Hey guys!

Thank you, Kippysaurus, Aconight and Akatsuki-Metal for proofreading this chapter!

I'll just start the chapter and blab later on...

Please, take a moment to read the A/N on the bottom before you all try to strangle me...


Ace was lounging on a quiet part of the deck when a black… creature (?) came flying. "Is that edible?" he mused.

The creature, which Ace recognized to be a bat, landed near him and showed him a package with an envelope. The symbols of the World Government and the Marines were embossed on the paper.

Ace sucked in a breath. "Finally…" He tore open the note eagerly.

Fire Fist Ace. You have been invited to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea. This is a great honor and achievement that all pirates seek to earn…

Ace snorted. Yeah. Totally. Whitebeard was interested in becoming part of the Shichibukai, too.

He skipped over the long paragraph about what an honor it was, blah blah blah.

When he got to the part about rewards, he made a mental note to read it later, because now he needed to move, and fast.

If you are interested in claiming this position, we ask that you arrive at Marineford within three weeks. An eternal pose has been attached. Should you fail to appear within the given time limit, this invitation will be declared null and void.

The World Government

That was not a lot of time to work with.

Not at all.


"It was not a vampire. It was a bat! The tiny thing was flying! How could it have been a vampire? They don't even exist outside of children's horror stories!"

"It had sharp claws!" the unfortunate man who had several bandaged scratches on his arm complained.

"Exactly!" the man exclaimed. "Vampires have fangs! Not claws!"

"Maybe they have claws too. We've never seen one."

"Looked like one of the World Government's carrier bats, too."

"But why would it come here?"

"Maybe they want to 'negotiate' with Pops again."

"Hah!"


Ace knocked on the massive door to the Captain's Quarters.

"We need to have a talk, old man."


Half an hour later, the entire Spade crew was gathered in the previously empty mess hall, lunch having ended an hour ago.

The first commander had graciously helped Ace locate his old crewmates and then left them alone, without staying and attempting to eavesdrop. Hell, the man didn't even ask questions.

"I know this is very sudden, but you all have one hour to decide to stay or leave." Ace declared.

"What?"

"You all have one-"

"Explain, idiot! Don't just repeat what you just said!" Banshee scowled at him. If he had been closer, she probably would've hit him over the head with whatever she was carrying; at the moment, it was a newspaper.

"Something important has come up. I'm not going to stay here anymore and waste time. It's not like I could defeat Whitebeard anyway." he said dismissively.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Ace?"

"Very funny, Dusty." He shot him a glare. "I've asked Whitebeard already. Anyone who wants to stay can join their crew. I'm warning you all, staying is a much safer option. Those that decide to leave will set sail with me immediately for Marineford."

"..."

"Come again?" Masked Deuce asked faintly.

"What do you mean, MARINEFORD?!"


"Haruta."

"Marco! Where were you? I've been looking for you everywhere! And I can't find Fire Fist, either!" she blabbed frantically.

"Calm down, yoi." His tone allowed no room for argument.

"Marco?" Thatch asked tentatively.

"Portgas called off the duel." Marco said bluntly. "I spent the last thirty minutes gathering up all the former Spade pirates. They're in the mess hall now. Don't ask me why, I don't know, yoi."

"..."

"HE CALLED IT OFF?!"

"The Spade pirates? Hmmm, how interesting." Izou commented.

"He can't just call it off!" Haruta continued ranting. "Is he that much of a coward that he decides to call it off right before the duel?"

"Haruta, calm down." Curiel said timidly.

Vista and Thatch were both frowning.

"It is dishonorable to agree and then back off." Vista murmured. "This isn't even about winning or losing, it's about pride."

"It isn't like him at all, though." Thatch argued. "Ace fights Pops on a daily basis, he won't just give up because he's afraid of losing to you or something like that."

Haruta was long gone by this point, having stormed off to go hunt down her prey.

"Mess hall, you said?" Thatch asked distractedly, making a beeline for the shortest route to the mess hall.


"Shichibukai?"

"Are you serious, Captain?" Saber whispered.

"Completely."

"I know this probably isn't the time but, Captain, you hate the Marines. So why?" Barry asked quietly.

"I will tell everyone who decides to leave." Ace stated firmly. "That information is not be divulged to anyone else under any circumstances, unless it's with my permission."

"I… understood." He nodded in acceptance.

"I want to thank all of you for sailing with me. For accepting me as your captain even though I've put you guys through a lot. It doesn't matter your choice here, we are and always will be connected by what we experienced together. I don't want any of you to stay because you feel obligated to. I don't want you to have any regrets." Ace finished.

"..."

"I know this is a very big decision to make." Ace got up. "I will leave you guys to think but I need your answers in forty five minutes."

"Captain, where the hell are you going?" Cornelia demanded.

"Uh… out?"

"Ace, you are our captain and we're your crew. None of us are going to stay behind. You chose us, but we chose you too. Wherever you take us, we'll follow." Dusty said confidently.

Every single Spade pirate was nodding in agreement.

"Captain, you didn't really think we'll leave you, right?"

"We'll follow you anywhere, captain!"

"I became a pirate because of you. The only way you're going to get us to leave you is to disband the crew!"

"Let's go to Marineford, Ace!"


A/N:

(speaking while hiding behind a table)

I CAN EXPLAIN! AND DID I MENTION I ALREADY SURRENDERED! DON'T SHOOT!

I didn't mean to get you all so excited and then leave you hanging. It was supposed to be a tiny thing! I may or may not have gotten slightly carried away! (Yep! That's never happened before!)

The reason I didn't write the duel because I have never in my life ever written a fight scene. What does that mean?

It'll be really really really really really really really really really really bad.

Wouldn't you rather prefer a good one even though you have to wait a few (years) days for it?

Also, the fact that Ace doesn't have the duel is very, very important. It has to do with the evil Blackbeard! (well, maybe a little).

Forgive me?

It's going to happen, not worries! I even know where I'm going to squeeze it in! It's going to be awesome!

In this chapter, Ace has finally received an invitation to the Warlords! Cheers, Ace!

About the eternal pose, well, they have to find Marineford, right? Besides, its Marineford. It doesn't matter if a pirate had an eternal pose to it because it's like chucking a rotting apple at a steel wall. What happens? The apple loses. At least that's what the marines think :).

Haruta also looks pretty mad at him… (about as mad as you all?) She decides to go and throttle him. In the next chapter, I think you'll be seeing how that goes.

Oh, and did I mention just how little self-confidence he has in himself? He thought his crew was going to abandon him!

Reviews, reviews, reviews floating around everywhere… won't that be nice?

So… Hi!

-Guest: umm... So, I have two ways of interpreting your suggestion because I don't really understand what you're trying to tell me to do… so, by '"Hopefully you make luffy remember too...soon," I interpret as you want Sabo to remember his brothers soon (not gonna happen, not gonna happen), it might take a bit of time, because that's a key factor of the story and I'm not giving it up easily! Or you can mean you want Luffy to know about how Sabo is potential alive… That'd be interesting. But then Ace would have to go and find Luffy… (get my hint? Please?) I heard Thriller Bark is a nice place for vacation this time of the year. Hope you got your answers! If not, feel free to ask again!

-Yuzukikuran476: I aim to please. *bows*

-The Keeper of Worlds: Yep. We're definitely going to see more of Blackbeard and his merry band of vagabonds. And a little humor goes a long way, I suppose. When I was writing the end of the last chapter, I had a little fun with that. Though it was a little surprising no one picked up on why the bat was there… Well, it was revealed in this chapter anyway.

That's it for toda-

"No it isn't, you idiot!"

"Shhhhh!"

"Answer to all of your reviews, dammit!"

Lastly, to:

-WhiteyWolf26: Er… so I know you (and others) were really interested in this upcoming 'duel' so nowI'mpanicking- I can explain! As I mentioned before, I have quite a few chapters written ahead, so I already have lots of stuff planned ahead. One of these things that's actually quite significant will be the fact that Ace doesn't fight Haruta. At least not now. Therefore, even if I wasn't too lazy to change some things, I refuse to recreate around 7 chapters… and the whole plot on general. Plus my reasons are legit, right? However, I assure you, it's gonna happen! I've been brainstorming about ideas for the fight (thanks, Aconight!) and it will happen when? When Ace and the Whitebeards meet again. And yeah, things are going to get rough for Ace soon. Not that soon, but soon. Or maybe not.

-VisitorNo.18: (You got it all wrong! I totally didn't try and avoid this! I'm innocent!) It was actually your review that got me a bit (more) nervous. I didn't think this duel would be so popular… To be honest, I never planned on the duel happening. See the "-ed" behind plan? That means it's in the past! I'm going to write that duel, and it's going to be epic. But not now, because it's also a very important part of the plot. When Ace and the Whitebeards meet again, you'll know it's time. Your observation about how I can create original moves for Haruta is something I didn't think of! It'll be so fun!

Now, that's the actual end of the review responses.

I'm beginning to see a pattern in who reviews all the time. Thank you for these reviews, and for all the ones you all posted before it. I really appreciate it!

I'm noticing that I have 30-something reviews now, which means we're getting closer to 50. That's a really big, round, nice number, isn't it? It would be really nice if somehow my fanfiction miraculously got 50 reviews…

Maybe I could post a chapter a week early if that happened… but that's never going to happen, so I'll just stick to the snail-ish pace I set myself… Yeah, that sounds pretty nice and relaxing…

****A quick question, to all of you: is there anyway to get from the New World to Paradise without going through Fishman Island again? I think that people should be able to sail into the Calm Belt to do that, right? **** (eh, it doesn't really matter if I'm wrong because it's already set in stone)

Until next time...

(Just review already!)