The first rays of sunlight painted the Moby Dick's decks in liquid gold as the massive ship cut through calm New World waters. On the foredeck, a certain firewielding troublemaker was already causing his usual morning chaos.
Ace balanced precariously on the ship's figurehead, bare feet gripping the wooden carving as he stretched toward a nest of seagull eggs. His signature orange hat with its cheerful smiley face and red bead strings threatened to blow away in the sea breeze, revealing his perpetually messy black hair.
"Those aren't for eating, idiot," a familiar voice called from below.
Ace glanced down to see Lale leaning against the railing, her long dark ponytail swaying like a metronome against her back. The morning light caught the golden flecks in her eyes as she watched him with amused exasperation. She wore her usual outfit a cropped black tank top with the Whitebeard insignia, fingerless gloves, and formfitting red pants tucked into kneehigh leather boots. A slender cutlass rested in its sheath at her hip, its polished hilt gleaming.
Ace flashed his trademark grin, freckles crinkling across his nose. "But I'm starving! Teach won't serve breakfast for another hour!" As if to emphasize his point, his stomach growled loud enough to startle the seagulls.
Lale rolled her eyes so hard her whole head moved with them. "You ate three whole pizzas last night. How are you already—"
THOOM
The entire ship shuddered as Whitebeard's laughter erupted from the quarterdeck. "GURARARARA! Good to see my children full of energy this morning!"
In the captain's meeting room, Marco spread a peculiar map across the oak table. The parchment seemed to pulse faintly, its ink shifting like living shadows.
"That's... not normal," Teach commented, poking it with a meat cleaver.
Ace leaned in close, his face inches from the map. His open red vest gaped to reveal the "ASCE" tattoo across his toned chest as the curious flames at his fingertips cast flickering light across the strange markings. "Whoa... it's like the islands are moving!"
Lale crossed her arms, making the muscles in her tanned arms flex. "According to Shanks' message, this leads to an island where shadows don't follow their owners. Some kind of ancient Devil Fruit ability gone wrong."
"Or," Ace's eyes sparkled with mischief, "it's the world's greatest game of shadow tag!"
Before Lale could retort, the map suddenly lurched. Ink tendrils shot out, wrapping around Ace's wrist like living vines.
"Okay, that's definitely not normal," Ace yelped as the map yanked him facefirst onto the table.
Lale sighed and grabbed the back of Ace's vest with one hand, her other already drawing her cutlass. The blade glowed faintly orange as she channeled her heat ability into it. "Why is it always you?"
The island emerged from the mist like a forgotten nightmare. Towering black trees twisted toward the sky, their branches forming eerie silhouettes against the bloodred sunset. The very air tasted metallic, and the ground...
"The ground isn't making shadows," Marco observed grimly.
Indeed, despite the lowhanging sun, nothing cast shadows on the obsidian sand. Nothing except...
"Uh, guys?" Ace pointed at himself. His shadow stretched unnaturally long behind him and it was waving.
Lale's hand flew to her sword. "That's not possible. Unless..." Her golden eyes widened. "Ace, move!"
Too late. Ace's shadow reached up with inky hands and grabbed his ankles, yanking him off his feet.
"WOAH! HEY! Bad shadow! Down!" Ace flailed as his own silhouette dragged him toward the treeline, his flames doing nothing to the darkness.
Lale sprang into action, her boots kicking up black sand as she gave chase. "Dammit, Ace! Can't you go five minutes without—"
Her shadow suddenly grabbed her ponytail, yanking her backward.
"OKAY, NEW PLAN!" Teach screamed as the entire crew's shadows rebelled.
The Shadow King's Castle
After an absurd battle involving:
Ace trying to "reason" with his shadow over a shared love of meat
Lale's hair tie getting stolen by a shadow monkey
Teach attempting to bribe the shadows with imaginary food
The crew found themselves before a crumbling obsidian castle. At its peak sat a throne of bones occupied by a small, grumpylooking shadow cat.
"Aww, it's kinda cute," Ace cooed, reaching to pet it.
The cat's eyes glowed red.
Lale facepalmed so hard it echoed. "Ace, no—"
The castle exploded.
That night, as the crew celebrated their escape (and the shadow cat's apparent love for Teach's cooking), Ace found Lale sitting on the Moby Dick's figurehead.
Her hair was down now, the dark locks cascading over her shoulders like liquid fire in the moonlight. The tear in her pants from their earlier escape revealed a nasty bruise on her knee, but she seemed at peace watching the stars.
Ace plopped down beside her, their shoulders brushing. His vest was in tatters, revealing dozens of tiny shadowscratches across his arms. "So... that happened."
Lale snorted. "Thanks to you trying to pet the evil shadow overlord."
"Worth it," Ace grinned. Then, softer: "Thanks for coming after me. Again."
Lale turned to face him, their noses almost touching. The moonlight caught the faint scar on her cheek from their last adventure. "Someone has to keep you out of trouble, fire idiot."
Ace's breath
To be continued...