Chapter Text
Life takes.
It takes and takes and takes, until you have nothing to your name. Until you are dry of everything that would make life worth it to begin with.
Portgas D. Ace has nothing.
Nothing that matters at least.
He has a steel pipe, an akuma no mi and the shadow of the demon following every step he takes.
He also has a straw hat. But that's not his, so it doesn't count.
He had the Spades. It was- they were, a good break, a good false sense of freedom that he let himself indulge for way too long.
It's been a week since he left them behind, since he gave Deuce the option of following without him as their new captain, or to just disband their mismatched crew of hooligans all together.
It was not a fair thing to drop at his ex-first mate, but for all that he enjoyed, he never truly made it a secret that they were a means to an end.
Ace has only himself to blame, or perhaps the demon.
But It wasn't the demon who killed Sabo, it wasn't the demon who killed Luffy.
That's on Ace for being the only one who made it through.
That's on Ace for not being strong enough to protect them.
Ace was supposed to have died 20 years ago at Baterilla, 10 years ago at the Grey Terminal, 3 years ago on a no name island before his stupid journey could even have begun.
But Ace is alive, and for all that it matters he has hit his expiration date several times already, yet no one thought about getting rid of the rotten apple.
Well he is fixing that today.
The ship he is sailing isn’t anything fancy. It's small, small enough he can sail it with a single man crew and not end up adrift, but big enough to not be swallowed by the waters of the New World. It's stolen, like all the things that matter, it doesn't belong to Ace, and that's fine.
But it's enough, it will not save him in battle, but Ace was never meant to survive this confrontation.
He doesn't sail under a pirate flag, not anymore, the Spades were a means to an end, but they were never supposed to end the same way as Ace.
This has nothing to do with them, the straw hat on his head is enough of a flag anyway.
He knew what he was doing when he asked Makino about the man that once owned the hat Ace wears with all the shame and none of the pride it was supposed to have.
She thought he was healing, finally talking about Luffy after so long, he didn't correct her. It was good hearing about his brother, stories from when he was alive and happy, from before he even met Ace.
He knew what he was doing when he said goodbye, hugged Dadan for what felt like the first and last time.
Dadan knew he wasn't coming back, she was old but not stupid. The old hag could never protect him from the demons that mattered. She tried, though.
He knew what he was doing when he left Dawn and the East Blue all together, when he avoided gramps like the plague and became a pirate.
He knew what he was doing when he made a name for himself, earned a bounty with a clear picture, ablaze, all flames and glory, but with his stupid– his little brother’s stupid, straw hat, sitting seemingly proudly on his head for everyone to see.
Ace knew what he was doing when he saw the looming shadow of the Red Force getting closer and closer to his tiny ship.
Part of him wonders if they will just sink his ship, he knows they will not.
At first he didn't move, he just sat, crosslegged in the middle of the deck, straw hat still on his head. It never matched his style the way it matched Luffy’s, but after years wearing it he knows it now has more the shape of his head than his.
For all that Ace is the one who set everything for this encounter to happen, Red Hair is the one who gave chase, who bit the bait.
He should wait, see what they will do and then react to it. But for all that Ace knows he will die for his sins today, he is also a stubborn bastard that prefers to go down on his own terms.
He gets up, the Red Force is close enough that its shade hides the sun from his tiny stolen boat, and then he jumps. A bit of fire on his feet is enough to propel him straight to the railing of the bigger ship.
He lands with ease, crouched, looking at the crew he recognizes from posters and stories of an easier past.
His right hand holds the metal pipe, he hasn't wielded one for a long time now, but it felt right to bring one to his final confrontation, it's soothing, familiar, Sabo would be disappointed with him with how much his form slouched through the years. And his left hand is on Luffy’s hat, it's muscle memory at this point, the thing sometimes has a life of its own, and he can't afford for it to fly away, not today of all days.
There is a gun pointed to his head, it’s fast, one moment it wasn't there, the other it was, he wouldn't have dodged even if he wanted
His eyes meet the owner of the gun, Yasopp. He heard things about the gunslinger, from both Luffy and then Makino. Ace’s eyes don't linger, though.
He looks around, skipping over the big and small names that compose the crew of the Red Hair Pirates, until he lands in their name sake.
Shanks is as intimidating as his reputation makes him out to be, with none of the kindness and easygoing nature Makino’s stories used to cary.
He knows that the only reason he isn't dead already, is because Shanks has no idea how Ace has that hat.
“Fire Fist, Ace.” The Captain doesn't hide his murder intent, his voice is frigid, he spits his name like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
For all that Shanks know Ace is just a small fry parading around with the hat of a dead boy.
Does he know Luffy is dead? Ace has no idea, but he assumes so. He also assumes no one told Shanks about the brother that survived.
“Red Hair, Shanks.”
The name leaves his mouth, not with the reverence Luffy used to say it, nor with the fear he heard from the people who were unfortunate enough to go against him in a battle, but fortunated enough to survive.
Shanks’ name leaves his mouth with the cocky, fake smirk of someone that doesn’t know his own place, there is a flair to it, how saying three words in such a way is already enough to dig his own grave at least three feet under.
Ace isn't here to correct any misunderstandings, he is here to finish one last thing before he is done.
As a good measure he tips the brim of the hat, what would be a regular non consequential greeting in any other place, hits the exact buttons he was aiming for.
“I heard you were asking around for me.” It's not a lie, but also not a full truth, it's a polite guess, based on the fact the yonko has been seen for the last months just slightly late in the same waters The Spades crossed by.
Ace grew up in a jungle, he knows when he is being hunted.
“That hat-” Shanks doesn't point at it, he nods his head instead, his singular hand heavy, unmoving from his sword, that for some miracle is still sheated. “-where did you get it?”
Ace scoffs. “This old thing?” His left hand is still firmly on the hat, holding it on his head with all the protectiveness his words will not convey. “Got it in East Blue some years ago.” For good measure he smiles. He tries thinking of something unpleasant when doing it. Ace was never the best actor, but he can lean his lies in half truths and it normally works. “The kid I took it from was an annoying cry baby.”
There is a sword at his throat before he can even blink, haki washes over him, like an angry ocean wave or a weighted blanket made out of spikes, his legs shake more than he wants to admit. Ace knows the only reason he didn't pass out right then and there it's because Shanks chose so.
“The kid.” Oh Shanks is angry, the part of Ace that should be scared- that is a bit scared, is also a bit happy. He cares about Luffy, that is clear. “Where is he?”
Oh. So no one told Shanks after all. This will suck.
“Dead.” His baby brother has been dead for a long time now, and he can't find it in himself to act cocky for this one. “Died in a fire.”
The sword goes through his throat, he is fire before he can even think.
Ace is a bit surprised Shanks didn't put armament on his sword and just ended him there, but he isn't complaining. Ace came here to die, but he also is craving for a fight. He wants to see the strength of the man that saw the limitless potential that Luffy once had.
He is careful to not set the ship ablaze, he could if he wanted, his feet may scorch their mark in the wood, but nothing more than that, what he wants right now is a satisfactory last fight, and that wouldn't come from sinking it before it could begin.
He reforms right behind the captain, pipe in hands ready to strike and BANG.
He ducks, the bullet grasps at his shoulders and he can feel blood in the middle of flames.
Their captain may have forgotten haki in the midst of his rage but their snipper didn't.
Yassop doesn't hesitate to shoot at him again, and Ace becomes a mix of flames and jumps, getting out of the way of bullets as much as he can.
Someone’s sabre swings way too close to his head, and Ace ducks using his pipe to hit the pirate in the ankles, he hears a yell, the guy falls down, but Ace doesn't look at him, he can't afford the distraction, there are too many of them and too little of him. Ace is here for Shanks, but at this point he will brawl with anyone that offers.
A bullet now hits his arm, lodging itself painfully against bone. He can barely yelp, vision going momentarily white, before another wave of haki hits him full force.
Everyone stops, Ace catches himself in shaky legs, pipe being used as support, the only reason he is still upright.
His eyes are wide looking at Shanks.
He doesn't pass out, refuses to pass out like that. Some of the weaker willed Red Hair pirates drop unconscious on the ground, Ace, a narcoleptic his entire life, fights to stay awake under such pressure.
Shank's doesn't say anything, doesn't need to, he has won, he sheathes his sword, walking, in slow but sure steps, there is no hesitation when he takes the hat off of Ace’s head.
Ace chokes on his spit, glaring at Shanks with all the hatred he can muster, despite the weakness, the black creeping on his vision, he feels his flames lighting up again, even if weak, covering his shoulders and back.
Logically he knows he came here to give the hat back. His plan was to go all out in a battle against a yonko so his name, even if in the mud, would be last known as his and no one else’s.
Logically he knows the hat would end in Shanks’ hand.
Logic can fuck itself, because Ace sees his baby brother’s hat in someone else’s hands and he sees red.
He snarls, all teeth and not enough bite. That's not how it is supposed to go.
“You are stronger than you look.” Shanks put the hat on his own head. It looks like it belongs there, like Luffy. Ace feels sick. “But not strong enough.” He puts his hand on Ace’s neck, holding him by the throat, he could crush his windpipe if he wanted. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.”
Ace spits on him, it lands flat on Shank's wrist. He glares, he will not defend himself, the fact he is still alive is a bit infuriating.
“Okay.” Shanks lets his haki go, and Ace slumps forward, boneless, the only reason he doesn't fall flat on the ground is because of the hand holding him by the throat. He hears the sound of his pipe hitting the floor, the yonko tightens his grip, Ace gags, he can't even lift his arms to fight against it.
“Lucky!” Shank's barks the crewmate’s name in a way even Ace can tell isn't the way he normally orders people around. “Grab the seastone cuffs, I still want to talk with our prisoner."
Oh, no, no, no. Ace is supposed to die, not be made a prisoner.
Panic brings a new wave of adrenaline, the black on his vision recedes just enough so he can snarl at Shanks.
“Luffy never told me you were a coward.” It escapes his mouth before he can think of anything better.
If Luffy was right- and no offence to the dead, but he normally wasn't- Shanks was supposed to be fierce, he was supposed to defend what was his even if it meant killing or being killed for it.
He was supposed to have killed Ace for daring to imply he did harm to Luffy.
Shank's eyes widen, his hold tightens yet again. Ace can see the black dots dancing around his vision with that movement alone.
“So you do know Anchor's name.” He draws through gritted teeth. Seeing the hat on the Redhead’s head is making Ace nauseated in a way he can't explain.
Fuck this.
“I know my own brother’s name, old man.” Despite everything, he spats, glaring with so much rage at the stupid red hair poking under his brother’s straw hat.
“Who are you calling old-?!” The anger breaks, even if for a second, replaced by confusion with a tinge of bafflement. “Wait! Brother?!”
Suddenly he looks a lot like the man from Makino’s stories.
Black creeps in on his vision.
Ace smiles, it shouldn't be funny but it is, Shanks' look of confusion looks a lot like Luffy’s.
With a single chuckle, briefly choking on his own spit, he passes out.