A/N: Here's a one shot to keep you guys held over until I can manage to finish the next chapter for Sea or Survival. Huge shout out to Pandasaurus_rex0 for being my beta for this. If y'all love one Piece, go join their discord server discord. gg/ND2D4aZ (remove spaces).
Luffy breathed heavily. Sand-Croc stood in front of him, smirk firmly on his scarred face. Blood dripped from the golden hook. Luffy's blood. His vision reeled, the sand burning it as his head throbbed. He has to win here. He can't afford to lose. Vivi is counting on him. His crew is counting on him.
Luffy has always been prepared to die for his dream. He has always been prepared to die for his nakama. He simply never believed he'd die at the business end of a golden hook.
At least he got to see his brother one last time.
Zoro knows he needs to cut steel in order to win. He knows he must win in order to live. This man isn't even a swordsman, he's barely a sword. It would be a disgrace for him to fall here. Images flash before his eyes and blood drips down his head. Faces of people he made promises to.
Roronoa Zoro swore he would never lose again and he'd rather die than break a vow.
As it turns out, he does die, his vow broken. As his eyes close, he wonders how he'll face Kuina.
Vivi hasn't seen any of the Straw Hats. What she does see is everyone of the Baroque Works agents standing before her. Some more bloodied than others, but all still alive and well. They kept saying that the Straw Hats were dead, their bones joining the sands of time. She didn't want to believe it.
She also didn't want to believe what had happened a few minutes prior. Her father had come up to her, his voice shaking as he told her he needed to go to the crypt, something was there that could help them. His legs were shaking so she had led him, not once questioning him. He was her father, after all.
When the door was open, her dad grinned and stepped back, face morphing. Crocodile stepped forward from the shadows, oh so happy she had helped him. He had gone into the tomb, Miss All Sunday by his side. Now the Agents were all arguing amongst themselves about which battle was the best fought. She didn't care. They'd shown her, her father. Her real father. His bones were all broken, his face bloody. Not even his chest moved.
She was vaguely aware of someone touching her face. She didn't care if Mr. 2 became her. She didn't care as Crocodile laughed as he told them Miss All Sunday wouldn't be joining them. She didn't care as they left, not even bothering tying her up. She knew about the bomb. And she didn't care.
When it went off, red and white and gray and pain filled her for a split second before it all stopped. She loved her kingdom. She loved her friends. And much like how a captain should go down with his ship, a princess should go down with her kingdom. So Nefertari Vivi, Crown Princess and Heir of the Alabasta Kingdom, went down.
Crocodile was ecstatic. After much fake news about what had happened in Alubarna, a faked ceremony wedding him to the very fake princess, he was a king. The World Government even recognized him as one.
He hadn't found Pluton yet. But that was okay. It was only a matter of time. Nico Robin was dead, so as soon as he managed to find the weapon, no one would be able to stop him. He grinned to himself as he drank deeply from his glass of wine, a lovely servant girl holding the tray. Oh, how he loved to be King.
Garp cried for weeks. He wept openly, and no one dared to bring up that the Marine Hero shouldn't show such compassion for a rookie group of pirates. Sengoku had to stop him when anger was his first reaction. When all Garp wanted to do was tear apart Alabasta. In the end, he only cried. Even when Crocodile became a king. Even when the World Government rewarded the son of a bitch that killed his grandson.
He'd lost one grandson, years ago, to the Nobles. He'd learned to live with that. It hurt, and he raged at it, but he lived with it. This was different. This was pirate scum that had been rewarded for killing his grandson.
Garp cried for weeks. But eventually, he calmed down enough to receive a message. A message from the most wanted man. Garp read it. And reread it. The old man wept a few more minutes but then sent his response.
When Garp gave Sengoku his resignation, no one guessed the Marine Hero would become a commander in the Revolution.
Red-Haired Shanks was shaking. Tears stained his face and his whole body shook with the sobs.
"I swear, I'll kill them all." Benn is vicious. That's usually Shanks job.
"My boy, my baby boy." Yasopp shakes uncontrollably, refuses to eat anything. No one's sure he'll ever say anything else.
"We will do nothing." Everyone stops cleaning their weapons, eyes spinning to their captain. His voice shakes, and all Shanks wants to do is burn the world down. Burn it down, for the bright light, the shining beacon, that has been snuffed out. "Luffy-" he barely makes it past the name, "-swore he would achieve his dream, or die trying." He can't say the rest. That he died in the end. Shanks can't bring himself to do that. Yasopp doesn't stop shaking, and even after weeks and years pass, he's never really the same. Everyone obeys Shanks. He was right, after all.
That doesn't stop them from all bowing in thanks the next time they see Fire Fist. And nothing stops them from liberating their fury upon the world.
Ace was shocked, to say the least. Teach- no, Blackbeard. That was the traitors name. Blackbeard was stronger than he anticipated. Ace was hard headed and stubborn a lot of the time. But as he faced down the traitor, his father's voice popped into his head. There are times when you must live to win another day. For once in his life, Ace listened. Blackbeard was dark and powerful and Ace needed to regroup, to tend to the wounds he'd received. So, he fled. Not that he thought of it that way. No, it was a tactical retreat.
It was while he was tending his wounds that he saw the newspaper. Alabasta Kingdom has had an abrupt change in monarch. Late King Cobra was said to have gone mad and destroyed his capital city in a final attempt to end the growing civil war. Desperate to restore peace, Princess Vivi took a husband that she could trust and that the people believed in. Now, Warlord Crocodile adds King to his title after wedding Queen Vivi. No, that wasn't possible. That wasn't the truth, couldn't be the truth, because Luffy, sweet sweet Luffy had gone to Alabasta to stop that exact thing. Ace's brother, his only brother had gone to stop Crocodile. He hadn't lost. He couldn't have lost.
But there, on the next page, was the latest news about pirates. Normally Ace ignored that section. It was just the Government trying to ease the minds of citizens, the navy just trying to brag about the latest nobodies they'd captured. A fitting end for such criminals. Out without a bang, or so much a whimper, Straw Hat Pirates are killed in battle by Warlord Crocodile after foolishly trying to aid the civil unrest that had been building in Alabasta Kingdom. The 30 million beri monster that caused such unrest in East Blue now lies under the sands of the desert kingdom. No. That wasn't true. It couldn't be. That was Luffy. Luffy, who had ran after him for weeks because being alone was worse than being hurt. Luffy, who would laugh at anything. Luffy, who gathered a strong crew because he had a dream to fulfill. Luffy, the man who would one day be Pirate King. Ace wouldn't believe it. He wouldn't because that was his brother, his smiling, happy brother who could do anything-
It was true. Ace saw the state of Alubarna, and knew it was true.
Crocodile, and all his men, were dead within three days. Turns out, sand was nothing compared to the raging fires of a man that could burn even hell. It was revealed that Princess Vivi had died in the explosion of the capital. It was shown that the one who had married Crocodile was no more than an imposter. Alabasta descended into chaos. Ace didn't care.
Ace went back into the New World. He landed on the Moby Dick, his crewmates rushing to him with smiles on their faces. They were all so happy he'd come back unscathed.
"My brother is dead." The words stopped the merriment instantly. They all wanted to know what happened. They'd all heard Ace brag about his brother, an upstart rookie from the East Blue that no one believed could make it in Paradise. Turns out, they were right.
Ace doesn't speak for three months. Thoughts of how differently things could've gone if he'd stayed, just a little bit longer, if he'd postponed his worries for his brother, if he'd done any number of things differently, flitted through his head. Those don't disappear for two years. Whitebeard is the only one who can get any reaction out of Ace. Ace clings to him, like a lost little boy. But really, isn't that all he is? Ace has no one, nothing, but Whitebeard and his crew.
By ten years later, the world goes to shit. Warlords like Moria and Doflamingo gaining power, some saying the later was now immortal. Yonko Shanks and his crew bloodthirsty and cruel where they used to be the nicest of the emperors. Big Mom having taken over Germa 66 grew in power and Wano was so firmly under the control of Kaido that even the Supernovas, rookies who had once had hope of becoming powerful, were submitting to others or dying for their pride.
The world isn't the same as it used to be. Kingdoms have fallen and the Revolution is so close to over powering the Navy that the world will soon be in anarchy. But Ace doesn't care. Hasn't cared since that day so long ago. He didn't care when the Nine Supernovas began falling like bugs. Didn't care when the Red-Haired Pirates bowed their thanks, the last show of decency they ever have. Ace doesn't care.
Ace doesn't care until Whitebeard's heart stops in the middle of a no name battle and the Whitebeard pirates disband. That is the last straw.
He doesn't even care when Blackbeard, the man who once was a friend turned traitor, takes over Whitebeard's territories. Doesn't care when the world breaks down in wars. Ace feels nothing as the Revolution overthrows the World Government. Ace does nothing as Blackbeard claims the One Piece and fights in a war against Big Mom and Kaido, both doing everything in their power to steal the title that Blackbeard holds. Portgas D. Ace, son of Gol D. Roger and Portgas D. Rouge does nothing, feels nothing, even as the world descends into fire and blood and chaos.
Ace leaves on his own. No one sees him again, and the name Fire Fist Ace sputters out, just like the name Straw Hat Luffy.