The Fire Fist Reaper.

Ch.1

Death. For Ace, it felt like something very calming right now. He felt the blood rush out of the hole in his chest, as he said his last few words to his little brother.

With a smile, he fell on the ground. The last thing he heard, was a scream of pure sadness. Ace knew that Luffy would be alone now. But his brother would eventually get over it, he was sure. He would always think of Luffy, even though he was dying right now.

He fell into a black darkness. Luffy's screaming and the sounds of battling fading away in the distance. The pain in his muscles and in his chest also disappeared. He was so tired, but he knew he would rest for all eternity. Maybe there would be some kind of heaven? Would his parents be there?

He somehow felt curious about it. As he fully lost consciousness of his body, it felt like his spirit just flew away. He felt like he was floating in an endless, painless space. No sound, just everything calm. He kind of liked this silence. But, after a while, it felt like he was pulled back? Was he still alive after all? He kind of missed his brother already, but how can he possibly be still alive?

The sounds of battling and Luffy's screaming were echoing through his mind, and he suddenly felt his body again. He felt his heart beating slightly, but didn't felt the need of air. As soon as he got his consciousness back, he almost shot up, his eyes wide open.

"You're awake, I see." An unfamiliar, stern voice spoke. Ace blinked a few times, but his vision was strangely blurry. He felt something soft under him, as if he was sitting on a bed. He sensed a cold atmosphere, though.

It didn't felt like the warm temperature of home. He placed a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes, because his head started to sting like crazy. He said after a while: "Luffy. Where is my little brother? Is he safe? Where am I, anyway?" The stern voice spoke again: "I have no idea who that is, nor do I know where he is. You're in the Shinigami Dispatch Society."

Ace got confused right away. Shinigami? Why would some company call themselves death gods? Coffin business or something?

His mind was filled with questions, but before he could response the stern voice spoke up again: "Your soul somehow managed to get to another universe, because your cinematic record didn't showed anything that would be from this world. Another odd thing was that your soul was also capable of becoming a Shinigami. So, Portagas D. Ace, welcome to your new life as a Shinigami."

Ace became even more confused, frowning deeply. He opened his eyes again, only to see a few grey, black, white and skin-colored blurs. He said a bit annoyed: "This must be some kind of sick joke. I'm the second division commander of the Whitebeard pirates, not some kind of Shinigami."

He glared slightly at the blur where the voice came from. The voice sighed and said: "It's not a joke, Portagas. How else will you explain the fact that your heart is beating and that you're still alive?"

The voice was kind of right about that, Ace knew. It was all just very confusing for him. He didn't really had a choice. How else would it be possible? Maybe it was a good idea to go along with this whole Shinigami joke, just to see if they're really serious about this.

He sighed deeply after a while, grumbling: "Fine, I'll go along with you people for a while. But don't expect me to act like a dog. I'm still loyal to pops, not to some kind of weird company." He heard a pair of glasses being lift up, and the voice spoke: "Good. Now, put these trainee glasses on. Your eyesight drops dramatically when you get your Shinigami eyes."

He felt a pair of glasses on his lap. He carefully picked up the glasses, slowly putting them on. He really had to get used to this weird feeling of glasses on his nose. As he got his vision back, he saw the owner of the voice.

It was a stern and uptight looking man. Dark brown hair neatly combed and piercing, green-yellow eyes. He was wearing a black suit, which seemed to match with his glasses and hair. He had some kind of long stick in his hand, almost just as long as himself. The stick had a clipper at one end, and some kind of handle in the middle. The man was also wearing gloves and a shining pair of shoes.

Ace looked away from the man and looked around the room. Grey walls, grey bed with white sheets and a mirror. A pretty dull room, so he said bluntly: "This room needs color." The man sighed, lifting his glasses up again and said: "Colors bring emotion. Shinigamis are supposed to do their job without emotion. That's why the rest of the building is mostly white and grey."

Ace frowned a bit, responding: "You guys are a bunch of pretty dull people. What's your name, anyway?" The man lifted up his glasses again, his eyes almost piercing through Ace, and said: "My name is William T. Spears. Supervisor of the Dispatch Management Division."

Ace smiled sheepishly, saying a bit awkwardly: "Sounds fancy, but I have no idea what that whole division is, William."

Said man responded, hiding his annoyance: "We judge and take the souls of those who are about to die. If the person is judged dead after the review of their cinematic record, their soul will be taken away by the Shinigami with a so-called Death Scythe," He holded the strange stick in his hand up a bit as some sort of example "a tool to gather souls with. It cuts out the soul of the dying human. And before you ask, a cinematic record is a kind of film of the person's life until his death. We Shinigamis then discuss if the person is important to keep alive or not."

Ace tried to understand all the information, but the amount made his head spin. He then thought of Luffy, who would broken by his 'death'. He quickly asked: "B-But how will I be able to get back to Luffy, my little brother?"

William plainly answered: "You can't. It's already odd that you could travel to another universe. Your brother is in another universe, Portagas. You won't get back there anymore." Ace sighed. He missed Luffy. He knew Luffy would get over his death after a long while, but he still had an empty feeling of loneliness in this new world without his little brother or friends.

After a silence, he said: "So, what do I do now?" William answered: "You go to the academy, of course. Only, you already have experience in battling so I don't think it will be a long time until you graduate. Now, follow me."

With that said, William walked outside. Ace stood up, his legs still shaky. He frowned a bit when he noticed that he was wearing a suit, only he still had his necklace.

He sneakily opened the lower and upper part of his jacket and blouse, because the tight suit made him feel a bit uncomfortable and warm, so the cool breeze he felt on his stomach was a relief.

He still followed William through the long hallways. It took a long time, but they reached a pair of double doors. 'Academy' was written on a small sign above the door. William nodded towards the door and said: "Go and good luck, Portagas." He lifted his glasses up and walked away.

Ace stood there for a while, but then finally decided to open the double doors and walked into a bright, white light.