Ace POV
"Ace?"
The person behind the Den Den Mushi called out my name with a questioning tone. I didn't recognize the voice, so I asked, "Yeah, who's asking?"
No one spoke; silence took over the island.
The silence was shattered by sudden laughter. "Hahahahaha! So, Ace! What's your current bounty?!"
Confused by the sudden laughter and amusement coming from the Den Den Mushi, I answered his question, "85 million berries!"
The person giggled and spoke to the bounty hunter, "Rengar, don't kill them."
The two began to argue right in front of us. However, I didn't like the fact that they thought they were sparing us. What's more, they began to ignore us, the Spade Pirates!
I began to form flames using my fist and was about to release a massive Fire Fist until the ground shook, and a giant shadow loomed and belittled me. I turned around and saw a massive man standing before me. His eyes gazed down upon me like I was but an insect.
He didn't do anything but stare at me, but his presence alone made my very soul tremble. I gritted my teeth and released the Fire Fist towards the giant man's face.
"Fire Fist!"
Nearby buildings were destroyed, and my crew readied themselves to fight. However, their morale would soon shift to fear as they saw the man without a scratch on his face.
"Are you trying to freeze me to death?" the man asked.
"H-How?"
Words were stuck in my mouth as no one had ever survived my full Fire Fist. A fully charged Fire Fist could easily obliterate a giant ship.
"Oh, was that supposed to be fire?"
The man raised his arms and pointed his fingers upwards. Flames began to surge all around and created a massive fireball that resembled the sun.
"This is TRUE flames."
As the man readied himself to release the miniature sun, the voice from the Den Den Mushi spoke and commanded the man to stop, "Stop it, Escanor. I wanna speak to the boy."
Escanor looked at the Den Den Mushi and quickly got rid of his miniature sun. As he did, I spotted a figure running toward us with a trail of dust being left behind as he ran. On the figure's shoulder, there was a little girl sitting while reading a book.
I got rid of the flames from my fist and asked, "W-What the hell is going on?"
The Den Den Mushi laughed and said, "Hahahaha! Ignore them, they won't harm you. Allow me to introduce myself and these retards. I am King Markon, of Demacia. The furry is Rengar, a bounty hunter, and my brother. Those retards that just came are from the merchant guilds in our Kingdom."
I was confused, as I had never heard of a Kingdom named Demacia. With these powerful guys, it wouldn't take much effort to gain fame.
"I've never heard of a Kingdom called Demacia. Where is it located?"
"Well, I can't really tell you where it's located. However, I can have the merchant guild show you the way, without looking at the map, of course. You see, we're a newly formed Kingdom, and I wouldn't want random people to enter."
"So then why are you offering?"
There was a slight pause, then he continued, "Because I know you aren't some normal pirate. Your bounty wasn't built through pillaging like others. And you could also say I have a hunch, a gut feeling, that our meeting is by fate."
Without hesitation, I answered Markon, "Thank you for the offer, but we're not going."
I didn't want to risk the life of my crew, and I didn't know much about Demacia and its ruler to go there. However, as I turned around and walked towards the coast where our ship was docked, the man spoke again.
"I'll give you a Devil Fruit. You can do whatever you want with it. You can sell it, eat it, or give it to someone else, I don't care. I'm sure you know that you aren't strong enough for the new world, after seeing what my men could do. So I'm giving you a chance to gain power, or make your crew stronger so they don't have to rely on you."
Although my crew isn't the strongest, with me, Skull, and Mihar being the main force of our group, if push comes to shove, we could potentially all die if we meet a stronger crew. This confrontation showed how weak we truly are.
"I already told you, no. And besides, I'm sure we'll get stronger in our journey."
As I commanded my crew to leave, the man gave one more push and said, "What about you, Masked Deuce? You're the Vice Captain, yet you have to rely on Ace and the others when it comes to fighting. I'll give you a fruit, right now. But you have to convince this captain of yours to come meet me."
I looked at Deuce and frowned, as I saw him faltering and clenching his fist. Deuce struggles to be respected by the crew, often relying on Skull and Mihar. He wasn't a fighter, but a doctor. However, being the Vice Captain of the Spade Pirates made the others believe that he should be stronger.
Seeing his struggles, I looked back and said, "Fine. Give us the fruit and tell us what its powers are. If it's weak, then we're leaving."
The Den Den Mushi smiled and ordered the little girl, "Myne! Stop reading! I know you're reading right now instead of doing work! Give the bag to the guy with the weird-looking mask and let fate decide what he gets."
Myne closed her book with annoyance and gave a bag to Deuce. Deuce closed his eyes and picked a random fruit from the bag. The fruit was a head that had a clown face. Deuce looked at the fruit, and the fruit's eyes opened and smiled at Deuce. The smile gave everyone goosebumps.
Deuce, looking at the fruit, quickly took a bite. I yelled at Deuce and said, "Deuce! Didn't I ask for them to explain it first?!"
Deuce looked at me and said, "I-I don't know… I just had the feeling that I should eat it already."
I looked at the little girl and yelled, "What did you give Deuce?! I ate a Devil Fruit and it wasn't like this!"
"Ugh, do I have to explain every time? That fruit is a Mythical Zoan. To be precise, it's called: Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Shaco. As it's a Mythical Zoan, we don't know much about it, but we do know it's powerful."
I gritted my teeth and looked at Deuce and asked, "Do you feel anything different?"
"Y-Yea-"
Before he could finish, Deuce suddenly disappeared.
"Deuce!" yelled everyone in the Spade Pirates.
However, as we ran toward Deuce, he suddenly appeared. But this time, there were now two Masked Deuces.
Everyone stopped and looked at Deuce with confusion. I stepped up and asked him, "Which one is the real one?"
The two looked at each other and said,
"I'm the real one!"
Kingdom of Demacia
Markon smiled and giggled as he heard the commotion on the other side of the Den Den Mushi. As he giggled, he looked in a random direction that had a blue screen.
[Quest: Fated Meeting
Meet with Fire Fist Ace and gain positive relations with him!
Time: 1 year
Reward: Future connection with the Whitebeard Pirates]
"Hahahahaha! It'll help me greatly if we have him as an ally in the future. You never know, there might be a summon that could heal him… And if there is a summon that could, I'd like to fight Whitebeard in his prime!"