One Piece: As Portgas D. Ace

│3rd Person POV│

[Marineford, approx. Three hours before Portgas D. Ace's Public Execution.]

"Ace, say the name of your father." Fleet Admiral Sengoku said, addressing the bound form of Portgas D. Ace beside him on the execution platform.

Ace was sitting on the execution platform just like his father once sat in his execution. With an impassive expression on his face, Ace replied in an even tone of voice, "Gol D. Roger."

…

…

…

Marines, The Seven Warlords of the Sea, and all those who were watching the broadcast happening at Sabaody Archipelago, an all-encompassing silence fell upon the audience that heard Ace's reply.

The most shocked one was undoubtedly Garp, Ace's adoptive grandfather.

The Marine Hero never quite imagined that Ace would someday admit to being Roger's son in front of countless people.

Ace let out a small chuckle, breaking the oppressive silence, upon noticing the expression Sengoku was making, "Heh! Never quite expected me to admit that Gol D. Roger was my father, right Fleet Admiral?"

Sengoku visibly pulled himself together and started, "That's right. This man is the son of Gold Roger. The Blood of the world's greatest criminal villain runs through his veins.

"A long time ago, we were desperately searching. We believed that on some island somewhere, Roger's son was born. Cipher Pol could only give us the smallest bit of information.

"So we checked all the newborn children, and all the children that were born soon after, as well as their mother, and we-"

"And you killed all those children you suspected to be me. And their mothers. In total, 187,754 children, plus their mothers were massacred by the marines because of the possibility that they were related to my father, right? And also, my father's name was Gol D. Roger. Don't mistake it again, alright?"

Watching Sengoku's face go purple in anger, Ace simply smiled at him.

Sengoku glared at the executioners standing at the back of the execution platform and they immediately scrambled to Ace. One of them gripped Ace's jaw, keeping it in place, while the other inserted the blade he was holding into Ace's mouth and held it there.

Afterward, Sengoku continued his tale. He told the world about the great sacrifice of Portgas D. Rogue.

Ace's early feats as the Captain of Spade Pirates also came to light. The world learned the 'reason' why Whitebeard took Ace in his crew.

"We couldn't take any rash actions against you because you were protected by Whitebeard!!"

Suddenly, the two executioners fainted. Ace spat out the blade out of his mouth and started laughing wildly.

Only a handful of people present in Marineford could guess how the executioners lost consciousness all of a sudden.

Even they were doubtful of their guess because they didn't feel that power was being used just now.

Only Sengoku, who was just beside Ace, was able to feel it. It came from Ace, and it only targeted both executioners with extreme precision.

Sengoku was only able to feel it because he had his Observation Haki focused on Ace.

He was extremely shocked because what just ensued implied that Ace's proficiency with the Conqueror's Haki surpassed what he would have anticipated from a 20-year-old pirate, even if the pirate in question happened to be a commander of one of the Emperors of the sea.

Ace's laughter subsided as he began speaking, "Sometimes you say the funniest things just to boost the prestige of the Marines, huh?

"You know, if I didn't tell Pops about my father's identity, you Marines wouldn't have been able to find out about it in any situation. After all, the one who told you that I am Roger's son was Marshall D. Teach, who was a Whitebeard Pirates crew member a few months ago.

"That was the only reason a pirate like Teach, who didn't even have a bounty, was able to become one of the Seven Warlords.

"You should not lie, Fleet Admiral. A man of your stature lying sets a really bad example, you know. Maybe writing [I must not tell Lies] a thousand times a day would help."

Just then, a marine arrived at the back of the execution platform to report the opening of the Gates Of Justice without their control and Sengoku lost the chance to do some damage control and raise his men's morale.

=+=+=+=< Scene Break >=+=+=+=

│3rd Person POV│

[Approx. One Month Ago, Impel Down, The Eternal Hell]

One of the cells of Eternal Hell, the sixth level of Impel Down that only a few people in the world were aware of, was host to a pirate of very special identity.

"Ugh~!"

The pirate woke up with a groan, pain raking every part of his body. He swept his eyes through the cell, the chains wrapped around his hands and took in the gloomy environment.

Gradually, the confusion in his eyes was replaced by recognition of his current situation as he thought.

'That's one fucked up time to awaken these memories.'

│1st Person POV of Ace│

In my previous life, I was one of the unamusing members of the human species residing on Planet Earth.

A man in his mid-twenties with a regular nine-to-five job and only one close connection with another person – a friend of mine, upon whom I could depend for anything and everything.

Then suddenly, I found myself in this bizarre white expansion of space.

A screen appeared in front of me stating that I died and some wheels would be rolled that would determine how my next life would start.

The first wheel only had two options, [Intact Memory] or [Erase Memory]. I think this wheel was there to determine whether I get to keep my last life's memories or not.

Fortunately, the needle landed on [Intact Memory].

Then came the second wheel. This one was filled with options and it was gigantic. It was so big that I think Godzilla would appear like a small cat in front of it.

Even then, I was barely able to make out the words that occupied the partitions just in front of me, at the bottom of the wheel.

It started spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning...

When it slowed down to a stop, it seemed like it was about to land on an option that stated, [Earth - Alternate Version of Your Previous Life's Earth.]

I wished with all my heart for the wheel to move one option forward. And it did. I felt immense joy when the wheel stopped on [One Piece - Alternate Universe].

If I get to keep my memories of my last life, then I certainly didn't want to spend my new life in a world where there was close to zero percent possibility for anything supernatural happening.

So I was happy with the outcome.

The third wheel was the same size as the first wheel. It also had only two options like the first one.

[As your own Person] and [As an Already Existing Person]. The latter option was selected. I would have preferred for the former to be selected but well, what was happening was not exactly user-friendly, so the only thing I could do was hope.

Hope that the character that I got to live was one I liked. And he was at least normal-looking.

The fourth wheel was the one to determine who I would reincarnate as. It had the names of all the male named characters of One Piece World.

At least I think so because it was not that big and all the names that I could make out were the ones that were mentioned in the Anime or Manga.

When [Portgas D. Ace] was selected, I was immensely relieved. Ace was one of the most blessed characters in the world of One Piece, second only to Monkey D. Luffy, in my opinion at least.

He had talent, luck, looks, family, and everything in his life a man like me could ask for.

Afterwards, the fifth wheel appeared and it was the same size as the second wheel, I think. Just before the fifth wheel started spinning, a screen appeared in front of me that said that this was the last wheel.

This wheel was responsible for giving me a power-up at the cost of an appropriate drawback.

For example, there was an option that stated [Power:- Chakra and a Special Scroll containing all jutsus; Drawback:- Not able to learn Haki or consume a Devil Fruit.]

Yeah, no. I absolutely didn't want that.

I would love to be able to use Chakra and the myriads of awesome jutsus of Narutoverse.

However, if I had to give up on Haki and Devil Fruit powers that to happen, while living in the world of One Piece, then hell no.

Because then, my predicament would resemble the fox in the tale of The Fox and The Grapes. I would be left only to gaze at the tantalizing grapes hanging within my reach, forever unable to savor them.

Anyway, the power and drawback that the wheel stopped at was-

[Power:- 1. Incomplete Essence of the Blank:- No limitless potential, only enhances every Talent (explored or unexplored) of the user by a substantial degree. No changes in the second and third aspects of the essence.

2. Incomplete Essence of the Archmage:- Perfect Memory with Infinite Storage. Ordinary Genius level intellect. Can teach others discipline or skill set that they shouldn't be capable of learning normally. Can combine incompatible discipline or skill set through experimentation.

Drawback:- 1. Memories from the last Life would remain dormant until after reaching the age of 20.

2. Power would only activate after the awakening of the last Life's memories.]

Now that I've regained the memories of my previous life, I can affirm that luck had not exactly been on my side. I have less than a month to prepare for surviving the fast-approaching Summit War.

I had hoped that I would get my memories before the Arabasta arc.

Well, instead of moping about what-if scenarios, I should focus on the present now.

Before those memories resurfaced, I had basically resigned myself to die. But now that I know how my death would bring nothing but grief to all my loved ones, I absolutely can't afford to die.

Just imagining Luffy going through what Canon-Luffy went through makes my skin crawl with extreme discomfort.

And not just Luffy, there's also Sabo. That bastard, how dare he forget me and Luffy. As the big brother, it is my duty to pound his head until he recovers his memories. And I WILL perform my duty without fail.

On that topic, I am so sorry Arya. Even if the circumstances were beyond my control, I shouldn't have forgotten about you. Please forgive me, my friend. Next time we meet, I will take whatever punishment you have for me without any objection.

Ah! I went off-topic again.

First, I should start by comparing my knowledge of the Canon One Piece World and my memories of this life. Knowing what's different compared to the Canon world would be of huge help in the future.

...To Be Continued.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

A/N: Hello there, Readers. It's been a really long time since I have been active here as a Writer. So, my writing skills may have deteriorated a bit, who knows.

If you find any grammar mistakes or feel like writing a sentence in a certain way will make them more impactful, feel free to comment on the right way to do it. Any bit of constructive criticism would be appreciated.

And yeah, if you find anything that's wrong according to One Piece World Lore or anything interesting that I should know in your opinion, please let me know.

Have a Good Day!!