Chapter 6: No Inferno
Ace was still thinking about the conversation hours later when they found themselves arriving at the makeshift docks in one of the criminal areas of the archipelago.
‘I kissed you on the lips’. ‘It’ll make things less awkward since you’ve already seen me in my underthings’.
They had talked about more, afterward. Ace had told her a little bit about his experiences, and who he was, and about him and Sabo— as well as relaying Sabo’s thoughts and reassurances to her— but that was the part that still stuck out in his mind.
‘I know it must be weird for you to kiss my partner, Ace, but you seem really thrown by this’ Sabo’s tone in his mind was as curious as it was teasing.
Ace felt himself flush. ‘I just realized it’s the first time I ever kissed a girl, that’s all. I didn’t think about it til now.’
‘What?’ Now Sabo was the one who was thrown, and Ace rubbed his neck embarrassedly. ‘That can’t be right. The whole time you were pirating? Were you celebate?’
‘No way! I just— I’ve only been with men.’
That was when Ace learned wordlessly that, aside from their own immature experiments with kisses back on Dawn island, Sabo had only ever been with girls. Had mostly only ever been with Koala.
‘Oh. Huh.’
The wood of the pathway towards the docks creaked under their feet, straining under the weight of the two bodies that walked across them. Out here in the lawless districts, they didn’t get the standard of care that kept the docks and seasides in the tourist traps safe and repaired.
That was about all that made it through their head until a sharp little “A-hem” cut the air just over their shoulder, snapping his attention to Koala. The young woman was framed by the low dock buildings with their shuttered windows and salt-stripped paint. A bright spot in the dark and dreary area of ill-repute they found themselves in.
She’d changed, no longer a conspicuous tourist, but a young pirate. Her pale hair was tousled out, her clothes more suited to labor on the seas than visiting cafes and ferris wheels. The form fitting leather vest emphasized her chest while covering the entirety of her back, and the tight jeans with the pistol strapped to the hip only helped the image settle.
“What’s gotten into you two,” she whispered sharply under her breath. “we’re almost to Disco’s impromptu human shop…why… why do you look bright red??”
Being caught out if anything, made Ace turn an even brighter shade of red.
‘I told you she was observant!’ Sabo hissed.
Ace waved to Koala with an embarrassed grin. “Sorry,” he whispered. “It was just something Sabo said. Focusing now.”
Koala punched him in the arm with a shake of her head. Maybe it was a sign that she was getting slowly more comfortable with him. The minor physical aggression that Sabo warned about had started to trickle in.
“I can only imagine what he was saying to you,” she whispered dryly as she tied a bandanna through her fluffed out hair, lowering it over her eyes as the two weaved through another narrow wood lined street and towards an old row of warehouses lurking in the shade of a mangrove tree.
“It wasn’t something about our kiss, was it?”
“No,” Ace lied. “… Yes. But…. look, the mission, right?” He grinned broadly and gestured off toward the low, sulking warehouse nearby.
He was no longer dressed for vacation either, though he couldn’t say he was exactly comfortable in his– Sabo’s— clothes. After some arguing back and forth internally between them he’d left off Sabo’s usual ruffled shirt entirely– but he did wear the coat.
Koala looked at him with an almost amused dubiousness, before she nodded and glanced towards the warehouse.
“The mission. So Disco–” she spat the name out with a sharp huff, “–has been operating through this area on smaller, more personal deals. If Petterman’s intel was solid, and I have reason to believe we beat the right intel out of him, then there’s one happening right in there. Right now.”
“And we’re going to ruin their day, right?” Ace’s grin got wider, thankful that the topic had changed. “Give me a rundown on our approach.”
‘She’s not going to forget, Ace, she will ask you about it again.’
‘Okay but that’s later’.
“Don’t worry. Disco’s never going to have a good day again,” Koala leaned in close to him with her voice dropping into a whisper. “First, I’m going to need you to get me onto the roof…”
The two of them went over the play as they huddled in the dark of the alleyway. Koala detailed the plan , top to bottom, with room for Ace to offer suggestions— in her words ‘with the wisdom of an old sea dog’.
She was probably making fun of him a little.
Koala was waiting in position on the roof with a good view of the disgusting ‘business’ that was happening inside. She saw Disco, a flashily dressed clown of a man gesturing theatrically surrounded by his guards as he walked from suffering captive to suffering captive. A mermaid, a mink, a couple humans, some of whom with their wounds crudely patched with resin.
Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, she had thought ruefully. It took her mind off Ace and Sabo,and set it firmly in the horrors of the past.
Disco treated them one and all like merchandise. Like something to be bought and sold to the ‘higher classes’. Some snot nosed nobleman stood opposite him, leering at the mermaid with clear desire that set her skin crawling.
Her scar ached, her body was tense and it was everything she had not to just drop in there and kill him where he stood. Disco…the Human Auction House….Sabaody.
When she was a child her parents sold her to kidnappers for a quick berry. They’d sent her off to be sold through Disco’s very own auction house, purchased by some Celestial Dragon with a hideous smile that haunted her dreams. The burn of his brand mingled with phantom ache of bruises long healed.
Old lessons played in her mind, whispered to her by a terrified older woman who told her how to survive the life of a slave. ‘Never complain, never cry, never stop working. No matter what he does to you, no matter what any of them do to you, keep smiling and working and they won’t kill you thoughtlessly’.
All because of Disco and men like him. Men who had no qualms about enforcing the Celestial Dragons’ cosmic order through the buying and selling of ‘lesser people’. Her teeth grit, and tears stung her eyes. She wished Fisher Tiger was here now to see the liberation she was about to bring. To help her save the lives of her fellow unfortunates.
Suddenly the space below started filling up with billowing black smoke— her cue to move. As Disco and his guards began to panic, she smashed the glass of the skylight and leapt down in a falling kick straight for his biggest guard’s head.
There were already shouts and screams as she descended. Ace was obviously skilled with Sabo’s weapon of choice— a long, heavy pipe in lieu of a staff— but his fighting style was immediately different. Not that the thugs he was bashing up would know that.
Disco was shouting orders to the guards and lackeys, armed himself with a large handgun. He sprayed bullets into the smoke, and they raised sparks but didn’t seem to hit anything.
Koala’s keen ears drove her towards him. If he was going to be firing blind…then he’d be the first she’d drop.
She sprung off his lackey’s head, landing on the ground and sprinting towards the sound of gunshots. Sliding low in case he attempted to open fire, she swept her leg in a low kick to unbalance him, and struck up at the projected place his chin would be when he dropped.
If she was lucky, she’d land a solid hit on his jaw with her palm that might break the ugly bastard’s jaw.
She sent him reeling with it, feeling the wrenching crack of bone under her knuckles as she did so, and he stumbled backwards, firing blind again. But the gun was swiftly knocked out of his hand with another sickening crack as Ace, who had moved in through the smoke, brought Sabo’s pipe down on his shoulder.
“Not a huge fan of guns, admittedly,” he said.
Disco crawled away on the floor as one of the biggest lackeys righted himself and thundered toward them.
Koala pivoted smoothly with the grace of a master of fish-man karate, striking first down at Disco with her heel to slow him down, and then riding the movement into a flowing arm strike for the guard’s gut.
“Neither am I, dar—Ace,” she retorted “so let’s break their fingers before they can use them again.”
Ace backed her up as she fought, clearly experienced, but clearly also struggling with having a different body to work with. And no powers. That had to be a challenge. Koala had heard many tales about ‘Fire Fist Ace’ and here he was with no fire to speak of.
He kept it up admirably though, clearing the way for her to get in against the heavier targets without getting mobbed by the couple of wily guards that seemed to keep wanting to get back up.
She gave him a smile of thanks through the whips of dissipating smoke, before she turned her core and delivered a powerful palm strike to the throat of one of Disco’s men. A powerful strike once taught to her by Jinbei— the man who’d later become known as ‘the first son of the sea’.
It sent him flying practically across the room with a choked noise, where he was joined by one of his comrades whom Ace was forcing backward with swift, repeated blows like he was playing a sport.
By this point, Koala spotted a couple of the less loyal guards moving to flee the door.
She drew her gun, and for a moment was tempted to shoot. Hate bubbled within her. Hate for men who thought this was a ‘good job’— a twisting, churning thing that set her teeth on edge before she jerked the gun down and shot it at the squirming Disco instead, pinging the bullet off the ground just beside his knee.
Let them run. Their quarry was right here.
Ace shadowed her from behind as she loomed over the cringing slaver on the floor. From the look of it, he was the last one in the room conscious.
“This is our guy, right?” Ace asked. She could see the gleam of his grin at the corner of Sabo’s mouth.
“This is our guy,” Koala said with a dark stare down at the man, her lips twitching into a sharp smile of her own as she knelt down towards him. Slowly, she reloaded the gun.
“Hello Disco. Remember me? You’re looking awful old.”
“Uuuuh….” he blinked at her, uncomprehending. She watched him fishing on the ground for the handle of his gun, and Ace smacked it away.
“The lady asked you a question, Disco.”
“I’ve seen a lot of people in my time! Come on, let’s cut a deal!” he whined.
“I’ve already been a part of one of your deals,” Koala said in a quiet, dangerous little voice. “I think I’ll pass on another round, Disco.”
She pointed the gun at him, directly between his eyes. “I doubt you’d remember ‘just another piece of merchandise’ come back to haunt you anyway. So let’s cut to the chase…tell us who you work for.”
Disco’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned to one of almost smug amusement. “Oh, what’s this? I thought you didn’t want to cut a deal.”
Koala stared at him for a moment before she stood— and brought down her heel sharply on his knee.
“Who do you work for?”
Disco yowled like a wounded animal. “You’re just gonna fucking kill me, what should I tell you for?”
Ace took a step forward and put the base of his pipe on Disco’s chest. “If you talk we might kill you fast instead of slow. Though who knows. Maybe the lady has other ideas. She’s the one in charge here.”
Koala looked down at him as her foot stayed dug into his knee.
“I’m not a monster,” she said slowly. “Cooperate with me and I’ll think about mercy. Keep trying to ‘make a deal’ and I’ll show you how badly the slaves you sold suffered. Are we clear?”
Disco swallowed thickly. She watched as his chest heaved and shuddered. “What do you want to know?”
“Even with the loss of your Auction House— the smuggling lines and slavery trade through Sabaody are still going strong. We want to know how. We want to know how, and we want to know who your boss is.”
“My boss?” He laughed and then winced and clutched his jaw. “You’ve gotta be joking. My boss cut me off. This is leftovers. You want my boss, yeah, alright.”
“They’re people, Disco.” Koala’s voice dropped low again, and she leaned down. “…so your boss cut you off. Then who was it?”
He beckoned her closer, and she watched as Ace pushed the pipe more heavily on his chest.
“My contact is a guy who calls himself Joker. I don’t have a lot of details. But I can tell you what I know.”
“Joker. Well, tell me everything you know ‘Disco’, if you please.” Koala had heard of ‘Joker’ before. The underworld’s mysterious black market boogeyman— behind all sorts of unsavory trade from Devil Fruits and arms, to slaves.
“Alright here’s the de–” he stopped himself and coughed painedly, “the details I know…”
The interrogation lingered long into the afternoon. Joker, it seemed, really did have his finger in a lot of pies. He’d funded Disco’s auction house for some time until he very suddenly pulled out support sometime around the riot in Sabaody. He’d only ever contacted over transponder snail, only ever sent distant liaisons for business deals— and never revealed his true name.
Joker was behind the smuggling lines through Sabaody. Joker was behind the shipments of devil fruits.
Joker was shipping weapons to those who opposed the World Government, in whatever form they did. That, perhaps, was the most dire news they’d received, along with the coordinates of an island receiving a shipment in preparation for a revolution.
The sort of revolution that the Revolutionary Army would foster.
As the information began to trickle slower and slower, Koala thanked Disco for his time before swiftly snapping both his legs with one powerful strike of her sweeping heel. As he howled in pain, she told him to be grateful she didn’t brand his face with the same iron he’d used on his former ‘unsold merchandise.’
“You sure we shouldn’t?” Ace had asked, giving Disco a powerful, withering look.
Koala looked down at him as he shook and clutched his wounded legs. “….the last thing I want is for more people to have to see that hideous, disgusting symbol.”
Ace nodded. “In that case, let’s take care of our friends here, and leave the trash to rot, yeah?”
He gestured to their ‘friends— the huddled group of slaves waiting to be freed.
Koala smiled at him, the strain all too visible on her face as she delivered one more solid strike with her palm to the slaver’s forehead, rattling his brain and sending him careening into unconsciousness. Grabbing his key, the two of them hurried to free the slaves, unlocking bomb-collars and chains and promising them freedom, and safety, if they made their way towards a certain port where the Revolutionary Army was waiting.
Koala felt a thrill of pride as she worked, unfallen tears aching behind her eyes as she looked at Ace with a lopsided smile.
Today she’d defeated a looming specter of her past, the slaver and the remainder of his auction house who’d sold her into years of painful suffering.
And she’d done it with the help of Ace. A man who did everything to help her even if she was practically a stranger.
They’d brought the freed slaves to a revolutionary army contact to be smuggled out of Sabaody, a venture which took considerable time and didn’t allow for much personal conversation or reflection. Throughout, Ace tried to stay in the moment, refusing to let himself get distracted by the strangeness of the situation, the unfamiliar clothes, the unfamiliar body.
The lack of his fire.
That was the real thing that kept pulling him out of it, not having his fire to call on. It had been such an integral part of him for three years— and now it was gone. He might have lived on, but the fire had died.
It was a thought he had to push away multiple times while they were working. He was afraid, as they were finally headed back to the hotel after dusk, that his frustration showed on Sabo’s face.
Koala seemed distracted too as they walked, rubbing her knuckles with a thousand yard stare for part of it as she shuffled along beside him. Eventually though, he caught the feeling of her eyes on him as they neared the hotel.
Sabo kept telling him how observant she was— and it seemed she was turning the talent on him once again.
He turned to smile at her deliberately and flashed her a thumbs up. “Well, we didn’t get that dinner but I still had a great time.”
She flashed him a thumbs up with a broad smile of her own. Specks of blood were still spattered between her fingers where their quick wash hadn’t quite washed it away.
“Heh, I guess not. But I think it was a pretty great time too. Seeing you fight was interesting. You’re not like Sabo, that’s for sure.”
“I’m sure he would have been way more impressive than my showing back there,” he chuckled. “But I did my best to cover you.”
Koala leaned towards him, looking up into his eyes with a little grin. “I dunno, for a guy in the wrong body you did alright. Hell— you held off those guards admirably. If it weren’t for you they woulda surrounded me.”
“Like I said, I wanted to make sure I could back you up if nothing else,” he reached to put his arm around her shoulder, ready to take it back if she rebuffed him. “It’s been a while since I had to fight without my fire though.”
“Your fire huh?” She didn’t rebuff him, though the faintest trace of a flush and a flustered edge came to her smile. “That must have been something. A devil fruit power, a logia devil fruit power even.”
“It was something alright.” He was glad to be able to walk closer to her as the chill of the evening descended, and Sabo in his mind was quiet. He could still feel him back there, if he pushed, but with Ace focusing on keeping ‘in the moment’ for so many hours, Sabo seemed to have sort of ‘gone to sleep’. “It almost killed me when I got it, and not for the reason you’d think.”
They crept their way back through the hotel lobby with a nod at the concierge. It wasn’t the sort of hotel where questions of the guests were asked— especially not ones paying what the revolutionary army was, under the table.
Koala kept close to him. He could feel her subtly shaking, likely from the adrenaline starting to wear off. She was clearly an experienced fighter but he’d heard enough to tell that this particular outing was…very personal.
She tilted her head to look up at him. “…it didn’t almost burn you alive?”
“Nope. Actually made me basically immune to normal fire,” he said, shaking his head. “But the problem was I was trapped on a deserted island trying to build a raft at the time I ate it.”
“And Devil Fruit users can’t swim.” she observed. “so you were basically sunk.”
“Basically! If Deuce hadn’t been there, my goose would have been cooked, metaphorically speaking.”
He slunk down the hall with her, keenly aware of his body— Sabo’s body— and its differences from his own, now with the warm ache of a workout fight’s exercise glowing through him.
Koala’s slim arms had wrapped around his arm at some point as they made their way towards the room. “…you’ve said that name before. But I’m not sure who that is.”
“Oh, whoops,” he chuckled, flushing. “Sorry, Deuce is my first mate. We met on that island.”
With his free hand he pushed the door to their room open after fumbling with the key. Ace wasn’t sure how Sabo functioned with his gloves on all the time.
“That’s a run of bad luck. Kind of fitting for a guy named Deuce, I guess.” Koala laughed pleasantly. “Trapped on a desert island with a devil fruit user who can’t swim, but you still made it out of there, yeah? That’s pretty impressive. I bet there’s a story there.”
“Oh yeah absolutely. He’d tell it a lot better than I could though.” He tugged her into the room gently and closed the door behind him. “Wonder what he’s doing right now…”
Ace realized with a start that Deuce must think he was dead. Because… he was dead. He felt a shiver of pins and needles through his borrowed body at the thought.
‘Hey, easy, Ace, it’s okay.’ A surge of reassuring warmth welled up from the space where Sabo was.
“Mmm….” Koala’s brow furrowed briefly as she slipped into the room and finally took off the bandana , turning to look up at him “I suppose we could try and find out, Ace. The Revolutionary Army’s got a pretty vast information network.”
Koala watched as Sabo’s— Ace’s— features lit up with a smile at the suggestion that the RA could track down his first mate. He leaned closer to her, his arm still around her shoulders.
“You think?”
She felt the heat in her face as he got closer, the warmth of his smile and her own fluster warming the cold knot of despair that’d nestled in her heart during her encounter with her past.
With a quick nod she answered.
“Of course I think! I mean, we’ve got agents across every sea and the grand line…relaying information back to us through the security of our network. If anyone can find your first mate, it’s us.” She hesitated. “Heck, with your unique situation…it probably wouldn’t go amiss to take a little time off and go hunting.”
“Actually, Sabo was just saying that if we could find Deuce, talking to him might be a great way to figure out our… situation. You know?”
Koala bit her lip thoughtfully. It made sense, honestly. Deuce, who she knew existed from some of the articles and reports on the former Spade Pirates that had come back up in the wake of the war at Marineford, would be able to confirm basically everything Ace said, down to details nobody else could possibly know.
“I mean…Sabo would have have no idea about anything you experienced during that time. I know you’ve mentioned stuff but if we bounce your memories off of his and they come out exact—” She squeezed his arm. “then you’ll be able to tell if you’re a ghost or…whatever else.”
“Or whatever else.” He leaned on her, looking pensive. “Well, whatever the case is, I want to know for certain. For Sabo, if not for myself.”
“Once we know we can adapt, right?” She glanced over at him with a tired smile. “Hope you don’t mind me including myself in that ‘we’, either. I’ve got a personal stake in your guy’s stability and health.”
“I don’t think I’d be in a position to mind even if I did.” He pushed Sabo’s hair out of his face. “I’m the newcomer here. But no, I don’t mind.”
She laughed cheerfully at that, nudging him gently. She couldn’t help but rib him a little over it, especially seeing how sheepish he got. Wouldn’t it be weirder if she didn’t? It’d seem stiff, unnatural— and it’d make him feel unwelcome. Which was the last thing she wanted to do. “It’s true, I’ve got seniority. So it’s settled, right? Sabo and I’ll cash in some vacation time…hell knows we’ve earned a leave of absence, right?”
“I mean, I’ve been a soldier in the army since I was 14 years old, and Sabo can tell you I barely ever take a day off.”
He whistled. “You’ve been a soldier longer than I’ve been a pirate. But yeah it sure sounds like you’ve earned some time off. I appreciate you cashing it in on my sorry behalf.”
Koala turned towards him with a bright smile, the sort that lit up her face like a sunbeam. “Don’t be stupid. ‘Sorry behalf?” she laughed “…I’m happy to. Not only is it gonna help you, it’s gonna help Sabo, and it’s interesting to boot.”
She was very much starting to get the sense that Ace had some…self-esteem issues. A sort of fracture in his self worth that came out in the form of jokes and referential apology. All the things Sabo had told her of his regained memories, and especially about Ace– painted as a headstrong young man– lead to a bit of a surprise when she heard him talking about his ‘sorry behalf’ and such.
She pointed to him with a playful huff. “Don’t underestimate Sabo and my connection! If he’d said he was going to leave the Revolutionary Army, if he said he couldn’t stay with us, I—I would have come with him.”
Ace smiled at her and held up his hands defensively, shaking his head. “I’ll try not to be so stupid. But no promises. Anyway, I’m glad that Sabo has had someone like you close to him for so long. It makes me feel a little better for not being able to be there.”
Her smile softened a little as she bit her lip. “I’m glad. I know he wishes you could have been, and admittedly, I’m sorry that you couldn’t be! But things happen as they happened, and I promise you I took very good care of him!” She tilted her head “give or take a few dents.”
He rubbed his check and chuckled. “Not as many as I ended up with so I’d say you’re doing a good job.”
Koala put her hands on her hips, rather prideful about that. “I’ll take the compliment gladly, Ace…” she hesitated a moment, before she leaned in closer to look up into his eyes.
He cocked his head, looking back at her with Sabo’s dark eyes. It was so strange– he looked exactly like Sabo and yet not. The way he held his body, the little expressions that the muscles of his face held, the way he pushed aside his hair— it all combined to make him look so much different.
She almost believed the impossible situation on that virtue alone. She also had to admit the particular way he held Sabo’s features wasn’t exactly unappealing.
“Is it nice for you? Being here, I mean.”
“I mean, I can think of one big way to make it nicer,” he said with a smile that seemed at once joking and apologetic. He hesitated for a moment. “But…. yes. It’s– it’s really nice, honestly. I thought Sabo was dead. For 10 years. It’s nice to be with him again, even if the situation is… so awkward. And it seems like he’s got good company too, so lucky me.”
“It really is a bit awkward, and I’d be nicer if you had your own self to bring to the party…but…”
She put her hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Ten years is a long time to think someone you love was dead. It’s been over ten years since I lost someone very important to me…so I can relate.”
Over a decade since Fisher Tiger had died because of her. Because of that, she knew real well how the weight of that loss can weigh on you for years and years. Still, she smiled at him again.
“But the company is good. You lucked out. I’m really fun to be around. And Sabo’s Sabo.”
“Seems like Sabo never changed even if he lost his memory. Pretty funny to think of, really.” He smiled and leaned rather limply against her. He looked like there was more he wanted to say, but if so, he didn’t seem to know how to say it. He just ended up smiling at her with slightly parted lips.
She couldn’t help her curiosity— who could? Especially with a man who’s very existence was so new, and so interesting.
She chuckled softly. “Maybe some of who we are is deeper than memories– a part of our very being?”
“Well, I mean I’d certainly like to think so. Given the circumstances.” He chuckled and he flopped backward, sprawling out onto the bed. Sabo’s hat fell off their head, rolling back behind him.
Koala walked over to loom over him with an amused smile, contemplating hopping down onto the bed with him as she weighed her options. “I think that’s pretty impressive, Mr. Ace. I mean…if you think about it, that’s pretty amazingly strong that you’re still here, in some form or another, even after everything.”
He peered up at her with a smile. “Aww, I don’t know about that, but—”
Whatever he was going to say was cut off by the sudden, loud rumble from his stomach.. He laughed with embarrassment.
Koala was speechless for a moment, and was about to laugh at him when her own stomach growled and set her face flushing “….”
She shook her head. “we DID skip dinner, Ace…but you know, a couple of the bars might still be open. Wanna get something with me?”
“Could be a little bit of a rough crowd,” he pointed out. His embarrassed grin grew into a mischievous one. “But I’m game if you are.”
Koala felt her own mischievous streak growing within her, her smile splitting wider on her face. “I happen to kind of enjoy rough crowds. They’re anything but boring, after all.”