Chapter 1: The Life of Ace Walker

(New York City)

An alarm clock reading 5:00 AM starts blaring in a small apartment and a groan is heard from under some sheets. Sometime later, a hand comes out from under the sheet and hits the alarm clock ending its annoying fussing. Soon the sheet is pushed away revealing a messy black-haired teen. The teen gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom. After about fifteen minutes the teen is standing in front of a mirror adjusting his tie. He stops messing with it, although it looks like it could have used some more attention. He heads to his door to leave, as he steps outside, he takes a look back into his apartment. If one word could describe this place it would have to be "bleh". The place was small enough that people would feel cramped with a single guest. The walls were a mundane grey with several stains throughout. The only thing that seemed out of place was a bookshelf next to a small TV stacked full of multiple figures. Most of the figures featured a teen with a straw hat and an unbuttoned red vest posing mid-action. The owner of the apartment sighed and closed the door making sure to lock it.

After being delayed and waiting an extra thirty minutes, he finally managed to get on his train along with what felt like everyone else in New York. He manages to pull his phone out of his pocket and starts to watch 'One Piece' through his headphones. As the train is pulling into his stop, he watches as Katakuri tells Luffy that "he is seeing quite far into the future" and then proceeds to fall onto his back. He takes out his headphones, gets off the train, and beings to walk to work. He arrives after some time and walks into a rundown building with a sign reading CENTRAL CALLS loosely hanging from the side. Almost as soon as his foot touches the carpet floor inside, the teen's path is blocked by a small thin man with glasses and an obvious toupee combed to the side. He then begins to yell at the teen for seemingly any reasons he can come up with.

"MR. WALKER I HAVE TOLD YOU TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT YOU NEED TO SHOW UP WHEN THE DOORS OPEN, NOT WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE IT! NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT WHEN YOU DID DECIDE TO SHOW UP, YOU CHOOSE TO LOOK LIKE A HOMELESS PERSON! I DID NOT GIVE YOU THIS JOB JUST TO LAZE AROUND AND…."

As the small man continues to yell, the teen begins to zone out as a certain reoccurring memory of his comes to mind:

(FLASHBACK)

He's walking down the sidewalk holding his mother's hand with a big grin on his face. Having noticed this cute smile, his mother couldn't help asking

"What's got you so excited Ace?"

"I saw the coolest fight between Luffy and a man who was made of lighting! He hit him with a big golden ball and…."

As Ace began to explain the Skypiea arc, his mother listened attentively. She knew this was the reason for his grin but asked anyway because she loved seeing how excited he got talking about his favorite show. She had been worrying about him recently after hearing that some kids in his class were picking on him, but after now seeing his bright smile it managed to ease most of her worries. The two continued their talk while crossing the street not aware of the speeding truck heading for them. His mother noticed too late but at the last minute managed to push Ace away from the danger as she alone took the full impact. Due to the high speed of the truck, his mother died instantly. For the next eleven years, Ace lived with different relatives, not staying too long in one place. Since he barely talked or show emotions, only replying with one-word answers, his relatives didn't show much interest in keeping him with some trying to get rid of him as soon as possible. Once he turned 18, he was given some money as a present from a distant relative who sympathized with him and he began living on his own. He started working at this job since he couldn't afford college and would only watch anime, mostly One Piece, in his free time.

Ace came back from thinking about the past at the perfect time as it seemed as though his boss just finished his rant. Ace ended up working overtime unpaid as punishment, and after a long day of work, finally manages to step back into his apartment. He quickly changed into something more comfortable and heated up some instant ramen soon sitting in front of his TV to watch some anime. A couple of episodes later, Ace managed to notice his alarm clock reading midnight and decided to call it a day. He crawled into bed making sure that his alarm was set for the same wake-up time. Ace looked up at the ceiling thinking to himself

'If only I could live as Luffy does. Sailing around with friends without a care in the world. I wonder who would be in my crew. Would I fight using a devil fruit? Or would I want to become skilled in swordsmanship and fight like Shanks or Mihawk?

As his mind began to wander off thinking about how his life could have been different if he was in One Piece, his eyes began to get heavy, and soon he was fast asleep. What Ace didn't know, is that his wish would be heard and answered...well it might be more accurate to say part of his wish was heard and answered.