Chapter 3

Marco the Phoenix, commander of Whitebeard pirate division one and the first mate of the crew; was a hard man to be surprised or ruffled. The only thing that had made him lose his composure so far was the safety and health of his captain and crew, Ace and Thatch's pranks are out of question.

He was leaning against the railing, nursing a mug of his usual morning coffee when a News Coo had landed on the ship's railing beside him. He cracked up an eyebrow at it, the ship rarely received any News Coo because they were always sailing in the New World and when they always received one, the Marine were always close by.

He shoved a 100 Belli coin to the bird and it gave him a stack of newspaper. It flew away after Marco gave him some crackers for its hard work of finding their ship.

He leaned against the railing once again and relaxed his limbs. He casually unfolded the newspaper and took a sip of the coffee. He spit out the coffee when he saw the article on the front page of the paper, eyes wide as saucers and jaw hanging open.

"ACE!" The phoenix shouted.

Marco the Phoenix rushed toward the division two commander and shoved the paper to the fire maniac's face. Ace wanted to question him and tease him about the coffee stain on the newspaper but the blonde told him to read the article that filled the front page.

Ace did as he was told with amusement in his eyes but the amusement soon bleed away when his eyes raked over the words printed on the paper. Fire appeared around his body as he shook with anger; it flared brightly, lashing along with his barely restrained anger. Marco saved the newspaper before Ace could burn it in his rage and watched as his dark night eyes gleamed dangerously under the shadow of his cowboy hat, promising a painful and slow death.

"Those bastard Marine and World Government! I'll slaughter them, slit their throat, gauge them, dice them, burn them alive and throw them for the beasts!" Ace shouted furiously, earning everyone's attention.

"What's wrong, Marco?" Whitebeard asked the phoenix, who gave him the newspaper. "Read this." He said solemnly. Whitebeard read it out aloud for all his sons and daughters to hear.

"Last night, a notorious prisoner have escaped from Impel Down, Level Six prison and destroyed nearly half of the island and thirty Marine warships instantly. The prisoner known as 'Bloody Demon Queen' Luffia, aged seventeen years old. She was reported to have been in the prison at the age of six, under the crime of slaughtering a household of a Tenryuubito family, consisting of 23 Tenryuubito and the whole guards. The World Government and Marine have highlighted this girl as a highly dangerous criminal, with bounty of 400 million Belli over her head"

Whitebeard stopped when he heard a loud crashing sound. Everyone saw Ace punching the wooden mast and it broke like it was just a twig. Ace stood there, with bloodied knuckle and trembling body. His rages were barely restrained. His eyes were shadowed by his hat and it glowed eerie golden yellow. The air behind him fluctuated and they could see a glimpse of tails flickering and wings extending widely behind him before it disappeared. Everyone gulped hard, never ever had they seen their fiery and cheerful commander in that state or wondering if it was only a mere play of their eyes.

Re written: 29/ 12 / 2014