"I trust my beloved Son is safe and sound?" Whitebeard grinned widely as he glared up at the execution platform of Marineford. That Mugiwara brat only got here in time because of that first tsunami. He thought, remembering what he perceived as the past, but that hadn't yet occurred. May as well open with that again now.
Stabbing his bisento into the deck of the Moby Dick, he leaned forward, crossing his arms over his chest. Even across the distance between himself and Sengoku, he could see the old Fleet Admiral flinch in expectation of what was to come. And I would hate to disappoint. He thought to himself with a predatory grin, loosing the power of his Gura-Gura no Mi off to both sides. Here's my greeting, Navy bastards.
The massive seaquake rocked the world around them, but otherwise seemingly did nothing, much to the confusion of many of the thousands of gathered Marines.
Retrieving his bisento, he stood up once more. "Oi, Chronos." He spoke low enough that none of his sons gathered behind him could hear him, "I know you're still there, the Future hasn't changed just yet."
Even as the words left his mouth, he noticed the flags flapping in the wind freeze in place, the whole world stopping as though it were a photograph. "You shouldn't make those sorts of assumptions, Whitebeard-san." Chairon Chronos materialized again out of thin air beside the pirate captain. He seemed pale, and his breathing was shallow, as though he had been injured, and a sheen of cold sweat could be seen on his brow. "Just you knowing the future changes it."
"And yet, here you stand."
"Indeed..." Chronos took a deep breath, "For as long as I am able, I will witness how the world changes, before reality erases me."
"Gurararara..." Whitebeard chuckled heartily. "You're a stubborn bastard, but are you really fine with just watching?"
The Time-man was silent for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"Your power. I could use a crewmate like you." Whitebeard turned to the smaller man and kneeled down, "You said that you lost your family to Teach... You've seen my past I take it. You know that family is the only thing that I treasure in this world."
"Are... are you asking me to join your pirate crew?" Chronos seemed utterly shocked by the concept.
"Of course." Whitebeard rose once more. "You gave me this chance. You have returned my family to me... I don't hold the power to return yours, but the least that I can do is offer you a place to call home once again."
Chronos seemed as though he had been kicked in the gut. His eyes were wide and tears were beginning to form. "I..."
"Before you do answer," Whitebeard looked back to the execution platform, "It occurs to me, that I may seem... opportunistic. Asking you now of all times. It isn't fair to you. You would be joining this family at the worst moment in our history, and I would not be able to really introduce you to your new brothers and sisters... But... if my death taught me anything, it's that I need all of the help that I can get." He looked back to Chronos, "I think your abilities may truly be able to turn the tide in this battle."
Chronos turned and cast his gaze across the bay to Ace, wiping his eyes. "I... I honestly never thought that I would find myself in a family again... My abilities are indeed powerful. But not in a way that could save Ace right now. I cannot break his seasone chains, nor would I be able to kill Sengoku. In fact, all of my offensive power is already used up."
"Oh? How so?"
The suited man smirked viciously. "A little present for Blackbeard when you meet him."
Whitebeard let loose a bellowing laugh. "Gurarararara... Excellent. I can't wait to see what it is."
"With that said..." Chronos once again lowered his gaze, "With me, unable to actually fight. Are you sure that you still want my hel-"
His words were interupted by an enormous hand landing with surprising gentleness on his shoulder. Looking up, Chronos saw Whitebeard's eyes sparkling with joy as he looked over his sons gathered upon the deck of the Moby Dick. "I've lived a long life Chronos." He said with a smile. "I've fought, and I've laughed, and drank. But the only thing that got me through the long years... it wasn't some dream, or some conquest, or a need for some treasure or anything. It was them." He nodded down towards the Whitebeard pirates, "My family is my treasure and my reason for living. And you returned them to me. You gave me a chance to redeem myself and not fail them. In my eyes, Chronos, you're already a son to me, but I won't call you such unless you want."
Tears fell from Chronos's eyes again. "I'm indebted to you... Oyaji." He nodded, smiling brightly. "I'm in. What do you need me to do?"
Whitebeard grinned widely, a plan already forming in his mind. "Nothing yet." He took up the same stance he had held when Chronos had appeared, "We'll let things play out as close to what they were as possible for a little while, so save your strength. Right now, I'm planning to use your ability to apparently move between seconds thing to deliver a message when the moment's right."
"Sound's like a plan. Well then, Oyaji, give 'em hell." Chronos turned to leave.
"One more thing, Chronos." The Time-man paused, looking back up at Whitebeard. "When this is over, I have one final condition for you joining my family." Chronos raised an eyebrow in question, "I want you to tell me about your old family. I want to know about the man who single-handedly saved my life and changed the course of history."
Chronos's laughter echoed all around, as time once again began to flow around Whitebeard. "Sure thing Oyaji. Just be sure to have some good saki ready for the tale."
Whitebeard grinned widely as he stood waiting once more for the return of his tsunami. "Well then..." He said to himself with a low chuckle, "Let's get to work."
Marco blinked, for a moment it looked like there had been a person beside Oyaji. "Wha-?" Then, just as quickly as the figure had appeared, it was gone. Did anyone else see that...? He wondered, looking around briefly, however none of the other Commanders seemed to have noticed. "Huh... Must be stress." He muttered quietly to himself.
The others were all shouting jeers and taunts at the hundred thousand marines gathered across from them. Well, I may as well join in. "Don't worry Ace." He called out, his voice echoing across the bay. "We'll have you free in no time, yoi."
Even from all the way across the bay, Marco could see the emotions warring on Ace's face. Clearly the young man had been resigned to die, for whatever stupid reason he had cooked up in his head. But on the other hand, the fact that the entire crew, as well as all forty seven of the Old Man's allied crews were here and ready to go to war for his sake... I can see why the kid's a bit choked up. Marco thought with a grin.
"Oye, Marco." Oyaji's voice suddenly pulled the First Division to the prow.
"Yeah pops?" He hopped up to stand beside his father.
"Something just occurred to me while I was listening to everyone's words to Ace." Whitebeard pulled out a den-den mushi from one of his pockets. Speaking into it, he sent out a call, "Squard..."
"Yeah Oyaji?" Maelstrom Spider Squard's voice sounded over the little snail.
"Thinking about how our enemies are going to come at us, I just realized something. There's something that I want you to know before this war kicks off."
The snail's face seemed confused. "What is it Oyaji?"
"Ace's father... his birth father. The Marine's are probably going to use that against you." Whitebeard saw a frown flash across the snail. "Ace is the son of Gold Roger."
Squard was silent for several moments, his expression mirrored on the snail completely unreadable. "Why...?" He finally said quietly. "Why did you never tell me before?"
Whitebeard let out a small breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Because, you hate Roger. I know that. But Ace isn't his father. He does not deserve to bear the hate and scorn for Roger's sins." He looked up once more towards where Ace knelt, "I'm sorry Squard. If you want to be angry with me for this, once we're done here, I'll happily take all of your anger."
There was a heavy sigh from the den-den mushi. "I... I'm in this to the end, Oyaji." Squard said after a few moments. "Once we're done, I'll figure out if I need to get angry."
Whitebeard grinned. "Thank you, Squard. Remember, the Navy knows about your hatred for Roger, and they will probably use that to try and turn you against me."
"Tch." Squard laughed cruelly, "Let them try."
The world began to rumble again, looking up Whitebeard's face split into a wide grin. "Then let's get to work." With that, he cut the connection with Squard.
The seaquake that he had sent out several minutes earlier was returning with a vengeance. An enormous Tsunami roared towards Marineford, easily large enough to obliterate the island in an instant.
As the roaring waves crashed towards the bay, a single figure leapt upwards from in front of the execution platform. "ICE AGE!" The figure bellowed as ice erupted from their hands towards the tsunami, freezing it completely solid almost instantly.
"Gurarara... Aokiji." Whitebeard's gaze tracked up to lock on the marine admiral. "What a scamp."
The admiral wasted no time, gesturing towards Whitebeard and hurling several spears of ice at him, "Partisan!" He shouted.
Whitebeard retaliated quickly, sending a powerful quake through the air, shattering the spears, and even reaching the admiral, cracking his body and knocking him towards the water.
Within seconds, the bay was frozen solid.
The battle had been raging for a solid twenty minutes. Well then, time to see if it's time. Whitebeard thought to himself with a grin. He stood alone, still on the prow of the Moby Dick, "Chronos."
"About time you called me." The Time-Man laughed lightly, time once more freezing as he appeared. "I was starting to worry that you'd forgotten about me."
"Me? Forget my newest son? Gurararara... I may be old, but I'm not senile just yet."
"Fair enough. So, you said I'd be sending a message?"
"Mmm." Whitebeard nodded, "Inside the Moby Dick, there's a few Den-Den Mushis. I need you to deliver them to a few people."
"Oh?" Chronos tilted his head curiously, "Who?"
Turning to look to the south, Whitebeard grinned. "Before the battle started, my scouts told me that there were a few pirate ships moored a few miles that way." He pointed off into the distance, "If the Jolly Rogers they were flying were anything to go off of, I have a suspicion that I know who they are. And I want you to give the captains of each ship one of the Den-Den Mushis."
Chronos was silent for a few moments, thinking silently to himself. "No problem," He finally said, "Just give it two minutes in real time."
Whitebeard turned back towards the battle. "Good to hear."
Several miles south of Marineford, eight ships sat, several hundred feet away from each other, their captains having reached a truce for the brief moment in time to watch the war of the Era unfold.
"Oh man..." One figure said as they watched the war through a spyglass. "This is incredible! Captain, just look at all those big names!"
"Tch." Eustass 'Captain' Kidd spat to the side, "Half of 'em are old as fuck and don't know how to fight anymore." He stomped to the prow of the ship and glared across the distance, "COME ON!" He shouted at the embattled pirates and marines, as though they could hear him somehow, "I came here to see a BATTLE! Not a bunch of old fucks trying to slap each other!"
Across the way, Basil Hawkins 'The Magician' sneered at the loud, brash man shouting. The fool is beginning to annoy me. Turning back towards the battle, he frowned. Still... something is wrong. My predictions of this battle have all gone wrong... As though something is actively interfering with fate...
Across the other ships, the various captains all stood watching, their own thoughts fully on the battle unfolding before them.
Aboard the oddest of the gathered ships, a bright yellow submarine, an anthropomorphic polar bear suddenly stiffened, the hair on the back of his neck rising. "Captain," He growled dangerously, "Someone's here!"
Trafalgar Law immediately thrust his hand forward, trusting the young Bepo's senses implicitly. "Room!" The area around the ship took on a blueish tinge and his Devil Fruit ability activated, and yet, he felt nothing. "You're sure Bepo?" He raised an eyebrow at his furred friend curiously.
"Someone was just here." The conviction in the bear's eyes was enough to convince his captain. "Right... here...?" The two both suddenly noticed the small Den-Den Mushi sitting right where Bepo pointed. "What the...?"
As he picked the snail up, it began to ring, as did seven identical snails on the other ships nearby. Law stepped over, taking the snail from his friend and cautiously answered.
Several voices were fighting for a chance to be heard, all of them demanding to know what was happening. Law could hear the brash and arrogant Eustass Kidd, as well as a woman. Then a voice cut across the line, powerful and forceful enough to silence everyone else. "Enjoying the show, brats?"
Law felt a chill run down his spine as he recognized the voice. "Whitebeard..." He whispered.
"Gurarararara. Glad that I don't need to introduce myself." The air had suddenly become so tense that Law worried some of his crew would faint just from the tension. "I'll bet you all are curious why I've arranged this little chat. Especially while I'm in the middle of a war." Nobody dared to interrupt him, even across a Den-Den mushi line. "Well, I'm going to offer you brats a chance of a lifetime. See, I know you kids have made some pretty big noise over here in 'Paradise', but in the New World, none of you warrant much in the way of attention. That's not a comment on your abilities, mind you. It's just a simple fact. You all seem like ambitious sorts, so I'm going to offer you a chance to make an impression on the Pirates of the New World."
Law was certain he heard someone gulp. "Now, my spies tell me that the Navy has some kind of reserve force, that's going to show up here in a little while. If they do, my allies will be caught in a dangerous flank, with a pretty low chance of survival. Of course, I plan to do what I can to help them, but my focus is on the hundred thousand marines in front of me, as well as those obnoxious Shichibukai brats. So, how would you kids like to be known as the 'heroes' in that fight?"
The stoic voice of 'Red Flag' Drake sounded across the line then, "You're asking us for help...?"
"Gurarararara." Whitebeard chuckled, "Not exactly. If you kids choose not to show up, then that's your choice. This war is my fight, and nobody's dragging you into it. That being said... There are worse ways to introduce yourselves to some of the biggest names in the New World than by earning their grattitude for their lives." The snail smirked, "Think about it. If the Marine reinforcements do show up, then I'll hope you all agree. If you don't, then I hope that you enjoy the show." With that, the line went dead.
Here's chapter 2 of Whitebeard's "comeback tour" if you will. I feel like I'm setting up more than I can actually keep up with... One Piece has way too many great characters, and I keep thinking "Oh he/she would be awesome to add in!" I mean come on... now I'm adding in the freaking Supernovas? *sigh* Ok, here we go.
I'll admit, I had been actually planning on not having Chronos come back again, just saying "Yep, he's gone cause the future is different." But he was fun enough to write and he was apparently popular enough with you guys that I decided to keep him around for a while. (Also, he's useful :P)
Anyways, let me know what you guys think, Cheers. :)
