4.) Something Good?

It didn't take him long to form his own crew, even earn himself his own reputation.

It was during a fight with marines that Ace found out exactly what else his curse could do.

His first mate had been shot at the time. He had seen the shadows start to twist up the man's legs and had made sure to stick closer by him for that reason.

The marines had attacked them out of no where. Their ship being bombarded with cannonballs and boarded without permission as soldiers attacked. The Spade pirates were quick to rise to the occasion and retaliated in no time flat.. but.. in all the chaos Ace lost sight of his first mate.

It was only after Ace lit the marine ship on fire, all the marine attackers were off his ship, and they had started to sail away did he notice that his first mate wasn't celebrating on deck with the others.

He asked his crewmate's whereabouts and shot to the infirmary in a burst of fire.

His first mate had been lying on the bed, the ship doctor desperately working to help him, and breathing weakly in short uneven gasps.

Ace had stared pain springing in his gut as he had failed someone else again.

He had slowly walked forward as the doctor sadly gave into defeat and slid down the wall behind him, he stared at his first mate. Eyeing the shadows steadily creeping across his face and towards his eyes.

He could almost count the seconds it would take for the shadows to reach their target and claim another victim.

He didn't want his first mate to feel alone in his last moments so he took hold on the man's hand.

A second later his own breathing stopped as he saw the shadows freeze in place.

Something.. lulled inside him, like a wave shifting and he gasped at the uncomfortableness of it, a breaking feeling ran across his chest a moment later and his hand tightened slightly in his fist mate's.

It felt like another limb reached out from his hand into their conjoined ones and towards the man's unbeating heart.

He instinctively moved his hand on top of were the phantom limb felt like it should be, and with the invisible appendage, pulled.

He watched with wide eyes, as the shadows rapidly decreased from the man's face and feet simultaneously and collected around Ace's hand still placed on the other's chest.

His eyes went wider and a flash of fear ran through him as the shadows started to crawl up his own arm, coving his fingers and wrist and working its way up farther. His arm felt paralyzed and as it moved up so did more and more of his body.

He final thread of shadows snapped away from his first mate and into his skin and he snapped away from the other as if he had been thrown.

The gunshot on his first mate had been in his abdomen and Ace yelled out as a ripping pain suddenly cut through the same area his cremate had been hurt and his threw a hand over it instinctively. He was met with wetness and he dazedly pulled it away from him and stared at his red coated fingers for a moment.

He heard a sharp and harsh gasp and he glanced up to see his first mate had taken a sharp gasp and arched off the bed. His first mate blinked dazed at the ceiling before sitting up, looking down at his would be wound to only see a sealed over scar. He looked to Ace with wide eyes.

Ace saw the man's mouth move but he heard nothing come out as his vision went black and he fell.