Ch. 28- The Death of Portgas D. Ace


One Piece © Oda

Blizzard, Ken, Marine K9 Unit © Me


WARNING: Character death ahead.


When we last left our heroes, Whitebeard tries to destroy all of Marineford while giving his men time to escape. Ace asks for one last moment with Whitebeard before he leaves, which he is given, and shows his gratitude to his captain and father. However, before everyone can escape, Akainu goads Ace into a fight by insulting Whitebeard. Ace tries to defend Whitebeard's name, only to realize that the power of his Flame-Flame Fruit is no match for Akainu's Mag-Mag Fruit. When Akainu attempts to attack Luffy, Ace makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his little brother by jumping in the way.

SHLUK! Akainu pulled his magma fist out of Ace's back. Everyone stared in utter disbelief and horror, but the one who is the most horrified is Luffy.

"ACE HAS BEEN HIT~!" the pirates cried.

Even Aokiji seemed shock by this sudden turn of events.

"No…!" Garp whispered. "NO!"

"SOMEBODY, STOP AKAINU!"

Although shocked by Akainu's attack, Whitebeard managed to spot someone from a distance: it was Buggy, holding his knives, looking absolutely terrified.

Little did anyone know that the Video Transponder Snail is still broadcasting everything.

XXX

At the Sabaody Archipelago, everyone watched, also horrified what Ace had done to protect his little brother.

"FIRE!"

BOOM! An explosion went off onscreen.

XXX

Back at Marineford, it is revealed that the pirates had tried to shoot Akainu, but it was a lost cause, for no matter how many times the Admiral was hit, the bullets just went right through his magma body.

"It's no use!" cried Curiel. "He's unstoppable!"

Huff! Huff! Ace panted.

"So, you're still alive, eh?" Akainu questioned. "Well, I can fix that."

"STOP IT!" Luffy cried.

Just when Akainu was about to deliver another blow…

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

WHAP! Jimbei appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Akainu's fist of magma, much to the shock of the pirates.

Meanwhile, Joey couldn't get the handcuffs off of Marco, so he found Mr. 3 and dragged him to the 1st Division Commander.

"Thank you, so much," Mr. 3 said gratefully. "If you hadn't have found me, I would've-"

"Shut your mouth and unlock this thing, already!" Marco snapped. "Hurry up!"

"Ugh…" Jimbei groaned as he held his burned hand.

"Stop wasting your time, Jimbei," Akainu said. "You know it's futile. "You were once a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. You know exactly how strong I am!"

"I don't care!" Jimbei shouted. "If I can just buy a little more time by giving my life away, then I'll gladly do so! I was prepared to die from the very beginning!"

"Vice-Admiral Garp!" a Marine cried. "What are-"

"RAAAAAAAAAH!" Garp roared as he charged at Akainu, but then, KRASH! Sengoku leapt up and pushed him into the ground, face-first, pinning him down.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, GARP?!" Sengoku questioned. "HAVE YOU GONE MAD?!"

Garp struggled under Sengoku's grip.

"You…you better keep holding me down like this, Sengoku!" said the Vice-Admiral. "Because if you don't…I'M GONNA KILL SAKAZUKI FOR THIS!"

"You idiot!" Sengoku said.

"You're a traitor, Jimbei!" Akainu said. "Therefore, you must be punished!"

"JIMBEI, GET DOWN!"

SHWAK! WHAM! Vista cut Akainu with his sword while Marco, in his hybrid form, kicked Akainu with his talons.

"Commander Marco! Commander Vista!"

"Ugh…!" Akainu grunted as his face split from his neck, almost halfway. "You damn Haki users are such a nuisance!"

"I'll never forgive myself for what happened here, today," said Vista.

"What's wrong with you?" Akainu asked. "Can't you fools see that Fire Fist is beyond saving?!"

"You bastard," Marco hissed.

While everyone else charged at Akainu, Ace began to collapse to his knees.

"Ace!" Luffy cried as he caught his big brother in his arms. "Ace, are you okay?! Say something! Anything!"

"…I'm sorry…Luffy," said Ace.

Luffy felt something warm oozing onto the palm of his hand. As he pulled his hand off of Ace's back, he saw that his palm is now coated in his brother's blood.

"O-oh, god," Luffy said. "Ace! Your wounds need treating!"

"I'm sorry…that you couldn't get to save me, properly," Ace whispered. "I'm so sorry, Lu."

"What are you saying?!" Luffy asked. "HEY! GET HIM A DOCTOR OR SOMETHING! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ACE!"

"Hey, Doc!" a pirate called to the doctor. "Hurry and get over here! Ace needs first aid, right away!"

"I'm coming!" said the doctor.

"No…!" Ace managed to say. "It…it's no good. I know…my time is up. Akainu burned my guts to cinders. I won't last much longer."

"Ace…" the doctor muttered.

Blizzard, who had come to Ace's side, could whimper sadly.

"Luffy…listen to these last words, carefully, okay?" Ace asked.

"Last words?" Luffy repeated. "What do you mean, 'last words'?! Ace…are you gonna die? B…but you can't! You promised me, remember?! Ten years ago…you promised me that you would never die! ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU SAID TO ME, ACE?!"

Why would he make such a stupid, unreasonable promise? Blizzard thought. No one can say that they're not gonna die!

"I know, Luffy," Ace said. "It…kinda reminds of…Sabo. If I didn't have a little brother, like you, that needed to be taken care of….then I would've never wanted to keep on living."

He then starts to remember all the things that the people back on Dawn Island would say.

"What? What if Gold Roger had a son? 'Chop his head off,' I'd say!"

"Nobody wanted me," Ace said. "It couldn't be helped. To most people…I was just a worthless good-for-nothing."

"Hey! I just got an idea! What say we poke a needle in that kid for every person who hates Roger?"

"Let's burn him at the stake, and then right before he dies, everyone in the world laughs at him!"

"Yeah! Everyone is sure to say, 'Serves you right, you little bastard!' HAHAHAHAHA!"

"I want his last words to be, 'I'm sorry for being born the trash that I am!' HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Ah, well. There's probably no such brat in this world!"

"Hey, Ace! I heard you caused another fracas in town! Is that true?!"

"So what if it is, Dadan?! If I had enough strength, I would've killed every last one of them!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"Hey, Luffy," Ace said. "If you…ever see Dadan, again…then give her my regards, won't you? Dying…makes me nostalgic. Even for that crazy old bitch. Oh…and give Makino my regards, too."

Luffy swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

"There's only…one thing that I won't be able to do," Ace continued. "I won't be able…to see your dream come to pass."

"Ace…s-stop talking!" Luffy said. "You're wasting your energy!"

"But I know you can do it, Lu," Ace said. "You're my little brother, after all. Like we swore on that day…I've lived my life…with no regrets…!"

"You liar!" Luffy cried. "Don't you sit there and lie to me!"

"I'm not lying, Luffy," said Ace. "Look…I gotta confess. What I wanted in life…was never a name for myself, or treasure, or a bounty, or whatever. What I really wanted…was the answer to this one question: did I deserve to be born or not?"

KOFF! KOFF! He coughed up blood, again.

"I…I can't even so much as shout, anymore. Luffy…I need you to…listen to my next words very carefully…and repeat them to everyone. Can you do that for me?"

"…"

"Pops…! Stefan…! Everyone…! And you…Luffy…"

Whitebeard and Stefan looked over to Ace with tears in their eyes, remembering the day when they first met him.

"…Ace…" the former muttered. "My son…!"

Stefan made what sounded like a short howl of sadness as his tears fell.

"Even though…I was such a hopeless person," Ace said. "Even though…I was born the son of the devil…you all still cared and risked your lives for me…so thanks…"

Ace sniffled as tears came falling from his eyes.

"Thanks for loving me…!" he sobbed.

Luffy sniffled as he felt his own tears fall, and Blizzard stared in sadness as he felt tears well up in his eyes. The pirates around them also went into tears.

"Ace! No!" one cried.

Just then, Ace's lips curved upward in a big smile…and then…he slipped out of Luffy's grasp…and fell to the ground.

FSST…! The Vivre Card completely vanished, and at that moment, it dawned on everyone.

Portgas D. Ace…is dead.

"Hey, Gramps?"

"Hmm? What is it, Ace?"

"Do you think that…nah, forget it."

"What? Come on, Ace. What's on your mind? Spit it out, already!"

"Do you think that, maybe…it would've been best if I was never born?"

"Well, Ace…only time can answer that question."

Blizzard stared at Ace's corpse, and then, he started to chew his lip as his tears finally began to fall.

No… he thought. All that effort we spent…WASTED!

Luffy, meanwhile, looked down at his brother's lifeless form in complete disbelief.

"Ace…?" he called, hoping that he would answer.

"What's wrong with you, Luffy? What, you think I was dead or something?!"

"Well…I…"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU CRYING ABOUT, YOU BIG BABY?!"

BONK!

"OUCH!"

"HOW DARE YOU KILL ME OFF LIKE THAT, YOU MORON!"

"But, Ace, I-"

"Listen, very carefully, all right?! I promise you that I'm never gonna die! You really think that I'm gonna leave my wimp of a little brother alone, just like that?!"

"O…okay, Ace."

"Good…now, come on. Let's go get some food or something."

"Yay…!"

Garp lied in his place, under Sengoku's hand, remembering the day when Ace was born.

"If you were a girl, your name would be Anne, but if you were a boy, your name is…Ace. Your name is…'Gol D. Ace'. Our child…"

"Ace…?" Luffy called, once again, but still, he did not get his answer.

A pause came, and then, Luffy started to whimper before he looked up into the sky with tears still in his eyes. Then, he opened his mouth…and…

"Ah…AH…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

TO BE CONTINUED…


R.I.P Ace. TT^TT

Review...or don't. Please don't hate me...!