Hello everyone, here is the next chapter
This is a bit of this and that
Hope you enjoy
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Whitebeard sat out on deck, early in the morning, when Marco came from around a corner, and he was still injured. Or, not that injured, he had a badly bruised face. And, it looked even worse than what it had been yesterday. He gave a smile to his son. "How are you, son?" Marco hummed and moved to stand beside him. "I'm good. I know it looks worse, but I barely feel it, yoi." He nodded. "That is good, son." Marco nodded. "It is. And it's still my fault." Whitebeard nodded. "I know. I also know Ace feels bad." Marco nodded and sighed. "I know, yoi. I wish he didn't." Whitebeard nodded and he agreed. It wasn't Ace's fault, Marco should know better he felt, as this wasn't the first time.
He then sat out while Marco stood, before more woke up, and a few did give shocked looks to Marco, and when Thatch came out, he moved his hand. "You look worse!" Marco shrugged. "And, yoi?" Thatch looked lost for words for a second. "You're never injured, Marco." Marco nodded. "But now I am, yoi." Thatch blinked. "Well... yeah." Marco hummed. "It is fine. Still my fault. I should know better, yoi." Thatch nodded. "I still can't believe that is a bad angle." Whitebeard agreed a bit, but as Marco had said yesterday, last time, both his cheekbone and jaw had cracked too, now it was only his nose that had been broken. When Trevor came out, he gave a laugh. "Oh my God! You look worse! Oh, I remember when it was me." Thatch blinked. "You've been injured by Ace?" Trevor nodded. "Yes. Both by accident and on purpose. The purpose one feels worse though, as accidents go over fast." That Whitebeard got. Trevor did go at Ace at times. As Ace had said when he sang that song, he hated Trevor at times, as he had done a lot wrong. But they are better now.
Thatch blinked. "Oh..." Trevor nodded. "So yeah. Not that surprised it happened, as Ace has some issues now and then." That was also true, and he got Ace had issues. He had been through a lot. A lot of bad things. Thatch nodded and didn't speak, and the day went on. When it was breakfast, Ace came, as Marco had said Ace was doing some paperwork until now. As the day went by, he could see many being shocked by Marco's state, which was understandable, as Marco rarely, or never, was injured. Ace did look to feel a bit bad when someone mentioned it, but Marco always said it was fine, and that it was his fault, no one should blame Ace, which it didn't seem like anyone did. Which was good. Ace might have done it, but he didn't mean to do it. The next few days did go fine, and it seemed like no one was more afraid or nervous around Ace, which was good. They got that Ace would never hurt them on purpose. Which was true. And after 4 days, them having been at an island for a day, where Marco kept inside or on the boat, probably so no one would see him injured that wasn't on the crew. Which he got. He was known as the Phoenix who never got injured. So he didn't want to seem injured to unknown faces. What was interesting, was how Jinbei had joined them for a few hours, and he had really looked shocked to see Marco injured, but hadn't voiced it. But he could see the shock on his face. But he probably knew it would be fine soon. And when they a couple days later passed the line to where the devil fruit worked, the bruises just faded away, which was good.
-x-
A week later, Whitebeard sat in his room as the weather outside wasn't the best, and when he was out, Ace was out and he had asked Ace to join him in his room, which Ace had said yes to, so now they were relaxing, when Whitebeard asked if Ace maybe had something he wanted to sing again, which Ace sighed to, before he nodded. "Sure. I can do a song. Why not." Whitebeard chuckled, glad Ace felt that and handed him a guitar, before Ace started to sing as he played.
"Like a target drawn across my chest. She's a bullet in Russian Roulette. You said you'd never turn your back on me (Rescue me, rescue me) Would you stand by me and bury me? (Bury me) Why don't we end this lie, I can't pretend this time. I need a friend to find, My broken mind, before it falls to pieces. Every time. You tried to leave me (This Suffering) blind. You'll never close (This Suffering) my eyes. You'll never close my eyes and watch me die. And when she spins the bottle round and round. Every time it leaves me gagged and bound. You said you'd never turn your back on me (Rescue me, rescue me) Would you stand by me and bury me? (Bury me) Why don't we end this lie. I can't pretend this time. I need a friend to find, My broken mind, before it falls to pieces. End this lie, I can't pretend (This Suffering) this time. I need a friend (This Suffering) to find, My broken mind, before it falls to pieces. Every time. You tried to leave me (This Suffering) blind. You'll never close (This Suffering) my eyes. You'll never close my eyes and watch me die." Whitebeard listened to the song, not sure if he liked this song or not. Not that it wasn't a good song, it was nice and a bit catchy, but the lyrics. Ace continued after some chords.
"Misery won't get the best of me. 'Cause now I'm calling, yes I'm calling on your bluff, yeah! Misery won't get the best of me. 'Cause now I'm calling, yes I'm calling on your bluff. Throw down the cards I've had enough. Why don't we end this lie. I can't pretend this time. I need a friend to find, My broken mind, before it falls to pieces. Every time. You tried to leave me (This Suffering) blind. You'll never close (This Suffering) my eyes. You'll never close my eyes and watch me die. End this lie. I can't pretend (This Suffering) this time. I need a friend (This Suffering) to find, My broken mind, before it falls to pieces. Every time. You tried to leave me (This Suffering) blind. You'll never close (This Suffering) my eyes. You'll never close my eyes and watch me die." (This Suffering by Billy Talent)
The song then ended with a chord, and Ace gave a breath. "That actually felt good." Whitebeard smiled. "That's good." Ace nodded. "It is. Maybe I should sing more of my songs." Whitebeard nodded. "Who do you usually sing for?" Ace hummed. "I am not sure which wins, but either Daisuke or Benn. I think Benn might win with a couple songs. They would never judge me based on my songs. Although, I won't sing all my songs to them though." Whitebeard nodded. "I see. Maybe we can change that? I love to hear you sing." Ace gave a small chuckle. "The others say the same. They usually let me choose, but Trevor has sometimes pestered me to sing." Whitebeard nodded. "I would never do that. I might push a bit, but not pester." Ace nodded and gave a small smile. "That's good." It was, he wouldn't do that. He would like to hear songs, but not force them out of Ace.
Whitebeard then hummed. "But I wonder, Russian Roulette, what is it?" Ace sighed. "A game. Or wait, no, not a game, but a game. You know what roulette is? You have a board and you roll a ball and it lands in a space when the roulette stops, and you either win or lose." Whitebeard nodded, he knew of that. Ace sighed. "Well, in this, you have a revolver, and you put one bullet in, and give it a good spin. Then two people take turns putting the gun to their heads, and pulling the trigger. If you get the bullet, you lose, and die, of course." Whitebeard blinked. "This is a game people play?" Ace nodded. "Yeah. Many are forced into it, either because of money issues or debt. It is horrible really." Whitebeard blinked, he had no idea this was a thing. "Why don't you stop it?" Ace sighed. "Because, both parties are willing most of the time. They have nothing to lose, and all to win. There is nothing I can do, even if I wanted to, which I do. But I can't." Whitebeard nodded, it sounded horrible.
He then looked at Ace. "Have you ever played it?" Ace sighed. "Yeah, I have. It's not fun." Whitebeard to that. He was about to speak when Ace did. "Also, I lost." Whitebeard blinked, before he frowned. "But you're not dead?" Ace sighed. "I was 15, and this man wanted the prize money for the win, so he sent prisoners in his place, many won, many lost. Then, it was my turn, and I was shaking, because..." Whitebeard nodded. "You were scared." Ace probably didn't like to say that. Ace gave a small nod. "Yeah, and when I held the gun, I was somewhat shaking, been 3 rounds already, I knew it was coming up. And I pulled the trigger and boom, I heard the gun fire and then things went black. Then, I am not sure how long, but I woke up in a pile of dead bodies. Apparently, since I was shaking, my aim was a bit off so the bullet ricocheted at my skull and never went into my brain. But they just assumed I was dead and threw me away." Whitebeard nodded. "You got lucky." Ace nodded. "So so lucky. And since I was now loose from chains and alive, I went back and killed those who deserved it." Whitebeard nodded, that was good.
He looked at Ace. "You've been through a lot in your young life." Ace sighed. "Yeah, more than most, since I can travel so fast, I manage to go to many places fast." That was true. He then looked at Ace. "Do you have any other songs?" Ace hummed. "I actually have one I want to sing. The whole ordeal with Cesare Borgia, there were two ways to get to that island where we appeared. Either the note in the newspaper that we went with, or a song. I never got to sing the song since the majority chose the note in the papers." Whitebeard nodded. "Go for it." Ace gave a chuckle. "Oh, it was also made for Ann, she was going to come on and sing in a broadcast." Whitebeard nodded, now curious. Ace then took the guitar and started to play before he started to sing.
