Hey there everyone! Thanks for everyone for their reviews, comments and suggestions.
Here is the next chapter :D More of ASLO 0_0, okay I'm going to need a new referral to the four of them.
Enjoy xx
Fight your fears and you'll be in battle forever. Face your fears and you'll be free forever.
"Come on Flick again," Thatch called out to her. She stood at the bottom of the deck glaring up at the man who was holding a stop watch in his hands. Every day she would continue her training with her brothers and then they would be separated to work on different things personalised to each of them.
She felt the sweat roll down her back as she took in a deep breathe. Her training was to perfect her flickering as Thatch now dubbed it. He had set up a huge course around the deck of the ship and she had to reach each point as quick as possible and then move onto the next. She had twelve locations to get to before he would stop the clock.
So far she was sitting just above thirty seconds and that was with her collapsing to the ground in pile of sweat unable to move for a good few minutes afterwards. But every time she did it she would be slightly quickly and be immobile just a little less.
"Ready," Thatch called lifting his hand with the small timer ready and waiting to slam his thumb down on the starter. She nodded and then disappeared from her spot. She reappeared behind the mast and then she was off again. By the eighth flicker she leant against the wooden crates for support while she regained her breathe.
"Go Flick!" a cheer from her makeshift fan group gave her enough power to push through the last four.
"Time, twenty nine point two." Thatch called out as she sagged to the ground in a heap not able to move an inch. "That's a new record Princess." Thatch beamed down at her as she held up a thumbs up not able to speak just yet.
"That was so cool!" she winced feeling the pressure of a bounding ball of rubber land straight into her stomach.
"You were like wooosh and woosh and then you disappeared and then bam you were over there," Luffy grinned trying to mimic everything that she had done with his arms stretched out wide.
"You were very impressive Octavia," Izo appeared glancing down at her from above. She smiled and with the rest of her strength she sat up still with Luffy in her lap.
"Thank you Izo," she panted.
"How's your target practice going?" she asked regaining her ability to talk without gasping for her next breath.
"Great, I hit three targets today!" Luffy grinned proudly but when she looked at Izo she saw a completely different opinion.
"Out of about a hundred Luffy," he shook his head. After all the training programs he had run, and the countless pupils he had trained and given advice too, he had never come across someone so difficult to teach. He had all the willingness in the world and the heart of the truest of warriors, but there was nothing he could think of to get the boy to hit his intended target. But he knew that when he discovered a way to harness his aim, then he was going to be a force to be reckoned with.
It had become apparent to all the Whitebeard pirates that worked on the deck of the ship, that during Luffy's training time, everyone must be on their guard otherwise they would suffer an impressive blow from the boy. Which knocked most of his brothers to the ground and some of them were unconscious for a brief period of time.
"I don't see how you can grab any piece of meat at no matter what the distance, but when it comes to a target your hopeless." Octavia laughed ruffling his spiky black hair. She had seen Luffy in action when it came to meal times, he always managed to steal food from and unsuspecting victim on the other side of the galley.
"You-" she looked up at Izo's stunned face.
"You're a genius." He beamed; "I'll be back in ten."
And then he disappeared.
"Why did I sign up for this," Ace groaned holding up a piece of meat in the air. He looked to his brother and could see him a few feet away from him doing the same thing. Half the deck was filled with Whitebeard pirates all anxiously holding a piece of meat into the air.
"We were forced into this punishment," Sabo groaned not liking the plan.
"Shut up this is for Luffy," Octavia mocked sitting in her favourite spot; on top of Whitebeards shoulder. She looked out at the few commanders and her brothers who were all roped in by Izo to help with Luffy's training. She dubbed herself immune to the training session due to the fact that it was her brilliant idea.
She was confident that this plan would eventually work out in the best interest for Luffy, but maybe not the best interest for everyone else. She only hoped that he got it on the first try.
"Alright Luffy, all that meat is yours. But you are not allowed to move from this spot. If you miss, then that person can eat your meat. Do you understand?" Izo instructed seeing the drool that was practically falling from his mouth.
"Got it, get meat and eat it." Luffy reiterated not taking his eyes off Ace's meat first.
"I'm scared." Ace mumbled not liking the look in his brother's eyes.
"Was nice knowing you brother," Sabo mumbled.
"Shut up brats were all in this together," Marco groaned holding up a piece of his own meat in the air.
"Gomu Gomu-"
"Oh god he's saying it…" Ace groaned turning his body away from the incoming pain.
"Meat Grab!" Luffy screamed.
Ace felt the meat get ripped from his hand so forcefully that he almost fell forwards with it. He stared back at his brother with wide eyes.
"That was awesome!" Luffy spoke while munching on the sick of meat.
"You did it." Ace muttered in shock.
"He actually got it." Sabo mumbled in the same amount of shock as his brother.
"And how long had you been trying to train him?" Octavia grinned smugly from atop of the captain.
"Meat, why the hell did we never think of that?" Sabo spoke looking at Ace.
"Language," Marco warned but Sabo ignored him and watched as Luffy made a grab for his offering.
It took Luffy about two minutes to gather all the meat that was offered to him and eat it all. He even had the nerve to ask to train again.
"Well it looks like the two youngest of the wolf pack have improved the most," Thatch spoke out causing Ace, Sabo and even Marco to glare at him.
"Ace and Sabo have improved just as much," Marco defended his charges.
"Oh really, as far as I can see they can just run a little faster. My girl here has smashed her own record by double, and Luffy here just hit one hundred percent of his targets." Thatch taunted watching Luffy reach for another piece of meat.
"Is that a challenge, brother?" Marco stepped forwards and starred down Thatch.
"Oh no, I don't like taking your money, brother." Thatch mocked.
"You have one week. We will see which brat has improved the most." Marco snarled.
"Hand to hand combat?" Izo stepped in. He had a whole new training program in mind for the youngest of the wolf pack and there was no way he was leaving his little bouncer out of this challenge.
"Two minutes one on one spar. Best guardian wins." Thatch called.
They were about to seal the deal when a loud laugh broke them of their challenging. They looked at Whitebeard who was watching the whole thing with a smile on his face.
"Why don't we have a teacher, student competition?" he suggested.
"Deal. Come on princess we have work to do." Thatch quickly moved towards Flick and all but yanked her from her spot and headed to their part of the ship.
"Luffy let's go." Izo called and they too disappeared.
Marco turned to face the boys and he could tell that two boys were just as worked up as he was.
"Shall we?" Marco gestured towards the training rooms and the boys smirked at each other.
"We'll crush them." Ace grinned looking forward to testing his strength against the other commanders.
Sabo looked around and tried to find Namur. He didn't voice it, but he wondered why the last commander seemed to not want anything to do with them, especially him.
After five days Octavia and the others felt like punching their guardians. Never had she seen three people with more of a competitive streak than those three. And then to top it all off she had heard the other pirates around the ship taking bets on which team would win. So far it was a pretty even match between Sabo and Ace, which she was very pissed off about. She wasn't even close to Luffy's odds which infuriated her even more.
"This is bullshit," she groaned throwing her weakened body onto her bed. Thatch had just worked her to the bone and she could barely feel her arms or her legs. He had her current personal best time down by another three seconds and apparently that still wasn't good enough to satisfy her guardian. She ground her teeth just remembering his lovely words of encouragement.
"Want to trade?" Sabo sighed from his collapsed position not even making it to his bed. He had small rips and tears all throughout his new clothes that Izo had made for them. If he could see the state of all their clothes she was sure that Izo would win the contest and destroy the rest of the guardian commanders.
"Why do we have to fight for money," a small voice perked up from his bed. She looked over and saw the most energetic of them all still managing to sit up with his arms crossed over his chest and a small pout on his lips.
"They just want to fight each other anyway." Luffy groaned falling backwards with a sigh.
"Well then, how about we change things up a bit." Ace grinned wickedly and suddenly plans started to form in the four children's heads.
"No one messes with the wolf pack," Sabo grinned sitting up.
"Still a stupid name," Ace groaned but agreed full heartily. No one messes with them.
"I'm going to kick your ass, rubber brains." Ace called out from the top of his lungs. He stood atop a table in the galley and was flanked by Marco and Sabo who were staring down Luffy and Izo.
"Nuh uh," Luffy responded jumping up onto the table and stared threateningly towards his brothers.
"You need to teach your student the proper way to insult someone, or is it your teaching skills that are lacking?" Marco taunted Izo who glared back with such ferocity. "Wasn't it the youngest female aboard who actually taught your stupid how to aim?"
"We'll see who the better teacher is, after lunch, we will prove who the better team on this ship is." Izo grabbed Luffy's hand and dragged him off to a corner of the galley to discuss strategies alone.
"Idiot's," Octavia mumbled sitting next to Thatch who was surprisingly keeping quiet through the whole exchange.
"Damn right Princess," he responded; "We're the ultimate team aboard this ship." And she rolled her eyes.
"We'll show them all just how good we are." He grunted forcing more food into his mouth.
"Worst odds, my ass." He grumbled shoving in another load.
Octavia sat there trying to ignore the man and the way he was eating through his emotions. She glanced across the room and saw her blonde brother give her a knowing smirk. She personally could not wait till the battle came up.
"Show them a thing or two about teaching…"
She rolled her eyes and continued to eat her own food at her own human pace.
Lunch went by pretty normally after the little turf war that went on. Lyon quickly stepped in and called a peace treaty whilst they were in the galley, he couldn't afford an all-out brawl to take place in there.
Sabo slid in beside her as Lyon brought out a plate of baked goods and placed them in the middle of the table.
"Muffins!" Luffy's voice was echoed around the room as he suddenly appeared standing on the wooden stool and reaching his long arm towards the plate of muffins. Octavia quickly acted and threw her shield around her hard work. She did not want her youngest brother to eat them all before everyone else got at least one of them. His rubbery hand banged against the small dome protecting the food and he sighed.
"Flick please," he begged, "I'm starving."
"One," she spoke firmly and saw him nod fast. Preparing to throw her shield back up at any moment, she lowered it and watched him like a hawk as he grabbed the biggest one possible. As his arm retracted she sighed and grabbed her own muffin.
"Thanks Flick," Luffy mumbled with half of his muffin falling out of his mouth. She laughed as Marco scolded him for speaking with his mouth full.
"Great cupcakes girlie," she froze feeling that flooding sensation rush through her body. Her eyes darted to the side to the three people walking towards their table. Teach, Namur and a man she had yet to meet officially yet.
"Their muffins idiot," Ace rolled his eyes and slid closer to Luffy who had the rest of his muffin the air in front of his mouth.
"Anyway, tastes amazing." Teach stopped in front of their table and she moved one hand into Sabo's while the other pushed towards her brothers opposite her. She would be ready to protect them at any costs.
"Teach, you have your own plate. Back off." Thatch laughed and quickly slid their full plate of muffins towards him with a smile.
"Wouldn't dream of stealing them," Teach laughed loudly causing her to jump. "You did a good job Flick." He looked at her but she stayed still.
"Flick?" she heard her brother whisper to her but she refused to take her eyes off the man.
"Anyway, got to get back to work." Teach waved and headed towards the exit. Her eyes followed his every movements until he was out of sight.
"You alright Princess?" Thatch looked down at her and finally noticed the way she huddled herself closer to Sabo.
"Yes," she smiled up at him but it was forced. He glanced over to the youngest and could see him clinging onto Ace. Much like the last time this had happened. It was always Luffy and Flick who reacted like this.
"Brats this is Vista, he is the fifth division commander." Marco announced trying to break the brats out of their sudden wave of depression and fear.
"Hello Miss Flick, I have heard a lot about you." The man stepped forwards and bowed his head towards her, tilting his top hat in the process. "And your cooking skills is talk of the town." He winked at her and she felt herself smile back at the man.
"Hello Mister Vista," Sabo added as polite as ever. Whilst Ace just grunted and turned his attention back to his youngest brother as he still clung to his arm.
"Who wants more muffins?" Thatch quickly shouted and saw a small head poke out from Ace's arm. Sure enough a rubber arm appeared out of nowhere and snatched another muffin right off the plate and disappeared back behind Ace.
Thatch was even more concerned now. This was the second time this kind of thing happened with the two youngest aboard. He had thought the first time it had been due to the amount of new faces that the brats had been exposed to in such a short amount of time, but now he was more inclined to believe it was a specific person that was causing such strange behaviour, and the more he thought about it the more he saw Teach as that person.
Ace sat on his bed with his arms crossed over his chest. He stared out of the small window in their room and watched as the waves would crash against the side of the ship and coat the small window and then disappear.
Sabo was sitting at his desk in their room and he could hear his hand darting across the pages in his book. Every now and then Sabo would ask him a question about something in their past, he was documenting everything from the day they met until their current days.
That was a book that Ace never wanted to read ever. He knew of how Luffy liked to retell their history, and he didn't want to hear of another tail of their past. He didn't want to hear the accurate telling of their pasts that he knew Sabo would be able to capture.
Octavia and Luffy were currently in the captain's office doing something, but he was sitting alone and thinking.
He recalled the events of lunch over and over again in his mind and it was frustrating him to no end. He wanted to know what caused such fear in his youngest siblings and he wanted to destroy it. He was the oldest brother, and it was his responsibility to look after his brothers and sister.
"If you sigh one more time I'm going to throw my book at you." Sabo slammed his hand on his desk and turned to face him. He hadn't even realised that he had been making any sound.
"Now what's wrong?" Sabo moved from his desk and sat down at the end of the bed.
"At lunch," Ace spoke looking back from the window and to his brother. "With Flick and Luffy." He explained seeing the recognition in his brother's face.
"Oh," Sabo sunk down further against the bed now letting his mind join his brothers in confusion. Sabo had thought about his siblings reactions over and over again. He had researched and read countless books on what could be causing it. And most of them were completely ridiculous, and then some of them made sense, especially given the trauma that they had all been through. But what didn't make sense was the fact it didn't happen with every large, muscled man, it was only with certain people.
"I was reading a book about auras." Sabo spoke up looking out the small window his brother was staring out.
"Aura?" Ace asked giving his brother every bit of his attention.
"Yes, it's said to be an atmosphere that can be seen to surround certain places, objects or people."
"You think they have an aura?" Ace asked not really believing in such fairylike concepts.
"No, I believe that Flick and Luffy can sense people's auras. Like they can tell instantly who is a good person or a bad person." Ace looked at his brother in shock. It sounded plausible. Luffy had always had a good grasp on who was a good person or not. He shied away from the enemies but instantly befriended someone who he knew was to be good. Even when the entire world perceived the person to be bad, Luffy always knew.
"People can do that?" Ace whispered not wanting to admit the possibility. A small smile came to his face remembering the first time he had met Luffy. Luffy knew straight away that he wanted to friends with him, even after everything he did to him back then. Luffy never stopped trying.
"Some call it a sixth sense, I'm not sure if I believe that sort of thing. But seeing the way Flick and Luffy react to something makes me believe in something, right?" Sabo ranted and looked at his brother.
"Sounds like mystery magic, huh?" Ace laughed mimicking Luffy's explanation for anything he doesn't understand. Sabo laughed letting some of his anxiety disappear.
"It's one thing to understand what it is, but it's another to know what is causing it." Sabo spoke letting the tense atmosphere return.
"Teach." Ace growled letting his hands ball into fists in his lap. That was one thing that he had slowly started to piece together. The first time he had seen this reaction from his siblings was the first time they had all eaten in the galley. They had met a lot of people that day, but then it happened again earlier today. She was fine when they started eating, but then when Namur, Vista and Teach came to their table they reacted.
And only when Teach had left did the feeling go away. She had spoken to Namur on several occasions and never reacted, and she spoke to Vista afterwards and seemed to be able handle herself. So that only left one person.
"Teach? Really?" Sabo asked trying to remember the moments they had seen the man around them.
"He's the only one it could be." Ace growled. That man was instantly vowed as untrustworthy in his books. Even though the man hadn't specifically done anything to them. Ace was not going to be letting him get close to his siblings. He wouldn't let his guard down, when that man showed up.
"What do you want to do?" Sabo asked looking at his brother. He knew that Ace was not one to sit back and wait, he was more throw the first punch and ask questions later. He was never one to back out of a battle or a fight.
"We wait. We have no evidence that he is bad, or if he is. But we will watch. And if and when he does step over that line. We attack." Ace spoke firmly looking back out at the window. He watched as the small tails of water slide down his window and disappeared from his sight.
"You want to wait?" Sabo asked a little smug.
"Shut up," Ace smirked and punched Sabo's shoulder.
Ace stood next to his brother and looked around the deck of the ship. He had never seen so many of the Whitebeard pirates gathered in one place before, sure there were a lot of them that turned up for dinner, but dinner went for hours, and people came and went as they pleased. But right now the entire deck was crowded by pirates all shouting for their favourite team.
He looked over to his brother and found him staring around in disbelief.
"Ready?" Marco spoke with confidence behind them as they stared off against the two other teams that were opposite them.
"We're going to show everyone exactly which team is the best," Sabo spoke and glanced at him with a knowing smirk.
"Too right, brother." Ace smirked back smugly. They were about to give the entire crew a show and they were going to do it with all the style they knew.
"Damn straight." Marco chuckling patting both the boys on the shoulder. He was mighty proud at how the boys had taken to the challenge and pushed through all their training and hard work. In the middle there he thought that he had been pushing them too hard, but then the next day they came back with almost double the determination as before.
The noise quietened down as Whitebeard stood from his chair and moved to the centre of their makeshift arena. As soon as the man rose he commanded the attention of everyone on board.
"Rules." He spoke out loudly amongst the silence of the men; "Each team will have two minutes to spar with another, and it will be judged on a point system. My word is final, shall I deem that a fight is getting out of hand I will stop it. May the best team win." Whitebeard spoke and moved back to his chair at the front of the arena.
"Alright first off we have Team Phoenix vs Team Rubber!" Vista called calling the teams to step forwards.
Ace looked over to Flick and saw her small nod. This was it. This was the moment that they taught everyone a valuable lesson.
They knew that they wouldn't be able to hold out with the commanders for so many rounds, so the first round was going to be it. They were never going to be pit against each other, especially not for a bet.
He felt the wind rush through his body and spur him on. His hands gripped tightly around the cold metal pole in his hands as he itched for the fight to come. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck start to rise in anticipation. Looking over to his youngest brother he could see in the way he bounced on the balls of his feet that he was ready for this fight too. They all were.
"Remember brats, Izo has perfect aim. So move those feet." Marco reminded them for the thousandth time but they nodded. They hadn't spent the last few days gathering intel on their commanders for nothing. They knew the best way, or really the only possible way to take them down and that was simple by surprise. And even if they did catch them off their guard, it was only going to be for a fraction of a moment and no longer. They were going to have to be smart and quick.
They were not idiots, they knew they would never truly be able beat the three strongest commanders aboard the Moby Dick, but they could trick them.
The element of surprise was the only thing going for them at the moment.
Every set of eyes were on Vista as he stepped forwards and looked at both parties at the edge of the arena. Earning a small nod from both commanders he raised his hand high in the air.
"Two minutes, starts now." Vista called and Luffy was the first one to run into the centre of the arena.
"Brat, what did I say about rushing in!" Izo yelled out but it was too late.
"Gomu Gomu Rocket!" Luffy shouted and threw a punch over to their side of the field instantly going for Marco.
Sabo took the signal and ran for it, not missing a beat.
He launched himself into the air and landed on his brother's stretched out arm and ran down the rubber path towards his body.
"Now!" He signalled and Luffy responded by launching Sabo into the air.
"What the!" Izo stood in shock, watching as the boy was suddenly launched right in front of him.
"Did Luffy just help Sabo?" Thatch whispered to Flick who was watching the fight closely.
Sabo was quick to swing his pipe at the man and managed to connect with his shoulder.
"Point Sabo," Vista called surprise laced his voice. The crowd of spectators went nuts and the screams of Sabo's name echoed around the seas.
"Great teaching Izo, your student is helping the wrong tea-." Marco laughed but was cut off by a kick to the stomach sending him backwards. Ace stood grinning with his pipe resting on his shoulder.
"I think you've got the wrong team," Ace taunted.
"Did Ace just attack Marco?" Thatch looked down at Flick and received nothing.
Marco quickly caught on to the trick and launched himself forwards as his flames coated his fist. Ace stood there with one hand on his pipe and the other on his hip with a smug smile on his face.
Marco flew closer and just as he was about to connect with Ace's stomach; he connected with something much harder that forced him to flip backwards. He landed in a defensive crouch and stared forwards at the familiar looking shield.
"Princess not you too!" Thatch glanced down at the girl who had her hand stretched out towards Ace and a smirk on her face.
"You have no idea," she spoke not even looking at him.
Ace grinned from inside the protection of Flick's shield.
"Wolf pack!" Ace yelled and then he was standing back to back with his siblings. Each took a defensive position facing off their commanders. The four of them stood shoulder to shoulder watching each other's backs. This was the way it was meant to be. They were a family, they fought together, and they won together. This is what they wanted to show everyone. They were one unit and nothing in the world was going to change that.
"Princess no, what is this!" Thatch pleaded moving into the arena.
"Game on Thatchy," she taunted.
"Ace, Sabo get back here now." Marco stood up and rubbed his shoulder from where he crashed.
"Don't think so old man," Sabo laughed preparing for the next attack.
"Can we do it now?" Luffy beamed copying his brother's positions.
"Ready, Lu. Over Barrel!" Sabo screamed and suddenly they each disappeared.
Flick appeared behind Marco and she quickly trapped him inside her shield. They knew they had to disarm the strongest and smartest first.
"Flick," he warned crouching low and letting his flames start to take over his body, "Drop the shield, now."
"Bite me Phoenix," she poked her tongue out and laughed as the flames burst at her shield but did not escape. She could almost feel the heat that radiated against her shield. She tried not to wince or to show the sudden surge of power it took to hold back the great Phoenix. And even then she knew that the commander had barely used an inch of his true power. With a quick glance towards Ace they both knew that they were running out of time pretty quickly.
Sabo ran towards Izo with his pipe raised. He saw Izo react quickly but not quick enough.
Luffy ran to the outskirts of the arena and waited for the signal. When Sabo yelled out he quickly stretched his arms to his brother who was in mid-air, arms raised at the sharp shooter, and pulled him away from Izo's attack and threw him towards the last unsuspecting guardian.
"Surprise!" Sabo grinned as he was pulled back from Izo's swing and thrown directly to Thatch. Thatch copped a pipe to the head and stumbled backwards not see the flying boy that was flung towards him from out of nowhere.
Ace saw his window of opportunity and swung at the sharp shooter. He grinned seeing the commander turn quickly and deflect his attack.
"Still not quick enough boy," Izo smirked.
"Maybe, but I'm the decoy." Ace grinned and then Flick appeared in the air above and landed on Izo forcing him to the ground and effectively knocking the wind out of him.
"I was the attacker," she grinned kneeling on the man's back using her shield to keep him down.
Ace was quick to pull her up and she threw her shield around the both of them, blocking Izo's quick retaliation.
Marco was furious as he banged on the shield, watching as his brothers were being tricked by a bunch of brats. He knew he could escape if he truly wanted to, but he also knew that Flick could feel a fraction of the damage that was done to her shield, more of an itch. But if he were to truly break out he knew it would hurt her.
"Always be on your guard," he turned quickly but not quickly enough to see the shield disappear and Sabo appear with a bucket of water.
Sabo threw the sea water on the man and then he was granted with the safety of Flicks protection.
Marco looked over his shoulder and could see his brothers looking back at him. Springing to their feet they swapped positions, now they stood back to back and faced off as the four brats surrounded them on the outskirts of the arena.
They were being mocked by a bunch of brats. Shaking off most of the water he groaned feeling the slight effects of the sea water clutching at his body and clothes. They were smart he'd give them that, but not as smart as them.
"Seems we need to teach the brats another lesson," Thatch smirked cracking his knuckles.
"Indeed, they need to learn to respect their superiors." Izo stared down the duo in the bubble.
"You guys are too old, too slow and too dumb." Ace taunted resting his pipe on his shoulder.
"You really expected us to be used in your little war?" Sabo added copying his brother.
"Never again will you underestimate us," Octavia flanked Ace and let her shield dissolve ready for the next wave of attacks.
"Yeah," Luffy added with his famous grin.
"Each guardian takes on their own brats?" Marco spoke and earned a nod from his brothers. They were each going to show their little students exactly what it meant to mess with their teachers.
"I don't think so," Sabo called and bent down low. "Flick- Phase two!" he yelled springing into the air.
Everyone watched in amazement as Sabo didn't land, instead he was inside a bubble and soaring higher in the air and towards the wooden mast above. His hands reached the beam and he pulled himself onto it.
"Lu!" Ace called and Luffy reacted quickly and sent a punch towards his awaiting brother. Ace grabbed onto his wrist and planted himself into the ground and yanked onto his arms. Luffy's body was snatched from his spot and coiled to land right next to Ace and Octavia's position.
Luffy tucked himself in and Ace was quick to throw him into the air and into Sabo's awaiting arms.
"Got ya Princess."
Flick disappeared and reappeared facing Thatch as he tried to lunge for her. She crouched low and a growl escaped her lips.
"Flick!" she didn't need to turn as she caught Ace's weapon that was thrown towards her. She wielded it with all the skills that her brother's had taught her. Thatch relied on her powers in training, never had he taught her weapons training; and that was going to be his downfall.
"Bring it sister," Thatch removed one of his still sheathed blades and squared off with her. She scoffed at the notion. He didn't even want to fight her properly.
Running forwards she lifted her arms, a battle cry escaped her mouth as she neared the man with her weapon held high in the air.
"First rule never charge ahead," Thatch mocked her seeing every flaw in her actions. But then she disappeared. "Fuck," he groaned forgetting that little party trick he turned quickly to try and spot her when he felt another blow to the head.
"First rule, never take your eyes off the enemy." Octavia smirked from behind the man.
"Maybe you should listen to your own rule," two hands grabbed her shoulders and she was quickly turned and faced off Izo.
"Agreed!" Ace yelled and appeared out of thin air and swung at the man causing him to flinch backwards and away from the attack. He landed next to Flick who had barely reacted to the attack.
"How did you…" Izo stuttered not sure what he saw.
"Let's go." Ace grabbed Flick's hand and then they both disappeared.
Izo stared at Thatch who was watching the whole thing with wide eyes. Ace had appeared out of thin air and then they both disappeared just as quick.
"Where'd they go?" Marco snapped moving to his brother's sides once more.
"Up here you big dumb dumbs," Luffy laughed from atop of the nearest mast.
"Flick," Sabo called out when she appeared next to him. They looked down at the three commanders below seeing their entire plan work out perfectly.
"Let's do this," Octavia grinned and disappeared leaving Ace and Sabo at one end of the mast. She reappeared next to Luffy who was still taunting the men below. She could see Marco trying to force his phoenix form but with the salt water still coating his body and clothes he couldn't perform the shift.
"Now!" Sabo commanded and they each grabbed onto the rope beneath their feet and tugged onto it releasing the sail. They watched as the heavy material fell with forced and landed directly on the three commanders below.
"We did it!" Luffy jumped up and down on the thing wooden beam.
The eruptions of the pirates below caused four very proud brats to stand a little taller.
Octavia grabbed Luffy's hand and appeared in the centre of the mast where Sabo and Ace had moved to.
They watched with smiles on their faces as the three commanders struggled to get free of the large heavy sail. When they were finally free they each glared up at them.
"Get back down here and fight properly!" Thatch yelled shaking his fists.
"Give it up, we beat your fair and square!" Sabo poked his tongue out causing the man to growl.
"That was a dirty trick!" Izo called out but he couldn't keep the small proud smile off his face.
"We're Pirates," Luffy yelled back.
"Maybe now you will get it. We are the Wolf Pack and no one will ever try to separate us or underestimate us again." Ace declared and earned a loud cheer from the rest of the pirates. He had to admit using Thatch's homemade nickname for them, gave him that extra bit of gloat he was after.
Whitebeard stared at the four children with an amused smile. He knew that he should have been surprised at the turn of the events, but he wasn't. After the last month of observing the four brats he knew that they were inseparable. And no matter if it was a pretend battle or a true one, he knew that the four of them would never be torn apart. They were one unit.
And as Ace had clearly put it they were a Wolf Pack.
The Whitebeard Wolf Pack.
He chuckled to himself, very much liking the name for the four newcomers that would most likely wreak havoc on the unsuspecting world.
"But who wins the bet?" A loud voice shouted amongst the crowd.
"I demand my money back!" Another shout.
"Well actually," Vista stepped forwards with the small barrel of money; "We do have a winner," he groaned and held the winnings up to is Captain.
"What no way!" Thatch shouted pointing at his Pops.
"You're a fool if you didn't see that coming," Whitebeard laughed looking down at the all the stash he had collected. He had never once taken part in the betting life of his crew, but this time he just couldn't pass up the chance to bet on the four of them.
Octavia stared down at the captain as he collected the winnings on the bet.
"He bet on us?" Sabo whispered looking to his brother.
"Old geezer is nuts." Ace shook his head.
"Come down here brats," Whitebeard called out and watched as the four of them grabbed onto the rope and swung down onto the deck.
"I believe a congratulations is in order." He stood up and walked towards them. He could see how exhausted the four of them were, particularly Octavia. She had pushed herself the most with that power of hers, and even he had to admit they impressed him.
"Here you go," he held out the winner's barrel to her.
"But…" Octavia whispered seeing the load of money in her hands.
"You four were very impressive." The man whispered; "Next time we dock, buy whatever you like." He winked at the four astonished faces before standing tall.
"Tonight we celebrate the winners, the Whitebeard Wolf Pack is truly a force to be reckoned with." He announced and earned a huge roar of cheers and shouts from the crew.
"Whitebeard Wold Pack?" Luffy grinned up at his brothers loving their little title.
"Sounds pretty good," Sabo stood a little taller.
"Sounds stupid." Ace added.
"Sounds Fucken badass." Octavia added with a laugh.
"Language." She winced feeling a slap to the back of her head.
"Hey!" she turned and glared at the three commanders behind her. "Hi," she quickly dropped the attitude and faced off three very neutral men.
"Are you mad?" she whispered not wanting to be yelled at.
"Of course not Princess," Thatch quickly pulled her onto his shoulder, causing her to giggle.
"Actually we're quite proud of you four." Marco added, causing Ace and Sabo to almost faint.
"You four showed a hell of amount of loyalty to each. Quite inspiring actually, but next time. You will listen to us." Marco ended on a serious note.
"Next time you will not pit us against one another for money." Ace added with the same amount of seriousness.
"Stubborn little shits," Marco stepped forwards and instantly pulled the two boys upside down by their ankles.
"Language!" Luffy mimicked what he thought was something that sounded like Marco.
"Why you little," Izo laughed and forced Luffy into the same position as his brothers.
"I'm hungry!" he laughed gripping onto his hat making sure it didn't fall off.
"Time for dinner." Thatch grinned and led the group towards the galley where he could already hear his brothers starting the celebrations.
"So when did you learn to flicker other people?" Thatch bounced the girl on his shoulder but all he got was a sly giggle in response.
Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.
Well there it is, what did you think?
Teach is back. Training is paying off ;)
Next up - The Wolf packs first island visit :D
Thanks again guys
xx