The news of the death of Panther D. Mara spread through the world like wildfire, and the reactions varied between every person who read the story in the paper.
The infamous pirate, Panther D. Mara "The Devil" was involved in the incident off the coast of the island of Horona. She had turned herself in to the Marines of her own free will, boarding the ship of Hugo "The Huge" Vern. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, an unmarked vessel attacked the Marines, bringing the death of every person aboard.
On an island near Amazon Lily in the Calm Belt, Monkey D. Luffy was holding the paper that old man Rayleigh handed him, reading the paragraph and looking at the picture of the body, but unable to comprehend that something like this could happen to Mara. She wasn't allowed to die. She was his big sister, who made that promise all those years ago that she would be by his side when he took the One Piece for himself. How could she just up and get herself killed without putting up a fight? What was she thinking? Why the hell would she willingly turn herself in to the Marines?
The young Straw Hat captain crumbled the paper in his hands, shaking with raw emotion. Rayleigh watched as the boy tilted his head down, the shadow of his hair hiding his eyes, but not hiding the tears that trickled over his cheeks and down his cheeks. His heart was tearing, and when Rayleigh took the paper from his hands, he understood why Hancock had gone through all the trouble of delivering the paper, teary eyed and wanting to stay to comfort Luffy. An ugly, heart wrenching sob tore from the young boy, heard all the way on the ship sailing from the island, the female Shichibukai on board sobbing alongside her love, covering her ears to the sounds of screaming and destruction coming from island behind her.
The next island, a dark place with it's only inhabitants being a horde of baboons and three people, showcased one of these people, Roronoa Zoro, holding the newspaper at arm's length from his face. Perona had brought it in, throwing it casually to the side in boredom when the green haired man saw the headline, Mara's name sticking out in bold letters. He read the article quickly, breathing hard and ignoring the pink haired girls questions. He felt sick, seeing the mangled mess of limbs that was being claimed to have once been Mara, the bright and ridiculous sister to his constantly hungry and equally as ridiculous captain.
When Dracule Mihawk walked in and saw his pupil and future enemy in such a state of shock, curiosity got to him and he grabbed the paper from the younger man, scanning his eyes over the article quickly, though he did better at hiding his shock. It wasn't so much of a surprise that she had died, but he simply couldn't believe that it had happened so soon, as it hadn't been that long since he had last seen her, alive and a little worse for wear. Throwing the paper back to the green haired man, the Shichibukai left the room, choosing to ignore the anger and confusion coming from the other swordsman for the time being.
Up in the sky, on an island floating on a cloud, the orange haired navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates read the paper with boredom, thumbing through the events that happened on the world below before coming across the article that would bring her to her knees, eyes wide and heart in her throat. The words of the old man beside her did nothing to bring her from this state, the tears falling from her eyes blurring her vision as well as smearing the words on the paper. She cried, not only for the death of a friend, but for the feelings that her beloved Captain would no doubt be feeling at this very moment, wherever he was in the world.
On an island somewhere in the Grand Line, the skeletal musician Brook read the paper, his hand covering his mouth. If he possessed eyes, they would be wide with the information in the paper that the Longarms brought him after performing a song on the street. His heart, though he didn't technically have one, ached from this loss, unable to look at the picture of the oddly bent arms and legs for too long. She wasn't the first nakama he lost in his years, but she was a lost friend nonetheless, and he allowed himself to sit on the crate for hours after reading the paper, mourning her properly with a farewell in the form of a song he had played for her during her recovery on her first few days aboard the Sunny, ignoring the men that were trying to get him to play something happier.
The cries of Sanji were heard all over the next island, the Okama crowding around the man in curiosity, trying to coax answers from him to explain this odd behavior when none of them had provoked it. Ivankov managed to grab the paper from the blond cook, ignoring the wails that were incoherent and solely focusing on the name that he called out, finding it on the paper amidst the tears and smudged ink. As the blonde cried for the loss of a beautiful lady and a friend, the purple haired queen, having recognized the name from the paper after the War, mourned for the loss of a dear friend's sister. Both had in mind how the young boy must have been feeling, which only dampered their moods even more.
On our next island, a slightly chubby Usopp panted from exertion, shaking hands bringing the paper away from his face. Mara was dead. There was a picture of the mangled and distorted corpse of Mara in the paper. His heart beat frantically, and not just from the work out he had been in the middle of. How was Luffy taking this news? Ace? The last time they saw their sister, she was fighting alongside them during the War, and now she was displayed in the paper as nothing more than a burnt and waterlogged corpse beyond recognition. The sniper wiped sweat and tears from his eyes, ignoring Heracles' attempts to find out what was going on. He clutched the paper in his hand and continued to run, intent on losing the weight he had put on and getting stronger to keep something like this from happening to anyone else he knew and cared for.
Alone in a workshop, the cyborg shipwright Franky's ears perked up when the beeping of a machine let him know that something important was coming through. Taking the slip of paper in his large hands, he instantly dissolved into tears, wailing about the unfairness of the situation, thinking about the feelings of his young captain, as well as what Mara herself must have felt as she perished on the Marine ship. He spent the remainder of his day crying over the loss of the 'cool chick' that was his captain's sister, not able to continue working with his vision so blurred.
The Revolutionaries that were present in the room when the news reached Nico Robin on the island of Baltigo were shocked when she dropped her tea, the glass shattering on the floor as she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. The article in itself wasn't enough to elicit a response from the experienced and morbid woman, but the image that was placed beside the words of the horrible looking corpse was enough to almost bring the woman to tears. Beside her, Monkey D. Dragon read the paper over her shoulder, making the connections in his head that this Mara woman was also the adopted sister of his own son, and hoped that Luffy would be alright upon reading the disturbing news. A certain young man behind Dragon did his best to hide the tears that streamed down his face, hoping not to bring attention to his own sadness.
A News Coo dropped the paper in the hands of a young boy, who in turn brought it to Tony Tony Chopper, who requested to have it brought in whenever it came. Now, reading the paper, the small reindeer doctor wasn't able to believe his eyes, feeling sick to his stomach at the disgusting photo. Mara, the woman who was the sister of his captain — a woman who had become close to him and everyone else on the Sunny during her short time on board — was gone. He had treated her during her time on the ship, ensuring that she stayed alive and even giving her some tips on how to get rid of certain ailments easily. And now she was gone, leaving him, and everyone else (he was sure) broken and hurt. Especially Luffy. His captain must be feeling the most hurt and broken of everyone, and Chopper hoped that his captain would be able to make it through without hurting himself.
Aboard a ship sailing through the New World, the sound of loud cursing and sobbing could be heard from the room of a certain Second Division Commander. None were brave enough to enter the room of the sobbing man, who was still recovering from his time at Impel Down and the War, but when the sounds of breaking glass reached the ears of Marco, the door was swung open to reveal a broken mirror and a hunched over Portgas D. Ace. The younger man's shoulders shook with every gut wrenching sob that broke free from his chest, and Marco, worried over what could get someone like Ace like this, stepped forward and knelt in front of the man.
No words were shared, as Ace found it hard to form a sentence around his loud crying. Instead, the paper was passed to Marco. The man attempted to read the crumbled and tear stained mess that was supposedly that day's paper, and when he got the thing straightened out as well as he could, he understood completely. The man fell back onto his bottom, slamming his back into the wall and allowing the tears fall from his eyes as well, bringing a hand up to shield his eyes from Ace and anyone else who could come in the room. He wasn't ashamed to cry for a woman he had known since she was at the tender age of eight. He was simply trying to calm his rage before he brought the crew to a Marine base and did something stupid.
All across the world, on an island in the East Blue, the former Marine Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp walked to the bar, enjoying his vacation. It was well deserved (at least he thought so) and he wanted to visit with Makino and the bandits who had grown balls over the past few years and started coming to Foosha Village instead of hiding away in the mountains. However, the man barely stepped foot in the door when he heard that everyone in the establishment was sobbing openly. Confused, the man tried to talk to the few bandits by the door, only receiving more sobs. Now, annoyed, he marched to Dadan, who was leaning on the counter wiping her tears and not openly sobbing, demanding to know what was going on.
With a shout, the large woman shoved the man's face into the paper laid open on the counter, abandoned when Makino read the contents and relayed them to the others. He scanned the contents, ignoring the heavy hand on the back of his head and he was filled with an overpowering rage, This made it two times in the last year that Mara turned herself in to the Marines, and Garp had a strong feeling that, as the last time it was for the sake of her brothers, this time it had something to do with that Heart Pirate that she had been with — the very same one that was dangerously close to becoming the next Shichibukai. He couldn't bring himself to be a sobbing mess like the bandits, Makino, and mayor. Instead, he felt the searing hot rage pour through him, fueling his hatred for the Heart Pirates that he felt when he met them.
Back on the other side of the world, in the New World again, the Red Hair Pirates mulled about the island they docked on, keeping away from their captain and those around him, who were all emitting murderous auras. The paper that the News Coo dropped off seemed to have brought all four men — Shanks, Benn Beckman, Lucky Roo, and Yasopp — into the most foul moods. The four men in question were glaring angrily at the paper, which displayed proudly the mangled body that was once known as Panther D. Mara. The men couldn't believe that the woman had turned herself in to the Marines and died so quickly. She fought in the greatest War in history. She wasn't as weak as she claimed she was, so how could she fall so quickly?
Shanks ignored the picture, as well as the angry muttering about destroying the entirety of the Marines that was coming from Beckman, and thought to Luffy and Ace, knowing that the two men had seen the picture already. He couldn't do anything about what had already happened, though, so he decided that they would let the world run it's course without his interference in attacking any Marines for the sole purpose of revenge. If anything, he would get ahold of Ace and ask how he was doing. There was no way to get ahold of Luffy, as he didn't know where the young captain was, but he hoped that he wouldn't be shattered by the news.
Off the shore of a spring island, the Kidd Pirates paced around the deck, one member grabbing the paper as it fell from the mouth of the bird that delivered it. He brought it to his captain, Eustass Kidd, who was sitting on the deck with his feet propped up on the side of the ship, contemplating whether or not he should waste time on this island. When the man coming to bring the paper stopped beside the ruthless man, Kidd reached out his mechanical arm and snatched the news from him, dismissing him with no words. As he scanned the article, he found himself frowning, tutting at the news that Panther D. Mara, a woman who he had shown some civility towards, was dead. It pissed him off, more so because he had never gotten her to bed, but was otherwise not too deeply affected by the news, deciding at that moment that they would venture onto this spring island in hopes of finding some town that he could have some fun in. However, there was a nagging feeling that this article was suspicious, the fact that Mara turned herself in again making his skin crawl in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar way. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that she was really still out there somewhere.
Not far from the spring island previously mentioned, X Drake took one last look at the man dying beneath him before stepping away, looking up in time to catch the paper that fell from the sky. The ever-present frown on his face deepened at the news, slightly annoyed that such a formidable opponent was gone, but more dubious, as this sounded like a story that the Government would fabricate when they wanted to explain something that they messed up on so that they wouldn't look like the bad guys. It was just a gut feeling, having been a Marine at one point in his life, but he believed that the body displayed did not belong to Panther D. Mara, and would keep an eye out for a 'miraculous return' from the woman that would no doubt happen soon. He continued on, leaving the paper on the body of the dead man, calling his crew to follow as they exited the forest and made their way to the ship, not thinking anymore about the false article in the paper.
And finally, on the island that started the life of Mara itself — the island of Scarlet — a nurse carried a newspaper through the hallway of the hospital, distraught from the information she had read. With a brief knock on the door to the room of her longest patient, the nurse walked in and bowed quickly to Margie, the young woman smiling, her newly vision-capable eyes sparkling with delight at being able to actually see the woman. Then the nurse thrust a newspaper in her face. Margie took a moment to read the article, her smile falling with every word she read, and finally frowning completely at the image shown. After another moment, Margie set the paper down with a smile and turned back to the nurse, ignoring the confused look she got as she shook her head.
She may have been blind for quite a few years, but there was one thing that she knew for sure about this whole situation.
"That's not Mara."