Chapter 15: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
As the night and the drinking wore on, it had been quietly decided that four people in one cabin was a little much, at least for the first evening. Deuce had volunteered rather boldly and quite obviously bolstered by alcohol to spend the night with Isuka, much to her surprised amusement. As he led her off, Koala caught her murmuring something about ‘being alone together since that time on the great skywheel’ before she vanished into the depths of the ship.
That meant that Koala was alone in bed with Sabo and Ace for the first time in a while.
She snuggled up against them, feeling the warmth radiating off of them and her breath softly hummed in her throat– was it really warmer than usual? She felt like it was with the devil fruit now slumbering inside them, like cuddling up by a warm fire no matter where they were.
Her head was a little spinny from all she’d drank, but it had skirted the possibility of an emotional downswing and settled firmly into ‘eagerly affectionate’ as she draped an arm around them. She had fallen in love with Deuce too over the two years—and Isuka seemed like a great person—but she still loved the occasional time alone with the two of them now and again.
They wrapped their arms around her. Sabo tucked her gently under his chin and kissed her hair. He seemed to read her mind, as he often did.
“Do we seem warmer?”
She nodded against him.
“Yeah, you do—kind of like one of those warming stoves, or a hot water bottle.” She curled her body against his with a quiet laugh. “I hope you know if I ever cramp up or feel sore after an adventure, you’re not going anywhere now.”
He chuckled against her and stroked his fingers through her hair. “Oh, feel free. I’d consider that one of the perks. According to Ace, Deuce always did the same thing.”
Koala nuzzled his hand with a quiet laugh. “Is that so? I can’t blame him, it’s very, very comfortable. Is it comfortable for you, too? Having a devil fruit’s got to be something…”
“It really is.” Sabo was quiet for a moment, just stroking her hair. “I was telling Ace earlier that to me, the power, the fire, it feels like him. Like a tangible connection to him. It’s a part of me, too, but kind of in the way that he’s a part of me now.”
She tilted her head up towards him for a moment, letting that sink in. Fire was ingrained with Ace for a long, long time, hadn’t it been? It was a core part of him during his adventures as a pirate. It made sense that when Sabo got the power inside his body it’d feel like a firm resonance of the man he was sharing his life with.
“That makes sense to me, Sabo. It’s very much a part of him, and now it’s a part of you too.”
“It is! I can do all kinds of fun party tricks. If you smoked, I’d light all your cigarettes for you.”
She snorted.
“Yes, you being able to play fun party tricks is as good a reason as any to pick up a bad habit. Should I pick up a pack from the grocer next time we make a stop?”
Still, teasing aside, it was comforting to know he had a piece of Ace blazing in there with them as a tangible reminder. And it did mean that they’d be stronger.
As they operated deeper in the Grand Line, Koala knew well that the threats they were facing would only get exponentially stronger. She herself had been nearly useless against the Donquixotes except in the realm of intelligence and information— they’d even had a master of fishman karate in their gang! Derringer, who, unlike Koala, could reach his full potential with his connection to the sea.
“Only if you think you want to, dear,” Sabo teased, pulling her out of her thoughts. “If not, I can just stick to using it for lighting the stove and reducing our enemies to cinders.”
“Admittedly, darling, a pretty fun use of it! if you get really good, and learn to juggle you might even be a hit at the army’s parties! Imagine Iva’s face!”
“I’d rather not impress Iva too much, he’ll never let me out of his sight!” Sabo grinned roguishly.
Koala puffed out her cheeks. “Well I won’t be having that! I’m not about to lose my partner, even with all the new company you’ve introduced me to! Maybe save the party tricks for us, then!”
He chuckled and tugged a lock of her hair. “Promise. I promise you’ll never lose me. Ace is nervous though; are you cross about Isuka?”
“Huuuh?” Koala looked up at him. Her eyes were a little bleary from the drinking, but she leaned in close to nuzzle her face against his chin as she blinked it away “I’m hardly cross! I’m a little surprised. I thought we’d run out of dearly misplaced people from his past! But I’m not cross.”
Sabo chuckled again and stroked her cheek gently. “Good. he was worried. I mean, technically there are a few old Spade Pirates we could theoretically run into, but it seems unlikely. Isuka should be the last of the old flames, so to speak.”
He paused and grinned. “That’s two old flames in one day, though, if you count the devil fruit.”
Koala snorted, and it turned into a full on laugh as she leaned into his touch with a wry smile.
“Just for that, I’ll count it. But—good. Honestly, Isuka seems like a rather charming woman—with a rather fascinating history! I’m not unhappy he found one of his old flames, I’ll just have to get to know her!”
“Same here! I have the advantage of Ace’s memories of course, but they knew one another for much less time than he and Deuce. And he didn’t have the luck to know either of them a fraction of as long as you and I have been together.” Sabo smiled softly at her, cupping her chin.
Koala flushed, looking up at him with a broad smile.
“No, he certainly didn’t. Which makes you a rather lucky man, you know!” She shifted closer, practically crawling on top of him with a hum, soaking in the ambient warmth off his body. “And there’s always tomorrow for getting a little more time with each of them, too.”
“I’m a very lucky man. I remind myself that every day.” He leaned in to kiss her gently on the lips. “Tomorrow we should have plenty of time. Is there much on the agenda? Has the haul from Dressrosa already been sorted through?”
“Not fully. There’s a few crates we’ve yet to take full inventory on.” Koala tapped her finger against his cheek as she kissed him on the lips. “The weapons, the SMILE supply, and quite a bit else has been sorted—-but we’ve yet to take full inventory of a couple of the more reinforced boxes.
Sabo’s lips lingered on hers for a moment, and he nuzzled her nose with his.
“Should leave us plenty of free time to chat then. Was there anything interesting that got inventoried yet?”
Even his kisses felt warmer now. She smiled to herself as she nuzzled her nose back against his with a nod of her head.
“Actually….there’s a rather decent collection of very interesting devil fruits bound for the Charlotte Pirates. We haven’t finished researching them, but they seem like quality ones from the ones we’ve identified.”
Sabo half sat up, and he heard a little bit of Ace’s tone along with his. “Devil fruits? Now that’s interesting. Are they on board?”
Some of them were. But perhaps even more interesting was the list of devil fruits that were being held by other contacts, or were currently being transported en route.
“Some of them!” Koala reached her finger up to tap his lips. “But we’ve got a manifest, a list of a number of even better, already identified fruits en route and stored in various locations in the hands of men who are very suddenly without a boss!”
“Oh now that’s interesting. Someone should probably go after those fruits. Keep them out of the wrong hands, don’t you think?” It was the tone Sabo always used when he was proposing an adventure.
Koala flashed a conspiratorial grin “I think the Revolutionary Army would agree—it’s probably for the best to make sure those wind up in the right if not intended hands. I’ll draft up a report to HQ in the morning, how’s that sound?”
“Sounds delightful, dear!” He traced his finger over her chin. “I wonder– have you ever considered…”
She arched her neck against his fingers, feeling the warm trace of her blush crawling over her cheeks. “…considered what?”
“Eating a devil fruit?”
Koala chewed on her lip for a moment in thought.
Devil Fruits, said to carry the blessings and the curses of the sea devils. They bestowed superhuman capabilities at a very serious cost…
The ability to swim in a world filled with water. When Koala was growing up, the sun pirates spoke about it like a real curse. The kind of bargain a fishman would hesitate before making, and most would always utterly refuse.
For people who lived and fought in the sea, it was exile, if not practically a death sentence.
And it would cripple their fishman karate. Koala was already a master at it. Or at least, as much of a master as a human could be.
But she couldn’t shape the water to add power to her punches, she didn’t have the same innate connection to it that her mentors did. The world around her kept getting more and more dangerous, and for a human practitioner of a fishman art, it was clear she was only going to be more and more outclassed as time went on.
“I’ve thought about it a bit…” she admitted quietly. “I bet you noticed that I had to stay mostly in the shadows during that operation…”
“Your espionage skills are incredibly valuable,” Sabo assured her. “But yes, I couldn’t help but notice that you hung back from the fighting.”
Koala chuckled bashfully.
“I’m glad you say so. You guys wouldn’t do half as well without my espionage skills…but when it comes to fighting, I’m good, but I’m not —” She trailed off, frowning a little, before she found her words again. “I’m not going to be able to stand up to some of the stronger foes on the Grand Line. If the worst happened, and I ran into trouble alone against someone like Doflamingo, I might not walk away from it. Not cleanly at least.”
“I can understand why you’d worry about that,” he murmured. “Not that a devil fruit is any sure guarantee, but…” Sabo scooped his arms around her tightly again, holding her close to him. She could tell it was a troubling thought. Probably even more so with Ace there with him.
She nuzzled against his chest , chewing on her lip as she closed her eyes. “But it would at the very least be a boost, something I could use and hone to maybe improve my odds. As long as I’m careful of the sea, of course.”
He stroked her hair as she nuzzled him, the pads of his fingertips occasionally brushing her ear and jaw. “Of course…”
His voice was distant. Thoughtful.
She rubbed her cheek against his fingertips, her arms tightening around his midsection with a glance up at him and a curious tilt of her head.
She couldn’t blame him for being a little thoughtful, it was kind of a big question.
He’d recently gotten a devil fruit. Ace’s old friend Isuka had gotten a devil fruit, and they’d just had a brutal reminder of the raw power one could contain when Dressrosa was shredded by Doflamingo and decimated by that marine admiral.
Sabo laid his forehead against hers for a moment and smiled softly. “If you wanted to look at these devil fruits and leads for potential for yourself, I’d support you.”
Koala flushed, forehead to forehead with Sabo as she smiled back. He always did support her—even when he made her worry, or caused trouble, when it counted he was always there supporting her. She shifted to lightly kiss his lips.
“I know you will, Sabo…I might. I’d like to at least look.”
“No harm in window shopping,” he teased. “You know I’ve got your back no matter what you do. We both do.”
Her smile grew wider, and she nuzzled her forehead against his.
“Good, I’d hope so at this point!” she winked at him “…maybe, if we’re lucky, I’ll find something to compliment yours nicely huh? Like wind or something.”
“Wind, hmm? Now that would be useful!” Sabo chuckled and teased her hair. “I imagine you’d be devastating.”
She laughed , tilting her head so he tugged the strands gently. Her hair being teased and pet was always one of her favorite sensations. WInd—or really anything—would certainly work well. Something she could use to compliment and augment her fighting style.
“Blowing people away, quite literally?”
“Well you already blow me away, so.”
Sabo teasingly poked her nose, and they fell into a quiet banter, supposing different devil fruit talents for her. The longer it went on, the sillier the suggestions became, until she was laughing tiredly into his chest.
She clung to him, closing her eyes as visions of wind powers, ‘a koala zoan fruit’ and the power to manifest fish danced amusingly in her head lulled her towards sleep with Ace and Sabo in her arms.
Isuka’s first day with the revolutionary army had dawned brightly. She was introduced to the others on the ship (a couple of high ranking officers, including a fish man friend of Kaoa’s called Hack). They left the part about her being a member of Crocodile’s crew out of the introduction, focusing instead on her past with Deuce and Ace.
Isuka imagined that the broad number of Revolutionary Army operatives weren’t exactly fans of pirates, Crocodile especially given his little coup in Alabasta before she’d joined up with him. So it was for the best that stayed quiet.
Her past with Deuce and Ace went over a little better, at least, and she found herself managing to get pretty comfortable among them, especially as she stuck around Koala, Ace, Sabo and Deuce. It was kind of funny—she’d been drifting from position to position for some time. Marine, bounty hunter, pirate, now revolutionary agent.
After a ship’s breakfast, Sabo and Ace gathered the three of them in the hold, where the crates and documents they’d stolen from Dressrosa were stashed.
It was clearly Ace who grinned down at her from where he was perched on top of one of the crates, pushing up their hat with his finger. “Alright, guys. Booty time.”
Koala clapped her hands together with a broad smile. “this is going to be FUN! I’ve been wanting to properly inventory these since yesterday!”
Isuka could understand the excitement, there were some rare commodities around, and a manifest leading to even more. She smirked up at Ace. “Booty time, huh? And you’re not even waiting ’till we’re all in private. Bold man.”
Ace’s grin hitched even wider on Sabo’s face. “Well, I figured you and Deuce probably already had the private booty covered. So I’ll tackle the public for now.”
Deuce went brick red under his mask, and waved his hands with a sputter. “COME ON, MAN!”
Isuka glanced at Deuce with a subtle flush and a smirk. It was true, they’d spent part of the last night catching up—and making up for lost time. “He’s got a point. So let’s see this public booty.”
Ace laughed so hard he almost fell off the crate.
Deuce felt like he was going to implode. Isuka— of course— was laughing along as he sputtered. She had finally come back into their lives, but it seemed she’d taken to the pirate life harder than anyone could have expected.
She was certainly bolder, in regards to the things she wanted. Deuce had always liked Isuka, she was headstrong, bold, and beautiful even in the days she was trying to ruthlessly hunt them down. He’d hoped, maybe one day, they’d run into her again and she’d actually join the Spade Pirates—at least until they were decimated by Whitebeard.
So when she’d come back, more piratical than ever and clearly pleased to see them all, he’d been over the moon. When they got back to their quarters, she boldly suggested making up for lost time, well. He wasn’t unhappy in the least.
Only now Ace was teasing about it, and he wanted to drop into the sea. Well…just wait until he had a private moment with her—then perhaps HE would tease ACE. Turnabout is fair play, they say.
About an hour later they were ass deep in weapons, explosives, and the like, all added carefully to their new inventory. But what Ace and Sabo seemed most interested in were the devil fruits.
Deuce went over a manifest of weapons one more time with a glance over his shoulder at Ace and Sabo. “What’s got you so excited about Devil Fruits, guys? You’ve just gotten one.”
They in turn glanced over at Koala. “Well, they’re interesting, aren’t they? I still can’t believe Isuka came back with one.”
Koala laughed into her hand “I’ll admit they’re very interesting. There’s some really unique ones! Even in the batch we’ve got here, I’m sure!”
With a grin, Isuka made a muscle, sparks dancing off her skin “Crocodile has an interesting way of giving people he likes raises in his organization. He’s kind of a devil fruit fanatic, really. I’m just lucky he got me one of the stronger logia types!”
Ace grinned. “We’re getting real elemental up in here. What about you, Deu? Would you ever eat a devil fruit? You know, aside from the one you already ate with me.”
Deuce raised his eyebrow for a moment in thought. He’d once almost been the one with the power of the flame-flame fruit, and admittedly, he sometimes regretted not being quicker on the draw even if he sort of felt it suited Ace way better than him.
The deadly pull of the ocean—yikes. That was a turn off, but the benefits did kind of make for a tempting offer. “Only if it was a really good one. I’m not about to eat something that’ll make me a pie man or some shit like the Charlottes would, or something that—I don’t know. Turned me into living mud.”
Ace giggled, the manifest in his hands. “There’s a pie one on this list, actually. You’re sure you’re not interested?”
Koala laughed into her hand. “I think you should go for that one, Deuce!! Free pie, whenever you want? It’s a great deal!”
He glanced sidelong to see Isuka snickering into her hand. He flushed bright red and stomped his foot. “Abso-LUTELY NOT!”
“Aw, no free pie!” Ace snickered. He leaned down toward Koala. “What about you, Ko? Wanna be our free pie dealer?”
Deuce raised his eyebrow when he was done being indignant. They hadn’t ever even joked about Koala eating one before—did that mean she was interested? It’d certainly explain the zeal Ace and Sabo were searching the manifest with. Admittedly, the idea did ping him a little more towards the ‘perhaps I should think about it too’ side of things.
“You want a devil fruit?” Deuce asked.
Koala flushed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Maybe!” She glanced up at Ace and leaned towards him. “But, sorry, Ace, no way. I can’t think of any ways that pie can help my fishman karate, or anything else except your stomach!”
Ace snapped his fingers mock-dejectedly, shaking his head. “Darn, there goes my pie! Unless you threw them really hard I guess? No, no, you’re right… I’m sure we can find a less pie-tiful offering.”
“Ugh, I’m starting to regret leaving the Neo-Baroque Works Pirates,” Isuka drawled. “I usually only had to put up with puns from Vivi or Bentham.”
Koala stuck out her tongue, before she laughed. “I think we could find something a little more sensible, I’m afraid! And before you say it, no—I don’t mean something like giving our enemies a tart-attack.”
Ace and Sabo were snickering so hard that they crossed their arms in front of their face, gasping for breath.
Admittedly, having gone through at least some of the devil fruit manifest, a lot of the fruits on the list were food based, and seemed to be destined for Big Mom’s family.
Deuce glanced at Isuka to commiserate, but she seemed to be barely holding back laughter behind her dry sardonicism. So he snorted a quiet laugh and crossed his arms with a grin.
“Well. If you’re gonna get a devil fruit here, Koala, it’s gonna have to be food based. Big Mom loves her theme.”
“I don’t mind food based, I just want it to be versatile!”
As Ace and Sabo caught their breath, they hopped off their perch and leaned against the big, now mostly empty crate. “Ace thinks he’s so funny.” Sabo shook his head but he was still grinning ear to ear. “As for versatile, there are a few on here that might have potential, actually.”
“Oh are there?” Koala asked eagerly.
She scampered over to look over his shoulder, and Deuce couldn’t help but sneak over to look too in curiosity. He wouldn’t ever get something as stupid as food based powers but—it didn’t hurt to look.
They went over the list together. Most of them weren’t that appealing. Custard was a maybe. Soba was a hard no. And so on, and so on.
Deuce’s resolve to never, ever get a food based devil fruit only solidified as they went down the list. ‘Oh yeah, I’m a custard man’, or ‘Soba man to the rescue’, or ‘wow, it sure would be great to leak chocolate all the time’. They all sounded like misery incarnate. Even the maybies weren’t very good.
If he was ever going to get a devil fruit, it damn well wasn’t gonna be fucking soba. Big Mom’s taste was—well, she wasn’t here to hear him say ‘absolutely terrible’.
“This one’s interesting,” Sabo murmured. “Liquor?”
Koala perked up at that one.
“Liquor?? Oh that is interesting. You don’t see many fluid devil fruits…” She leaned over and started to read about it. “Actually…”
Deuce watched Ace’s eyes light up in a way he knew all too well. “Hey, Ko, isn’t liquor really flammable?”
He was glad he bit his tongue on the snarky reply that ‘liquor would make a good party trick I guess’ when realization dawned on exactly what he was suggesting…actually, that was kind of cool.
“It can be, absolutely. Some alcohols make for a VERY potent fuel for fire!” Koala said with a grin.
Ace shuffled through the papers. “It looks like this one and a few others are being held by one of Doflamingo’s agents on another island while they negotiated with Big Mom for them. Think it would be worth it for the Army to go raid one of Joker’s satellites?”
Isuka put her hand to her chin. “Collecting more of Joker’s high value products and materials would keep them out of unworthy hands, wouldn’t they?”
Deuce couldn’t argue with that…plus…”And frankly, having a girlfriend with a free supply of booze sounds fantastic,” he joked with a wink, “on a personal level.”
Koala laughed into her hand. “I don’t think it’ll be a hard sell with the other agents, really.”
Deuce watched Ace’s posture shift– Sabo again. “Are you interested, then, dear?”
Koala clasped her hands together, and Deuce could see the fire of excitement in her eyes—she must have already been swimming in ideas for how to use that fruit to her advantage.
“Absolutely! It sounds PERFECT!”
Ace threw his arm around Deuce’s shoulders as the two of them stood by the rail of the ship under the evening sunset. They’d finished going through the manifests. Sabo had given the orders to lay in their new course. Isuka and Koala were taking some time to get to know one another. (Ace hadn’t asked in what sense).
“It feels like things are kinda coming together, don’t you think, Deu?”
Deuce looked up at him, finally turning away from the sunset as he leaned into his side with a low chuckle. “Sure does, doesn’t it? We got Isuka back , you’ve got your devil fruit, we’re gonna help Koala out…”
Ace nuzzled against him, deliberately heating his body up slightly in the teasing way he’d often done in years before to get Deuce’s attention. It was so nice to be able to finally do it again.
“Sure you’re not interested in that custard fruit after all?”
Deuce flushed, and his arm looped around him to rub his shoulder. You fuckin’ heater,” he murmured. “Tell me, is there anything cool or mysterious about custard?”
“Besides the fact that I want to put my mouth on it?” He snickered. “Not really.”
To be honest, Ace couldn’t picture Deuce with any of the devil fruits they’d seen inventoried. But it was really funny to needle him about it. It also stalled him from talking about what was actually on his mind.
Deuce rolled his eyes, before he leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Well one day we’ll find a real devil fruit that doesn’t suck like hell. And THEN I’ll eat it. And you can just buy your custard from the store like any normal person.”
“Can I still lick it off you?” He batted his eyelashes at him.
He watched as Deuce turned that vivid red he sometimes did, his dark cheeks flushing as he sputtered and stammered before grumbling. “Yeah, ‘course you can. Or you’re gonna start insisting about that awful devil fruit again.”
Ace laughed and tugged him into a headlock, kissing him on the cheek. “Since you said so, I promise I’ll drop it.”
He glanced around the deck of the ship. There weren’t any other crewmen or army officers nearby.
Deuce leaned into his headlock with a low laugh.
“Good, Or i’d have to whack ya.” He nuzzled the back of his head against Ace’s arm “…what’s up?”
“Caught me.” Ace smiled and fluffed his fingers through Deuce’s hair. It was honestly so amazing how Deuce could still read him, even in such a different body. It hadn’t even taken very long for him to pick up the knack.
Of course he can, Sabo murmured, he loves you. And before you say it, yes, I’ve noticed he can do it to me now, too.
We’ve all gotten pretty cozy. But… It’s just nice to be recognized.
He shook his way gently out of the internal conversation and back to reality with Deuce. “It’s something Sabo and I have been talking about a little bit.”
Deuce raised his eyebrow, leaning back into his chest with a curious tilt of his head. “For a while? Or is it a recent thing?”
“Off and on for a while, but a lot since yesterday.” He had to admit, it was fun to play coy with Deuce, just a little.
Deuce huffed, pouting a little as he dodged the question—it was a familiar kind of thing, especially as he shifted to lock his arm around Ace’s neck in a headlock as well. “Alright, so since after Dressrosa, and ran into Isuka. So what is it? Don’t make me guess, here!”
Ace glanced up one more time at the empty deck, and he smiled at his partner.
“Keep your voice down, but… we were thinking about reforming the Spade Pirates soon.”
Deuce’s eyes widened. He was silent for a moment, and he lowered his voice when he finally answered. “You’re not kidding, are you? I mean, I thought it might have something to do with turning pirate again but—”
“I know,” he murmured. “But between my devil fruit, and Isuka coming back, it’s really been on our mind. We’ve been talking about it.”
The biggest roadblock, aside from making sure Koala was genuinely on board with the idea, was the fact that they both knew Sabo leaving would knock a major pillar out of the Revolutionary Army’s forces, and neither of them wanted to do that. Not after everything they’d done for Sabo.
Deuce whistled.
“Well hot damn… I mean, it’s been feeling like old times, hasn’t it? Not surprised it brought things back to mind.” He leaned his head against them. “It’s a big decision. I know the Revolutionary Army’d struggle a bit without Sabo and Koala, given his position. But…at the same time, we deserve to take to the seas again, don’t we?”
“We do!” he nodded, resting against him gently. “There’s a lot of barriers. Like a lot of them. But… our head is in the space to kinda start… figuring out if we can get over them. We’re not going to rush into anything but…”
“But you’ve got my support all the way, partner.” Deuce looked up at him, his head shifting against his neck. “We’ll figure out a way to put the Spade Pirates back together. You, me, Koala, Isuka…whoever else we can find.”
“I knew I could count on you, partner. No matter what, first priority is clearing this cache, and getting Koala her devil fruit, but after that, maybe we can brainstorm, yeah? Didn’t Ko look kind of jealous when Isuka was talking about her time with Croc’s crew?”
Deuce laughed pleasantly. “Maybe then we can brainstorm—yeah, she did look kind of jealous. And she kept bringing up the fact that she was a pirate before all of us, didn’t she? Repeatedly. I think she’s pretty damn jealous!”
I refuse to badger her about it, but, I really think you may be right.
Ace grinned. “We’ll play it gentle with her, but, hey. With any luck, we’ll be calling it a comeback for the Spade Pirates before you know it.”