Warnings: AU, Language, canon-typical violence, possible Out of Character moments, too many characters, OC's galore, implied sexual content, slow burn, mentions of non consensual drug use. And for the last time... or well the last time for this particular story your spoilery warnings can be found at the end of the chapter.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. I simply play with them for my, and your amusement.

Authors Note: This story was beta'ed by the magnificent Ktwontwo. They are the only reason that this thing managed to be readable at all. Seriously, check my tumblr if you dont believe me. The entire thing in all of its unedited glory was posted there. The artwork that goes with the story is by Idaida on tumblr. Her art is magnificent and I shall never stop gushing about it. Yall can find the magnificent stupendously phenomenal picture here! post/143364258999/one-piece-big-bang-2016-what-are-the-odds.

Chapter 21: Aces High, Aces Low

The sun was harsh as it shone down on the Borderlands. Splotches of a dusty green broke apart the monotony of the red and black ground as the various types of desert vegetation reclaimed their place in the sun after being ravaged by Flashflame and the sandstorms. A herd of Vlemhauss were taking advantage of the unprotected shoots of green, grazing daintily until his shadow passed them over. They scattered running for their burrows afraid of the brilliant blue wings that might just be a predator looking for lunch. They didn't have to worry though, the blue wings flapped once, twice then angled slightly to take advantage of a thermal. Sharp golden eyes scanned the ground looking for a specific jagged gash in the desert terrain. It was a particular marker to a place simply known in the local parlance as The Canyon.

He had been flying for nearly an hour thus far but he'd seen no sign of it. He'd also seen no sign of the promised spectacular lightshow that Sabo had indicated would be present. Sabo had said that large amounts of flame and explosions would mark the spot where he'd find Ace.

Marco honestly hadn't known what type of reception to expect when he walked into the S'andwich Bar in the middle of lunch hour. The shocked hush that fell across the room as he was recognized was not too surprising. The cut off whispers of Didn't he die? and I saw him die were also reasonable reactions considering the circumstances. The punch Sabo had thrown at him had been, in his opinion, a little extreme. He was still smarting slightly from that. Sabo's punches could be seriously damaging when he put his mind to it. Of course the fact that Sabo had thrown the punch in the first place and that he'd connected had caused the majority of the patrons to nearly trample each other in their rush to leave the bar. Marco didn't know if they were leaving in fear of his reaction or of Sabo's wrath.

"Not happy to see me eh?" was all he'd got out before Sabo had attempted another punch.

This one he dodged. That had been enough for Sabo to get ahold of himself and start throwing words around instead. From that point it had simply been easier to let Sabo rant and get the entire thing out of his system. Once he'd run down Marco had deemed it safe to talk.

Marco had quickly answered the questions, even the rhetorical ones, that Sabo had tossed out amidst the tirade and the insults. Then he had started in on his own questions, chief among them being just where he could find Ace.

That has set Sabo off again on a tirade this time about how he wasn't sure he should even tell Marco because what had happened 4 days ago on the battlefield had seriously messed with Ace's head to the point that he had lost himself to the fire.

That particular piece of news had stopped Marco dead in his tracks. The look of shock and horror on his face had apparently been enough to derail Sabo's current bout of insults. Sabo had then taken a deep breath and explained. The short version was that Ace had apparently decided that the best way to get rid of the remaining Brass and members of Blackbeard's crew was to engineer some sort of explosion that took nearly everything out of him. Sabo had then given him some directions and sent him off.

Marco thought he'd been heading in the right direction but there still was nothing that looked like the terrain Sabo had described. Suddenly flames shot into the sky from an area off to his right. It was a spot where the horizon appeared to cut off sharply and Marco wheeled towards it. Ha! This must be the Canyon then. The flames were a good sign. However drained Ace had been feeling at the end of the battle that much fire indicated that he was feeling much better now Marco surmised. The pillar of fire did not remain for long. Something, Marco thought it looked like a tangible nightmare, took form and started swallowing the light, suffocating the flames.

A worried shriek tore itself from Marco's throat and he raced forward intent upon helping Ace. Before he arrived a small explosion shook the air and fire rushed outwards filling the Canyon chasing the darkness back towards one end. Marco could now see that the epicenter of the explosion contained a small tornado of fire. As he watched it slowly died away to reveal Ace, knife in hand who was glaring with what appeared to be an unfathomable amount of hatred at the direction he had chased the darkness. Alighting atop a boulder that had at some point probably been a part of the Canyon edge Marco drank in the sight of the man he loved battered but standing tall and proud against an unknown enemy.

Marco crooned, unable to help himself. A pair of hostile grey eyes flickered over to look at him.

"Phoenix," Ace muttered. He glanced back down the canyon before snapping, "He's mine. Mine to kill. You're only allowed to interfere once I'm dead."

Marco shook his head and blinked in confusion. Ace appeared to take the motion as an admission of agreement as he turned his full attention back to face the darkness. What the hell was Ace talking about?

Marco got his answer a moment later as the darkness started to solidify and spoke. "And, who exactly is going to kill me? You?"

The voice was nauseatingly familiar and as it approached the mass gained features that Marco wished he didn't recognize. Pops had said that Teach had unfortunately managed to escape the final battle. But what was he doing here?

"Do the world a favor would you," Ace snarled, "Eat shit and die!"

Teach laughed and the sound was sickening.

"Oh no. I don't think so. I've come so far. I'll take Agvitatmaa and capture Straw Hat Luffy. All that I need to do is finish you off. It won't even be that hard, you can barely stand!"

Marco's head snapped back to look at Ace, ignoring for the moment the fact that Teach hadn't even noticed Marco's presence.

Unfortunately the bastard was right. Ace wasn't looking to good. Fresh blood was soaking into the already filthy bandages that he was wearing and bruises in a multitude of colors blossomed across his skin. What little of Ace's tanned skin that was unmarked was rather pale and Ace was swaying slightly. He wouldn't last much longer by anyone's standards.

Ace didn't appear to notice any of that, "And you think you're going to kill me?" he growled and launched a flaming punch in Teach's direction. "You've been failing at that since I was six."

A bolt of fire flew straight towards Teach but before it came close to even singing him a dome of darkness came into existence, shielding the man. Ace's flames splashed harmlessly off of it. As quickly as it appeared the shadow shield dissolved leaving Teach standing there once again.

"Ah but, none of those times were you ever this messed up, beat up, injured, and off your game. You're doing worse you know. You were much better than this an hour ago."

"Still better than you," Ace snarled. "You're not even using your ability to attack. Everything you're doing is based on instinct. How long ago did you gain that ability? One day? Two?"

"Two," Teach said with a shrug, "But I don't need it to defeat you."

The pair traded blows for a while, little dark dome appearing whenever Ace moved in close to strike with his knife. Not one to keep doing the same thing Ace switched tactics to fighting with fire with the knife as a secondary weapon. That seemed to work better Marco noted especially as Ace kept switching which hand was using which weapon. Marco knew that he should interfere with the battle sooner than later but this was Ace's fight. Marco completely understood the idea of needing to take your own revenge.

As he watched a particularly spirited flame coated punch broke through one of the black bubbles and the tables seemed to turn in an instant. Pushing forward with a sudden burst of energy Ace roared as his knife finally landed a hit, slicing a deep gash in Teach's shoulder. Unfortunately, as Ace was pulling back to adjust for the next strike it all went to shit. Blood loss and what appeared to be pure exhaustion caused Ace to stumble slightly. He quickly fired off another blast of fire to cover his slip but it didn't work. Teach dodged. He was moving with a speed that was unusual for a man of his bulk and closed the gap. His hand shot out and Marco watched in horror as he caught Ace around the neck, lifted him clear off the ground and slammed him into the canyon wall.

"See?" Teach said mockingly as he held Ace pinned to the wall with one hand.

Ace didn't answer though Marco wasn't sure if it was because he couldn't be bothered or simply was unable to. Instead Ace puffed out his cheeks and literally spat fire in Teach's face. Apparently Teach hadn't been expecting that, if the look of surprise on his face was any indication, but it didn't matter as his instincts managed to take over and the fire was absorbed harmlessly by what appeared to be living darkness.

"To bad," Teach said mockingly. "If only you hadn't used up so much of your energy earlier. Mourning of all things. I wasn't aware anyone did that so destructively. No matter. Frankly I'm more impressed that you went three days without sleep or proper food and you still managed to put up this much of a fight. That takes a serious amount of strength and I could use some more powerful folks on my side. So I'll make you a deal. Join me and help me take down Whitebeard and Strawhat Luffy. In return I won't kill you."

Marco almost fell off his perch. Was Blackbeard serious? Was he actually trying to recruit Ace? There was no way that Ace would take it.

"Your actions took my mother and Marco from me," Ace rasped. "Like hell I'd join and help you take down my brother. I'd rather die first."

Teach's face darkened as he frowned, "And I made such a generous offer. Ah well. What a waste. Now you die!"

Teach suddenly had a dagger that Marco hadn't even seen him draw. He was brining it down towards Ace's bare chest.

Before Marco was even aware of what he was doing he was moving. Marco launched himself off of the rock at Teach, transforming into a streak of blue fire in mid-flight. He barely made it in time. He solidified with a perfectly executed side kick to Teach's ribs taking the man entirely by surprise. Teach dropped both Ace and the dagger turning to meet the new threat.

The dagger clattered on the ground nosily but it was Ace who held the majority of Marco's attention. He had fallen to the ground in a heap and hadn't moved at all.

Marco focused his attention back on Teach. There was no time to check on Ace even though Marco desperately wanted to. Blackbeard had regained his poise and was ready for action. Another dagger made its appearance. Marco ducked the swings with a practiced ease. Teach's growing anger and frustration were no help to him. His swings were wild and left him full of openings. Unfortunately his speed and physical skills still made actually landing an attack rather difficult.

"Why are you interfering?" Blackbeard suddenly yelled.

The sound echoed through the canyon. Marco raised an eyebrow as he lashed out with another kick only to have it deflected. Apparently Ace's fire to the face had done something, namely impairing Teach's sight.

"I'm hurt," He said sarcastically. "You don't recognize me?"

That shut Teach up for a moment. Marco could tell he was attempting to determine just who he was fighting. It took a couple more exchanges of blows before it finally clicked.

"Well well!" Teach laughed. "One surprise after another! Commander Marco! They told me Kizaru had killed you! You're looking surprisingly well for a dead man."

"Mmmmm." Marco hummed absently as unleashed another series of kicks then replied, "you on the other hand are looking particularly singed."

"I blame the brat behind you. He's been a pain in my side from the day he was born." Teach said pleasantly as if they were discussing the weather and not engaged in a duel that would only undoubtedly end when one of them died. "Any reason you won't let me kill him? You know he is Spade? The person responsible for nearly all of your headaches for the past year or so?"

"I know. No you can't kill him." Marco said flatly.

"But why?"

"Because I love with him, that's why." Marco said.

The delivery was so matter of fact that it caused Teach to look at him in shock. It was clear that Teach had not been expecting that as an answer and that was all the opening that Marco needed. He brought his leg up aiming for Teach's ribs once again. The other man's arms came down a fraction later in an attempt to block or parry the blow but it didn't matter. Marco had been waiting for the block and before Teach could even blink the target of the kick had changed snapping up towards his head instead. Marco's kick connected with the side of Teach's head with a solid thwack. The blow was harsh and sent him flying into the floor of the canyon where he landed with a somewhat sick squelch.

Marco watched warily waiting for a return attack. It didn't come. Teach just lay on the ground unmoving.

Finally Marco cautiously approached the body. Was Teach playing dead? No, Marco found once he got closer that Teach had somehow landed on the dagger he had dropped earlier. Well that explained the sound he'd made when he'd hit.

Dropping down on one knee to check for a pulse, Marco was rather relieved to not find one. That was one thing he didn't have to worry about any longer. Standing back up Marco turned to check on Ace.

Ace hadn't moved from where he had landed when Teach had dropped him. Sighing, Marco moved over and plopped himself down next to the other man. It looked like Ace's wounds were better than they had been earlier, though the amount of fresh blood was mildly worrying. At least the stain on the sand had stopped growing.

"Ace?" Marco questioned hoping to get some sort of reaction from his lover.

"Fuck off." Ace growled. "I mean, I know you are a Phoenix and you belong to Whitebeard and I'm really thankful that you killed Blackbeard but can you please leave?"

"Why?" Marco asked honestly baffled.

"Because you could practically be a twin of the man I love but he's dead and it's not fucking fair all right? Cause you're here, hes not and you can't die while he did, and I can't deal with that right now," Ace said tipping his head back, propping it against the canyon wall as he stared up at the cloudless blue sky.

After a moment he closed his eyes.

"Sorry Ace," Marco said for lack of something else to say.

Ace snorted while not bothering to open his eyes again, "What is there to be sorry for? You can't help what you look like."

"No, but I could have saved us all of this trouble if I had told you some of this shit earlier," Marco remarked dryly and Ace's eyes popped open.

"Marco?" Ace asked and the hope in his voice was unmistakable "I'm not hallucinating a doppelganger?"

"I'm not a hallucination Ace," Marco said flatly. " And I'm not a doppelganger either. I'm real. I'm here. Yeah I look a little different cause the Pheonix healing thing interacts strangely with massive damage but I'm still me, eh." He paused then added for good measure, "Oh and just so you know, I love you."

"You yelled that at Teach," Ace said suddenly, "I thought I was imagining shit."

"Nope. I love you. Have for a while. I really should have told you sooner," Marco admitted.

That admission was apparently all Ace needed and the next thing Marco knew was that there was a warm body in his lap and he was being kissed rather passionately. They broke apart after a moment but neither moved far from each other.

Foreheads were pressed together and Ace said rather breathlessly, "You're alive. I thought I'd lost you. You have got to stop doing that to me. Jerk!"

The last word was punctuated with a soft swat on his shoulder and Marco couldn't help the wry smirk that appeared on his face. Ace returned the grin with one of his own.

"I love you too. Seriously though, immortal or not, you have got to stop scaring me like that."

"I'll try. Apparently I'm not as immortal as I thought. I've recently discovered that Seastone wounds take forever to heal," Marco said while combing his fingers through Ace's hair.

They sat like that for a moment more before a loud grumble echoed in the canyon.

"I take it that was your stomach?" Marco asked and Ace flushed, embarrassed.

"It might have been," Ace admitted sheepishly just after the noise sounded again.

Marco laughed and stood, pulling Ace up with him, "Well come on then. Your brothers will be relieved to see you. You've been out here what, Three? Four days?"

Ace shrugged. "I actually don't know and I honestly couldn't tell you. Where are we going?"

Marco smiled. "Where do you think? I mean, there's only one place around here that I can get you a sandwich."

Warnings: This chapter in specific contains excessive violence, blood and character death. It also contains fairly detailed fight sequences, broken necks, stabbings, explosions, fire and swearing, courtesy of Ace. If there end up being other things that people need me to tag or warn for, please let me know

AN: CONGRATULATIONS FRIENDS! You made it to the end of this novel. No seriously, I'm not joking. By the word count, this is basically a novel and I managed to write it in 6 months and then took just under a year to finish my edits.

Thank you guys for everything. Seriously, thank you so much. I love that you kept leaving me comments and I love that you narrated your reactions to my cliffhangers. Its super nice and super appreciated. Again thank you so much to my wonderful wonderful beta Ktwontwo. Theyre awesome and they are the reason that anything I write is actually coherent. I think the only thing of mine that they havent touched is probably the Swords and Sorcery verse but that is irrelevant. Thank you to the readers who stuck with me the entire way. You guys are awesome and your support and minor corrections meant a lot especially at the beginning. Thank you to my new readers who just found the fic and are still reading it. I love hearing what you think because you make me contemplate things I really should have thought through before I wrote them down. Thank you to those of you who found my story halfway through and left me a comment on every chapter and have continued to leave comments. It was just so nice to read all of those at once and they really made my day. Thanks to all of you who are lurking and left me kudos. They make me smile and sad because I cant actually talk to you about the things you liked and I really want to know what you think.

Speaking of, I think this is the last time that I can ask you to let me know what you thought of the story. I really would appreciate your final thoughts on this. If you notice any plot holes that I failed to fill, please let me know. It might lead to me adding stuff in story, adding a bonus chapter as I write what happened there or maybe even a sequel though I make no promises on any of them. Oh and if anyone one wants that dictionary/glossary of terms I promised please let me know and I'll go back through and add them. Thank you all for everything and I'll see you all next time because I entered this years big bang as well. :D