Sabaody Archipelago, Part I

It had been years since Edward Newgate had felt the need to sail a ship all on his own, but he knew how to do it even through the most treacherous waters of the New World. Marco had made sure that he could, drilling every lesson into his head with sharp haki-imbued kicks if he thought them necessary necessary.

Ironically enough, many of those lessons had taken place under the sea level, in the dangerous path that communicated Paradise and the New World through Fishman Island. Usually, whenever he crossed this part of the sea, Newgate would stop at Fishman Island for a visit with his friends there, but he wouldn't risk losing that precious time now. He most likely had a few days of margin, but that was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

Water Seven was one of the route islands in Paradise closest to Sabaody Archipelago, and it was only a matter of days before the Strawhat Pirates reached it. Even if they had to wait a few days once at the archipelago to have their ship coated, Newgate didn't know how fast their ship was, or how good their navigator was (was it Marco? Did he even know how to navigate this time around?), and thus he didn't know how much time he had to get there.

While reaching Sabaody wasn't much of a challenge, entering it was. As proud as Newgate was of his family and their symbols, he didn't want to attract the marines' attention. Not here, not to his son. As such, he had to avoid being recognized. He had changed the ship's sails for unmarked ones, removed the pirate flag from the top of the ship's mast, put his trademark coat in storage and had thrown a shirt on to cover the tattoo on his back.

Despite all of this, his face was still a very recognizable one, which was why he decided to get the ship straight into the lawless areas and as close to grove thirteen as he could manage. The less he had to move around on foot, the better.

Luck was on his side, because he reached his destination without any incidents, but inside the bar there was only Shakky.

"Well, this is a surprise," she said with a smile that said it very much wasn't a surprise to see him. "What can I do for you?" she asked, leaning forward on the counter.

"What's the strongest drink you have?" Newgate asked, suddenly overwhelmed by the enormity of what was about to happen. His nurses were going to kill him. If not for disregarding his medication and heading out before they could notice what he was doing, then for getting completely wasted at some point during this trip.

Maybe Marco could take those pictures now.

"Something that'd most likely blow a normal person's liver up. This isn't a reputable bar," Shakky replied, gesturing at the largest sofa available.

"That sounds perfect," Newgate said, and he sat down heavily.

Shakky moved behind the bar for a minute before walking out with a decently-sized tankard for Newgate and a standard-sized one for herself. She dragged a chair over and sat down across from him.

"I was right, then?"

Newgate nodded, not at all surprised that Shakky had made the connection, and downed half of his tankard. Whatever it was, it burned all the way down and anchored him to the here and now; it reminded him that, this time, he wasn't dreaming.

"Where's Rayleigh?" he asked after a short silence.

Shakky shrugged.

"He's been away for some six months. I imagine he'll come back when he has nothing left to bet with."

Newgate nodded. That wasn't a surprise either. He wondered if Rayleigh had read the newspaper lately. Probably not.

"So," Shakky started, "do you want to know the situation at the archipelago?"

"Yes."

She leaned back on her chair and took a sip of her drink.

"Currently, there are twelve rookies with bounties of or above one hundred million beli on Paradise, and all of them are expected to coincide here in the upcoming days. Only some have arrived so far, and the Strawhat Pirates aren't amongst them."

Newgate sagged down, relieved that he had really made it in time.

"Your kid's chosen an interesting crew to join. Again," Shakky said with a smile. "I like them, I think I might even become their fan."

Newgate chuckled.

"Yeah, Marco would never join a lousy pirate crew."

"He joined you," Shakky pointed out teasingly, and Newgate laughed.

"That took some time. He tried to kick my ass more than once first."

"Well, then, what are you going to do now?" Shakky asked, and something in her tone made Newgate pause. It was far too serious for her to be asking if he intended to stay here until Marco arrived.

"Do about what?"

Shakky sighed and shook her head.

"You haven't looked at a single newspaper since you learned about Marco, have you?"

She stood up without waiting for a response and went behind the bar. There, she rummaged a little before pulling out a newspaper.

When she set it on the table before him, Newgate felt all of his blood drain from his face.

Ace had been captured.

"I need a safe den den mushi."

Notes:

Some people asked about Ace and Thatch. Well, I'm afraid Thatch did die, and Ace went after Teach. Marco's absence made no difference in Ace's trip through Paradise, and Banaro Island happened just like in canon.

On a side note, given how old Shakky is (she's been retired for forty years and was a strong enough pirate to have Garp after her), I have this headcanon that she knows the Whitebeard Pirates. So, here, have some pirate friendship :)

And, speaking of pirate friendship, here's a piece of art for this chapter :D foxmii dot deviantart dot com/art/Come-Back-Again-Chapter-2-1-745345222