Kitsune here with the sequel to Diving into the Sea which I guess you could maybe read alone, but it'll be more understandable if you read the first. Thanks to Missjesscab for the title. BIG thanks to Samettiekku, WeRun and Anj for beta-ing for me. There still might be mistakes, this is a monster story. Beyond that, I can't think of any other facts I should add in this one? If you all think of things mention it in a review and I will answer it AND add it in a note at the end of the story. Sorry... things have recently gone from... bad to... horrible. My life is a shit-cake right now. So I'm posting this to feel better so I feel like I'm leaving things out. Please don't worry about it all though, alright? Just, I hope you enjoy the story.

ACE

Cora-san was going to kill him for coming here alone if he survived this. Ace stopped barely twenty feet from the towering giant of a man who reclined on an equally massive chair. The look the teen gave the man was decidedly not impressed. This 'World's Strongest' guy was OLD. Like, older than Jiji - not that he'd seen Garp in forever but still. So yeah, maybe this geezer could have kept up with that bastard Roger, but Ace didn't see what the big deal was. Who the hell would follow a man with all this medical crap hooked up to him? It pissed him off that this guy had somehow managed to get his damn crew to mess with Ace's little family. And now? Now they were all staring at him! Like he was some kind of- NO. He didn't like this guy or this crew at all. "So you're supposed to be the strongest in the world, you old geezer?" He snorted, his unspoken opinion clear as day.

"Gahahaha, aren't you a cheeky brat?" The man leaned forward slightly, not even bothering to get up and it just pissed Ace off more. "What's your name?"

"None of your damn business you creepy old goat!" He snapped back, "Who the hell do you think you are? Sending your fucking crew to spy on me and my brothers?!"

The old man looked confused, his brow furrowed slightly as he looked down on Ace. Like he didn't know what Ace was talking about! Ace was pissed, and this bastard had put his brothers at risk! He'd even put Cora-san at risk! Not that the teen didn't think their foster-parent could handle himself… most of the time… but he wasn't going to stand for it. All Ace had left was his tiny family, and he was going to show the world not to mess with them. If that meant raining down hell on this old fart who thought he was all that, then so be it! Flames crackled to life along his arms as he leveled his best glare at the giant man. "I'm going to kill you!"

The very fact that Whitebeard obviously didn't take him seriously was enough to send Ace into a full on rage. With a feral sounding snarl he shot forward, pulling the dagger Law had lifted for him off of some dumbass in Shabondy. Ace threw himself at Whitebeard, intending to blind the bastard and get rid of that smug look once and for all. So focused on his attack he almost didn't notice the hand coming at him to bat him away like a pesky fly. Twisting in the air he managed to avoid most of the blow, though the man's pointer finger still caught his hip and sent him sprawling back onto the deck. It stung, but slamming into a rock face courtesy of Luffy actually hurt more. Grey eyes narrowed further as he wordlessly snarled, rolling to his feet and facing his enemy. His whole body ached more from keeping his wings in than the blow. But there was no way he was going to give this guy any advantage.

"Do you really think you can take me, brat?" Whitebeard seemed amused.

"Easily!"

"Gahahaha! You've got guts, boy."

"Oyaji, don't encourage him." A blond with what had to be the oddest haircut Ace had ever seen sighed before turning his bored-looking gaze to Ace. The freckled teen growled. "He's just too stupid to know when he's outclassed."

He tossed the dagger at the blond, forgetting for a moment that he was on an enemy ship and that was his only actual weapon. It was still worth it to see those sleepy blue eyes widen in shock when the dagger found its mark in the man's shoulder. "First blood." He smirked, lowering himself into a fighting crouch. If this guy wanted to go first, so be it.

The blond frowned at him, "That only counts if your opponent bleeds, yoi." He pulled the dagger out of his own shoulder, blue flames lapping at the spot as he tossed the spotless dagger hilt deep into the deck. Ace gaped at him and the frown became a smirk. "Last chance to run away, little boy."

"I never run." Even if he had no clue what the hell he was facing. Some kind of devil fruit he guessed, but what? He settled onto the balls of his feet for a split second before dashing forward, being sure to not charge in a straight line.

Sleepy eyes watched him appraisingly though the man didn't move until the last possible second, blocking a powerful punch with his shin. "That almost tickled."

A snarl was his answer and Ace spun, dodging a kick instead of letting it go through him. His instincts screamed at him not to get hit. He listened, twisting out of the way of another kick and using his momentum to answer with one of his own. Flame met weird blue flames but it did cause the man to slow slightly. Ace took the chance to spring away, looking for the next opening.

"Quit playing around, Marco!" Someone in the crowd shouted. The blond didn't react to the catcall, eyes watching Ace just as lazily as before. The teen swore if nothing else he was going to put some respect in that look as he lashed out with a flaming right hook. He knew it wouldn't work, but it didn't have to. All he needed was for the man to flinch even slightly away from the fire and- there! His left arm shot out, focusing all his attention on hitting the bastard when his hand connected with the man's chin. He barely blocked the kick aimed at his ribs in retaliation. THAT hurt. Still he grinned to see blood on the man's lip even as he felt his own ribs ache in protest. There was shouting now; he blocked it out.

"That stung, yoi." Blue eyes narrowed, suddenly more serious and Ace felt the thrill of fear - like stepping off a tree limb and not having your wings out. He hid it behind a wider grin even as he just knew this was going to hurt.

Three rapid kicks barely blocked, one punch to the head avoided by a margin and Ace was backing up, panting. He was so screwed but he kept throwing his own punches and kicks. Most missed but a few had to be blocked. He didn't make it past the guard again. Ace barely managed to slip past another frighteningly strong kick that managed to crunch into the wood of the wall he'd backed himself up to in a subconscious attempt to protect his hidden wings. When the wall buckled and splintered he rolled away, yelping as a foot caught him just below those oh-so-sensitive muscles on his back. His flames lashed out beyond his control in response and he heard the angry shouts of the rest of the crew. Something must have caught on fire. He was too busy trying to not keen as he rose to his feet to care about something like that. He wouldn't fall here; his brothers needed him. Choking back the sound he rasped out, "That the best you got?"

And instantly regretted it as his whole vision was filled with that man. He had no time to dodge or offer retaliation, just desperately block what he could, snarling in rage, his flames once more lashing out in response. Those blue eyes narrowed dangerously and Ace didn't even have time to block the next kick to his side that sent him stumbling. His hand shot out, catching the man's foot and causing him to nearly fall as Ace recovered his own footing. It turned out to be a mistake as the man somehow leapt and twisted in the air, bringing his other leg across Ace's back in an explosion of screaming white agony he hadn't felt in years.

The teen didn't even realize he'd been sent skidding across the deck, too focused on trying to breathe as his back spasmed. He screamed, unaware the fires he'd inadvertently started had flared before going out. It hurt so much!

"Marco, you didn't have to break his damn fool back!"

"I didn't, yoi." He felt the man standing over him and his body shuddered, warring with itself. He couldn't breathe through the pain. "Brat?" He sounded concerned, and Ace hated him for the lie even before he touched Ace's back. The teen let out a choked sob, muscles screaming under the touch before they seized up one last time, his wings sprawling uselessly on the deck as they twitched. It still hurt-they shivered, the phantom memories of the last time he'd been hurt like that wracking his body. "Shit! Medic!"

"Is that-?"

"- left from Shabondy?"

"-the fuck?"

"Marco- kill him?"

He whimpered at the last one he heard, trying to pull his wings in only to gasp in pain as they barely twitched. "Ace?" Heavy footfalls rattled the deck, like someone was running, "AC- Damn it, you stupid little shit!" He knew that voice and tried desperately to get the air into his lungs to tell Cora-san to run.

"Rocinante?"

"What the hell did you do, you moron?!" A fist collided none-too-kindly with his head. "This wasn't the plan at all, you freckled excuse for a seagull."

"Cora-san you gotta ru-"

"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE SHIT and hold still!" Despite the angry words Cora-san's hands were gentle as they smoothy ran over the trembling wings. Large fingers both combed feathers in place and gently felt the bones for damage at the same time. "What the hell happened?"

"We were fighting-"

"I figured that when I got here and found one of my boys sprawled on the deck." Came the dry reply. "Though I thought your oh so smart plan was to go after Whitebeard, Ace?"

"Blond bastard insulted me." Cora-san's hands had moved onto his back, rubbing firm but gentle circles into the twitching muscles above and below the wings. He made a half moan noise.

"And you got your ass handed to you."

"Cheats."

Cora-san chuckled, knowing exactly what he meant. "It's a mythical zoan devil fruit. The blond bastard you decided to pick a fight with is a phoenix. Which means he literally can't be hurt by normal means, you moron."

That was something Cora-san would have no doubt explained to him if he had waited like they had originally decided before going to 'talk' to the Whitebeard Pirates. Ace groaned into the deck with embarrassment.

"Is he going to be alright, Rocinante?" Whitebeard spoke, a large shadow covering Ace's prone form and causing the teen to shudder. He didn't like being vulnerable like this, and it would be a few more minutes before he'd feel able to stand, he was sure. Forget pulling his wings in.

"Aside from his pride, yeah." Cora-san supplied, tucking the large appendages closer to the teen's body. "I'd have prefered it if you hadn't beaten the crap out of one of my boys."

"The brat said he was here to challenge me." He could hear the old geezer's amusement and Ace growled low in his throat, earning a pop on the head.

"That sounds like him." Cora-san stood, leaving Ace feeling vulnerable again until the man actually stood over him. Some of the tension eased out of the teen, knowing he wasn't being abandoned. "Whitebeard-No, Newgate." Cora-san began, "Meet Ace. He's got a bit of a temper for a hot-headed idiot."

"We noticed, yoi." The damn blond sounded amused.

"The 'orange one' I take it?" Someone else asked, slipper-like shoes coming into view.

Wings twitched, "I got a name, Asshole." He didn't see Cora-san's hasty headshake and mouthed, 'I'll explain later.'

What he did see next was a cheery face down as close to the deck as it could go. "Ah, don't be like that, kiddo. We didn't know your names, so we had to come up with something. Rocinante wouldn't tell us shit, so all we had to go off of was a few feathers we found in that pathetic boat of his."

"You were on our boat?" Ace growled out. It would have been more threatening if he wasn't laying down.

"Patching sails and boards so the fool didn't sink is more like." A different voice answered. Turning his head he saw the bottom of a robe. "I'm Izo, the idiot next to you is Thatch. Forgive me for not getting down, but kimonos are unforgiving in that way."

"Whatever." Ace groused. What the hell was a kimono anyway? "Ace. And stop calling him Rocinante. His name is Corazon."

"It shortened better." Cora-san explained.

"Gahahahaha I see! Tell me, then, Corazon, why are you two on my ship?"

"Ace was looking to join up with you possibly-"
"HEY!" Lies, all lies! Even if he was thinking maybe he could learn a thing or two from them now…

"And I figured I'd tag along and stop him from getting himself killed with that mouth of his."

"What about his attitude?"

"I can't do miracles."