Prologue

It was a sunny day at sea. A old man wearing a marine uniform was sitting in his bunker on the warship in deep thought, waiting for a report on his request to transport Portgaz D. Ace to Marineford himself. He was interrupted from his thoughts when a shout came from the door.

"Vice Admiral Garp they have agreed to your request and are bringing Ace here from Impel Down." The grunt said saluting as he saw the Vice Admiral. Garp dismissed the man and got himself ready to meet Ace. He made his way to the deck and when he arrived Ace was already there clad in sea stone cuffs and standing next to him was Admiral Aokiji.

"Yo Garp-san glad to see you. I was quite surprised by the news of you wanting to do this yourself, you alright?" The admiral declared looking at his old mentor. Garp looked at Aokiji and said "I'm alright I suppose… I'll make sure he gets to Marineford safely, Whitebeard wont expect me to be guarding this myself, so he wont target the ship with a strong group." He said sternly.

Ace looked at Garp with a depressed look, still too down to really be happy. "So you're gonna take me there yourself huh? Guess I at least get to see you before it's over…" He said.

Garp looked at Ace with a stern look. "Stop being so negative brat!" he shouted before he gave him his fist of love causing Ace to grab his head in pain.

"Damn it old man, what was that for?!" He shouted in annoyance. Garp just grabbed him by the leg and dragged him back to his bunker.

"Shut your mouth! I've had enough trouble dealing with the fact that you're a pirate along with Luffy, now I've got to give myself even more trouble!" The old vice admiral declared in annoyance.

As soon as they arrived at his quarters, Garp threw him inside before walking in and closing the door behind him. He looked at Ace who was watching him in confusion.

"Family is more important to me than my job though..." Ace looked at Garp in shock at his words. Garp sighed and looked at Ace again.

"I don't plan on taking you to Marineford, we're headed to the new world." He said walking past Ace to his table and pulling out keys to the chains.

"What's… in the new world?" Ace asked, knowing that Whitebeard was not there but neither were the marines as far as he knew.

"There's an island there called Yokai island, heard of it?"

"Yeah, something about monsters living there… I went there once to see if there was but I didn't find anything." Ace said thoughtfully, remembering his first trip, but Garp shook his head.

"It's actually much more than you think. Only I and a few others know the secret to opening a gate to another world." Garp said in a deep grave tone, making Ace raise a brow in disbelief.

"Another world? I never heard anything about that, you're cra-" Ace began but was stopped by another shot to the head.

"It's very real brat!" He shouted exasperated. "And it's the only way I can save your ass from them."

Ace rubbed his head and sighed. "Fine then, it's real. What do I do when I get there?"

"The portal will take you to a place called Yokai academy, it's a school for monsters. There I want you to go and find the headmaster, he'll handle the rest and explain what you'll be doing from then on." Garp explained with the pirate nodding slowly in understanding.

"A school for monsters? That sounds… so fake…" Ace said with half lidded eyes.

"It's real dumbass, I've been there!" Garp shouted hitting him on the head again.

"Alright alright it's real! I'll go there!" Ace said rubbing his head again.

"Good, now get some sleep, it's a long trip." Garp said before knocking out almost instantly. Ace sighed and shook his head.

"How are you gonna fall asleep right after telling me to-" He said but was cut off as he himself fell asleep, experiencing a narcoleptic attack as usual.

Ace woke up to the sound of people yelling and walked out to find Garp giving orders to the crew. Apparently they all knew what was going on, but they seemed to listen to Garp despite the situation. He figured his grandfather must have had a loyal crew, even if it meant penalty from the marines, they would still do as he said.

"Oi Ace, you're finally awake. We're just arriving at the island now." Garp said his arms crossed as he looked on. Ace looked himself to se that the entire island was a flat barren landscape with a gigantic hole in the middle which Ace guessed was the entrance to the other world.

"Alright men! I know this is asking a lot from you all, but I need you to keep this a secret between us! When we get back to Marine HQ, I'll take full responsibility for my actions. For now I must do what I have to." Garp announced. The entire crew seemed in tears, all of them struggling as they stood up straight and saluted their Vice Admiral.

"It's been an honor serving under you, sir!" They all announced. Garp gave a warm smile and nodded before turning to Ace and nodding. "It's time to go." He said as he walked to a ramp that was connected to the shore of the island. Ace nodded silently and followed after him, still impressed with how much loyalty his crew had.

The two soon arrived at the center of the island, standing before the large gaping hole in the ground.

"Here, I'll take the cuffs."" Garp said grabbing Ace's wrists. As soon as the cuffs were removed Ace smirked in triumph.

"Thanks for the help gramps, but now that I'm free I think I'd rather go back to my crew." He said getting ready to take off. Garp narrowed his eyes and let armament haki cover his fist, turning it a black metallic color. Before Ace could react he was punched hard in the face.

"MY ASS YOU ARE!" The elder marine shouted as he sent a comically bruised Ace flying down the hole. He sighed as he relaxed his fist. "Try not to get into trouble…" He said as he turned around, heading back to his ship.

"Stay safe Ace… maybe you can find something else worth living for there that you couldn't here." Garp said quietly as he headed back to his ship.

Ace opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. He was on the edge of a cliff above a sea of red water next to a scarecrow that was holding a sign that said "Welcome to Yokai Academy." Ace turned around and saw a cathedral like building in the distance and figured that must be the school. Seeing no other options Ace decided to take his grandfather's advice and look for the chairman of Yokai Academy.

"Might as well get this over with…" Ace said sighing. He looked around the forest with slight interest. It was definitely ominous for a school, but then again it was a school for monsters. Ace scoffed, finding the concept to be ridiculous. But he's seen much weirder things on the grand line. He had found some of the students who, to his surprise, looked very human. He asked for directions to the Head masters office and quickly went off.

As soon as he walked inside the door closed behind him but Ace focused all his attention on the man sitting in front of him. The man was dressed in priest clothes and had two white holes for eyes.

"Are you the chairman of this place?" Ace asked, looking at the man with no real interest.

"Why yes, you must be Garps grandson, welcome to Yokai Academy." Mikogami said grinning wickedly, making Ace narrow his eyes.

"So this is a school for 'monsters'? Hard to believe, I didn't see anything resembling monsters when I came in." Ace said crossing his arms.

"That is because all students are required to be in human form so that they can learn to coexist with humans. Which is why it should be easy for you to blend in." Mikogami explained.

"I see… well I guess I don't really have a choice anymore, but I have to attend?" The Fire fist said sighing. "That is correct, no student will question you then. It would be odd if you just walked around campus so freely." Mikogami said chuckling darkly. He reached inside his desk and pulled out a key and set of clothes.

"Here are your things, starting tomorrow you will start school. Here's your schedule which will show you-"

"Do I have to wear these? They're… pretty lame." Ace complained looking at the set of clothes.

"You aren't even wearing a shirt at the moment, I expect you to at least wear the white shirt and the khaki pants." Mikogami stated firmly, making Ace pout slightly."Fine then, I'm gonna go to my room now." Ace said taking the things and heading off.

"Do you need a guide?" Mikogami asked curiously but Ace shook his head without looking back at him.

"I'm good, I wanna explore the campus on my own anyways." Ace said waving back to the Exorcist and closing the door behind him. Mikogami was silent for a moment before grinning darkly. "This will definitely be a very interesting year…"