A/N: Images used are just found from google searches (unless otherwise stated as fan art given to me).. I don't art well
[Ace: Age 17]
~Ace's POV~
My crew and I set out in search of a whale shark fishman. According to Red Hair he'd know how to locate Whitebeard. I was bound and determined to become known to the world, to take down the strongest man alive. We made our way to a remote heavily wooded island, the last known whereabouts of the aforementioned fishman. After making our way up a steep slope, I spotted a giant of a man with pale blue scaled skin, sharp pointed teeth like that of a whale shark and a face that resembled what many artists depicted demons to look like. His two toned black hair was tied in a topknot atop his head and due to his severe under bite his face made him look as if he were constantly snarling.
As I got further up the hill I noticed he wasn't alone. A short petite figure stood in front of him with her back to me and my crew. Long luminescent waves of champagne blonde hair tumbled down around her delicate frame falling just below her bottom. I could make out a pair of floral print stockings adorning her slender legs and a pair of plain peach colored ballerina flats on her small feet. The giant fish man was scowling down at the petite girl and I worried for a moment he was bullying her.
"Hey big guy!" I called out interrupting them, "I want to meet Whitebeard."
The giant of a fishman turned his scowl to me, "As I've already said, I'm not going to let a kid with murderous intent see the Old Man." His voice came out in a growl.
Already said? Was he kidding? The dainty little girl standing in front of him was after Whitebeard's head too? She still had yet to turn to me, not deeming me worth her time. What an arrogant little girl.
"If you're not going to tell me willingly, I have no qualms with beating it out of you, Jinbe." A soft angelic voice purred from the dainty girl.
"Captain, he's a warlord." One of my crew members shot out upon hearing the fishman's name.
"Oh really? Well that's going to be a problem." I smirked to myself as I prepared myself for a fight.
A sudden flash of crimson shot toward me from the right and I managed to move back in time to avoid the attack. I stared curiously at the scarlet ribbon that surged past me lashing out at where I had been standing moments before.
"Get lost, rookie, this is my fight." The girl snapped finally turning to face me.
Every single member of my crew gasped as she turned her head slightly. Whether it was due to the angelic shape of her porcelain face, the seductive pout to her lusciously full powder pink lips, or her breathtaking burning garnet eyes I wasn't sure, but I didn't give her so much as a second glance.
"Little girls shouldn't get involved with such things." I shrugged; the girl didn't appear to be a day over sixteen.
"What did you just say?" She turned around completely, her champagne blonde hair fanning out around her catching the sunbeams just right causing her hair to glow like a halo of light around her.
I looked to her again as my crew swooned at her appearance, wondering what it was they saw this time. She was wearing a deep royal blue baby doll style dress that fell to her upper thighs leaving a small gap between her floral print tights and the hem of her dress. It hugged her delicate frame around her waist and her small chest fanning out toward the bottom with a few ruffles giving her a very doll like appearance. She resembled a china doll down to the voluptuous waves in her shimmering champagne blonde hair to her subtle curves and the baby faced pout forever frozen on her powder pink lips. The only thing about her appearance that wasn't sweet and doll like was the rage burning in her garnet eyes. They were deep crimson with swirls of molten amber and deep within their depths was a rage I'd never seen before, an untamable unquenchable anger that burned like eternal hellfire.
"I'll take you out first, rookie." She hissed at me, but her voice still sounded angelic and pure making it nearly impossible to take her seriously.
"Its okay, why don't you sit this one out, Doll Face, I'll take care of it." I meant it as she looked like a doll, but apparently she thought I was hitting on her as she suddenly lunged at me with an enraged shriek.
She nearly all but vanished from sight as she flitted toward me. I managed to step back to avoid one of her dainty fists as she appeared before me using the momentum of her speed to throw her first punch. It seemed I still wasn't completely used to being a logia type devil fruit user as I kept forgetting I didn't have to dodge people's attacks like I used to, they'd just pass right through me. Upon realizing this fact I didn't bother trying to dodge her next swing and smirked as her garnet eyes widened in surprise as her fist passed right through my face.
It didn't take long for her to recover from her momentary surprise and throw a third punch, but something was different this time, I sensed a strange aura around her fist. Before I had time to react, she punched me with enough force I actually went flying into a nearby tree. The girl was freakishly strong.
"Captain!" My crew called in concern as I fazed through the tree and hit the ground managing to land on my feet. The metallic taste of blood lingered in my mouth and I reached up to wipe a small dribble of it from the corner of my lip. How did she do that?
"Go home, rookie." She shot coolly, "Come back when you're ready to play with the big kids."
"You know, I was told never to hit a lady, but in your case I may have to make an exception." I grumbled dryly as I remembered all of Makino's lessons in manners and proper etiquette.
"I'm so scared." The doll like girl shot sarcastically.
Jinbe looked between the pair of us curiously and I realized what he was thinking. The girl and I were after the same thing, we could work together to get what we want and settle the score between us after.
I smirked feeling somewhat proud of myself at the ingenious idea. "Hey Doll Face, I've got a proposition for you."
"Call me Doll Face one more time and I assure you, you won't be getting up from the next punch." She hissed icily.
It was hard to imagine someone so small could harbor so much rage, "What if we work together to get the information we want. We can settle things between us once we're done." I smirked, waiting for her to agree.
"Like hell I'd ever team up with you. Get lost!" She snarled and vanished from sight once more as she lunged for me a second time.
I dodged her fists learning her pattern of swings and just as I began to get a little cocky, her knee whipped up and connected into my diaphragm leaving me winded and causing me to double over as I felt the sudden urge to vomit. That girl could split bricks with a single hit. How was it possible that she was so strong?
"Enough playing around." The girl hissed as she flitted in the warlord's direction. "Where is he?!" Her fists flew at impossible speeds.
I staggered back to my feet, "Time to get serious I suppose." I shrugged as my fists were consumed with fire and dove into the onslaught of flying fists.
It was a bloody free for all, every man and woman for themselves, last man standing winner take all type of situation. My crew retreated back a few paces as my blasts of fire mixed with the angry girl's fists of fury created huge explosions. There was absolutely no organization, no rhyme or reason. She swung at anything that moved, she didn't care if she hit me or the warlord, her rage was unbridled. Her offense was absolute perfection, but I had a feeling her defense was lacking. She didn't look like she could take a hit to save her life. So in the midst of the confusing free for all, I attempted to avoid hitting her, the warlord on the other hand had no qualms with hitting the petite girl.
After nearly an entire two days of our endless onslaught, none of us appeared to be tiring in the least. Though, I imagined if we were fighting with weapons and not our fists, flaming or otherwise, the fight probably would have been over sooner. It was after our two day mark, that the warlord managed his first un-deflected hit to the small girl.
His massive fist collided into her tiny abdomen and sent her flying nearly sixty meters away. The warlord stared wide eyed for a moment in surprise that he actually hit the absurdly fast girl. We paused for a moment and looked to the spot she had landed expecting her to stay down, but were more than a little shocked when she clambered to her feet and shot a menacing glare in our direction.
"I'm done screwing around." She glared and held her hands out in front of her grabbing her wrists in her opposite hands. Her fingers moved so her nails were digging into her skin and she suddenly wrenched her wrists apart spilling blood from her fragile wrists catching it in the palms of her cupped hands. "It's time to end this."
What the hell was she doing? Perhaps the lack of sleep and the overexertion on her small body from our endless two day battle had taken a toll on her mental stability. Jinbe looked confused by her actions only to stare in horror as she cast her hands down and the bloody pools she'd collected in her palms turned into scarlet ribbons.
So that's what she'd attacked me with before, it was her blood. What an intriguing devil fruit ability.
The scarlet ribbons snaked toward us I managed to dodge the first one, but Jinbe wasn't so lucky. The scarlet ribbon pierced through his shoulder. Her skin was becoming paler by the minute and a troublesome thought crossed my mind, if her devil fruit was centered around her blood, did using her devil fruit deplete her blood supply?
Jinbe suddenly staggered forward with a snarl of pain before falling to his knees. He doubled over and punched the ground with one of his tremendous fists appearing to be blinded by his pain.
"Oi! What are you doing?!" I called over to the paling girl.
"Stay out of this rookie." She hissed, "Tell me where to find Whitebeard!" Her voice was almost breathless; her ability really was taking a toll on her health.
She retracted the scarlet ribbons after it appeared she'd lost too much blood and began to tremble slightly. The blood ribbons slunk back into her bleeding wrists and I watched as the cuts ceased bleeding. Her skin returned to normal and the warlord got back to his feet and shot the girl a glare.
"What did you do?" He was still panting.
Now was my chance, they were both weakened by whatever attack the girl had used. However I froze when I heard the girl's cryptic response.
"I replaced some of your blood with mine." She smiled sinisterly. "If I don't retrieve it from your system in the next forty six seconds you will die as it gets pumped through your heart. You better start talking."
"You're bluffing!" Jinbe croaked, his body appearing to become weaker.
"Forty seconds."
"How is that even possible?" I shot at the girl.
"Because of my devil fruit ability, I no longer have a blood type, if I were to label it as anything it would be type D, meaning death. If I give my blood to anyone, after it has circulated through their body enough times and has been spread to the heart, they will die. Thirty seconds." She smiled sweetly.
"I'd rather die than let you murderous kids get to the Old Man." Jinbe growled.
"If you don't have a blood type what happens if you need blood?" I asked the girl as I took a step closer to her.
She threw me a curious look as if slightly perturbed by my apathy toward the dying fishman. "Likewise, if I receive any other blood type, I will die. Twenty seconds."
"You sure you should tell your enemies that?" I asked with a smirk but cringed as I felt something pierce my ankle. I looked down to see a scarlet ribbon in the grass like a blood serpent and spotted it trailing from her wrist falling down her side almost completely camouflaged in her floral tights.
"I don't intend on allowing you to leave here alive." She smiled and in that moment I saw something in her rage filled eyes. There were traces of loneliness, pain, self-loathing, disgust, fear and regret. Just what happened to this doll like girl to warp her so much? "Ten seconds Jinbe." Her ribbon retracted from me as the blinding pain settled in and I found myself falling to my knees.
"Where are the kids who wish to take my head?" A deep thunderous voice roared from the nearby coast. "As you wish, I'll take you on."
I chanced a glance upward and spotted a colossal sized ship with a white whale figurehead. Standing atop it in all his mighty glory was Whitebeard and his men. A small spike of blood suddenly shot through Jinbe's chest and the warlord collapsed to the earth able to breathe freely again.
"ACE!" My crew yelled worried by my current state and the great pirate's sudden appearance. They ran toward me in an effort to come to my aid.
Something pierced through my chest and I felt the pain subside. It was her; she'd retracted her blood, sparing our lives. Or perhaps she felt she needed to be at the top of her game to take on Whitebeard.
"I'll take care of this myself." Whitebeard's voice boomed once more and he leapt to the shore shaking the ground as he landed and with a single swing of his head managed to knock my entire crew to the ground.
"Bastard!" I staggered to my feet feeling empowered by my rage that the Old Man would dare attack my crew. "Enjomou!" I cried and cast a flaming barrier between Whitebeard and my crew.
The doll like girl shot me a curious look as I protected my crew before flitting from view and charging the great pirate. I was still weakened due to her damned attack and was having enough trouble maintaining the fire barrier. A flash of scarlet ribbon snaked toward the giant of a man and I watched in awe as he turned with a clenched fist and seemed to split the air around him with a single punch. It created a massive burst of energy that sent the petite girl soaring. She managed to break out of her fall by executing a graceful flip and landed in a half crouch on the ground about seventy meters away.
"Stay out of this Doll Face!" I snapped as the girl prepared to lunge once more, but I could see the dark circles forming beneath her eyes, using her devil fruit ability took a lot out of her.
"What the hell did I tell you about calling me that?!" She shrieked.
"Yeah yeah." I waved her off as I felt my strength returning, "You can kick my ass later."
"I knew I should have killed you. Cocky bastard." She muttered under her breath as she shot me a glare.
Whitebeard looked between the pair of us thoroughly confused by our banter. His cold golden eyes filled with what looked like amusement before he turned serious once more. "I'll take you both on." He smirked.
I shrugged in response but should have known the irate girl would be angered by this.
"LIKE HELL! I am your opponent! Ignore the dumbass!" She raged.
"Oi! Where you get off calling me a dumbass?!" I growled.
"You are a dumbass." She shot. "I'm not your ally, I don't intend on teaming up with you or any disgusting man on this god forsaken sea, and I sure as hell didn't let you live out of the kindness of my heart so don't get the wrong idea." Her rage was overflowing. I'd never seen a person so angry. Even my own unbridled rage couldn't reach hers. She was giving into her rage and it was eating away at her very soul. This girl was in danger of losing herself so warped and lost in her hatred.
Ignoring her tirade, I lunged for Whitebeard.
"Bastard!" The girl darted forward and cut me off with a powerful kick that sent me flying to the edge of my fire barrier, "Get lost!" She snarled before turning and attacking Whitebeard with a series of too fast to see punches and kicks.
The blunt end of his Bisento caught the petite girl in the abdomen and he sent her flying even further with his second attack. I scrambled to my feet and launched my own flame attack as the irate girl failed to land on her feet. She hit the ground hard and rolled a few more meters before coming to a stop at the base of a tree. There was no way she was getting back up after that attack.
Whitebeard didn't seem the least bit hindered by my flaming attacks; he wasn't taking either of us seriously. He was just toying with us. I knew if he were being serious we'd both have been dead before the fight had even started, there was no contest between his strength and ours.
I heard the girl cough from her spot at the base of the tree and stared in awe as she pushed off the ground hard with her feeble arms and staggered to her feet. Blood dribbled from the corners of her powder pink lips. She wiped it away with a grimace and flicked her hand in Whitebeard's direction. The blood morphed into miniscule needlepoint sized spears and hurtled toward him almost invisible to the naked eye.
He deflected her bloody spears with a simple shift of his grip on his giant Bisento and punched the air once more. We both braced ourselves for the impact of the force. Her garnet eyes widened as she heard the tree behind her groan in protest and she attempted to dive out of the way as it collapsed. I managed to only get sent flying back and hit the ground once again next to my fire barrier. Frantically I looked to the fallen tree wondering if the girl managed to escape it, but I didn't see any sign of her.
"Oi! Doll Face! You okay over there?!" I shouted as I struggled to get back on my feet finally beginning to feel beat down and fatigued from my short encounter with Whitebeard.
I didn't receive any snarky remarks.
"Damn it." I grumbled under my breath as I turned to face Whitebeard.
It didn't take long until I found myself incapacitated and unable to get back to my feet. Though, it didn't stop me from trying. I landed close to the fallen tree and chanced a glance. She was lying under a mess of branches, but luckily the massive trunk hadn't crushed her. A small amount of blood trickled from her temple and a bit more than before spilled from her powder pink lips. Was she bleeding internally?
My limbs refused to listen to me after awhile as I fought to get back to my feet. Somehow through sheer determination and willpower I swayed to my feet.
Whitebeard smirked, "Still trying to stand?"
I shot him a glare.
"I'd hate to see you kid's die here." His golden gaze flicked to the unconscious girl trapped beneath the tangle of branches momentarily before returning to me, "If you still want to fight, take my name and roam the seas wild and free." He extended his hand to me with a warm smile, "Become my son."
I stared at the man wide eyed before feeling a spark of anger, "Like hell I will!" I managed to spit out angrily before giving in to my injuries and collapsing to the earth.
Video- "Never Surrender" By Like A Storm