First Contact. I’m a bit concerned that so many men claimed to be slightly aroused by the Borg Queen if the film commentaries I’ve watched are to be believed, but that’s more about the film’s viewers than the films and to each their own, I suppose. It’s also probably the most accessible film to an audience not versed in the Next Generation, though it requires some patience to reach the areas of exposition in the film that compensate for anyone not having that series knowledge to start with. So, this time round, I’m going to up the film’s score. Where Generations went down from 8 to 7 out of 10 on re-review, First Contact had risen like the Phoenix from 8 to 10 out of 10.

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