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...it’s like. Floating. Something Ace hasn’t done since he ate the Mera-Mera no Mi. Which is ironic, in a way, ‘cause he’s pretty sure this is because of the Devil Fruit.
He definitely died. Ace remembers that vividly. And then afterward things got- dark. Distant. Not really somewhere, not really nowhere, just. Hanging. Waiting. Vaguely, he felt aware of other people in the same general area - or at least what he thought were people.
And then-
The floating.
Looking over a shoulder.
Sabo’s shoulder.
Because somehow, somehow, Ace’s other brother is still alive.
And Sabo ate the Mera-Mera.
Ace doesn’t really get to see everything; not like a ghost hanging around all the time. But he witnesses Sabo’s declaration to an Admiral with scars over his face, that if the marines ever go after Luffy, Sabo will throw everything else aside to be there for their little brother. It makes Ace want to bare his teeth in a vicious grin; Luffy isn’t alone. Luffy’s got the fucking Revolutionary Army in his corner. If that isn’t a threat that would make the World Government hold off even when Whitebeard’s fleet didn’t, Ace will eat his hat.
And it goes from there.
He watches Sabo fight; watches Sabo sail, and run, and train with the Mera-Mera’s powers. Every so often, he watches his brother thrash and jerk awake in the night, crying and gasping apologies, and he aches, but still- Ace keeps watch. He practically burns with the need to do something, say something, let Sabo know I’m here, I’m with you, I don't blame you, but whatever power is keeping them tethered together won’t let him go that far.
He’s there when Sabo takes a bad hit.
When something- twists.
And suddenly there’s a face, peering at Sabo, then also peering at Ace, which says “Oh. No wonder you felt like a double-soul.” It makes Sabo jerk, looking over his shoulder, wild gaze passing right over where Ace is floating. The face, though; the face grins. “I wonder what’ll happen when you land?”
And then
It
All
Drops
Away
Ace blinks, and there’s ground under his feet again, but also a fist swinging straight towards him. He blinks again, startled, and then the fist collides, and his vision explodes into stars. The ground shifts, from under his feet, to under his butt, and then underneath his whole body because Ace falls, and he’s so stunned it takes entirely too long to register the hands grabbing him, dragging him, pressing him against something solid that isn’t the ground, and then there are ropes-
“-stop it, let go! Ace!”
-Luffy.
Sucking in a sharp breath, he tries to shake his head, clear his eyes, but all that does is make everything spin worse. There’s laughter overhead, ugly and dark, and a voice he knows from nightmares chuckles over it all, saying: “Well, if you won’t join my crew, then you’re just kindling, like all the rest of the trash.”
That-
That’s-
It can’t be-
The ropes pull snug, then pull further, until there’s hardly any room at all to breathe, let alone struggle free. It’s familiar. He’s been here before.
“Come on, then,” the voice, the pirate, Bluejam, that’s Bluejam, but he’s been dead for ten years- “We’ve got some fires to set, and then we’ll be living like nobles!” His crew cheers, filing out of the building, slamming the door shut behind them. Then it’s just Ace, trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and Luffy, crying, tugging at the ropes that bind them both to a support post.
“Ace,” the boy cries, and there’s no way he just came from somewhere else like Ace, he hasn’t sounded this terrified in years. “Ace, are you okay?!”
“...yeah,” he manages to answer, the ringing in his ears finally fading away. “I’m- shit, Luffy, are you okay?”
Another small sniffle. “Y-yeah. They- they hit me, but- but I’m tough! I can handle it!” Outside, there’s the sound of a gunshot, and immediately after an explosion, and Luffy yelps. “Ace!!”
Shit.
Right.
The fire.
This is the night the Grey Terminal burns.
Familiar heat rises up in Ace’s chest, and it’s like a spell is broken: he can smell the trash, hear the distant laughter as Bluejam’s crew heads off, feel the grime on his skin and the shard of glass under his leg that he used the first time to get them out of here. But grabbing it and cutting through the ropes took ages, Ace didn’t manage it until well after the flames rose up around them, licking into Bluejam’s hideout and filling the air with heat and smoke.
Not again. Not this time. No, this time, Ace has fire of his own.
His fingers shift first, spitting sparks and then twisting into flames. The rest of his hands follow, then his arms, and the change spreads to the rest of his body in an instant. Ropes flare and fall away into ash; on the other side of the post, Luffy yelps. “It’s okay,” Ace tells him, quickly dismissing his power to return to normal before he hurries around, catching Luffy’s shoulders and pulling the wide-eyed seven year old to his feet. “It’s okay, Lu, we’re gonna be fine, alright? I’m gonna get us out of here, I promise.”
Utter trust fills Luffy’s face as he nods.
“Come on, hold my hand and don’t let go.” Smaller fingers cling tightly to his own, and Ace runs for the door. He remembers doing this with flames all around them; remembers Luffy crying it’s too hot and his own sharp response, quit complaining or I’ll leave you behind!
Not again. Not this time.
He hits the door fast, sending it flying open. Fire is already spreading rapidly across the nearby heaps - not too far away, another explosion erupts, sending further sparks into the air. Smoke is going to make it hard to breathe soon, so before anything else, Ace needs to get Luffy out.
Rather than try to find a way around, he heads for the nearest path, regardless of the fire already filling it up. Luffy whimpers, but never slows, doesn’t try to struggle away. That faith makes his heart swell, as he flings a hand forward, shouting “FIREFIST!”
Ace’s flames launch forward. They tear through the rest, catching, mingling, bringing the whole lot under his control. It’s enough for him to twist, and open a tunnel, just in time for he and Luffy to dart inside. “Hot!” The younger boy yelps. Ace grits his teeth; pushes harder. Their path widens, just a bit, enough that the flames won’t lick at Luffy’s skin. Ten steps, twenty, thirty- and then the two of them are out, back into clearer air, and Ace can see the jungle in the distance, sees the old familiar paths between trash heaps to get there.
“Come on!” He yells over the roaring fire behind them, and keeps a tight grip on Luffy’s hand the whole way.
They reach the dip in the cliff that leads to the jungle just as Dadan and all of her bandits come bolting down the hill. There’s alarm over the spreading fires, and panic at how scuffed up Ace and Luffy are, and then Dadan’s sharp voice cutting through all the chatter, “Where’s Sabo?”
“In the city,” Ace answers, shoving Luffy into the woman’s hands before either of them can protest. “I gotta go get him.”
“You what-?”
“Why is he-”
“Ace, you can’t-”
“I’m GOING,” he yells, backing away too quick for Magra or Dogra or any of the others to grab. Luffy makes a noise, twisting to watch him go, but thankfully Dadan is holding tight enough the rubber boy can’t slip loose and follow. “I’ll be back. I promise.”
And with that, he turns, takes a running leap - and unleashes fire from his body, launching up into the sky, leaving shocked shouts far behind.
Crossing back across the entirety of Grey Terminal goes so much faster when he isn’t trying to pull Luffy along. It would be almost fun, snatching up rampaging flames along the way and snuffing them, like he’s playing a game. But the memory of what the Terminal looked like after being completely burned keeps him grim, and the threat of potentially losing Sabo again makes Ace forge onward like the world will end if he doesn’t.
There are more screams when he arcs high into the air, the highest he’s jumped yet, soaring clear over the Great Gates and into Edge Town. Here, Ace subdues his Devil Fruit a bit, uneasy with the idea of setting any buildings alight, even if he would like to torch some of the asshole guards. Especially the ones who try shooting at him. Thankfully, though, Goa is a whole world away from using seastone bullets, and keeping his body more fire than flesh means the projectiles whizz harmlessly past.
And then Ace is leaping once more, crossing the tallest wall that keeps High Town in its pristine bubble, the royal palace at its center- and he almost trips, almost falters, when he realizes High Town is already burning.
People are pouring into the streets, some running towards the leaping flames, most fleeing in terror. Ace can hear shouts, words, 'demon' and 'monster' and 'going to devour us all', from nobles scrambling to try and find safety, knocking one another down in their haste.
...a double-soul, that weird grinning face said.
I wonder what’ll happen when you land?
Ace’s heart starts beating faster, and he rushes onward.
There’s a voice howling at the heart of an inferno. “You wanted to clear out the trash,” it screams, and Ace darts around a collapsing wall, following the words, following the pain, “But you can’t see the ROT underneath your own skin! So I’m just doing what I should, right?! Getting rid of what’s WRONG-!”
Someone else shrieks, again and again, the sound turning into a keening death knell, and by the time Ace bursts into the big room there’s a man falling over, blackened like Luffy forgot to take a steak off the campfire - but there’s also a boy, who whirls around, face bared in a snarl that dies away the moment he looks at- “Ace?”
“Suh- Sabo,” Ace pants. He might have come back with his memories and powers both, but this has been more running and exertion than his ten year old body is used to packing into a short time frame. “Sabo, what are you doing?”
His brother’s face crumples into misery. “I- something. I'm doing something. I couldn’t do anything when this happened, I couldn’t get out- I couldn’t get to you,” and even still half made of flame, Sabo starts crying, his tears puffing into steam the moment they spill from his eyes, “I’m so sorry, Ace, I wasn’t there-” Shit, that sounds like when Sabo wakes up from nightmares, apologies spilling from his lips, and Ace has long since realized his brother lived but also forgot, so he takes a dozen quick steps across the cracked marble floor and pulls Sabo into the tightest hug he can manage.
It’s good.
It’s better, when Sabo’s arms come up to grab him back.
The two of them stay there for a minute, as the Goa Kingdom’s royal palace burns around them, until Sabo gets his breathing under control and mumbles, “This is a good dream.”
Ace blinks.
And then he lets go, just with one hand, so he can smack Sabo upside the head. His brother yelps, jerking back, staring with baffled eyes. “It’s not a dream, dumbass,” Ace snaps, rolling his own eyes. “That Devil Fruit user shot you back in time, and somehow sent my ghost along for the ride!”
“Wh- what?”
“I already got Luffy out of Bluejam’s hideout and back to Dadan, and I came to drag your stupid ass out of High Town before you could get blown up again, but apparently we’ve BOTH got the Mera-Mera’s powers and you started torching this place without me!”
“What?” Ace feels more than willing to keep going, but Sabo clamps a hand over his mouth, and then squints really close. “...that- you can’t be real. You’re dead, you- OW! Hey!”
“Oh don’t be a baby, I didn’t bite you that hard.”
“Not that h-” The incredulous expression only lasts a split second, before Ace’s brother groans and smacks his shoulder. “I take it back, this is a shitty dream.”
“It’s not-” Sabo pokes the skin between his eyes, and Ace leaves off in order to growl.
“If this doesn’t turn into Marineford,” the blonde boy says firmly, “If Luffy turns up and he’s okay, then I will believe this isn’t a dream. Until then...”
Until then, he’s going to avoid hope. Ace can understand that.
Something crashes nearby, and the whole building shudders. Snatches of screams drift in through the shattered windows. A glance outside shows that while the flames are spreading, most of High Town is still untouched by fire.
“...until then,” Ace repeats, a sharp grin creeping onto his face as he looks back at Sabo. “Want to burn a bunch more noble shit?”
His brother grins back.
Two days later, there’s a full page photo in the newspaper, a distant, hazy image blown wider to try and better display the few vague details: a pair of figures, small enough to obviously be children, wreathed in flame as they leap from one burning building to another. Physical features are all but impossible to make out, except for a top hat, some dark hair, and a matched set of wide, vicious grins. The Firestorm Twins, they’re being hailed, unknown boys who inexplicably share the same power over spark and flame, and utterly destroyed the shining heart of an upstanding kingdom in the East Blue over the course of a single night.
Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp takes one look at that photo, and promptly begins to swear at full volume.