What if Ace stayed with the Straw hats during the Alabasta Arc?
This is the story idea for this One Piece fic. It's been in my mind since re watching the show.
The story starts near the end of episode 101 Showdown in a heat haze! Ace vs. the Gallant Scorpion!
Basically Ace will be joining the Straw Hats for the rest of their adventure and maybe beyond. Because I think many events would have changed if Ace stayed with Luffy and the others for a while.
Either way enjoy the first chapter. It's going to be short.
.
.
.
It was another dead-end.
Another false lead.
Teach-Blackbeard-was never here.
That man was becoming the bane of Ace's existence. Every island the young second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates stepped a single foot on and never once find any real leads that could help the devil fruit user find Blackbeard.
Fire Fist was always too late for an encounter with Blackbeard or finds a false lead.
He couldn't blame the fake Bounty Hunter on making the rumors about defeating Blackbeard in a fight just to get Ace's attention. Once the pirate understood the situation and seeing the male's kids did Fire Fist accept what happened? Was he bitter? Yes. All because he couldn't avenge Thatch.
Thatch. Ace's first friend among the Whitebeard Pirates before the former Captain of the Spade Pirates joined the Whitebeard crew and became their brother. It took a hundred days and hundreds of attempted on Whitebeard's life until Ace finally admitted he lost and wanted to join the Whitebeard Pirate crew.
Then he went through the ritual of father and son cups. The ceremony was conducted by a master of ceremony, a man dressed in a Kabuki costume and face painted like a woman-an ancient tradition. A ritual to bring together strangers as family. To have them swear upon the sea that would bound them as relatives. Izo and the man were the speakers for the ceremony while Thatch conducted it, Marco and Teach were the two observers.
Within the next few months after the ceremony was conducted and Ace received the Whitebeard tattoo-their flag-onto his back. Did everything blended together and Ace rarely noticed that a year had gone by within the Whitebeard crew, until he'd been offered the Second Division Commander spot-a place that hadn't been filled in years. Originally it was supposed to go to Teach, who was already in the Second Division and was Ace's watcher/observer for a long while, but always turned the position down.
Why? Ace wished he saw the signs back then.
He could still remember the conversation between Teach and himself when Whitebeard first offered the post to Ace.
"You've been with Whitebeard the longest, Teach," Ace admits, eating at the dinner table beside the much larger male. Between Teach and himself the food would be gone within only thirty minutes, regardless of the table flooding with cherry pies, meat, and bread.
Ace had told Whitebeard he needed to think about it. Because the young male didn't want to take the job until he spoke with Teach. It didn't feel right for Ace to come along and take the Second Division Commander spot from Teach. No matter what Thatch and Marco told Ace about Blackbeard never wanting the spot? Ace wanted to hear it from the male himself.
"Ze ha ha ha…" Teach laughed, a deep belly laugh, holding a cherry pie in his right hand. "It's all right. I don't have those kinds of ambitions."
"But…" Ace tried to say, looking down at the bread he'd been eating.
"Do it, Commander Ace."
Ace had looked up at Teach in that moment. Already knowing he had the older male's permission.
But, back then, Ace made his first mistake, never asking why Teach never wanted the post to begin with. Maybe he would've been able to see something strange back then.
Only no one had. Whitebeard never did. Marco didn't. And Thatch never saw the knife in the back coming.
Ace was the Second Division Commander and never once realized that one of his own men would turn on one of their own because of a Devil Fruit. Everything that began to go wrong was when Thatch found a Devil Fruit and was debating about eating it. Only Teach prevented Thatch by making the chose on becoming a devil fruit user or not and killed the male, taking the fruit with him as he jumped ship.
This caused Ace to feel heat within his blood and body in fury, and he wasn't talking about the power he got from the Mera Mera no Mi or the Flame-Flame fruit. Something boiled within his blood at the moment he found Thatch's body that everything remained Ace of Sabo's death. On how he couldn't do anything about it back when he was child, but now that he was an adult and a pirate. He could do something about Thatch's death.
So the hunt for Teach began. Even though Ace was going against orders because Whitebeard never said anything on the subject.
It was only thanks to Ace going around the Grand Line in search of Teach did he run into his younger brother Luffy again. Having not seen the younger male ever since Ace was seventeen and left Dawn Island to become a Pirate. It wasn't until Luffy's wanted poster began to make the rounds did Ace realize that Luffy would be at the Grand Line, even proudly boosting to the Whitebeard Pirates and anyone that would listen to Ace praise his younger brother.
Maybe it was a good thing Luffy hadn't been around to see it. Ace would've died of embarrassment.
He even met his brother's crewmates. Ace was beyond glad to hear that everyone on his brother's crew were good people and didn't mind Luffy causing trouble wherever the young male went. That older brother part of Fire Fist Ace had been worried about that, but felt some calm run through him every time the Straw Hats prove they could handle Luffy and also take care of him when it was needed.
"Well," Ace finally spoke to the straw hats crew.
"Are you really leaving Ace?" Chopper, a cute little reindeer with a bright blue nose who had eaten a Devil Fruit called the Hito Hito no Mi-giving the reindeer the ability to act like a human, wondered with curiously beaming within his young eyes.
"Seeing as Blackbeard isn't in Alabasta, I have no reason to be here." Ace explained to the group.
"Oh," Luffy mumbled in disappointment, looking downward at the sand. "But I thought you were going to join."
Join. Ace said he was going to travel with them across the desert to find Scorpion. Unless Luffy was talking about what Chopper and Usopp talked about while toasting their cups of water together while Ace first joined the group.
"Hey," Ace told his brother with a small grin on his lips. "I never made such a promise. If I remember correctly, then you were the one that wanted me to join, right?"
"If I remember correctly, then you were the one that asked me to join the Whitebeard Pirates first, right?" Luffy spoke back, grinning like a child.
Ace gave a small and full hearty laugh toward Luffy. His kid brother did have a point, but Luffy turned down Ace's offer to join the Whitebeard Pirates. Only Fire Fist personally asked Luffy to join the Whitebeards because of Edward Newgate, more commonly known as 'whitebeard', was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and widely known throughout the world as the 'strongest man in the world' and, after Gol D. Rogers death, the 'Man Closest to One Piece' might have heard about Luffy from Ace several times of the years. So Ace didn't think Newgate would mind if Fire Fist invited his younger brother onto the Whitebeard Pirate crew.
"Invited to join the Whitebeards!" Sanji shouts into the air.
"Serious," Zoro breathed.
It was well known that Zoro used to be a Pirate Hunter or a Bounty Hunter as some called it. Seemed to know everything about the Whitebeard Pirates. Which was a surprise to Ace once he heard some of the stories that Zoro heard about the Whitebeard crew.
"The W-whitebeards," Usopp stuttered, slightly, mouth opened in shock.
Nami seemed to grin. "They must have mountains of treasure."
The young orange haired female was proving to be a 'Cat Burglar' and a navigator in one, which nearly made Ace flinch because he would find it funny if the female actually did somehow manage to rob the Whitebeard crew blind. Plus, he wonders how she'll react toward Jozu, the 3rd division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, diamond form.
Chopper and Vivi just shared a look with each other but didn't say anything on the subject.
"It's natural for a big brother to worry about his bungling kid brother," Ace explained to the Straw Hats. He didn't want them to think he was going to force Luffy away from them. He was beyond glad that his kid brother found the perfect crew that could take good care of them. Keep Luffy out of trouble. "He might be a bit much for you to handle, but all of you take good care of him. That's all I could ask."
"Which was why you wanted him to join your crew?" Zoro wondered.
Ace gave a small laugh. "Yes, I worry all the time about him." He was the big brother and he had to take good care of his bumbling kid brother. Plus that promise to Sabo to watch over Luffy always seemed to hit home within Ace's heart and mind every single day. Sometimes Ace feels guilty for leaving Dawn Island at age seventeen and leaving Luffy behind for a few years. At age seventeen both would set out to sea. That was the promise made between the two brothers and both kept it. Neither wanted to be Force into the Marines by their granddad. "But I'm not planning on taking Luffy away from anyone of you. Promise." He gave the group a reassuring smile.
"Sure a caring brother, Usopp mumbled.
"He must really trusts us with Luffy," Vivi spoke.
Ace gave a small grin, eyes on Luffy. He took out a tiny and small white piece of paper out of his pocket, handing it toward Luffy. This piece of paper was a piece of a Vivre Card. It was manufactured in the New World, a Vivre card is a piece of paper made from a clipping of a person's fingernail. A small piece of the paper can point to and move toward the other piece of the torn paper wherever they are in the world, allowing them to know the other person's direction.
"Luffy," Ace said, flicking the piece of paper into his brother's hands.
Luffy caught it, eyes looking down at the piece of paper in confusion. He didn't understand what Ace had given him. "A piece of paper?"
"Keep it with you, always," Ace told his brother.
"It's a Vivre Card," Vivi explained.
Luffy raised an eyebrow. "Vivre Card?"
"It's called the paper of life. It holds the life force of the owner. Kind like a tracker. If the life force of the owners is weakening, the card will begin to burn away. It will grow back to its original size if the person recovers, but will disappear completely if they die." The blue haired female explained to the Straw Hat crew.
"That's about right," Ace answers with a grin. "A friend in the New World helped me create them."
"Oh," Luffy answered before grinning. "Can you help me make one?"
"So you want one as well, huh?"
Luffy nods his head. "Yeah. Seems neat."
"Unfortunately, I don't have time to show you."
"Why not?"
"I need to get back to tracking Blackbeard." Ace admits, looking at the sand underneath his black boots before making eye contact with Luffy once again.
"And chasing old or false leads," Luffy stated, blunt.
Ace sent a small smirk toward his brother. "You're upset I'm not staying."
"No," Luffy lied between his teeth, but that small smile of his never left his lips.
The older brother gave a small chuckle. "Lier."
"I'm not lying!" Luffy shouted.
No one ever called Luffy a liar. The teen couldn't lie for the life of him. Ace could remember the many times Luffy tried to lie when the two were kids and failed ever single time.
"I know," Ace answered with an amused laugh, grinning.
"I'm concern," Luffy admits with a slightly frown on his face which was out of place for the young pirate captain. It was rare to ever see a frowning face on the teen. "Something about this Blackbeard doesn't seem right from what you've said. Same can be said about the Gator."
Crocodile. Luffy and his crew were here to deal with one of the seven warlords of the sea because the man was causing trouble within the Alabasta Kingdom. Only Ace couldn't understand what Crocodile would want with the desert kingdom.
Nothing came to mind.
It almost reminded the logia user of Teach and how his motivations didn't make any sense to him.
Ace was missing something and Luffy was always good at finding the persons true colors just by seeing them. The Straw Hat wear teen always seems to know if someone was a good or bad person by just seeing them. If Luffy ever lost his smile, then you would know something was wrong.
Maybe that was why Ace could never find Teach. Because he never understood the male. While someone with new eyes on the situation like Luffy could understand or see something Ace was missing.
"Worried about your older brother?" Ace wondered, placing a hand on top of his orange hat, grinning.
Luffy gave a small nod.
That was when Ace frowned, his orange hat casting a shadow under his eyes.
Of course Luffy would be worried about Ace going after Blackbeard. Someone that didn't even seem to fear Ace and had a plan the older brother couldn't figure out. While Ace was worried about Luffy fighting Crocodile.
"Luffy's not the only one that is concern," Zoro spoke up. Ace lift his head to listen to his brother's first mate with an emotionless expression. "We heard from Chopper what Blackbeard did to Drum Kingdom." Teach was dangerous in many of their eyes and with the facts given to the Straw Hats by Ace about the male. "No one on the whitebeard crew noticed a signal thing wrong with him until he killed a crew mate. That's saying something due to Whitebeard's time at sea. You might be the whitebeard pirate's second division commander Ace, but, regardless of strength, you're going to need help defeating him."
"I'm his commander. Teach was in my division." Ace explained with a shake of his head. Blackbeard had been under Ace's command and the young man never noticed anything off about him. Not even when Thatch found that devil fruit. Nothing screamed to the idea of Teach murdering Thatch at the time.
He couldn't just go back to the New World and get reinforcements. Or Marco would find a way to lock him up so he couldn't leave the ship again. No one here knew that Ace wasn't hear on orders by Whitebeard to find Teach. If they did, then Ace could already hear his younger brother scolding him to get back to the whitebeard crew.
But Ace couldn't go home.
Not yet.
Not when he failed at living up to the whitebeard name.
"I'm not telling you to give up your chase on the man," Zoro admits with a shake of his head. "I'm saying you need a new pair of eyes. People that don't know Teach. Maybe then we'll be able to find him together."
"You want to help me?" Ace wondered to the Straw Hats.
"Yeah," Luffy said, grinning. "You've helped us out. That means we owe you one." Ace helped a lot in their travel across the desert and Luffy wanted to return the favor. "We need to help you find Blackbeard and beat him up. After we take care of Crocodile."
"We?" Ace mused.
"You got involved when you sunk those Baroque Works ships and helped fight some of their agents," Luffy stated, feeling slightly guilty.
Zoro gave a nod. "Keep in mind Crocodile seems to have a bone to pick with Whitebeard."
Ace would've been surprise about Zoro hearing about the conflict between Whitebeard and Crocodile, but the swordsman used to be a Bounty Hunter and knows a lot pirates groups. Of course he would've heard the gossip across the seas. Ace only heard about the conflict between the warlord and the Yonko the moment he joined the Whitebeard Pirates.
"That's true," Ace answered flatly.
His brother's first mate had a point. Crocodile wouldn't pass up an opportunity to get Whitebeards attention. Especially with Ace being the Whitebeard Pirates Second Division Commander, position that took years to fill after the original Second Division Commander departed, which made him a highly value target to most pirates outside of the Whitebeard crew. Fire Fist Ace raised quickly through the Whitebeard pirates ranks and had enough skills and experience to reach Second Division Commander within only a few months of joining Whitebeard's crew.
Crocodile wouldn't let Ace just leave the desert kingdom without a fight.
Luffy looked between Zoro and Ace with confusion dancing across his dark eyes. "Huh?"
"A story for another time, Luffy," Ace explained to his kid brother. He was not going to explaining the history between Whitebeard and Crocodile to the young pirate. It had nothing to do with Luffy and his crew. "But are you sure you want to help with Teach? He's a tricky-"
"You know me," Luffy declaimed with a grin. "I'm lucky. Plus, I tend to run into people that you're working for."
That was true. Luffy always ran into the people looking for Ace or who Ace was looking for when they were kids. Always a trouble maker and causing trouble. But it was always thanks to Luffy's good luck that the two brothers stayed safe.
"That is true." Ace couldn't argue with those words. For all Ace knew Teach could still be here in the desert kingdom somewhere because the male always brought chaos wherever he went.
"Plus, we might find a pattern about Blackbeard you can't see," Chopper answered.
The doctor of the group had felt and seen Blackbeard's wrath at Drum kingdom first hand. That made Ace feels guilty. People were suffering from Blackbeard and ever lead about his whereabouts Teach came across always failed.
"More people heading toward the same goal is better than doing it alone," Vivi adds. "Blackbeard seems to always aim for Chaos, but it did free Drum kingdom was a horrible ruler."
Ace paused at the desert princess' words. Teach did have a pattern. Chaos which brought freedom. The second division command didn't notice that until the Princess pointed it out. "You have a point, Vivi. I didn't notice that in Teach's pattern."
"See," Usopp exclaimed. "We're already helping."
Ace grinned. He felt light build within his chest as he looked at Luffy's crew. His kid brother knows how to pick a great team. "Okay. I'll stay for now Luffy. But keep in mind this is your adventure and Teach is my mission."
Luffy gave a nod. "Sure thing, Ace."
The older brother knew he couldn't fight Luffy's battle against Crocodile for him. Same can be said about Ace's battle against Teech. He'll only step in when he was needed.
.
.
.
Yeah. I had the Vivre Card information early since it always seemed strange that Ace never explained it to Luffy. Plus, I wanted Yamato mention, and the Vivre Card will be important in the future of this what if story line.
Yeah. I know the reasoning on making Ace stay with the group is kinda dumb, but I had to come up with something for it to work. Or their will be no fanfic.
I did have a slight alterations to this idea. Ace would've left the group like he did at the end of the episode, but would've been captured by Crocodile before he was able leave Alabasta. Because Crocodile wants to kill whitebeard and if he has one of whitebeards commanders it might get the Yonko's attention, especially when the warlord was trying to get Pluton from the desert kingdom.