"Make way! Quickly!" voices shouted from afar, echoing as if from the end of a long tunnel.
"I think I'm dying..." he thought, watching blurry shadows move back and forth above him. His eyelids felt heavy, like lead, and his body had gone completely numb.
"He's not breathing!" someone yelled.
"Mom, Dad... I'm so sorry for leaving before you."
What a shame. He was going to die without seeing the next chapter of the anime that had saved his life more than once. But then again, he was only twenty years old—a very short life, honestly. At least the little girl was safe.
He remembered the exact moment, walking to the university when he saw the small child let go of her mother's hand. She had dropped her doll in the middle of the street and ran back for it. The truck was coming at full speed; the driver tried to swerve, but there was no way he would brake in time.
He didn't even know how, but he was already running. It was like watching everything in slow motion. There was no time to think. He lifted her with all his strength and threw her clear of the road. The next thing he felt was flying through the air and hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
In the distance, he saw the mother reach her daughter and pull her into a sob-filled embrace. But the strangest thing was that the girl looked at him and smiled. Her lips formed a "Thank you" that he understood perfectly before everything went black.
...
"How ironic... to die in the most cliché way possible in an isekai anime: because of Truck-kun..."
"Clear! Give him a shock! One, two, three!"
....
....
....
"It's no use. He's gone. Time of death: 3:27 PM."
...
Somewhere out at sea, a small, weathered raft floated on the waves. Two people were aboard: one lying motionless, and the other desperately trying to wake him.
"Hey, Ace..."
"Let me sleep, I'm so tired..." he muttered without opening his eyes, still convinced he was in a hospital bed.
"Ace, we're here!"
"We're here? Am I in heaven?" He sat up abruptly. Something that had been covering his face slipped and fell between his feet. He tried to open his eyes, but the midday sun hit him directly in the face, forcing him to shut them again with a groan.
"What the hell...?"
He blinked several times until he adjusted to the brightness. What he saw woke him up instantly. In front of him, a guy with light blue hair and ragged clothes was looking at him with an impatient scowl.
"Who are you?" he blurted out, confused. "You don't look like God or an angel... in fact, you're pretty ugly."
The guy, Deuce, gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
"You brat...!"
He threw a punch in a rage, but his hand simply passed through the young man's body as if he were made of smoke.
"Eh?" they both exclaimed.
Deuce let out a snort of pure envy.
"Lucky bastard... all because you ate that disgusting fruit. Now hurry up, Ace, and make the boat go faster."
"Fruit? Boat?" He looked behind Deuce and saw an island in the distance. At that moment, he realized this wasn't heaven or hell. He looked at his hands. "Am I... alive?"
He looked at the orange hat that had fallen: it had the two iconic faces—the sad and the happy—and the string of red beads. He looked at his clothes: a yellow shirt unbuttoned, short pants, and a small dagger at his side. Around his neck, he wore a matching necklace of red beads.
He grabbed his cheek and gave it a tug so hard a tear escaped.
"Ouch! Dammit, that hurts!" he rubbed his cheek. If it hurt, it wasn't a dream. The name Ace... the hat... this reminded him of a character from...
"One Piece..."
That word was like opening Pandora's box. Suddenly, a barrage of memories that weren't his began to flood his mind: the taste of roasted meat in the woods, Grandpa Garp's iron fists, the smell of Dadan's sake, the shouts of a kid named Luffy, and the laughter of another named Sabo.
He clutched his head, letting out a groan of pain.
"Hey, are you okay?" Deuce asked, approaching cautiously.
Images of a place called Foosha Village hit him like a freight train. Promises, farewells, scars... until, slowly, the storm in his mind calmed down.
"I am... Ace. Portgas D. Ace," he panted.
"What are you talking about?" the other boy said with a grimace. "I think hunger is making you go crazy. Of course you're Ace; that's what you told me yourself on the island."
Deuce sighed, resigned.
"Fine, I'll just do it myself," he said, picking up some makeshift oars and beginning to row with effort.
"I am Ace," the young man repeated, still unable to believe it. "But how... did the original Ace die? No, I don't think so. I don't remember him being on the brink of death. More importantly, what do I do now?"
He looked at the hat still lying on the floor. He hesitated for a minute, then picked up the orange hat, shook it off, and put it on. He walked toward the edge of the raft and peered over. The reflection the water gave back was that of a boy with freckles and wild eyes—a face he had never seen in his own reflection back home. It was incredibly strange.
"Careful! You're going to fall in," Deuce warned. "I'm not in the mood to jump in and save you again."
"Sorry, Deuce," Ace replied, still feeling a bit dizzy. "I'm just disoriented and so hungry I was thinking about catching a fish..."
"The only thing you'll do is leave us without a raft before we arrive," Deuce snorted, pointing toward the coast. "Come on, if you've recovered, use that power of yours. If not, we won't get there before nightfall."
Ace looked at his hands. According to the memories now filling his head, only a few hours ago they had eaten that strange fruit out of desperation, not knowing it was a Devil Fruit. Just remembering it brought back a foul taste that made his skin crawl.
He clenched his fist, and with a small gesture, a flame erupted from his knuckles. "This is a very strange sensation... and seeing it is even more impressive," he thought.
Powers. In his old world, it was what he desired most. Now he had them, and more than that, he was in One Piece. An incredible place, but rotten to the core. Pirates seeking the One Piece hidden in Laugh Tale by Gol D. Roger... Marines, revolutionaries, adventures... the One Piece.
"I'll actually get to see what the One Piece is..." he thought, gazing at the sea.
"Hey, Ace, what are you doing? It'll be dark soon!" Deuce shouted.
"I'm coming!"
Ace got into a position he remembered this body had used before. Concentrating the energy in the soles of his feet, he injected a propulsion of fire that sent the raft shooting toward the island.
Shortly after, they were in a village tavern. The smell of roasted meat was paradise. Deuce looked at him with a bead of sweat on his forehead while Ace devoured one plate after another at superhuman speed.
"So, Ace..." Deuce said, setting his drink on the table. "I guess you're still sticking with the idea of being a pirate."
"Yeah... munch, munch, munch..." Ace replied with his mouth full.
"Well, after what we went through on that island... I'd like to join you officially."
Ace stopped in his tracks. He set the meat down and looked at Deuce seriously.
"I don't want you to."
"Eh?" Deuce froze. "What do you mean you don't want me to? You proposed it to me yourself!"
"I know," Ace said, wiping his mouth. "But I think it's better if you don't come."
"Why?" Deuce asked, lowering his voice. "Are you worried about the world finding out who you are? Who your father was?"
Ace frowned. He knew exactly what he was referring to.
"Maybe. My path is going to be very difficult, Deuce. When they find out about my blood, there will be nowhere to hide. It's better if you don't come. After all, you want to be a writer, not a criminal hunted by old geezers."
Deuce stayed quiet for a moment. Then, he let out a small laugh and extended his hand.
"With those words, you only confirm that I made the right decision... Captain Ace."
Ace smiled, accepting the handshake firmly.
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."
At that moment, the waiter approached with a slip of paper. "Here is your bill, gentlemen."
They both froze, hands still clasped.
"Do you have money?" Ace whispered without looking at him.
"Not a single berry. You?"
"Me neither."
A drop of sweat fell from the back of their heads. Without another word, they exchanged a knowing glance and bolted for the door.
"THANKS FOR THE FOOD! WE'LL PAY YOU LATER!" Ace shouted as they ran down the main street.
"THIEVES! GET BACK HERE!" the roar of the owner faded behind them.
After running across half the island to lose the cooks and a few local guards, they ended up in the forest at the center of the island.
"Here... they won't find us here," Deuce panted, leaning against a tree.
"Why didn't you tell me you didn't have a single damn berry?" Ace barked, trying to sound dignified despite his exhaustion.
Deuce's eye twitched. "Because I thought you were going to pay! You were eating like there was no tomorrow... I'd have sworn you had a fortune in your pockets."
Ace sighed and slumped onto the grass. "I guess you're right," he admitted. "I didn't even know this body could process so much food. In my other life, half of that would have put me in the hospital."
Deuce shook his head and sat down, taking out his notebook to write. "So... do you still want to become the Pirate King? That's what you kept saying on the desert island."
"No," Ace replied, looking at the treetops. "That dream already belongs to someone else. Someone very important to me."
Deuce stopped writing and looked at him with curiosity. "And why the sudden change?"
"Let's just say I had a revelation. A sort of... vision of the future," Ace said, trying not to sound crazy. "We're going to see what the One Piece is, of course, but my ultimate goal is different..."
"My goal is..."
Deuce's eyes widened. He stayed silent for a second and then burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, wow! What kind of crew did I just get into? I guess I shouldn't expect less from the son of..." He snapped his hand over his mouth, turning pale. "Sorry. It slipped out."
"It doesn't matter," Ace said dismissively. "I just hope that now that you know what we're aiming for, you won't back out."
"Not a chance," Deuce smiled, adjusting his mask. "A writer needs an epic story, and this sounds like it'll be the best one of all."
Ace stood up. "I'm going to explore a bit. I need to stretch my legs."
"I thought you were dead tired?" Deuce snorted.
"I'm fine now. I just needed to eat," Ace said as he headed into the woods.
He walked for ten minutes until he reached an imposing cliff overlooking the sea. For some reason, it brought back Ace's memories.
"I want to see how good this body is in combat." He drew the short sword he had. He knew Ace wasn't a master swordsman, but in this world, depending on only one thing was a death sentence. He performed several slashes in the air, testing the weight. He practiced footwork, lunges, and imaginary blocks, then did the same without the sword.
"It's pretty good, and there's so much strength," he said, looking at a tree he had been punching; it was now heavily bruised.
Now... what he wanted to test most. The power of the fruit. He still remembered several attacks of this character from the anime, as he had been one of his favorites. He put his fingers in the shape of a gun.
"Just concentrate on the tip of the finger," he thought.
Suddenly, a small sphere of bright orange fire shot from his fingertip and splashed into the water.
"Incredible..."
He tried with both hands, launching a ráfaga of projectiles that lit up the cliffside. He looked at his hands, smiling. "This is so cool."
"Now, I'll try the signature attack."
He pulled back his fist, concentrating all the energy he could feel into his right arm.
"FIRE FIST!"
A gigantic column of flames shot out from his arm, traveling dozens of meters over the sea. The heat evaporated the water on contact, and seconds later, several fish floated belly-up, cooked instantly. He stood there panting, watching the steam rise. He did it a few more times until he felt tired again.
He sat on the edge of the cliff, letting his feet hang over the void. Ace's fate in the canon was tragic... dying in Marineford in front of his little brother. And it was a bit foolish too, because he could have escaped—he just fell for Akainu's provocations.
"But now that I am in this body, and at the start of his story... his destiny is going to change. My destiny."
He had a goal, but the road was full of monsters. If he wanted to reach his goal, he needed a crew that wasn't just strong, but loyal.
No backstabbing allowed. He made a mental list: doctor, navigator, chef. The pillars of any ship. Then, a name crossed his mind. Someone who was a prodigy in the canon, someone he could find in the East Blue, waiting to be rescued from her own solitude.
"Sorry, little brother Luffy," he murmured with a smile, looking toward the horizon. "But you're going to have to find someone else for that position..."
END OF CHAPTER....