"Captain Smoker, I've heard that Alabasta just finished a rebellion, and the mastermind behind it, Crocodile, has already been arrested by the Royal Family."
In a corner of the Alabasta port city of Nanohana, a young woman with glasses and a sword at her waist was reporting her gathered intelligence to Smoker, who was puffing on two cigars.
"Crocodile? The one with the title of 'Warlord of the Sea'?" Smoker raised an eyebrow, sounding surprised.
"Exactly him!"
"Hmph, I knew pirates couldn't be trusted. They never turn over a new leaf." Smoker exhaled a cloud of white smoke. "But the Alabasta Royal Family actually managed to defeat that Sand Crocodile?"
"The rumors say that a princess here happened upon a hero and invited him back. He then crushed Crocodile's conspiracy with overwhelming force."
"A hero? What's his name?"
"It's not clear yet."
"Tashigi, find out his identity as soon as possible. We should demand that the Alabasta Royal Family extradite Crocodile, since he's a pirate appointed by the World Government. Also, don't forget the trail of Straw Hat Luffy and his crew."
"Yes, sir!"
Tashigi hurried off, leaving Smoker alone in his cloud of smoke. "A hero outside the Marines? If he could beat Crocodile, he's got real strength. Maybe I can recommend him to Marine Headquarters."
While lost in thought, he suddenly heard someone shout: "Oh no! Someone just died while eating in the shop!"
"Hmm?" Smoker frowned and walked toward the restaurant where the commotion was happening.
As soon as he stepped inside, his attention locked onto a person sitting with their back to him. On that person's back was the tattooed emblem of a notoriously infamous pirate crew.
That mark... he must be... Smoker narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Fire Fist Ace!"
"Ah? Who's calling me?" Ace pulled his face out of a pile of food, looking dazed.
"He's not dead!" a bystander grumbled. "He just fell asleep while eating."
"Portgas D. Ace, Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division... why has someone like you come to this country?" Smoker demanded.
Someone from the Whitebeard Pirates... The crowd sensed trouble and began to scramble away.
"I'm looking for my little brother." Ace gave a wide grin, the freckles on his face bunching together.
"Your brother?"
"Yeah, he's a pretty amazing pirate himself."
"Then it's perfect. I'll round up both of you brothers right here."
"I don't think so."
Smoker and Ace locked eyes. Simultaneously activating their fruit powers, fire and smoke instantly filled the entire restaurant.
…
News of the clash between the two quickly reached the ears of Baroque Works and was delivered to Vivi in the capital.
"The Marines and pirates are here?" Vivi frowned, deeply displeased that these two were fighting in a town with no regard for civilian safety.
"I'll tell Aomori first and let him decide."
Vivi called over Pidgeot and tied a letter to its leg. Pidgeot chirped in understanding and soared into the blue sky.
Ten minutes later, Aomori learned of Ace and Smoker's presence in Nanohana. He flashed a smile that made Crocodile's heart skip a beat. "Old Croc, looks like you're getting a cellmate soon. Happy?"
"..." Crocodile was, naturally, happy. It meant his personal beating time would be cut in half.
"Perfect timing to test my new skill." Aomori snapped his fingers and vanished from the cell.
Crocodile breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the Seastone cuffs on his wrists. With a thought, his palms suddenly turned pitch black, as if he were wearing a pair of black gloves.
He pulled with a bit of force, and the cuffs let out a clack-clack sound, but they didn't break.
"Still not enough?" He wasn't discouraged; instead, a smirk crept onto his face. "You didn't expect this, did you, Aomori? Thanks to you, I've mastered Armament Haki. When the time is right, I'm going to give you a massive surprise."
However, in his moment of triumph, he failed to notice a shadow in the corner of the wall ripple slightly.
…
"Finally shook off that annoying smoky guy."
Ace ducked into a civilian house, taking off his hat to fan himself. Listening to the sounds of the Marine search outside, he worried: "With them searching like this, I can't even go out. I wonder when Luffy will get here?"
Unlike the original timeline, without assassins hunting them, Luffy and the crew weren't in such a rush. Lacking an Eternal Pose to Alabasta, they were moving island by island, putting them a few days behind schedule. They had just left Drum Island and were heading this way.
As he thought, his head suddenly slumped, and a large snot bubble expanded from his nose. Ace had fallen asleep again.
When he woke up again, he found himself in the middle of a vast desert. Standing before him was a handsome young man.
"Wait, strange... am I dreaming?" Ace scratched his head and bowed to the handsome youth. "Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but do you know where we are?"
Aomori replied with a smile, "We're about ten kilometers outside of Nanohana."
"I see. Thanks a lot!" Ace waved and turned to leave.
"Ace, aren't you going to ask how you got here? Besides, you're going the wrong way. Nanohana is in that direction," Aomori pointed out.
"You know who I am?" Ace turned back. "Really, thank you. If I went the wrong way, I'd miss Luffy."
"Save the thanks for later. For now, how about chatting with me about Whitebeard?" Aomori rubbed his chin. "For instance, how many years do you think he has left to live?"
Ace stopped in his tracks. His eyes narrowed, and his tone turned icy. "Pops is in great health. He'll live another hundred years!"
"Don't misunderstand, I'm worried about him. Working himself to the bone for his unfilial sons every day... I feel bad for him." Aomori spread his hands and sighed. "Alas, the great pirate who once stood equal to the Pirate King, Gold Roger, reduced to this state."
"Who are you? What right do you have to talk about Pops like that?!" Ace clenched his fists, his anger surging.
"Me? My name is Aomori, and I'm a hero." Aomori wagged a finger. "I'll be visiting your Pops soon, and I'll be bringing you along as a gift."
"Hmph, 'hero' my ass. There's no such thing as a hero in this era!" Ace slid his right foot back, raising a fist already wreathed in red flames. "If you want to take me, let's see if you have the guts!"
"Fire Fist!"
A massive fist made of flames roared toward Aomori like a rocket. The air warped and distorted from the sheer heat.
Facing a move powerful enough to sink a battleship, Aomori smiled and threw a punch of his own. With a BOOM, the fire fist was shattered into pieces.
"Tch!" Ace leaped into the air, hands gathering a massive amount of fire, raining down a barrage of fireballs toward the ground.
The rain of fire hit a shield around Aomori's body, causing mere ripples.
Using the fire rain to obscure Aomori's vision, Ace closed the distance rapidly. His hands transformed into lances of flame, thrusting ruthlessly.
"Shinka: Shiranui!"
"Good!" Aomori's eyes lit up. His arms shook, suddenly wrapped in bands of purple light.
His purple-tinted arms, carrying his full strength, struck out to parry the twin flame lances and landed a heavy blow on Ace's abdomen, sending him flying.
Ace spun dozens of times in the air before crashing into a sand dune, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Feeling the sharp pain in his gut, he muttered, "Armament Haki?"
"Something like that." Aomori looked at his purple arms with a look of self-satisfaction.
This was the product of his "passionate" sparring sessions with Crocodile, a blend of his own will and energy fixed onto his limbs, achieving an effect similar to Armament Haki.
"What? Haven't you met an opponent who uses Armament Haki before?"
"Of course I have," Ace said, performimg a kip-up to get back on his feet while gritting his teeth.
"It looks like you've suffered quite a bit at their hands. Don't tell me you don't know how to use it yourself?" Aomori teased.
"Don't look down on me! Something like Armament Haki... I learned it in a single day!" Ace reset his combat stance, a layer of black coating his arms. "But compared to Haki, my fruit powers are much more comfortable to use."
He actually knows it. Aomori was slightly surprised. Since Ace rarely used it in the original story, many people assumed this New World veteran only relied on Conqueror's Haki.
Even better. Now I can see how my new 'Armament Haki' stacks up against his.
The battle erupted again. Both charged at each other, colliding in the desert. Aomori intentionally used only his new Haki, engaging Ace in fierce close-quarters combat.
However, within just a few exchanges, Ace was yelping in pain. He clutched his fading black arms and retreated rapidly.
"Why is my Haki losing to yours?"
"Because there are levels to it. Didn't you see mine is a different color? This is high-level Armament Haki." Seeing that he had pushed Ace back so easily, Aomori was in a great mood.
"Dammit! Haki is too clunky to use." Ace decided to ditch the Haki and go back to his Devil Fruit powers. "Even if you have 'high-level' Haki, it won't save you from the raw damage of my fruit. If I knock you down first, you can't touch me!"
Ace roared, and raging flames concentrated on his arms. He leaped into the air, twisting his body. As he spun, the flames turned into a swirling pillar of fire, which he directed down at Aomori.
"Enkai: Hibashira (Flame Commandment: Fire Pillar)!"
"Hilarious. How can the man who's going to defeat you be defeated by you?" Aomori spouted nonsensical trash talk. Still using his new Haki, he threw hundreds of punches in the split second the fire pillar reached him, physically annihilating the flames.
"You've got some moves." Ace had to admit, this opponent was the strongest person he'd fought besides his Pops. His battle spirit was fully ignited.
If he started the fight to defend his Pops' honor, he was now fighting for the pure thrill of it. He loved the stimulation of this duel.
"In that case, I'm going all out."
Endless flames erupted from Ace's body. He manipulated them to swirl manically around him, eventually condensing them into a giant fireball the size of an aircraft carrier, held aloft in his palm.
Ten kilometers away in Nanohana, Smoker, who was searching for Ace from a rooftop, noticed a second sun appearing in the distance. "That's..."
"Let's go, Tashigi. We're heading that way."
"Yes, sir!"
"Good thing I brought you out here. If this went off in the city, the whole place would be leveled," Aomori remarked, looking at the massive sun. "Logia users really aren't to be trifled with."
"Scared? Then go to hell full of regret!" Ace roared, hurling the massive fireball at Aomori.
"Scared? I'm just thinking about which move to use. Teleporting away would be disrespectful to you, so..." Aomori's eyes flashed. Mimicking Ace's pose, he converted all his energy into lightning, condensing a massive orb of electricity of the same scale and hurling it.
The lightning and fire collided, triggering a terrifying explosion of energy. The entire world turned white, filled with blinding light and searing heat.
Smoker and Tashigi, who had just left the city, witnessed the aftermath. The experienced Smoker quickly led his stunned subordinates back into the city and ordered the gates shut. Seconds later, a violent sandstorm hit.
Once everything settled, Smoker and the others ventured out again toward the source of the light. When they arrived, they couldn't believe their eyes.
Before them was a massive crater in the sand, its surface covered in a layer of shimmering glass from the heat, radiating a temperature so high they couldn't even get close. Aside from them, there wasn't a soul in sight.
"What happened here?" Tashigi took off her glasses, wiped them frantically with her sleeve, and put them back on. The scene remained the same.
"A battle," Smoker said, exhaling multiple streams of smoke. "Two or more people fought here. One of them was Fire Fist Ace; only he could create an environment this hot."
"Ace? When did he leave the city? And who was he fighting? There shouldn't be many people capable of forcing him to use a move that powerful."
"I don't know. The battle traces were erased by that final impact. Even a body would have been turned to ash. The only thing we know for sure is that there is a hidden powerhouse in Alabasta we know nothing about." Smoker said grimly, "Tashigi, be extremely careful from now on."
"Yes, sir!"