Thx to everyone for the nice reviews and stuff. I'm sorry for the late update, for some reason, everytime I tried to write, I got distracted up till now...

But finally, I got some inspiration. Hope you enjoy reading this part :)

Chapter 5

They were mere miles away from the island where the woman lived, so close. Suddenly the whole ship started shaking under their feet and they heard cannon fire. It was coming from behind them. A marine ship. Great timing… Marco and Ace were so irritated that they advanced on the unsuspecting marines themselves. In about five minutes the ship went up in flames. How dare they attack them, the infamous Whitebeard Pirates with such a miserable crew? They asked in unison when they got back. For God's sake, have some common sense!

"Guys, calm down, will you" – Thatch laughed it off. 'They must be nervous about the curse.'

Both of them glared daggers at Thatch oozing killing intent.

"Hey, now, I'm no marine member. Don't look at me like that. Y'know I'm right." – He waved his hands sheepishly in front of himself.

Ace huffed and folded his arms in front of his chest. Marco rolled his eyes. Thatch felt nervous, he sensed the negative aura enveloping them which came from his fellow commanders.

He gulped and decided it was better to leave them alone for the time being so he ushered everyone onboard as far away from those two as possible.

They were left alone at the head of the whale ship fuming on the outside, probably cringing on the inside.

Suddenly, there was another cannon fire aimed at their ship. This one was much bigger. Their eyes met shortly and Marco nodded for Ace to turn around and look. There it was, right behind them. The real Marine force… A much larger ship, the same size as their own, followed closely by two smaller ones. So, the first one was just a rouse. Something to distract them, so that the real enemy could get closer and ambush them.

As they were the two fighters who had the most badass long-range attacks among the crewmembers it wasn't unusual for them to fend off these kinds of attacks, just the two of them. However, they miscalculated, and were so preoccupied with getting rid of every soldier that they totally forgot about being cursed. They paid the price for it, though.

Who touched who first, it didn't matter, what did was that they were rendered harmless, ineffective. They were still on the enemy ship, they half-destroyed mere seconds ago. And what were two of the strongest, fiercest pirates doing there: Dropping their fighting stances at the same time letting their abilities disperse from their bodies. Mouths instead of swords clashed on the battleground and the marines' jaws dropped.

"What are they doing?" – asked a newbie not believing his own eyes and his partners had the same shocked expressions.

If the Whitebeard pirates hadn't come to save them, they would be on their merry way towards Impel Down by now…

It was just way too embarrassing.

Being unable to move away. Clinging to each other so intimately. There was no place for that now and yet here they were, shedding their clothes and dignity at the same time in front of all these strangers. Marco wanted to just jump into the sea and Ace would gladly accompany him there if it meant that their ordeal would be over. But, oh, no it just wasn't possible.

They moved involuntarily, puppets moved by the invisible strings of that wretched curse, they would rather forget once and for all. They were so close to that island where the woman lived. She was the only one who could lift this abomination.

After the initial shock died down, the marines whistled and clapped, shouting profanities to the busy pirates. The Vice Admiral onboard was the first on to notice that something was wrong with them and he ordered his men to get closer to the pair and inspect them.

When they realised that the notorious duo had blank looks and didn't react to their surroundings whatsoever, the captain gave the order to separate the two and put Sea Stone shackles on them.

Great, just great…Now they were captured stuck in this state, unable to snap out of it, till, till they could…finish off what they've started. The comments made them flinch on the inside.

"They are like animals! They want to gobble each other up"

"Hey, queers! This isn't the right place."

"Just stop trying, it's Kairoseki, you can't get it off."

Even after they felt their energy being swapped away by the Kairoseki handcuffs' unique power, they were only looking at each other blankly, whining, trying to get to the other so hard. It was heartbreaking. Really, just like cats and dogs mating. They've never experienced something more horrible than this.

Marco's shirt and pants lay discarded on the floor as well as Ace's shorts; thank god they wore underwear today. They covered the pirates' erections; however the bulges were very much visible to anyone.

Then when they thought they would lose consciousness from the immense humiliation, their family finally arrived on scene and kicked the marines' asses, freeing them from their restraints and taking them back to the Moby Dick. They were dropped inside Marco's room and left alone, the crew now accustomed to these special accidents, didn't make a hassle about the situation, only pitying the commanders.

For an hour or so everything was quiet. The Whitebeard Pirates were waiting for them to finish. Now, just an arm's length away from shore, they waited impatiently for the two fire users to emerge from the First Division Commander's cabin.

The wait was longer than expected.

Marco and Ace came out only after they mustered up enough willpower to get over this incident and were able to face the world again, though some members wondered how they managed to do that. At least no one mentioned anything about the whole thing.

There was something fishy about the island where the Whitebeard pirates returned to. Somehow the people weren't as friendly as before, or was it just their imagination? They seemed to want to keep something hidden. But when the members started bombarding the inhabitants with questions about the whereabouts of a certain "insane witch", they were met with hostility.

No one wanted to talk about her, but they didn't deny knowing her. Were they protecting that person or something?

As soon as the sun went down, the villagers filed back into their homes, leaving the very much confused pirate crew at the main square, wondering what could be the case.

Marco and Ace went to the bar to get some information. They had some distance between them just to stay on the safe side. Upon entering they were met with sharp, hateful glares. This was way too suspicious. The pirates sat down in front of the bartender and ordered some drinks.

"We need to find an old woman, have you seen one with an attitude, and beauty issues, who wants a boyfriend for herself, yoi?" – the bartender froze, his eyebrow twitched.

"…No, I'm sorry but there's no one like this on the island, here're your drinks"

There was an empty seat between Marco and Ace and the latter was about to burst and shout in anger when Marco turned to face him, and shook his head. Ace averted his gaze to the floor looking guilty. They asked why everyone was so hostile towards them while drinking, but the bartender only said that they're just imagining it surely and let out a fake smile laughing nervously.

During the third round of rum they shared, someone entered the bar and all of the drunken people, who were enjoying themselves, have frozen in place. Marco and Ace didn't turn around waiting for the person to come closer.

"Ohhoo, if it isn't those rude boys from a few weeks ago." – the witch regarded them and both balled their hands into fists. "I was expecting you." – a wicked grin adorning her wrinkly face.

She sat down on the empty seat between them and ordered a drink for herself. That wretched woman knew that they wouldn't hurt her until they were freed from the curse.

"You have some nerve sitting so close to us." – Ace barked out furious.

"Hey now fiery brat, I know for a fact that you wouldn't harm me, unless you want to stay the way you are now, for the rest of your miserable lives" – Okay, this woman was irritating as hell, but Marco had to admit that she got them this time.

"So, what do you want us to do, yoi?" Ace regarded his friend warily looking at him over the old hag's head.

"Hmm, thanks boys, this drink is delicious. They will pay for it" – she grinned from ear to ear pointing at both guys with her thumbs and then she started laughing when she saw how frustrated those men were next to her.

She started to scratch the side of her nose, obviously thinking what she wanted in exchange for lifting the damn curse. She hummed while Marco and Ace were fuming inside.

Then came the reply which made their blood boil:

"Nah, I don't feel like helping you guys…ahhahha" – she laughed and both men's jaws dropped at the same time.

"WHAT?" – they said in unison.

"There must be something, yoi."

"Even you can't be this cruel, do you even know what we went through these past weeks?" – Ace ranted angrily.

The woman's lips turned upwards and she nodded. "I can imagine." – her nose started bleeding and Ace felt heat rush to his cheeks, meanwhile Marco fixed his gaze on the floor.

As soon as the bitch finished her drink she stood up, and both guys snapped out of their daze.

"Khm, maybe we can work out something" – she sang cheerfully, though it seemed somehow creepy.

"Be at the town square tomorrow at noon" – she waved goodbye and her annoying laugh rang in the pirates' ears long after she left the bar.

The tension eased as soon as she was out and Marco couldn't help noticing the relieved sighs coming from the other customers. Ace went to one of them and asked why they sighed, so the blond wasn't the only one who found this odd.

Seeing as alcohol usually made people more talkative, finally some local guys in the corner admitted that they had been approached by the "lady" before and she randomly cursed every man in town. Technically they all had different curses which activated the same way the pirates' own did. After every 24 hours, and after a certain action which triggered it.

The man they were currently sharing a drink with told them in tears that when he looks into someone's eyes he loses control over his body and wants to get inside that person's pants no matter what. He won't gain back control unless he gets it done. 'So that's why he wasn't looking at them while talking.'

She needs to be stopped. But what is her secret? Is it a Devil Fruit power? They were going to find out! The sooner the better… this can't go on forever.

To be continued...

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