𝘙𝘦𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩: 𝘈𝘤𝘦'𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 4: New Memories

"Well.. Do you want to eat it?" The raven teen asked, holding a strange fruit in his hand. For a moment, the blue haired man in front of him contemplated, as if thinking about this option for the first time. But then he nodded, eyes showing nothing other than determination. His captain smirked and tossed him the fruit. Smirking back, he took a bite and quickly regretted his recent choices as he gagged on the disgusting taste of a devil fruit. Ace laughed hard as his first mate Deuce tried not to throw up.

"Don't laugh, jerk. You knew its taste, didn't you?!" Deuce shouted as he tried to muffle the taste with beer while Ace continued laughing his ass off.

"Oh god, that was hilarious!" Ace wheezed out, wiping his tears off. Deuce glared, but before he was even able to shout at Ace a little more, something started wrapping his body. Whatever it was, it was coming out from his own body.. He felt his hands get wrapped, and looking down.. It was a black, creepy thing? Maybe a little cool, like spooky-cool? This is the yami yami devil fruit's powers? This.. is darkness? Eh.. He didn't know what he expected but cool.

"Whoa, it's really creepy and cool. Darkness, huh?" Deuce murmured to himself as he raised his hand up and made the darkness dance on his hand. It was going up and down, making swirls, dancing in the dim light of lanterns. He then tried to make it go away, but it just grew bigger and made him feel nervous.

"Don't let it nerve you." Ace said, and Deuce nodded, calming himself down. With a little more effort, the darkness was now gone. He looked up to see a grinning Ace and smiled back at his captain.

"Well, that was a success? Now we won't worry about the fruit being stolen." Deuce said, still smiling. Ace sat down on his bed and nodded. But he had to make sure Deuce wouldn't be in danger. Teach is someone that killed his own crew mate, someone he had once called brother. Surely he would kill a stranger without blinking. Well, still, he didn't worry as much. Deuce was more than capable of defending himself. And now with the fruit he would be more powerful in no time. This was Deuce, after all, he was a quick learner and his first mate.

"Deuce. You'll train with me longer to be able to control your fruit. Now, it's a very powerful one. You'll have to find out the fruit's secrets on your own. I only know the fact that it can overcome any fruit. You'll be able to play the role of a seastone, to cancel your opponent's devil fruit powers. Anything other than that.. I don't really know." Ace explained Deuce what he knew about the fruit. It was a disappointment nothing much was known about it, really, but they couldn't do anything about it. Even when Thatch had found this fruit, nothing was known about it other than the fruit controlling darkness.

"It's okay, cap. Don't worry, I'll be able to manage things." Deuce ensured him, and then went out after wishing Ace goodnight. He left the captain's quarters and went his own way to the other rooms. Ace sighed, and flopped back on his bed. This was going to be a headache. They were on their way to the New World, already have left the Fishman island behind. They had little time until they met with Jinbei. Ace felt bad for what he'd done to meet Jinbei.. but that's kind of the quickest way to meet Whitebeard pirates.

×××

It was on the second island of New World that something, or someone, other than Jinbei found them. It was Jesus Burgess. It seems the man has been following them back from Sabaody. Ace glared daggers at the man in front of him, feeling no urge to feel worried even just a bit because this man was nothing compared to him. He would be able to kick his ass with no problem. He had demanded his crew would stay out of his way, and they did so, giving their captain the chance to take out the man himself. The Spades were watching them from a far, all ready to jump in if something unexpected happened. Though, they all knew Ace wouldn't appreciate it. Eh, screw that. It was the first mate's orders. Sometimes, first mate orders can overcome captain orders. And when their captain was so reckless, like Ace? Deuce would give a helping hand for sure.