Ch. 3- Ace and Whitebeard
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Ken, Marine K9 Unit © Me
The Impel Down escapees sailed in from the Tub Current through the Gates of Justice.
"Well, we made it through the gate," said Ivankov "Now the question is whether your and Ace's father is here or not."
"Huh?" Luffy asked. "What do you mean, Iva?"
Ivankov knelt down in front of Luffy and whispered, "Dragon won't just sit by and allow them to execute his own son!"
"Oh, Ace isn't my Dad's son," Luffy answered aloud.
"What?" asked Ivankov.
"Ace and I have different dads," Luffy said. "My Dad is Dragon, and Ace's dad was Gold Roger. I never got to meet the guy, but I heard he was awesome! Ace always got mad whenever I talked about him, though. I wonder why."
Three…two…one…
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" everyone yelled in shock.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! Blizzard yelled in thought, also shocked.
"Oh, wait. That's supposed to be a secret. Nami always did tell me I'm a loudmouth! Heh-heh-heh!"
WELL, HOW MANY MORE OUTRAGEOUS FAMILY SECRETS DO YOU HAVE THEN, LUFFY THE LOUDMOUTH?! Blizzard yelled in thought.
XXX
Back in Marineford, Whitebeard's fleet has finally appeared in the bay, and the Marines stood in shock.
"I didn't expect them to get so close to the bay, so quickly," Sengoku mused.
SWUP! Whitebeard crossed his arms in front of his chest, while the 14 Division Leaders stood, lying in wait.
Whitebeard then flashed a toothy grin, and then WHAM! He threw both hands to his sides, punching what seemed to be thin air. KRAKKRAKKRAK!
The air…cracked?
It didn't seem possible, but Whitebeard somehow managed to shatter the air around him.
Then, RRRMMMMMBB! A tremor suddenly occurs, so big that it caused the entire bay to ripple and shake. THOOM! A gigantic explosion appears in the water, and grows, higher until it practically went straight through the Marines' flanks!
No one was harmed, but it did cause alarm for the Marines.
"W-what just happened?!"
"Is that an explosion?!"
"This is bad! Look at how high that wave is rising!"
THOOM! Another wave appears on the other side of the bay.
"Oh, no! There's one there, too!"
WOOF! WOOF! WOOFWOOF! The dogs barked at the forming tidal wave, ignoring their handlers' attempts to calm them down.
Whitebeard and Stefan flashed toothy grins.
XXX
Back at the Tub Current, ARF! ARF-ARF! ARF! Blizzard was barking up a storm due to the sudden tremor, and Luffy was trying his hardest to calm him down, but couldn't.
"What's going on?!" Luffy asked. "I still can't see anything! This fog is way too thick!"
XXX
Back in Marineford, on the execution scaffold, Ace still sat on his knees, letting his mind wander to three years ago.
Flashback, 3 years ago
"See ya, Ace! Take care of yourself!"
At Dawn Island in the East Blue, a 14-year-old Luffy was seeing a 17-year old Ace, who was wearing an open-front shirt and standing in a dinghy, off.
"So long, Luffy!" Ace said. "I'll be going on ahead!"
"And I'll see you, three years from now!" Luffy remarked. "Next time you see, I'll be a hell of a lot stronger!"
"We'll see about that," Ace said, jokingly. "Well, I'm off! Take care of yourself, Lu! Try to stay outta trouble!"
"I will!" Luffy said.
And so, Ace sailed off into the sea, beginning a new life of adventure. Almost instantly, his name became known as he had become the captain of the Spade Pirates.
Some were surprised at how far Ace had come, so quickly…
"Whoa! Check this out!" Luffy said, holding up a newspaper. "Ace is famous!"
Others…not so much…
"WHAT?!" Garp roared, holding a newspaper, as well. "THAT BOY BECAME A PIRATE?! OVER MY DEAD BODY!"
Ace and his Spade Pirate crew grew even more infamous with each passing day, and they were certain to gain quite a lot of attention…
"Portgas…?" Sengoku asked, looking at the newspaper. "Who is this boy? Where is he from?"
"No clue, sir," said a Vice-Admiral. "He's a rookie, sir, but he's already acquired the power of a Logia-type Devil Fruit!"
…especially from a certain Emperor.
"GURARARARA…" Whitebeard chortled in his throat as he pet Stefan on the head. "Look at this, Stefan. This boy here sure has some guts. He rejected the World Government's offer to become one of the Seven Warlord. I wonder how hold he is. What's your rush, youngster? GURARARARARA…"
Ace even found the time to make a new friend…
"Ace, you can't be serious about this!" said a Spade Pirate at their ship was moored on the shore of a winter island.
"I have to see him, okay?" Ace asked. "Relax!"
Ace found himself inside the cave of a mountain, standing before a very familiar red-haired captain.
"So," said Shanks as he reached for his saber, "you came to meet me, huh?"
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Ace said, raising his hands in defense. "Hold on. I'm not here to fight. My name is Portgas D. Ace," he bowed his head, formally, "but you can call me Ace."
"And just what do you want, Ace?" asked Shanks.
"I was told that that many years ago, you saved a boy's life," said Ace. "That boy was my little brother, Luffy, and let me tell you, you're all he ever talks about, back at home. I was hoping I'd find you, because I wanted to thank you, personally."
A pause, but then, Shanks grinned and burst into laughter.
"I can't believe what I'm hearing here!" he said. "You're Luffy's big brother?! I didn't even know that he had one! Wow! Hey, any friend or relative of Luffy is a friend of ours! You're more than welcome here! So, tell me all about your adventures!"
Ace smiled and sat down in front of Shanks.
"Hey, Yasopp! Break out the sake! Men, we're getting drunk, tonight!
The crew roared with cheers and partied all night long, and both Ace and Shanks suffered brutal hangovers the morning after.
However…Ace also found the time to make some new enemies…
"Hey, big guy!" Ace said to a younger Jimbei. "Move aside! I came to see Whitebeard!"
"I'm not taking you to see Old Man Whitebeard," said Jimbei. "You look like nothing but trouble. I may not be one of Whitebeard's pirates, but I owe him a debt I may never be able to repay. If you want a fight, boy, then I will be your opponent!"
"Ace, be careful!" cried one of the Spade Pirates. "That's Jimbei, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
The Spade Pirates tried to convince Ace to forget fighting the Whale Shark Fishman, but Ace refused.
"I never run away from my opponent," he stated.
For four days straight, Ace and Jimbei were locked in vicious combat. On the fifth day, both were seriously wounded and exhausted.
"This is crazy!"
"Ace, just give up while you still can!"
"You and Jimbei will kill each other!"
At that moment, a gigantic ship appeared.
"So, you want to take my head, do you, lad?" asked a familiar voice. "Then have at it!"
The Spade Pirates gasped in shock.
"It's the Whitebeard Pirates! They're here!"
"I'll take you on, boy," said Whitebeard.
Whitebeard came down to meet his challenger, and took out most of the Spade Pirates while doing so. Ace, unable to see his crew get hurt, stood back up and raised his arms.
"Flame FENCE!" he shouted.
FWOOM! A huge wall of flames appeared from the ground.
"Captain!"
"Captain Ace! What are you doing?!"
"GET OUTTA HERE!" Ace ordered. "ALL OF YOU, RUN AWAY AS FAR AS YOU CAN!"
"But….but we can't leave you!"
"GO!" Ace shouted.
As reluctant as they were, the Spade Pirates were forced to flee.
"We'll be back, Captain!"
"We promise!"
"What?" Whitebeard asked. "Don't tell me you're chickening out, now."
"No one said anything about me chickening out," Ace answered. "I'm just giving my men time to escape. Let my men go with their lives…and in exchange…I'll stay here until I die."
"You snot-nosed brat," said Whitebeard with a grin. "You really think that some puny string-bean like you is man enough to beat me?"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ace roared before he lunged in for the attack.
SHWUK! Blood sprayed into the air.
It was a long and hard battle, but alas, Ace found himself left weak due to the injuries he had sustained from fighting Jimbei, five days prior.
Whitebeard stood before the defeated Ace, who was down on his knees, exhausted from the fight. He was covered in injuries, but not one scratch was on Whitebeard.
"You're far too valuable to die now, my boy," Whitebeard said. He reached his hand out to Ace, and at first, it seemed like he was about to finish him off, but then, he just held it there. "Come with me, and you can roam the seas as wild and free as you wish under my name! Become my son, Ace!"
Ace gasped in shock and surprise, but then he growled.
Why was this old geezer asking him to become his son? Was he doing it to mock him?
Whatever the case was, Ace only had one answer.
"NO FREAKING WAY~!"
Thud! Ace collapsed.
XXX
Several days after Ace's defeat, he found himself on board the Moby Dick, and needless to say, he was quite confused. These pirates had taken care of his injures while he was out instead of locking him up in chains.
It was then that he met Thatch, the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' 4th unit.
Thatch was a tall man with a brown pompadour hairstyle, which went to a point at the back of his head, and a black goatee around his chin. He also had a stitched-up scar running down his face, along his left eye, like Garp's. He was dressed in a posh uniform with calf-long pants and a black belt around his waist, as well as a pair of brown shoes.
"Listen," said Thatch. "If you're gonna be sailing with us from now on, let's try and get along then, shall we?"
"Shut up!" Ace snapped. "Go screw yourself!"
Thatch just laughed.
"I see you're not a morning person, Sleeping Beauty!" he joked. "Wanna know what happened to you after you passed out? Your men came back for you, but we kicked their asses, but hey, don't worry about 'em. They're still alive, and they're all here aboard the good ol' Moby Dick."
"You sure you just wanna let me walk around this ship without chains on my wrists?" asked Ace.
"Huh?" Thatch muttered, but then he laughed, much to Ace's frustration.
Why were these people treating him like he was an honored guest instead of a prisoner?
During his stay on the ship, Ace had made several attempts at Whitebeard's life.
First, he tried slit Whitebeard's throat in his sleep with a knife, but when Whitebeard awoke at the last second, Ace was sent flying.
Another time, Ace tried to chop Whitebeard's head off with an axe. Unfortunately, Whitebeard sent him flying, once more…into the sea.
"Hey! Ace fell overboard!"
"Well don't anyone just stand there! Get him out!"
Day after day, Ace tried, again and again to kill Whitebeard for at least 100 times, and failed at each attempt. After 100th time, the D carrier had finally decided to just give up.
KLAK! Marco handed Ace, who sat against the wall, hiding his face in his arms and hugging his knees to his chest, a bowl of soup.
"Here," said Marco. "Eat up."
"Get that way from me," Ace said. "I'm not hungry."
GRRRRMMMBLE!
"Your stomach says otherwise," Marco commented. "Go on and eat already."
"…hey," Ace said. "Marco, right?"
"Yeah," Marco answered.
"…why do you guys…call him 'Pops'?"
Marco smiled.
"It's because he treats us all like we're his kids," he answered him. "We're all just a bunch of strays that he took in, here, so he makes us feel good, whether he really means it or not."
A pause, but then…Ace started quivering, and Marco could hear him trying choke back sobs. He smiled and put a friendly hand on his shoulder.
"Hey," Marco said. "I know it's kind of hard to accept, but don't you go and start blubbering on us. If you keep going like you're going, then…well, let's face it. You're not gonna last. Now, I'm gonna give you some choices. You're not gonna be able to kill Pops like this, so either you jump ship and try again another time…or you stay, and take the mark of the Whitebeard Pirates on your back. Your choice."
Ace sat there for a minute, but then, he stood up and wiped his eyes, and then he looked at Marco with a grin.
"I'll do it," he said.
Marco's smile grew wider.
"Welcome aboard."
XXX
A year later, Ace had made himself right at home on the Moby Dick with the Whitebeard Pirates. Stefan, Whitebeard's dog, was especially fond of him, as shown when his master introduced the massive Mastiff dog to him. He's been washing dog slobber off of himself for days, and the smell of dog breath still lingered.
Not only that, but Ace had proven himself as a powerful new member of the crew. He had easily defeated Doma and his gang, thus causing them to align with the Whitebeard Pirates.
As if that wasn't enough Whitebeard decided to promote to captain of the 2nd unit. No one minded, but Ace was surprised at the special treatment he was getting.
At the banquet celebrating his promotion and his victory against the Doma Pirates, Ace wanted to ask anyone if they wanted the position, and who would've thought that he asked Teach, who was munching on a cherry pie.
"So…you don't want the job, Teach?" asked Ace.
"Nope," Teach answered.
"But you've been with Whitebeard the longest, haven't you?"
"ZEHAHAHAHA…it's all right, Ace. I don't have those kinds of ambitions. Go ahead and take the job, commander."
Soon, news of Ace being recruited into the Whitebeard Pirates became known far and wide. It especially piqued the interest of Sengoku and the World Government as to how fast his infamy was growing.
By this time, Ace had decided to reveal to Whitebeard his parentage.
"GURARARARARA!" Whitebeard laughed, holding a flask of sake. "So, that's it. Well, I have to say, Ace, I'm a bit surprised. You don't act a bit like Roger."
"But wasn't he your enemy?" asked Ace. "Now that you I'm his son, aren't you gonna kick me out?"
Stefan whimpered at the though. Son of Roger or not, he didn't want Ace to leave because of that.
"I thought you said you had something important to say to me, Ace!" Whitebeard exclaimed. "This is nothing!"
Ace gasped in surprise.
"But…I thought-" he said.
"I don't give a damn who your father was!" Whitebeard said. "I mean, come on, aren't we pirates all children of the sea? GURARARARARARA~!"
Ace was silent for a moment, but then he smiled and said, "Yeah. We sure are…Pops."
XXX
Two years later…
"Ace, calm down, will you?!"
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! HOW CAN YOU JUST STAND BY AND DO NOTHING ABOUT THIS?! THATCH IS DEAD!"
Ace was struggling against his own crew. Why?
Thatch had been murdered…by Teach.
"Dammit, Ace!" said one of the Whitebeard Pirates. "Pops said to just let this one go!"
"You can't go after Teach, you hear?!" shouted another pirate.
"LEMME GO, I SAID!" Ace shouted. "TEACH WAS UNDER MY COMMAND! HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU EXPECT THATCH TO REST IN PEACE IF I DON'T AVENGE HIS MURDER?!"
"Enough, Ace!" Whitebeard ordered. "Look…we're all upset about this, but just let it go, this time. I have a bad feeling about this one."
"HE'S A BLOODY TRAITOR!" Ace snapped. "HE KILLED ONE OF OUR OWN AND THEN TOOK OFF, AND AFTER SERVING YOU FOR DECADES! HE RAN LIKE THE RAT HE IS! HOW THE HELL CAN YOU POSSIBLY TELL ME TO LET THIS GO?!" He turned away from Whitebeard, seething. "As long as I live, I will NEVER let anyone drag your name through the mud! I'm gonna set things, ONCE AND FOR ALL!"
"No, wait!" Jozu cried.
"Ace, come back here!" Marco called.
It was too late. Ace was gone.
Flashback end
Ace sits on the scaffold with his head lowered.
"Pops…" he called. "Crewmates…I ignored your warning and went off on my own…so why? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE?! I BROUGHT THIS ON MYSELF!"
A pause.
"No, Ace," Whitebeard said. "I sent you on this mission…my son."
"What?!" Ace questioned. "N-no, you didn't! Don't stand there and lie to me! You guys tried to stop me, remember?! I-"
"I ordered him to go," Whitebeard said. "Didn't I…Marco?"
"That's right, Pops," Marco replied.
"N-no!" Ace argued. "Marco, you-"
"I told him to go, didn't I Stefan?" asked Whitebeard.
ROWF! Stefan let out a booming bark in reply.
"Sorry you had such a hard time, Ace!" Marco apologized. "But even you, of all people, as well as everyone in these waters know that you when mess with even of the Whitebeard Pirates…you mess with us all."
The Whitebeard Pirates soon burst into cheers.
"Anyone who dares to lay a hand on one of our own has to suffer the consequences!"
"We'll make sure that those responsible will pay for it with their lives, Ace!"
"Just sit there and wait for us! We're coming for you, Ace!"
"Get ready, you Marine bastards!"
Ace chewed his lip.
You guys… he thought.
"Well, well," Aokiji said. "Looks we've brought us some real trouble down on our heads."
"We should've seen this coming," Akainu mused.
"What a pain," Kizaru added.
RMMMMMMMMBB! The ground began to shake, once more.
"What's with that rumbling?!" Moria questioned.
"Here it comes," Garp said. "The seaquake that he started earlier. He's the quake-man who ate the Tremor-Tremor Devil Fruit…Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate!"
The Marines gasped.
"Look there! A Tsunami!" shouted one. "It's huge!"
"The fact that we outnumber them still doesn't guarantee our victory!" Sengoku said. "The Whitebeard Pirates could still wipe us out! That man, Whitebeard…has the power to destroy the world, itself!"
Whitebeard gave a toothy grin.
ARRROOOOOOOOOOO~! Stefan howled loudly.
XXX
At the Sabaody Archipelago, the spectators watched, terrified.
"The battle's starting!" said a young woman.
XXX
At Marineford, the pirates roared as they prepared to go into battle…as a giant tsunami appeared overhead.
"LET'S GO!" the pirates cheer.
The 47 pirate ships from the New World, led by the mighty Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate, begin their assault, and facing them are the greatest force of the World Government: Marine HQ and five of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. No matter who emerges victorious in this epic war, an era will die…and a new one shall be born from its ashes!
TO BE CONTINUED…
Review, please!