When Ace shows up at his house, all he can do is stare.
Bright fire surrounds the place, the fire trucks already on the scene with their loud sirens blaring. Next to him, Fire Fist gaps.
"My—my house!" Ace shouts, the situation finally dawn on him. "Why the hell is my house on fire?!"
He storms up to the nearest officer, about to give him a piece of his mind, but the police beats him to it, "Please stand back, sir. It's dangerous."
"B—but that's my house!" Why the hell is his house on fire? The only person that was in the house at the time was Straw Hat, but even if their doubles are destructive, there's no way he would accidently set a house on fire.
Ace stalks back to where Fire Fist is before the officer can say another world.
Fire Fist just stood there, his eyes on the burning house. "Straw Hat's not in there."
"What?"
Fire Fist is still staring at the house as if he could see something Ace can't. He probably does, considering he can sense human beings miles away, but Ace doesn't know why he seems almost worried.
"Shit." Fire Fist suddenly says, his eyes widening in realization. "Shit, shit, shit, shit—It's Blackbeard."
Ace looks at him, startled. "What?"
"Blackbeard did this and—" Fire Fist brakes off. His hand snaps out, grabbing Ace's wrist and pulling him away while muttering curses under his breath.
"Whoa- hey!" Ace tries to break his wrist free, but to no avail. "What the hell's gotten into you?"
"We have to find Luffy," is all Fire Fist says.
"What are you talking about?"
"Blackbeard is going after your little brother."
"Stay behind me. He has people outside," Straw Hat says as he takes up a fighting stance. Luffy doesn't have to be told twice, scurrying over to where all of them are piled. They're staring at Straw Hat with wide eyes, glancing between him and Luffy.
Luffy would love to explain, but right now there are more pressing matters.
"Luffy!" Nami shouts as he stumbles down beside them. "What's happening? Who is that? He looks—"
"Nami," Luffy says quietly. He wishes that they never got involved in this mess. "I can explain later but we need to move."
He pushes them as far away from Blackbeard and Straw Hat as possible. They duck behind a bunch of empty boxes, staring wide eyed as Blackbeard pushes himself from the rubble and wipes blood off of his face.
"You're a pain in the ass, as always, Straw Hat Luffy," Blackbeard says.
Straw Hat raises his fists, coating them in haki. Luffy hears Usopp whimper, "At least I'm not a traitor, Blackbeard."
The two launch at each other, and the resounding shockwave is so powerful that it shakes the warehouse. Someone screams, but Luffy isn't sure who it is. Maybe it's him.
They start trading blows at such a speed that Luffy can't even follow the fight. A mixture of rubber appendages and darkness engulfs most of the warehouse. Luffy tries to keep his friends as much out of the way as possible.
"What the fuck," Sanji says as they all watch the fight in various degrees of horror.
"Luffy, what's going on?" Zoro says, voice quiet.
"Uh," Luffy says, because he really doesn't know how to explain it. "You know about the car crash, right?"
All of his friends look at him and nod.
"After it, me and Ace started hearing voices and seeing stuff. We didn't really think much of it at first, but then the storm hit—" he ignores Robin's quiet question of what storm?—"And another Ace and another me showed up. They're from a different world and they're pirates. They sometimes have cool powers because they ate a fruit? I don't remember much. This guy, Blackbeard, he was the one that sent them here. That man who showed up is me."
"He's you… from another world?" Usopp asks like he can't quite believe it.
"Luffy, you realize how insane that sounds, right?! First superpowers, now another world?!" Nami grabs her head and scrubs the tears from her eyes. "This isn't possible!"
Luffy's about to argue when a cry of "Watch out!" has him rushing out of the way as fast as he's able to move. A dark mass crashes into the spot he was moments before.
"Still trying to protect your crew even here?" Blackbeard says it like it's a taunt. Straw Hat glares at him and snarls. Neither one of them are in great shape, with blood dripping from various cuts and bruises all over. Blackbeard is missing a few more teeth than normal and Straw Hat's cardigan is sliced up.
"Leave them out of this," Straw Hat says and sends a flurry of punches. Blackbeard dodges some of them before sending his own attack.
"A weakness," Blackbeard grins. Before Straw Hat can retort, he sends a blackened mass right at Luffy and his friends. Luffy's eyes widen and he tries to move but, the attack is too big—too strong. There was no way he was going to be able to get out of the way before it hit.
Straw Hat jumps in front of them and Luffy has just enough time to open his mouth before Straw Hat takes the hit head on. It has enough force to send him flying backwards into stack of crates, crushing them on impact. Blackbeard laughs as Straw Hat stands up and brushes the debris off of him. Blood dripped down his leg and his torso is a canvas of wounds but the pirate doesn't seem to notice.
"You bastard," Straw Hat says, voice dripping with venom.
The entire feeling of the fight changes after that. Blackbeard is suddenly on the offensive and gives no time for Straw Hat to recover. Straw Hat is forced to either dodge or block all the attacks and even Luffy can see that it's taking its toll.
He's keeping us safe, Luffy realizes with a start. He can't fight fully because we'll get hurt.
The two fighters separate again. Straw Hat is panting heavily, leaning on his left side. At some point he lost his shirt in the fight, leaving the scar on his chest to be proudly displayed. Blackbeard is injured as well, but grinning ear to ear. Luffy knows at this rate, if something doesn't happen-doesn't change-then Straw Hat would lose this fight. He would lose this fight and there would be no one left to protect Luffy and his friends. This all happened because he was stupid enough to check out something that he should've stayed away from. He should have listened.
His friends would die because of him.
Blackbeard lifts his fist as his darkness swirls around. Straw Hat tenses, getting ready for the fight to resume before freezing. Suddenly, Straw Hat grins, wild and happy. He jumps back—
"—HIKEN!" A shout comes from above and suddenly the warehouse is set ablaze. One of his friends yanks him back as fire curls and flares to life. When the fire fades, Luffy can see that Blackbeard is no longer ready to attack, but instead across the warehouse covered in burns. Another figure lands just feet from Straw Hat and Luffy almost cries in relief.
There, standing in all of his blazing glory, is Fire Fist.
"Luffy," someone behind him whispers and Luffy whips around only to see his own brother's face. The rest of his friends look at Ace with various stages of relief. Ace yanks him into a hug, looking more worried and relived than Luffy has ever seen him. "Oh, god. I'm so glad you're okay. We have to get out of here, Fire Fist took out the guys outside."
"Ace!" Chopper shouts and goes to hug Luffy's brother. Ace releases Luffy and hugs the boy back. "Do you know what's going on?"
Ace smiles at them sadly, "I do, but worry about that later okay? We—"
"You're supposed to be dead," a voice interrupts and all of them turn to see Blackbeard pushing himself to his feet.
"Going to take a little more than a magma fist to kill me apparently," Fire Fist sneers at him. Fire wraps around his shoulders like a blanket. "Traitor."
Blackbeard glances at both Straw Hat and Fire Fist before scowling. He seems to realize something because his darkness swirls around him, licking at his ankles almost nervously. He takes a step forward just as both pirates lunge at him, only to dissolve into the shadows of the warehouse. Straw Hat and Fire Fist crash to the floor, empty handed even though the enemy had been there moments ago.
"Damn it!" Fire Fist jumps to his feet and the fire around him flares to life. "He got away."
"He ran," Straw Hat agrees before turning to where Luffy and the others were. "He's not here anymore."
"You sure?" Ace calls and Luffy finally feels like he can breathe again. Every part of his body aches but he's okay. His friends are okay.
"He's not anywhere near here, that's for sure," Fire Fist says. He's eyeing Straw Hat, who looks worse for wear but had a grin on his face with his hat firmly planted on his head. "Coward. Knows he can handle both of us so he ran."
Usopp interrupts them before they can continue sounding worse for wear, "Can someone please explain what is going on here?"
Ace calls Marco and Thatch to update them on the situation (and tell them about the house). Then, Ace, Fire Fist and Straw Hat give Luffy's friends a very detailed and very long explanation ("They're.. they're really pirates?" "Hey! You guys are too! You're my crew!" "Your WHAT?") about the other world and demonstrations of their powers. Most of them look on with disbelief, but it's hard to dispute the fact that there are now two Luffys and two Aces and they somehow have magical powers.
In the end, there is nothing else for them to believe.
"You guys look different!" Straw Hat says as he bounds up to Luffy's friends. He grins as they lean back, weary. "Sonja's eyebrow isn't swirly, Chopper's not a reindeer, Franky's not a cyborg, Robin isn't old and Brook isn't dead!"
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!" Sanji shouts and Straw Hat laughs at them instead of answering.
"Don't try and put logic and them together," Ace warns them. "Their world is very different than ours."
"To be fair," Fire Fist says and laughs when he sees Sanji try to get answers out of Straw Hat. "Lu—Straw Hat's adventures are weird even by our world's standard."
"Luffy-san always gets involved in the most interesting things!" Brook laughs.
"By interesting," Nami says and rubs the side of her arm. "You mean dangerous, right?"
"I don't think he had a choice in this situation," Franky says.
Robin stares at Straw Hat's chest with a frown. She seemed to be thinking of something, glancing from Straw Hat to Luffy. "That scar…"
Straw Hat turns to look at her and then glances at his chest. The happy smile that he wore only seconds ago fades. He traces the edges, almost lost in thought before he shakes his head and gives her a small smile. "It's a reminder of what happens when I'm not strong enough to protect the ones I love."
Fire Fist flinches from where he was sitting at Ace's side and Ace is suddenly reminded of the war that both fought in. Ace wonders how it must feel, sitting on the execution platform as your family fights for your freedom with their lives. Ace has a hard time thinking about his brother fighting, much less fighting in a war for his sake.
Straw Hat goes to get up and stretches, wiping blood from his forehead. Ace frowns at him, "Hey, sit down."
"You're heavily injured!" Chopper chimes in.
Straw Hat looks at him strangely (maybe he isn't used to Chopper being human?) before grinning. "Don't worry! I just need food."
"You're covered in bruises! You're bones should be broken with all that stress!" Chopper argues.
"Oh!" Straw Hat grins, exactly life Luffy's. Ace spots the weirded out looks on Luffy's friend's faces. "Then I just need milk."
"YOU NEED MEDICAL TREATMENT!"
"Look," Ace says, just to calm the high-schooler down. "I don't know what these guys are made of, but it's tougher than steel. He'll be fine. Anyways, we've got bigger problems to worry about."
"Like that man?" Nami asks. "The one with those strange powers?"
"Blackbeard," Fire Fist snarls.
"Yes," Ace says and sighs. When did his life get so complicated? "Blackbeard."
"The solution is easy," Fire Fist snaps. "We track the bastard down, beat the shit out of him and force him to take us back. Then hand his ass over so he can face his crimes in our world."
"Or we could go to the police and let them handle this…" Ussop mutters, but everyone ignores him.
"So what do we do?" Zoro asks them.
"We?" Fire Fist asks, eyebrow raised. "You guys go home and not get involved."
"We want to help!" Luffy protests.
"No, we don't," Usopp squeaks.
"No offense but you guys are physically weaker than we are," Fire Fist says and Ace is very inclined to agree. There was not much a rag tag group of high schoolers, one retired mechanic and an old musician can do. "Blackbeard will crush you. What he was doing was barely any of his power. He's defeated me and I am—was—the second division commander of the strongest man in our world."
"We can still help," Zoro tries to protest, but Fire Fist shakes his head.
"Blackbeard has killed before," Fire Fist says. "He murdered the Thatch of our world and won't hesitate to do the same to you guys."
"You guys should go home," Ace says instead, before an argument can break out. "Keep your cell phones on and if you see anything even mildly suspicious, I want you to call me, okay?"
"How's that going to help?" Franky asks.
"These guys," Ace grins and pulls Straw Hat's cheek (yes, it stretches, and yes it's still creepy). Puffy's friends lean back at the casual display of a Devil Fruit. "Are super-fucking-human and can probably make it across town in five minutes."
"Less," Fire Fist says proudly.
"But be careful," Ace warns them. "Until this blows over, you guys should stay in your houses. Blackbeard is going after us now. He wants us dead. ALSO," Ace rounds on Fire Fist and glares at him, "Where did your shirt go?"
Fire Fist glances down at his very naked torso and shrugs, "I burned it."
"You asshole, that was my shirt, I was just letting you borrow it!"
Marco and Thatch show up at the warehouse twenty minutes later, taking in the damage with wide eyes. Ace has never been so happy to see his friends in his life.
"Are you guys okay?" Thatch asks Luffy's friends while Marco goes to help Chopper check everyone's injuries.
"Mostly," Robin tells him with a small smile.
"Getting attacked by a supervillain," Usopp says. "Completely normal. Totally."
"These pirates don't know what normal is," Thatch says and laughs. "You get used to it, kind of."
Straw Hat's telling a story to anyone who listened, something about Fishmen and islands and really big armies. Ace decides that it might be better for his health if he doesn't know and goes to sit with his double, who's watching Straw Hat with a fond smile.
Fire Fist glances at Ace, "How are you holding up?"
"My car was stolen," Ace mutters and pinches the bridge of his nose. "My house burned down, I've been baby sitting pirates for the last two weeks, and now we want to hunt down a guy with the power of darkness. I am stressed."
His counterpart has enough decency to look guilty, "It's not like we wanted to be transported here anyways."
"I guess so," Ace says and sighs because it really wasn't the pirates' fault—they are just as much the victims as Ace is. It was just their universally shitty luck that they ended up here and it was Ace's universally shitty luck that they ended up with him.
"We'll search for Blackbeard once everyone is healed," Fire Fist says. "Then we'll be out of your hair forever."
"Yeah, that can't come soon enough," Ace doesn't want to admit it, but the pirates have grown on him. He's going to miss their abnormal eating habits, incredible stories and destruction of the laws of physics. His house (once he gets a new one, that is) is going to be much quieter without them around.
Fire Fist suddenly straightens, alert. From across the room, Straw Hat stops his story and looks up with alarm. Ace tenses, judging the two. They were both looking at the ceiling of the warehouse, weary but not in fighting positions.
"You feel that?" Fire Fist asks Straw Hat.
Straw Hat nods his head just as the ceiling explodes in colorful light. Ace is on the floor in minutes and chaos overtakes the room with everyone scrambling to get out of the way. There's a ringing in his ears, so loud that Ace covers his head that was screaming at him to move and leave.
As soon as it happens, everything stops. The warehouse goes back to being a normal abandoned warehouse except for a single object now on the floor in the middle of everyone.
On the ground is a single, colorful snail.
pls review, love those reviews
also rip ace's life bc man, ur screwed. only six more chapters of this story left!