AYE CAPTAIN! Here's the eight chapter! Still, studies make me work for this story slower. But still, it's better late than never!

Jac Bandit - nope, it's not wrong to love it :)

Neko‐Vongola Primo - The story of how Ace got the Mera Mera no Mi wasn't on my planned storyline. But because you've mentioned it, it's my pleasure to make a story of it, but i'm not sure if you will like it. Thanks on your review! I wrote Law/Kid rivalry as a temporary substitution for Zoro/Sanji rivalry :) the Coby part was only an extra story just to make my chapter longer. But maybe it can be useful.

sakura240 - thanks to you :) I'm grateful that you like it. Anyway, the entire Straw Hat crew might be there but maybe, not together.

Cyborgenetics - arigato for the review :D

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece ©,©

CHAPTER 8: A FIERY STORY AND THE CALL

"Ace! lit this up! i wanna see more!" said by the young Commander Monkey D. Luffy to his brother while helding a wanted poster.

"Luffy, don't waste those posters. we still need to distribute them all over the grand line", responded by Commodore portgas D. Ace.

"but i wanna see more of your powers..." Luffy pouteD.

"not in these posters, okay? i have an idea, let's use my ability on roasting some meat", Ace suggesteD.

"meeaaattt!" Luffy shouted happily, "let's go now! i'm hungry!"

"haha, you're so fast when it comes on meat! c'mon..."

both brothers hurriedly passed the door and run through the stairs, heading towards another building where the main kitchen was locateD. as they run, Ace remembered suddenly how did he acquire the devil fruit just a week ago.

~flashback~

Commodore Ace was watching the sea while their ship sailed towards an islanD. one of his subordinates run to him and gave a halt before saluting.

"Commodore! there's no sign of pirates near the island!"

"strange", Ace said, "i thought they are now everywhere, rampaging on every islanD."

"what are we going to do now sir?"

"let us rest for a while on that islanD. we might find something useful that we can bring on the headquarters. like food", Ace smirked on his last phrase.

"eh?" the navy soldiers confusedly reacteD.

once they've reached the island, Ace allowed them to explore the island while he, himself, will also wander arounD. the island was just some sort of forest, nothing special about it except that it has variety of fruits everywhere. Ace decided to pick them up, thinking Luffy might like them. he uses his knife to cut the fruits from the tree. while collecting the fruits on the ground, he noticed a very strange fruit from a small tree nearby him. curiously, he reached for it but notices that the strange fruit was very warm and has an odd appearance. he soon came up with a hunch what the fruit really is.

"a devil fruit! i knew it!" Ace exclaimed to himself. he picked the strange fruit and carried it back along with the other fruits. as soon as he reached the shore, he saw the other marines came back too with many fruits on their bags. before Ace can drop the fruit, he noticed that his knife wasn't there so he hastily left the fruits on the ground and run back into the forest. the marines picked those fruits left by Ace and brought it on the ship.

"man, we have loads of fruits to bring back on marineford."

"yeah, we can also sell these on markets. luckily, Commodore Ace let us wander on this island."

"but these are too many! what do you say we'll eat some of these?"

"good idea! let's peel some fruits also for Commodore! the best one for him!"

few soldiers decided to eat some of the fruits and peel for Ace. they've choose the strangest~looking fruit for Ace and peel it for him. soon, Ace came back on the ship with his knife, his subordinates greeted him.

"Ace~san! we planned to eat some of these fruits, if it's okay."

"of course, it's okay! actually, you're already eating", Ace sighed.

"gomen sir! arigato! we also peeled some fruits for you!"

"that was nice, thank you!"

"here it is, sir!" one of the soldier gave Ace the strangest fruit but Ace didn't notice because it was peeled off. it looked just like any ordinary fruit now. Ace took a bite, not noticing the warmth on his palms and fingers on the touch of the fruit. tasting it on his tounge, Ace realized how bitter the fruit is but still swallowed it hard.

"what's wrong sir?" one of his subordinates noticed the screwed fAce of Ace.

"n~nothing... its just that", Ace spit out the remaining bitterness on his tongue, "the fruit you had gave me has an ugly taste."

"im sorry, sir! im very sorry to gave you that fruit!"

"Nah, its alright. lets just throw this fruit."

"h~hai!"

after throwing the disgusting fruit somewhere in the forest, they all came back on the ship and sailed off. suddenly, they met a group of pirates on the sea and boldly attacked them even though they're marines. Ace ordered to fire cannonballs on them. soon, the two ships collided on each side, giving the pirates the chance to infiltrate the marine ship and the marines on the pirate ship. unfortunately for the pirates, Ace has a great combat skills so fighting them is no problem. one of the pirates tried to cut Ace by his swords but Ace quickly avoided it, slashing the crates and the bags instead. the fruits inside were also cut and scattered everywhere. seeing those fruits made Ace remember something.

"the devil fruit!"

those who were near him got curious at hearing the word "devil fruit". Ace tried to find the devil fruit all over the chaos.

"what are you doing sir?"

"the devil fruit! there's a devil fruit in here! i brought it here!"

"are you sure, sir?"

"positively! it looks like, uhm, strange, with different color patterns of red, orange and yellow and~~and~~whatever! lets find it!"

some of the marines gulped. the description Ace stated was exactly the appearance of the strange fruit they have peeled off and their Commodore has eaten.

"devil fruit, huh?" a pirate who seemed to be the captain with a shotgun had came near, "that's so interesting. hand it over!"

Ace was so busy searching to notice the pirate so one of the navy soldiers confronted him.

"youre not in the position to order us! we are the navy! and we are the ones you need to be afraid of!"

"afraid? are you kidding?" the pirate laughed loudly and readied his gun, "let me show you how terrifying the pirates are!"

he aimed for the Commodore's head, making the marines shout at Ace. "sir! Commodore! duck!" but Ace is too late. the gun was already fired and Ace gripped himself for the incoming pain because of his carelessness.

but the bullet did not stay on his body, nor Ace felt the pain of having the bullet on his body. instead, it just passed through him and left a hole~like fire on his chest.

"wh~what's this?!" Ace stared at his chest, the fire's gone.

"what the devil is that?" the pirate angrily asked, "im damn sure that i've hit you!"

he shoot Ace again but the bullet passed through again his body, leaving both parties dumbfounded.

"s~sir", one of the marines said, "i~i think that's the ability of the devil fruit."

"what do you mean 'ability'? i haven't eaten yet a devil fruit!"

"b~but, you're description earlier about the devil fruit is exactly the fruit we had peeled and gave you, sir."

"whaaaat?!" now Ace understood why the fruit he had eaten earlier tasted so awfully.

"you mean", the pirate intervened, "the devil fruit was already eaten?!"

Ace, getting impatient on the intervention, fAced the pirate, "so what? it's ours, though."

"you pissed me off, marine!" the pirate shot him again but it didn't affect Ace anymore.

"you're a newbie, right?" Ace asked him.

"what do you mean by that?" the pirate snarled.

"I mean, you didn't even know who you're dealing with from the start."

"so what?" the pirate sneered, "i don't care who you are, bastard!"

"then, let me introduce myself", Ace readied his fist, "i am one of the Commodores of the navy! i am~~" he charge towards the pirate, "~~portgas~~" he stepped his left foot forward, "~~d~~" he clenched his fist and swung it towards the pirate with so much force, "~~Ace!"

the fist hit the pirate squarely on his fAce, but what's more interesting is that Ace's fist gaves a spark and a trAce of fire can be seen on his wrist and fingers. the pirate was sent on the air and then falls on the sea, leaving Ace dumbfounded again on what he had noticed on his hand earlier.

"fire?"

after that, they've managed to arrest all of the pirates and brought them to impel down. Ace was still staring at his hands and thinking about the devil fruit he had eaten. he consulted a book about the devil fruits when he had now his free time and tried to find the fruit that truly resembles the one he had found. after an hour, he had recognized now the fruit and the ability he might have now.

"mera mera no mi?"

~end of flashback~

reaching the main kitchen, Ace and Luffy spotted easily a big chunk of meat on a very large table. few of the cooks in there were looking at the d brothers curiously.

"sir!" the cooks saluted on the two, making Luffy grinned widely.

"i want that big piece of meat over the table! shishishi!" Luffy said.

"e~eh? Commander?"

"what he means", Ace took over, "is that if we can have that big meat."

"i'm sorry, Commodore Ace, but captain teach already owned this meat."

"he's already fat!" Luffy impatiently snapped.

"yeah!" Ace agreed.

"we're not yet fat!" Luffy barked again.

"ye~~what?!" Ace stared at Luffy.

the cooks were looking at each other nervously, thinking of what to decide, but Ace was faster on making moves.

"so, we have no choice. check this out, Luffy!" Ace produced fire from his hand and the fire swirled on the meat, covering and roasting it. Luffy stared in awe while the others were panicking due to the sudden fire. after a few minutes, the fire's gone and the meat was now roasted, much to the amazement of those who had first seen Ace used his ability. both brothers sniggered and snatched the meat from the table, running away from the kitchen. it took a while before the cooks realized what's going on.

"they've stole the meat!"

meanwhile, Ace and Luffy were both laughing. they're now enjoying the meat peAcefully in Ace's office, savoring every bit of it. once they've finished eating, they took a rest, their overlarge belly made them sit for a while. but their moment was disturbed by a sudden ring from the den den mushi.

.clank.

Ace picked it up and the speaker from the other line told something that made both brothers stand and went off the office hurriedly.

"commissioned officers here in marineford, emergency meeting!"

XXX

"what's wrong, old man?" asked by Luffy once they've reached the meeting area.

"that's fleet admiral, brat", buggy sternly told him.

"that's Commander, not brat", Luffy replied back.

"that's enough", shanks told them.

"what's wrong, fleet admiral?" Commander zoro asked.

fleet admiral whitebeard had his eyes closed, sitting at the centerfront of a very long table. all of the available commissioned officers were present, from fleet admiral to ensign. then, he opened his eyes solemnly and spoke, "i received a call 30 minutes ago."

"a call? you've gathered all of us 'cause of one call?" teach said in a disbelieving tone.

everyone looked at him sternly for his rudeness, including the D brothers but the two remembered suddenly the meat they've stole so they've avoided teach's eyes.

"it's not just any ordinary call. it's a call from a certain rookie pirate", whitebeard said.

"but how on earth can a pirate get a contact from marineford?" rear admiral beckman asked.

"that's what i want to know", whitebeard replied.

"uhm, excuse me, but who is this pirate we're talking about?" captain law asked.

everyone stared at whitebeard, waiting for the answer.

"it's monkey d. garp, captain of the fist pirates."

"garp the fist? the rookie with a 120 million beli?"

everyone was now talking to each other, sharing opinions about the news, but no one took the news worser than the two shocked brothers in the room.

~End of Chapter 8~

sorry, i didn't use Microsoft Word in this chapter... Please R&R :D