-7-

╒══════════════════╕• Suddenly Sleepy •╘══════════════════╛

═══════

Easier said than done.

Everything happened too fast; one second, people around Hex greeted her with full enthusiasm and then the next, all guns were pointed towards her, different eyes glaring at her in suspicion as they tried their best to hold her back.

Hex growled in disappointment as the tip of Red Haired Shanks' saber sunk a tad bit deeper against the skin on her chin as he glared down on her with his fiery eyes.

A week had passed since her successful infiltration and she was able to acquire small informations that the crew only knew. All was going well until Shanks suddenly started asking random questions about her, telling her that it was part of the process being in the ship. As she answered them one after the other, all of a sudden, members of the pirate crew suddenly jumped into their feet, branding her as an enemy.

At first, Hex was baffled raising her arms, continuing the act of innocence until the red haired man snarled at her, telling that her answers don't match each other. Realizing the grave mistake she made, she sighed in defeat, pulling out her dagger. Giving up the mission of infiltration, the young girl put up a fight for an hour and a half but to her disappointment, she was overpowered by too many pirates making her fall onto her knees.

Shanks was repeatedly asking questions and each time he noticed that she was lying, his sword sunk deeper down her neck.

Anytime of the day, Hex would've used her devilfruit ability to escape her situation but with unknown reasons, after using it for a good hour after fighting the crew, her ability suddenly stopped working making things far worse than she had imagined.

As Yasopp, one of the captain's trusted crew and pal placed a gun on her temple, another growl escaped her lips as she tried her best to activate her ability once more. As she struggled by herself, a sudden pain pierced right through her temple making her wince. It was bearable at first but as the seconds passed, the pain was starting to get through her making her breath hitch.

Seeing her pained face, the pirates only assumed she was faking it to be free but to their surprise, the young lady suddenly fell face first on the deck, eyes closed and body limp. Yasopp tried poking the girls shoulder with his gun but when he received nothing as a response, he suddenly panicked making others around him act the same.

Shanks with a raised brow ordered Yasopp to move aside as he walked towards the girl, checking if she really did faint or was just faking it. After raising her head as he placed a hand on her forehead, his eyes suddenly grew wide, gaze falling straight on their ship's doctor as he picked the young girl up.

"Move aside, I'll take Hex in the infirmary. She's burning. We need to give her proper medication."

═══════

There were two ways to enter the inhibited island Ace and Flare were staying at; one is that you should have an eternal log pose that'll take you directly at the islet and two, you should have luck behind your back to find the small island covered in fog that was often by passed by ships.

For Flare, the latter was the best reason behind the rowdy pirates sudden appearance in front of her as there was no way that these dirty old men had the chance to own an eternal log pose that records the land.

If Flare was going to be completely honest with herself, she would've admitted defeat and start running for her dear life earlier before the man who touched her started talking. Her condition still wasn't the best and fighting while healing was a big risk. If only the blind spots on the place she was in weren't blocked by the pirates surrounding her, she could've escaped without a problem. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she tried to calm her mind, readying her still healing body for the battle.

As she relaxed her panicking thoughts, a loud cackle suddenly disturbed her, making her already closed eyes snap open in irritation.

"You think you can take down all of us? You're just a woman! You can't do anything to us!" In an amused tone the closest man in front of Flare spoke, eyes shining as he find the woman's battle stance funny.

"I am not just. I am a woman."

Taking the opportunity to strike while the man was laughing, Flare swung a fist flat on his face. A satisfying crack coming from the bone of his nose filled her ears making her smirk.

"Bullseye." She whispered, eyes glinting in excitement as adrenaline slowly rush through her body.

A gruesome shriek came out of the old man's mouth making all pirates around him wince. Physically feeling the pain Flare had placed on their comrade's face, all men started to charge, daggers and sword ready to slash the woman's head off.

One versus six.

Even with the brawl starting, Flare still wasn't fully confident. Having to fight without her trusted dagger with her, she found it weird to use her knuckles. Training for years with little rest, the silver head had an exceptional talent for combat but after using a weapon since being a marine, she found using her fists somewhat foreign. In addition to this, knowing full well that her stamina was low, it was hard for her to estimate how long she'll be able to fight.

"You son of a bitch! Die!" Holding his now bleeding nose, the dirty pirate bellowed. Pulling out his sword using his other hand, he started swinging the saber carelessly infront of Flare making her dodge.

Avoiding all swings with ease, Flare only made the man angrier. The woman was about to land a jab at the pirate's blind spot when all of a sudden, her head cocked back harshly making her yelp. Turning even though in pain, she looked around only to see a man with only one arm, fist full of silver locks smiling at her devilishly.

"Planning to fight an entire crew? You must be asking for your death girl." He growled, his grip on Flare's hair getting tighter as anger seep through him.

Wincing a bit, a feral sound came out of Flare's mouth before she elbowed the one-handed man in the stomach. The stinky pirate immediately yelped, the hold he had on the woman's hair loosened as he coughed in pain. Finding her action not enough, Flare with her might, kicked the man on the crotch making him howl in pain before passing out.

Finding herself panting as she felt every move she made was exhausting, Flare scanned the whole area to find an open space free from her enemies. As cowardly as it might sound, she needed to get out of the area and hide herself from them. The reason behind her decision to retreat wasn't because the pirates were strong, it was because her body was starting to give up on her.

Avoiding and leaving a battle was a big shame on her part as a marine but as far as Flare was concerned, she wouldn't be able to use her pride to survive. As her adrenaline was slowly dying and breathing starting to hitch, the woman found her situation too risky if she continued fighting.

Avoiding a flying knife towards her direction, Flare finally saw an opening making her eyes wide as she saw an opportunity to escape. Getting caught up with the chance to flee as she sprint, the woman didn't notice the flintlock gun pointed at her direction. As the loud bang of the gun echoed around the area, a bullet grazed on the silver head's shoulder making her freeze.

The bullet only scraped a small amount of skin on her shoulder but it was enough for the woman to bleed. Shrugging off the pain she was feeling, Flare even with weakening knees started to run once more but before her feet can even take another step to the open area, a fist suddenly made contact with her cheeks making her fall on the ground.

With a shaky vision, Flare tried her best to free herself from the dirty man's hold on her hair as she screamed and kicked in refusal. Even with effort, as fatigue and the pain from the bullet was starting to consume her, her body slowly turned weak, falling onto the pirate's tight hold.

"Put her on handcuffs! This little shit here needs to be sealed!" the man with weird eyes scremed the order, a pair of cuffs immediately clasped on Flare's wrists.

The man who was holding Flare by her hair pulled her from her position mercilessly, not even caring if he pulls her silver locks off as the whole crew made their way out of the jungle and into the near shore.

As Flare was being dragged off her feet at the sand, her mind was thinking nonstop of ways she could possibly free herself from their captivity. She wanted to use haki and her devil fruit ability to flee but with her condition as of the moment, it seemed impossible to use something that requires a large amount of stamina.

The silver head groaned internally as she scolded herself for being stupid enough to leave the bunk house with no weapon. Being confident that she and Ace were the only human beings on the island made her lower her guard down. Thinking about her mistakes, the name of the man she had been with suddenly rang in her mind, his face flashing before her eyes as an idea popped in her head.

Praying for her plan to work, Flare closed her eyes and gave an ear sickening shriek, voice loud enough for the wild birds to flee from trees and for the men to flinch.

The man with weird eyes who was also her capturer growled in anger, his rotten hand slapping Flare on the cheek as he shook from rage. Leaving a red hand mark on her face, the pirate held the woman by the neck, gripping on it firmly as he screamed at her to shut up.

Feeling the sting from her face, Flare only spat on the man's face making him all the more angrier. The grip on her neck turned tight making it difficult to breathe and as if it wasn't enough, another slap made contact on Flare's face making her vision blur even more. The situation the marine was in truly was horrifying but her mental state was tough, physical pain wasn't enough to bring her down.

Shaking the sting off, Flare took a deep breath with difficulty as her strained voice screamed two words she never thought would be together.

"ACE! HELP!"

Getting fed up with her screaming, the old pirate punched Flare in her stomach making her eyes wide from the impact and body limp. The pain was enough for any person to faint but the woman took a firm grip on her consciousness trying her best to stay awake even though in pain.

Just as the old man was about to punch her once more, flames suddenly appeared out of nowhere around them, creating a flaming ring engulfing them. Your eyes and even the pirates' widen in shock as all your gazes fell upon the man in the middle of the place, hands on fire, eyes hooded and jaw clenched.

All men blinked in bewilderment as they stared at the raven haired man. They couldn't believe their eyes were looking straight at an executed and already dead man, alive and standing right in front of them. It was almost if they were seeing things but when the fire burning on the young man's fist went ablaze they finally confirmed that they weren't hallucinating and the man in front of them was real in the flesh.

Walking in large footsteps, Portgas D. Ace went for the closest man he could grab and punched him straight in the face. All couldn't react as fear suddenly seep through their body, frozen in place. Ace, in an apathetic state continued his stride not even flinching a bit as the man he passed through started burning.

One out of the six - now five, pirates pulled out a dagger and with courage, charged right to the raven head but even before he can stab Ace, he was taken by the neck, face immediately shoved down the sand before being set to fire. Two men were now hollering in pain as their bodies were slowly being consumed by Portgas' flame.

Meeting the same fate their comrades had, the three men who were standing near Ace suddenly went ablaze, not having enough time to defend and fight for their selves. The ravenette was eerily quiet while walking, only the agonizing shouts of those who are being burnt can be heard on the whole land.

Ace singlehandedly took every one down, leaving only the scruffy man who was holding Flare all alone, weird looking eyes shaking in fear as the ravenette went closer towards him. Pulling out his hidden gun, the old pirate started shooting Portgas carelessly, wishing even one bullet would leave a fatal wound on the man. To the scruffy man's horror, all shots went pass through the young man making his throat dry in panic.

Eyes landing on Flares bleeding shoulder and bruised cheeks, his gaze immediately darted on the only living pirate, making the old man flinch. Raising his hand as he mimicked a gun using his index finger and middle finger, Ace pointed it at the man's direction as he made a shooting motion. After the small gesture, a small ball of fire came out of his fingers as it flew towards the weird eyed man's pale face.

The man let go of Flare as he made an escape for his dear life, trying his best to avoid the small fire following him and the blazing ring surrounding him. To his horror, he couldn't find any means of escape and just as he was about to plead for mercy, with a pop the ball of fire suddenly burst into flames, burning the man slowly into crisps.

Eyes heavy with pain and exhaustion, Flare felt like her vision was playing tricks on her. She couldn't believe that the man in front of her was the same ravenette who was always looking at her with innocence and confusion. She didn't know what to feel after realizing that the young pirate she just saved from dying at the Marineford war was this dangerous.

This was also the same man who took her position as the second division commander of the Whitebeard pirates.

How powerful is Portgas D. Ace?

After the screams of pain and terror from all the burning men stopped, the ring of fire suddenly faded. As if on cue, Flare's shaking legs finally gave in, knees falling flat on the sand. Seeing the silver heads condition, Ace suddenly snapped out of his monotonous trance, worry written all over his face as his feet took him towards the woman's direction.

Kneeling on the sand to level with Flare, Ace was about to ask if she was alright when all of a sudden, the raven's eyes shut body falling down with a thud.

Eyes widening in shock, with an aching body Flare reached for the ravenette's shoulder, shaking it with all the strength she have left. She was worried more about the man getting injured so much that he passed out than her current condition full of bruises and blood. Her growing fear for the young man suddenly faded into oblivion as confusion took her mind.

A light snore can be heard coming from Ace making her blink.

"What the hell? Are you sleeping!?"

════════

If you're interested for more One Piece + other anime Fanfics, you can check on my profile for my other stories!

OWNED - Eustass Kidd Fan fictionADDICTED - Eustass Kidd Fan fictionMISUNDERSTOOD - Donquixote Rosinante (Corazon) One Shot Fan fictionMERCY - Ryomen Sukuna (Jujutsu Kaisen) Fan fiction

Did I just shamelessly plugged my other stories? Y e s.

Stay safe always! - yeen