Ace stood on the deck of his small ship, the Striker, wind tousling his wild black hair as the sun dipped low on the Grand Line. His back was to Mt. Colubo—his childhood behind him—and his future blazing with every beat of his heart.
He had left behind Luffy, Vihaan, and Sabo with a heavy but determined soul. Now, the seas were open to him.
"Whitebeard," he murmured. "I'll find you… and defeat you."
But before that, there was one man he needed to meet. A man whose name Luffy always said with admiration. The man who once saved them all.
Red-Haired Shanks.
Two weeks later, Ace's ship docked at a quiet cove in a lively port. Music echoed from a tavern nearby—rowdy singing and clanking mugs. He entered, flame-patterned cloak billowing.
The Red-Hair Pirates were exactly how he imagined—wild, powerful, and overflowing with joy.
And there, at the heart of it all, sat Shanks, mug in one hand, laughter in the air.
Ace walked straight up to him.
"You're Shanks."
Shanks looked up mid-laugh, blinking once. His eyes sharpened slightly.
"And you're…?"
"Portgas D. Ace," he said with a grin. "Luffy's brother."
Shanks smiled wide. "I see the resemblance… minus the missing brain."
The crew burst out laughing. Ace smirked.
They sat together that night on the rooftop of the tavern, the stars spread like treasure across the sky.
"He told me about you all the time," Ace said, swirling his sake. "About how you gave him the hat. About how he wanted to be free."
Shanks leaned back. "He's got the fire. And I hear Vihaan's a clever one. Dangerous combo."
Ace smiled. "Yeah. They're idiots—but they're my idiots."
There was silence for a while. Then Ace asked, "Why him? Why give your treasure—your hat—to Luffy?"
Shanks stared at the moon.
"Because he reminded me of Roger."
Ace's expression flickered. "You sailed with my father."
"I did. And he believed in freedom more than anything."
Shanks turned toward Ace. "And now… I see it in you three. That spark."
As the night grew deeper, Shanks stood and walked inside the tavern. He returned with a sealed logbook.
"This," he said, "is a log of your father's final year before he turned himself in."
Ace stiffened.
"I don't need—"
"You do," Shanks interrupted softly. "Not to forgive him. But to understand him. The world feared him. But we… we followed him because he was kind."
Ace took the book, hands trembling slightly.
"Thank you."
As he turned to leave, Shanks called out, "Where are you headed next?"
"To find Whitebeard. To defeat him."
Shanks smirked, his single eye gleaming. "Then grow stronger, Flame-Boy. That man is a seaquake in human form."
Luffy sneezed on the deck of the Going Merry. "Someone's talking about me."
Vihaan laughed. "Maybe it's your fan club of sea kings."
Back in the Revolutionary base, Sabo stared at the sky, feeling a flicker of heat in his chest. A warmth. A memory not yet recalled.
A week after leaving Shanks, Ace set sail deeper into the Grand Line. He had read every page of the logbook—Roger's final days, his laughter, his kindness. It unsettled him.
"Why do I feel proud of a man I vowed to hate?"
But that wasn't the mission. Whitebeard was his goal. The man who stood atop the pirate world. The man he had to defeat to prove he could protect the ones he loved.
The sea, as always, responded with chaos.
Storms howled. Sea Kings roared. But Ace never faltered.
And then… he arrived at Fishman Island's surface route—only to be intercepted by a rising tide and a ship flying the mark of the Sun Pirates.
Standing on the prow was a man with shark-like teeth, wild blue hair, and bulging muscle.
"I am Jinbei… Warlord of the Sea. If you seek Whitebeard… you'll go through me."
Ace leapt off the Striker and landed gracefully on a reef. Flames licked his shoulders, his eyes blazing.
"I'm not here to fight you. But I will if I must."
Jinbei crossed his arms. "Then fight, we must. I cannot allow you to disturb the balance Whitebeard has created in this region."
"I'm not disturbing anything. I'm challenging him. That's all."
"You think it's that simple?" Jinbei growled. "You don't understand what the Whitebeard name means to my people."
Ace's jaw clenched. "Then make me understand—with your fists."
Jinbei's stance shifted, feet wide and grounded like an immovable boulder.
"So be it."
Ace charged, flame bursting from his fists.
"Fire Fist!"
A blazing column of heat erupted toward Jinbei—who countered with Fishman Karate: Vagabond Drill, his palm striking the ocean, sending a pillar of pressurized water that collided mid-air.
Steam exploded between them.
Ace shot forward again, flame encasing both legs. He spun into a Flame Wheel Kick, but Jinbei ducked low and countered with a crushing Straight Punch, water-laced and deadly.
Ace went flying into a cliff.
He coughed smoke and laughed. "Okay… you're strong."
Jinbei remained solemn. "You burn bright, kid. But you're wild."
They fought for five days straight. Neither willing to fall. Neither willing to surrender.
Ace's flames scarred the reefs. Jinbei's water strikes shattered boulders.
On day three, they both collapsed from exhaustion—only to rise again.
"You're insane," Ace wheezed, grinning through bruised lips.
"You're just as bad," Jinbei grunted, spitting out seawater.
On the fifth day, as the sun rose, they stood once more, bruised and bleeding, their auras clashing like thunder.
Ace finally dropped to one knee. Not from weakness—but from understanding.
"…You fight to protect something, don't you?"
Jinbei nodded.
"And so do I," Ace said.
Jinbei looked at the fire-wielding teen, seeing more than just pride.
He saw pain. Loneliness. Purpose.
"You remind me of Fisher Tiger," Jinbei finally said.
Ace blinked. "Who?"
"A man who burned with rage, but lived for peace."
They sat together by a cracked boulder. Neither moved for hours.
Finally, Jinbei stood.
"If Whitebeard accepts you, I won't object. But know this—he's not a mountain you climb. He's a storm you surrender to."
Ace looked toward the horizon, where the Moby Dick sailed like a ghost.
"I don't intend to surrender to anything."
As Jinbei left, a massive shadow blocked the sun.
The Moby Dick loomed above. And on the prow stood a giant of a man—white mustache like a crescent moon, his gaze sharp even from afar.
"Send him up!" the voice boomed.
Ace rose to his feet, wiped blood from his lips, and grinned.
"Time to meet the old man."
After his fiery clash with Jinbei, Ace was welcomed aboard the Moby Dick, still determined to accomplish his goal: defeat Whitebeard and claim the title of strongest.
His first attempt came the moment he set foot on deck.
Ace didn't wait.
"Flame Commandment: Blaze Lance!"
A roaring spear of fire surged toward Whitebeard's throne.
But in a blink, the air cracked.
BOOM.
Whitebeard hadn't even risen from his seat. He just tilted his bisento, creating a quake so powerful the flame shattered midair. The impact launched Ace backward into a mast, splinters flying.
The crew roared with laughter.
"Newbie just got flattened!"
"Didn't even get close!"
But Ace wasn't done.
Three nights later—he tried again. This time, at 2 AM, sneaking toward Whitebeard's room with a fiery aura smothered in stealth.
He entered the cabin.
Whitebeard was snoring like a sea monster, IVs hanging beside his bed.
Ace raised his flaming hand—
—only for Whitebeard's bisento to slam down from behind, cracking the floor beside Ace's feet.
"Did you think I'd sleep without my weapon in reach, brat?" Whitebeard mumbled, still half-asleep.
Ace gulped, frozen in place.
Then—WHAM! He was kicked out of the room like a cannonball, straight into the ocean.
Marco sighed from the crow's nest. "Third time this week…"