I do not own One Piece
-0-0-0-
Rise from the Ashes
-0-0-0-
Chapter 2: Searching for Straw Hat
-0-0-0-
It was supposed to be you, Ace, Marco thought as he looked past the rough waves. You were supposed to be the Captain after the Old Man.
For while Ace might have been new to their family, he was also the favourite brother. Not the favourite son, for Whitebeard had none of those, but the brother that everyone liked and respected. The entirety of the Whitebeard Pirates would have mobilized regardless if any one of them had been captured by the marines, but it was for Ace that all of those other famous pirates had come to join them in rescuing him. True, he had still been young, a bit too raw, and definitely needed more work on his haki, but the Old Man had known that with Marco at his side things would have worked out with Ace as the new Captain.
Everyone knew that Marco had been with Edward Newgate the longest, but none of them realized the truth, that when the two of them had first met, the legendary Whitebeard had been a young punk just joining a pirate crew, while Marco had already been the seasoned first-mate of the ship. It was not until years later that he had found the Mythical Phoenix fruit that had halted his aging, leaving him perpetually young. Yet for all that, for all that Marco was older in years, Whitebeard had still become his father, possessing the maturity and protective spirit that Marco had not even realized he craved, and became the first son.
Unfortunately, they had all known that Whitebeard was growing too old, so Marco had made it clear that he had no interest in being the next Captain, and had been the first to endorse Ace for that role. All of the other Division Commanders had agreed in their own private meetings with the Old Man. Of course, Ace had apparently felt Marco should have the position, but Marco had been preparing for that fight in getting the idiot to accept the post. Whitebeard had known he could count on Ace to protect and maintain the family when the old legend finally passed away. Frankly, if Ace had not been kidnapped, the man would have probably headed over to Marineford anyways, or have gone to pay a final 'visit' to Kaidou or Big Mom.
"You saw the morning paper?" Vista asked as he walked over.
"Yep," Marco smiled, "he's still at it."
The swordsman also grinned while preening his mustache, "Straw Hat's guts sure haven't faltered."
"No, if anything he's causing even more mayhem now that he's got his crew with him, and it seems they're just like he is."
"Makes sense," Vista shrugged, "otherwise they wouldn't have stuck around, and their bounties are impressive for rookies."
"I dunno," Izo voiced as he came over, immaculate in his make-up and brand-new pink kimono. "That pet of his, Tony Tony Chopper, still seems too tame to me. I'd expect something more radical from the Straw Hats, even if it is adorable."
"I'll say it again," Marco wearily sighed as they returned to that old argument, "the Navy's hiding something. They've never put a bounty on a pet before, so there's something more going on that they know about, but don't want anyone else realizing just how valuable he really is to them. This is just their way of keeping everyone looking out for the little guy."
"We still haven't seen anything like that in the papers," Izo countered, "and if it was something really fantastic, wouldn't we have heard about it before?"
"We'll have to stop to check for rumours anyways while searching for Straw Hat anyways," Marco reassured him, "so we can ask about Tony Chopper then."
"We have been out of the loop," Vista grumbled. Hiding had become their only option, but that hardly meant anyone was happy about it. Whitebeard had long known that he was nearing the end of his life, and despite having the world's most sophisticated life support readily available, he had been forced to consider the possibility that his heart might just give out suddenly one night. Or that one of the numerous assassination attempts by the World Government, generally targeting his medical equipment, would succeed. The Old Man had also taken into consideration that while his sons were strong, individually they lacked the power to stand-up to the other Emperors, meaning that they would have to stand united in face of that threat. Unfortunately, his many, many contingencies for protecting his sons after his death had never conceived the sheer level of betrayal that Teach had committed.
It was at the height of the Payback War that Marco had realized the truth: they could not win, because Teach knew them too well. The Blackbeard Pirates' power had indeed been formidable, but what had made it decisive was that Teach had exploited nearly every secret the Whitebeard Pirates had. Over the years he had subtly wormed out ever plan or resource that nearly all the Division Commanders had believed to be safe, and was able to anticipate their every plan, even when they had thought they were being unpredictable.
After Straw Hat Luffy had rung the Ox Bell, he had been their hope for the future of pirates. Before that, while they had been grieving, all they had had to believe in was vengeance, but then Straw Hat had become someone else they could put their faith in. Once Blackbeard had been killed -or so they had planned- they would have been able to test and guide Straw Hat into becoming the next Pirate King (he had still been a raw rookie when they had last seen him after all, despite his vast potential), or allying with him if he quickly proved himself. After his final clash with Blackbeard, Marco had realized that Straw Hat was now their only hope for survival.
Like Blackbeard, Straw Hat was a wild card: unpredictable, strangely charismatic, and even surprisingly powerful. Moreover, very, very few had earned such respect from Whitebeard, especially in the brief time they had known each other. In fact, the only other one that came to Marco's memory was the Pirate King himself. If Silvers Rayleigh had succeeded in drawing out the young man's potential like Jinbe had told them he would, and if Straw Hat continued to be able to draw together diverse rogues for a common cause, then the Whitebeard Pirates would have an ally that might give them the edge they needed to finally match Teach in combat again.
Fortunately, Marco had still been able to buy them the necessary breathing space. While disinterested in finding Raftel, the Old Man had respected the value of such knowledge and that it might prove useful in the future, but had also known that such information could be dangerous. Therefore the hiding place for the copies of the Poneglyphs had only been entrusted with his oldest, and thus most responsible, son. Teach had evidently thought he had known the proper location, and his discovery of the truth had put his own schemes on hold, but it was obvious the man had a back-up plan, and probably enjoyed having to retrace the steps of the Pirate King. Marco had retrieved the Poneglyph copies, faked their destruction, and escaped from the traitor's wrath barely alive at the very end of the Payback War, knowing that their only chance for justice now was to disappear and wait for their Little Brother.
"He'll be easy enough to find," Izo chuckled, "just follow the chaos." But then he sobered, "Or not since the marines will find him that way."
An uneasy silence stretched on from that, but they all knew they had to keep faith.
"Any closer to what you'll say when we find him?" Vista finally asked, it had been two years of preparation after all.
"I'll know when I see him," Marco breathed out. "I know it's not what we want, but he doesn't seem the kind of guy to want to hear to prepared speech. Besides, it's very likely he'll be right in the middle of something."
"It would be nice to gauge how his swordsman, the Pirate Hunter, fights," Vista agreed hopefully. "Some of the rumours about him are nearly as interesting, and his bounty has really risen."
"He is of the Worst Generation," Izo pointed out, "though frankly that just makes Straw Hat look better."
"I think," Marco began before stopping to reorder his thoughts some more, "I think we'll play it by ear. I'm afraid that it's Straw Hat who will be feeling guilty over Ace dying," and then held up a hand to stall the protests of his brothers. "We'd feel the same in his place. But if so, we've to make sure that we're here for him, to help fulfill Ace's wish, to respect the faith the Old Man had for him, and help him become the Pirate King. But first we'll find someone who will have a better idea."
"Fishman Island still?"
"Yes, time to go say hi to Jinbe again, and he'll have met Straw Hat so he can help us know what to expect. Besides, it's been too long. Should check in on King Neptune while we're there, see how the old guy's doing."
XXX
Author Notes:
Originally supposed to be a one-shot, but some reviews made me decide to do a little more.
The part about Marco's age was inspired by noticing that he looked exactly the same as from the flashback for when the Whitebeard Pirates declared Fishman Island under their protection.
-0-0-0-
Please Review!