Near the waters of the Arlong Park, a lone Marine warship floated at anchor.
Inside, a certain greasy Marine officer paced furiously.
"Damn brat! How dare he take down Arlong's crew—do you know how much money I just lost?!"
Captain Nezumi's rat-like features twisted into a snarl as he glared at the photo he'd just captured—one showing Portgas D. Ace, his finger extended, ablaze with a pillar of fire, pointing directly ahead.
It was a still of the exact moment Ace incinerated Arlong.
The moment everything changed.
"I'll make sure you're wanted. You'll never have a moment's peace again!"
Nezumi jammed the image into a fax and sent it off to Marine Headquarters, all while spewing embellishments into the Den Den Mushi.
"I'm telling you, he's a ruthless pirate! He wiped out the entire Arlong Pirates! Extremely dangerous—he deserves a bounty of at least 30 million!"
A tired voice replied from the other end of the line. "So… what's his name?"
Nezumi froze.
"His name… uh…"
He wracked his brain, but he'd been too far away to hear clearly.
"I think it was... 'Ai-shi'? Something like that?"
"Do you mean Ace?" came a calm, amused voice.
Nezumi's face lit up with wicked glee—until he looked up and saw the source of the voice.
"You… you… YOU…!"
Nezumi's entire body began to tremble.
This was the man who had single-handedly destroyed the Arlong Pirates.
He tried to scream. "GUARDS! SOMEBODY HELP—!"
But no one came.
"Don't waste your breath."
Ace's eyes were cold. He raised his flame-wreathed index finger and pointed it at the captain.
Outside, the Marines had already collapsed—overwhelmed by the sheer force of Ace's Conqueror's Haki.
"I told you," Ace said, his voice ice beneath fire.
"Anyone who makes my navigator cry—dies."
A cruel smile stretched across his face.
And in the next instant, Nezumi was consumed in a blaze of fire, his screams echoing briefly before being silenced forever.
"Hey! Hello?! What's going on over there?!" came the panicked voice from Marine HQ through the Den Den Mushi.
Ace picked up the receiver, smiling casually.
"He's dead."
"Wh—Who are you?!"
"Remember this," Ace said. "The one who took out the Arlong Pirates and that rat of a captain… was me—Portgas D. Ace. The Flame Man of the Flame-Flame Fruit."
He hung up the call with a soft click.
The Den Den Mushi drooped its head, falling into sleep.
Ace stepped out onto the deck, the salty wind brushing his skin.
His gaze drifted to the horizon—wide, endless.
Memories stirred: the laughter of his brothers, Luffy and Sabo, in the wild forests of Dawn Island.
In his hand, he held the letter Sabo had once written.
Sabo, who likely still wandered the world with no memory of who he was.
Ace wouldn't wait around to die like in the original timeline—to fall to Akainu's magma fist and only then jolt Sabo back into remembering.
No.
This time, he would carve his name into the sea itself.
He would shout so loud that Sabo would have to remember.
"Wait for me to make a name for myself, Luffy... and you too, Sabo."
A quiet smile touched his lips.
Aboard the Going Merry...
"Ace! We still don't have a Jolly Roger!" Nami beamed as Ace returned to the ship.
Thanks to Kaya's Heal-Heal Fruit, the tattoos on Nami's arm—and on Nojiko's too—had vanished entirely.
Nojiko had only gotten her own tattoo to make Nami feel less ashamed. Now, with the emblem of the Arlong Pirates finally gone, both women looked free.
With the shadow of Arlong erased, Nami had thrown herself into designing their new symbol.
"We don't even have a crew name!" Kaya chimed in, her eyes sparkling.
"A name and a flag, huh…" Ace mused.
He grabbed a brush and started sketching.
Before long, a bold design filled the canvas: a fierce, flame-ringed skull radiating heat and pride.
"The Flame Emperor Pirates!" Ace laughed, lifting the flag high.
"That's who we are now!"
"That's so badass!" Nami exclaimed. "Nojiko, I'm getting it tattooed on my arm!"
"Huh? Really?" Nojiko blinked, then smiled warmly. "Actually… it is kinda cool. I'll get one too."
Her grin was real—deep and full of peace.
Nami truly loved this new crew.
And more importantly, she had finally let go of the past.
Thank you, Ace.
Thank you for healing Nami… and for saving me too.
Nojiko looked at Ace, her lips curling into a gentle smile.
"I... I..." Kaya started to speak.
"Kaya," Ace said softly, cutting her off.
She looked up, startled.
"You don't have to force yourself to fit in. You're already one of us."
Ace gently ruffled her hair.
Kaya blinked… then broke into a pure, joyful smile.
"Mm!"
Nami and Nojiko exchanged a glance and laughed quietly together.
"Raise the anchor! Set course for the Grand Line!" Ace shouted, pointing toward the endless sea.
"Yeah!!"
Nami grinned, charting their course.
Nojiko manned the helm.
Kaya held an open medical tome in her lap, smiling along with them.
"Don't forget about my 3-billion-berri Devil Fruit, Captain!" Nami pouted, throwing herself onto Ace's back.
"Three billion? What Devil Fruit?" Ace smirked. "Never heard of it."
"Ace! I'll kill you! Give me back my 3 billion!!" Nami shrieked, shaking him like a rag doll.
"Bwahahaha!"
As the two bickered like children, Kaya and Nojiko laughed from the side.
Nami hadn't changed a bit.
But all the money she'd taken from Arlong's base?
She left it all behind—for Cocoyasi Village.
The Flame Emperor Pirates had set sail.
Their next stop?
The gateway to the Grand Line—Loguetown!
---
TL/N:
Flame Emperor Pirates... or Entei Pirates in japanese. But Entei sounds like that legendary dog pokemon, lol.
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