Here's the next story! No romance in it, lots of humor and drama. I loved writing Ace in this. He's a complete smartass and has such the attitude. There's some really sad moments in the next chapter, though. I'll give the time line next chapter since things don't always add up. Ace is not related to anyone he is in canon, he's a random orphan from Wano's poor parts. Some swearing and typical violence, and a lot of made up and probably impossible devil fruits. This is more the prologue as there's a time skip after this chapter. Enjoy~
Ace, a five year old boy, stood in line to eat one of those SMILEs so he could get some food in exchange. It couldn't be so bad, smiling all the time. He frowned all the time, so smiling shouldn't be so bad. The line was long, and he was very hungry and thirsty. Hopefully he'd get enough food for another day, then he could go fishing again and try to eat the non-poisoned parts.
He was all alone in life. It's all he'd known. And being around other people was tiring when he was so tired, too. He'd rather be by himself, traveling through the forest he lived in. He'd be fine to live alone his whole life. It was much better than being around other loud people who cried a lot or laughing too loudly. Or the just mean people. The line got shorter, and most people left the line smiling brightly.
See, smiling wouldn't be too bad. He'd have nobody to smile to, but that didn't matter much. At least, not to Ace. The person in front of him ate the fruit, only one bite of the spotted apple, and left grinning and laughing. Ace put his empty basket down and took the smiling fruit and bit into it. It tasted bad, but it was food, so he ate the whole thing. But he didn't smile.
He reached up for the food he was supposed to be given, but he was directed to the side. "Hey, I was supposed to get food!" he protested, his stomach roaring in painful hunger. He tried to pull away but he was a small and malnourished child. They stopped walking once the line was out of sight. The man who took him aside didn't look very nice.
His smile didn't seem right. Well, maybe it was, Ace couldn't tell. "You just ate a devil fruit. Do you feel any different?" Ace looked at his hands, but didn't feel different at all."Well, it worked on you. You aren't smiling like a loon. Try to imagine yourself changing into an animal." Ace wondered why. So he asked. "We want to see what your devil fruit power is," the guy explained, strangely patient.
Maybe he was actually a good guy, since he was being nice to Ace. "O-okay," Ace said, and imagined his body changing into a cat. A black one, like his hair. But that didn't happen, and instead, the next he knew he was suffocating in the air, heavier, the size of a large dog. He flopped around, trying to get air in.
He was grabbed roughly around the side, still trying to gasp in breath before they were back at the food area. He was put in the water, a big tub, and started to breathe again, only it wasn't through his nose, but slits on his sides. He could see perfectly fine in the clear water. He didn't feel thirsty inside, and popped his head out. There was a crowd of shock around the water bin he was in. it was a huge bucket, and it felt nice. He swam around in a little circle, his back legs and tail doing the most work.
"Can you try turning into a human again?" the nice guy from before said. He was grinning, while the others around looked shocked. Ace changed his body again, back at being a five year old. He couldn't touch the bottom of the water barrel, and clung to the side. All of his dirty clothes were now soaking wet. He got a nice bath, though!
He managed to climb out and go to the front of the line to get his food. He'd done what they said, and he was hungry. But he was pulled away, instead. "You'll have a much nicer life now. You're very gifted with that devil fruit," the guy said positively. "We have a long journey to go, but you'll have a better life."
"Really?" Ace asked in disbelief.
"Really. You'll have food and water whenever you want." Ace asked why. What he had to do to pay for it. You always seemed to have to give something to get when it came to other people. It was complicated being around others. He hoped this new life had him by himself. Maybe living in a little shed and having food and water all by himself. "You'll work for Kaido-san."
Ace was put on a horse, only it had a human half. "Speed, take him to Queen-sama." Ace frowned, wondering where the nice man was going. He just grinned and waved Ace off. The horse spoke, though.
She said, "My name is Speed. Make sure you hang on tight, okay? What's your name?" This one seemed nice, too. Ace had always had the impression that the leaders were mean. He saw them being mean sometimes, to the villagers, when he went to trade things for water or rice. They got hit a lot. Ace never went to help, they weren't his friends. But he didn't really like the treatment when it made people cry.
But then he'd found himself in a village where everybody laughed. He lived in the forest next to that village. Everyone was always happy. And the people who came gave them food that made them happy. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe the guys were actually good people. "I'm Ace. Why is this? I am poor, where am I going?" Speed was riding slow and easily so Ace didn't fall off.
"You must look promising if Batman got you." Ace commented that he was a nice guy. "Well… sometimes. Did you eat a SMILE? It was a success, right?" Speed asked patiently. Ace liked her so far. He did wonder where they were going, and he was hungry. Though the gross apple had been filling, he was still hungry. His stomach rumbled. "Why don't we get some food and then we can talk?"
"Yeah! I'm hungry," Ace said excitedly. He was so tiny that he could barely hang on Speed's back. She brought them further into a town, and they went to a vendor, something Ace had never seen before. She ordered something that smelled good. She didn't need to pay, so she must be important.
"Here you go, Ace. Wait for it to not be so hot. You hold a fork like this," Speed said, and showed him how to hold the strange thing. He got the hang of it quickly, and ate the delicious food. He loudly said it was yummy. Once he was done the plate was taken away, and he was helped back onto Speed's back. She again asked what fruit he'd eaten.
Ace animatedly explained what had happened. But it was scary he couldn't breathe. "I thought I was gonna die!" Speed was quiet before she said she'd never met somebody who had an aquatic devil fruit. "Why?"
"Well, devil fruit users are unable to swim. They all drown, but you didn't. That means you're special." Ace looked shocked, and asked if special was good. Or if it was something bad that he could fix. "Being special is a good thing. This means you can do all sorts of things others can't. Like travel in the sea. The sea that is big and blue. Not the polluted gunky water from where you came from."
The five year old felt happy. He was special and could do things others can't? He kicked his feet a little bit, humming happily. Did that mean he could go explore the ocean by himself? Would he make friends with the fish? The living fish, not the dead and creepy looking ones in the river in the forest. "When am I going back home?"
"You'll have a new home. Much nicer," Speed said, still patient.
"I like you, you're nice," Ace said bluntly, looking around in interest as the scenery changed as they rode further away from his origin point. He was happy he ate the apple, even if it tasted bad. He had people being nice to him and he even got some good food without having to trade anything. Speed said she liked him, too.
The five year old was happy, excited for this nice life they were promising. He hoped they weren't lying or he'd be very sad and angry. He hummed most of the way while Speed brought them across wide expanses of land, trees, barren lands, mountains. He watched it all in interest. He didn't know Wano was this big and diverse. He always thought the whole place was polluted and smelly.
He was happy to be out of the other place. He hoped those people kept smiling and being happy. He would try to be happy, too, even if he didn't smile like the others. Or laugh. They always thought something was funny. They never told him the jokes, though, so that wasn't nice. He finally said something. "Did you eat an apple?"
"I did." Ace asked why she wasn't smiling, then. "Because my SMILE was different. Like yours, my fruit was special. That's why I have the body of a horse. And why the others who were gifted with fruits like yours have animal properties. Batman had bat ears."
Ace frowned and looked down. He didn't look any different. "But… I don't look any different. Is there something wrong with mine?" he asked in worry. Was there something wrong with him? Was it cause he was special? Was being special actually bad? And Speed was being nice for him.
But the woman said, "That's just another thing special about you. There's nothing wrong with that. Queen-sama looks different, too. Different from the others. He's very big. Bigger than anyone you've seen. Since you're so small, he might be a bit scary." Ace said he wasn't small at all. And that he wouldn't be scared. He didn't see her smile, but also one with a hint of sadness. He couldn't see, though.
She explained the three All-Stars, and Ace was interested in being called a star. Stars were pretty when he could see them around the smelly smoke. It was early in the morning when he ate the SMILE, so they had lots of time to get wherever they were going. Ace wasn't impatient at all. He enjoyed the scenery.
"Do I get to be on my own in my new life? I like being alone," Ace said. He pouted when he was told he wouldn't be lonely. "But I like being alone." Then he was told that he might be by himself once he was better at his devil fruit. But he was little, so he had to be supervised. Even though he'd lived by himself for the longest time. Ever since he could remember. Maybe… maybe he could get used to other people. He wasn't sure.
There was no more talk before they found a nice house. The sky was muggy beyond there, so he was glad to stop there. They heard cheering and singing from inside, and Ace wondered what it was, if there was something exciting inside. He heard singing sometimes, by the nice guy with blue hair.
Speed opened the door, and Ace saw a ton of big people. The one singing was huge! He had pants that went up super high and were black and white. He also had funny blue glasses. Everyone else went silent, and Ace frowned, wanting to hear more singing. "Speed, what's with the kid?" the big guy asked in interest and also confusion.
"Queen-sama, he ate a successful SMILE. One that makes him able to swim," she said. There were gasps around, and Ace was lifted off of the horse. Everybody was so much bigger than him, he had to admit, he was a big boy but these people were bigger boys. Queen expressed disbelief, but he told somebody to draw a bath.
It was a huge tub that Ace was brought to. He was hesitantly set down inside. They had their hands out in case he started to drown. Speed encouraged him to change into his devil fruit form. So, he remembered the creature he was before. He morphed and was able to breathe under the water, swimming in small circles. He liked being in the water more than the air.
He could totally live in the water all by himself. It felt good. He heard shouts of shock from the room, outside of the water. He popped his head out. Queen was looking at him with his eyes bugged out. "Wow! Kid, what's your name?" he asked. Ace clung to the side of the tub to keep his head above water since it was so deep and he couldn't touch the bottom. "I'm Ace." Queen smiled and laughed, saying that was a nice name. Ace didn't understand why, but thanked him, being polite. Speed stayed by the tub as Queen got a stick with a snail on the end. Ace dipped back under and swam a little more. The water was nicer to breathe than the air.
He wondered why everybody was so shocked. Surely there were other special people like him who could swim. Speed had said the SMILEs make you into animals. So there were no animals that could swim? It seemed kind of strange to him. Surely there were swimming animals. Like alligators.
Through the water, Ace could hear Queen animatedly talking to somebody that was hiding in the snail head. The water was easy to see through and hear through. He could also hear a whoosh sound that he assumed were from the slits in his sides. He wondered what they were, and poked one with his clawed fingers.
It hurt a little bit, and he looked at his hands. They were black and scaly, the nails kind of small and blunt. He could move them like his usual hands. He looked at his feet, but noticed these were definitely not like his normal feet. They were bigger and the toes were further spread apart, with webbing between the toes.
He also had a tail. It didn't look like a fish tail, the rotten ones that he saw sometimes. It was more like a snake, but with fins along the top and bottom. It pushed him forward quickly when he wanted to go forward. He wasn't really paying attention to the outside anymore, just enjoying his new form. He didn't know what the rest of him looked like, but he had big fins coming from his back.
They looked like bird wings, only scaly and thinner. They made him turn quickly. Getting the hang of this was easy and fun! Hopefully his nice life would let him swim a lot. Queen reached inside and pulled him out, but he started to suffocate and writhe around. He was immediately put in and breathed through the gills.
The man clearly wanted him out of the water, so Ace changed back. He took a deep breath of air. It was scary, being unable to breathe. "Sorry about that, I'll make sure no one takes you out of the water like that," Queen said, smiling brightly. "That is quite the devil fruit you've got there."
Ace smiled, "I like it, too! I like swimming." Someone muttered how weird it was for a fruit user to enjoy swimming. Speed had said they drowned, after all. Queen was smiling and said it was good he liked it.
"We'll be on a long journey soon, to see Kaido, the big boss. He rules over Wano from behind the scenes. He's a dragon, too. That seems to be what you are, too." Ace blinked a few times and then asked what a dragon was. "Someone draw a dragon," Queen demanded. Soon, a man came over with a drawing of a wings serpent. It was like a bird snake.
He stated, "That's cool. I want to be a dragon, too!"
"I said you are."
"Oh, okay."
Queen took a deep breath and then asked how old Ace was. He said he was five. "A blank slate, then," the huge man said with a grin. "So, what kinds of things do you like, Ace?" He was still in the water, but was fine with that. He was fine at hanging off the side and he liked kicking his feet in the water.
"Um, I like eating but sometimes I don't have food and it makes me a little sad. I like climbing trees, too," Ace said.
The large man with the blonde braid told him he'd never go hungry again. Ace beamed. "You like climbing trees? Then we'll have to get you a tree, huh?" Ace asked what he meant. "Well, your new room should have a tree! And a large pond or lake for you to swim in." This new life he was being promised sounded wonderful. He couldn't wait!
Ace smiled and then remembered what it was like before he came in. "Will you sing again? That sounded fun."
"Damn, I like this kid!" Queen shouted. "Very well, let's start again!" and the party resumed. Ace was having a lot of fun and started bouncing up and down to the music. He'd never really heard anything like this. It was exciting, and Ace didn't remember ever being this happy or excited. Eating that gross apple was really good! And it didn't make him always smile. But he was smiling now, which was something very new. But he was happy, so why not smile?
After the party was over, there was dinner, and Ace ate as much as he wanted, which wasn't much. After that, everyone went to a little house outside the main one. He looked for any grass to sleep on, but there was nothing. "You should go to bed, Ace. We're having a long journey tomorrow."
Ace asked what a bed was. "Right there. That's where you'll be sleeping," Queen said patiently and pointed to a white and puffy mat on the floor. He walked to it and stepped on it experimentally before deeming it was nice, and he laid down. He saw a blanket and pulled it over him. This was nice.
"I like this bed," Ace said, snuggling into the blankets. Queen promised he'd have an even better bed than that soon. Ace fell asleep comfortable, and not hungry. It was nothing like he'd ever experienced before.
When he woke up, the little house was moving, being carried by other people. The nice tub was moved towards the door, and he went in and napped at the bottom. Queen wasn't singing, so it was easy to sleep. He had just had the most comfortable night from ever before. He was given new clothes, though they were too big.
It seemed they'd been modified from normal clothes, but they weren't ripped up or dirty or smelly. It was nice, but they still got soggy in the water after he went inside. Nobody bothered his little tub. Big to him, but little too. He got bored eventually and went to the surface and climbed out. They'd made him a little stone staircase for him to get out easier.
"Queen, will you sing some more?" Ace asked, grabbing onto his leg.
"I'll sing some more later. When we get to your new home, we'll have a huge show! With lights and everything."
"And food?"
"Lot's of food! Especially red bean soup." Ace asked what that was. "A delicious food. I love it, but won't share it so don't even ask." Ace nodded, saying he would be happy to have rice. "You'll get much more interesting food than rice, soon." Ace beamed and plopped down on the same bed he was on last night.
He asked Queen what his devil fruit was. If he could swim. If he was really big. If he was special, too. "One question at a time, kid." Ace nodded. "My devil fruit turns me into a brachiosaurus. It's really big, I'll show you sometime. I can't swim, only you can do that." Ace smiled at being special. He was special just for being able to swim? That seemed silly, but everyone said it was a big deal. Maybe they all wished they could swim but were sad they couldn't.
"What do I turn into?" Ace asked curiously. "I don't see it look like anything before. Uh, I didn't see anything like it before," Ace said, correcting his poor grammar. The second time was a lot better. He heard Queen mutter something about a five year old, but he didn't really register it was in irritation.
"I'd assume you're a water dragon. That's what'cha look like. Some day I'm sure you'll get very big." Ace looked forward to being big. The journey was long but comfortable. When they got someplace new, it was to the ocean! There was so much water that Ace wanted to jump right in. Queen told him explicitly that he couldn't swim in the ocean without having permission.
Ace easily agreed. Onigashima looked like a skull, kind of scary but also cool. They got onboard a boat to sail to the island from where they were now. Ace ran to the side and looked over at the waves. The ocean seemed so big. But then he had a question. He turned to Queen and asked him why he went on the ocean if he couldn't swim.
"That's a great question! Muhaha! It's because we're reckless pirates! Nothing can make us back down, not even the ocean. That's the life of being a pirate. It might not count you, you don't even need to be on a ship." It didn't sound like an insult. When the ship swayed, he fell to the side and hit his arm. He pouted but didn't cry. He rubbed it and it didn't hurt too much.
Queen picked him up with one hand and sat him down in the other. He easily fit in it, and sat and watched the stormy sea even if the sky was clear above. They got closer to the island, and Ace was excited to see what happened next. What place he'd see, what the inside of the skull looked like. Queen said it was nice inside, so Ace wondered what "nice" looked like.
They landed there and Ace was sat on Queen's shoulder so he didn't go missing or get into the ocean and be swept away. He kept on the big man's shoulder like he was told to. When they got to the entrance, Ace saw how different it looked up close than from far away. It was so colorful and fanciful. He got distracted by everything, but he did as he was told and stayed on his shoulder.
"When is the singing?" Ace asked.
"Later. First we have to meet Kaido and introduce you. Do your best to be calm, okay? And don't be too loud, he might be hungover again," Queen said. Ace didn't know what that meant, but he'd not be noisy, and promised to be quiet. He wasn't a very loud person regardless, but he would still make sure to be quiet.
When they entered further, he was put down but was to stay near. He sat on Queen's foot and clung to his leg, and the guy seemed fine with it. It made it easier to keep Ace still right there. He was so tiny compared to him, though. Compared to everybody, really. Everything was huge and he was just so small. Maybe he wasn't as big a boy as he had thought before.
Well, he'd grow as tall as Queen some day. Surely, because he was special, right? Then he'd be big and strong. And his dragon fruit would make him dangerous and strong and cool and he could eat whatever he wanted! They arrived at a large door, and saw a huge man. He was scary looking, but Queen had been scary at first, too. The man, Kaido, had a big bottle in his hand and was glaring down at Ace. The boy fidgeted.
"What's your name, boy?"
"Ace."
Kaido asked him what his devil fruit was. "Ah, Queen said it's a dragon, a water dragon! But I can't breathe in the air, it's scary." Kaido didn't really react, but stood up and Queen told Ace to follow. He had to run to keep up with the massive man. His legs were so much bigger than Ace's, so he fell behind and the captain didn't slow for him.
They entered a room with a huge tub, so big and wide and Ace wanted to swim in it. "Queen, you're sure he won't drown?" Kaido asked, not sounding concerned, though. Ace wasn't paying attention and jumped in when he was told to. He transformed and swam around really fast, enjoying the big tub. He came back up and saw Kaido was now smiling.
It was kind of a creepy smile, but it was a smile, so that meant he was happy. Ace made him happy? He was special, right? Could he have a room like this? "Ace, you'll become a powerful pirate that will cause all sailors terror. Welcome to the crew."
Ace didn't know what he meant, but it sounded fun! He didn't know he had no other choice, but he willingly agreed to join the pirate crew. As a five year old, there was much to teach him. He'd do his best to learn.