-Real World-
The small single-person boat rocked violently as Ace threw the emergency anchor overboard, the sudden deceleration nearly launching him into the churning waters of the Grand Line. His hands trembled as he gripped the sides of his modest ship, the Striker, its flame-powered engine sputtering to a halt as shock overwhelmed his usual precise control.
"I have a sister," he whispered to the empty ocean, his voice barely audible above the lapping waves. "A twin sister named Ann."
The revelation hit him like a physical blow, reshaping everything he thought he knew about his past. For twenty years, he had carried the weight of being alone in the world—the son of a demon, raised by a Marine Hero, forever caught between two worlds that could never fully accept him.
But now...
"Where is she?" Ace's voice cracked with emotion as he stared at the Sky Screen's ethereal glow. "If we're twins, if we were born together, then where the hell has she been my entire life?"
His mind raced through memories of Windmill Village, searching for any trace, any hint that he might have missed. Makino's kind smile, Dadan's gruff care, the mountain bandits who had reluctantly become his family—none of them had ever mentioned a sister. More importantly, Garp had never breathed a word about another child.
"That old bastard told me everything else," Ace muttered, his confusion giving way to anger. "He told me about Roger, about my mother's sacrifice, about why I could never be a Marine. So why would he hide a sister from me?"
The tracking mission for Blackbeard suddenly seemed less important than finding answers to questions he'd never known to ask.
-Real World: Marine Headquarters-
In the operations room, Vice Admiral Garp sat in stunned silence, his usual carefree demeanor replaced by something approaching existential crisis. The rice crackers in his hand crumbled forgotten as he stared at the Sky Screen with the expression of a man watching his entire understanding of reality collapse.
"Ann," he whispered, the name foreign on his tongue. "Another child? How is that possible?"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku watched his oldest friend with growing concern. In all their decades of shared service, shared battles, and shared losses, he had never seen Garp look so... lost.
"Is there something wrong here?" Garp's voice carried a note of desperation that made several nearby officers unconsciously step closer. "I was there that night. I waited outside Rouge's room for hours, listening to..." He swallowed hard. "Listening to her suffer. When it finally ended, when she called for me, there was only one child. Only Ace."
His massive fists clenched as he fought against doubt. "I'm not losing my mind, Sengoku. I know what I saw. Rouge placed that baby in my arms and told me his name. There was no second child, no daughter. I would never have left a child behind."
The conviction in his voice was absolute, but it was the conviction of a man trying to convince himself as much as others.
Sengoku's strategic mind worked through the implications with mechanical precision. "Garp, think carefully. Was there anyone else present that night? Anyone who might have arrived before or after you?"
"No one," Garp replied immediately.
But even as he spoke, doubt crept into his expression. The Hero of the Marines, the man who had cornered the Pirate King himself, was beginning to question his own memories.
Vice Admiral Tsuru leaned forward, her tactical mind engaging with the puzzle. "If there truly was a second child, someone would have had to arrive after you left. Someone with the skill to approach undetected, the strength to take a newborn from under your nose, and the connections to Roger's crew to know the situation in the first place."
The description painted a picture of someone with capabilities far beyond what most people possessed. In a world where Observation Haki could detect heartbeats from miles away, sneaking past Garp would require either incredible skill
-Real World: Shakky's Rip-off Bar-
Silvers Rayleigh, the Dark King, former right hand of the Pirate King, sat nursing a bottle of rum while his partner's disapproving gaze burned holes in his back. The atmosphere in the small bar had grown thick with unspoken tensions and half-formed accusations.
"You pirates really are something," Shakky said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she cleaned glasses with more force than strictly necessary. "Travel the world, collect treasures, conquer the Grand Line, and leave women to deal with the consequences. Roger finds the ultimate treasure and leaves Rouge to die giving birth to twins. What's your excuse for not giving me a family, Rayleigh?"
The former pirate winced at the venom in her voice. After decades together, he knew when Shakky was genuinely upset versus when she was simply annoyed. This was definitely the former.
"The situation with Roger was... complicated," he said carefully, setting down his rum. "We knew the government was hunting for any trace of his bloodline. Having children would have put targets on their backs from the moment they were born."
"Pretty words," Shakky replied coolly, "but that didn't stop him from loving Rouge, did it? And it didn't stop her from sacrificing everything for those children."
Rayleigh fell silent, recognizing the futility of arguing when his partner was in this mood. Instead, he focused on the memories the Sky Screen had triggered—conversations on the Oro Jackson that had seemed like idle chatter at the time.
"I remember," he said slowly, his voice taking on the distant quality of a man lost in the past. "Roger used to talk about names. Said if he ever had a boy, he'd name him Ace—after his sword. And if he had a girl, she'd be Ann."
He chuckled bitterly. "We all thought he was joking. The great Gol D. Roger, talking about settling down and raising children? It seemed absurd for a man who lived for adventure."
But the memory carried weight now, retroactive significance that made Rayleigh's skin crawl. "Could he have known? Could his Observation Haki have shown him that far into the future?"
The possibility was terrifying in its implications. If Roger had possessed such foresight, then how much of their journey had been predetermined? How many of their choices had been genuine free will versus following a script written by fate itself?
"After Fire Fist became famous, I suspected," Rayleigh continued, his voice growing more certain. "The name, the timing, the resemblance—it all pointed to Roger's bloodline. Shanks confirmed it eventually, but..." He frowned. "But he never mentioned a sister. If Ace exists, if the Sky Screen is showing the truth, then where has Ann been all these years?"
Shakky's expression softened slightly as she recognized the genuine concern in her partner's voice. "Maybe that's the real question. Not whether she exists, but who's been hiding her."
-Broadcast-
In the ethereal realm of the underworld, the three legendary spirits waited with the patience of the dead and the desperation of fathers. Roger's expression shifted between hope and terror as Brook, the Soul King, communed with forces beyond mortal comprehension.
Minutes passed like hours in the timeless space between life and death. Whitebeard's massive presence provided silent support while Ace fidgeted with nervous energy that even death couldn't fully suppress. The revelation of a sister had shaken him more than he cared to admit.
Finally, Brook's empty eye sockets focused on the Pirate King with something approaching compassion.
"Your daughter lives," the Soul King intoned, his voice carrying the weight of absolute certainty. "The threads of fate that bind her to this world remain strong. Ann has many years ahead of her before our paths cross in this realm."
Roger's knees nearly buckled with relief. The legendary composure that had carried him through battles with Marines and monsters alike crumbled in the face of paternal love. "She's alive," he whispered, tears streaming down his spectral cheeks. "Rouge's sacrifice wasn't in vain."
Ace felt his own relief wash over him like a tide. Somewhere in the vast world, a sister shared his blood, his impossible birth, his connection to legends.
"But that still doesn't answer the question," Ace said, his analytical mind reasserting itself. "Gramps wouldn't lie to me about something like this. He told me everything else about my past—why hide a sister?"
The spirit fixed his biological father with a steady gaze. "You said Mom told you about Ann before her reincarnation. What else did she say? What happened that night?"
Roger's expression grew complicated, a mixture of guilt and something approaching embarrassment. "Your mother... she told me things that I never expected to hear. About choices I thought I understood, about people I thought I knew."
He paused, gathering himself before delivering what he clearly considered devastating news. "There was a third person present that night, Ace. Someone who arrived after Garp left with you. Someone who took Ann before anyone realized she existed."
The revelation hit like a thunderclap. Ace's spectral form flickered with agitation as he processed the implications. "A third person? Who could possibly have gotten past Gramps? Who would have known about the birth in the first place?"
Roger's voice grew heavy with the weight of revelation. "Someone I trained. Someone I trusted. Someone who knew Rouge and understood what was at stake."
The pause stretched like a held breath before Roger delivered the name that would reshape everything they thought they knew about the past.
"It was Buggy," he said simply. "Buggy the Clown. My former apprentice took your sister that night."
The silence that followed was deafening. Ace stared at his biological father with an expression that cycled through disbelief, confusion, and something approaching outrage.
"Buggy?" The name came out as a strangled laugh. "You're telling me that red-nosed coward from East Blue somehow snuck past the Hero of the Marines? The same Buggy who got his ass kicked by my little brother Luffy?"
The spirit shook his head violently, his form flickering with agitation. "That's impossible. Gramps was at the peak of his strength back then. He was chasing your crew across the Grand Line, fighting you to standstills. There's no way some apprentice could have gotten past him."
Roger's expression grew even more troubled. "I know how it sounds, but—"
"No," Ace cut him off firmly. "I don't care what Mom told you in the underworld. I know Buggy. Hell, I've met Buggy. He's a joke, a small-time pirate who got lucky with a Devil Fruit. There's no way he could have infiltrated a secure location, avoided Gramps's Observation Haki, and escaped with a newborn child."
The accusation hung in the air like a challenge to reality itself. But even as Ace protested, a small voice in the back of his mind whispered questions he didn't want to acknowledge.
What if there was more to Buggy than met the eye? What if the bumbling pirate clown was hiding capabilities that even Ace couldn't imagine?
And most importantly—if Buggy truly had taken Ann that night, what had he done with Ace's sister?
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