Well, good morning every one. This is THE chapter, I think. Yeah, because in this one, we say good bye to the Spades Kaizoku.
For now, I would like to thanks Girl-luv-manga (thank you for you fidelity, if I can do anything for you, tell me ^^) and my 'Guest' (the sequel ? This story doesn't have sequel because it's in progress. If your speaking about the story about Luffy or Sabo, I will think about it (well, the story about Sabo, you have to ask it to Evanae)).
For now, enjoy this and see you later !
- We're gonna find nothing here, Thatch growled, putting a liana aside. I doubt he's somewhere here.
- Shut up and go on, yoi. We have to find him before Oyaji realise he disappeared, Marco sighed.
- Five months already... I'm beginning to lose hope on him joining us, Thatch sighed.
- You should never lose hope. He opened up to the crew, I'll remind you. He's hanging on with us both majorly, but he's more social than at first.
- But he's still after Oyaji's head...
- He may have a good reason, yoi.
- Who's got a good reason for what? asked a voice behind them.
Both Shirohige's pirates turned to see the most unexpected scene that was : Ace slumped on the back of a tiger the size of an adult man, as if it was a living plushie. Seeing the lump on the animal's skull, it had to resign itself, against its will, to the parasite glued to its back.
- What are you doing on a tiger ? asked Thatch, who had put himself slightly behind Marco.
If the animal attacked, the Grilled Chicken would be there to allow him to escape.
Ace laughed and joyfully buried his face in the beast's fur.
Yes, the tiger really was reduced to the state of a living stuffed toy.
- When I was a kid, my brother Lu' and I found one, while hunting. Ji-chan didn't want us to bring it back home, Ace told them when he came back up. We pissed him off with this for months, we tried everything, but he never accepted. When I saw him, before entering the Shin Sekai, he gave me a stuffed tiger as a reminder of that.
Marco tried not to laugh, something Thatch was openly doing.
Original idea, both as a gift and as a pet.
- We were looking for you, exactly, yoi. It was too calm, Marco said. What are you doing here ?
Ace lost his smile and straightened to sit cross-legged on his improvised mount.
- I needed to think a little, he confessed.
Thatch leant against Marco's shoulder, to better look at Ace who was nervously playing with his hat's decorative strap.
- Can we help you ? Three brains are better than one, Thatch said.
- No. But thanks for asking.
Ace patted the tiger that turned on its legs and disappeared in the jungle again.
- Well, at least we know where Ace is. And that he is not in immediate danger, Marco sighed.
Everybody was still feasting on, when Ace came back to the ship.
Marco being one of the rare still sober ones at this moment, saw the young man sit in a corner, his head in his arms. Taking a full mug that nobody had touched (who knew why), the Phoenix went to see the young man and handed him the glass. Ace absently took it and put it on the ground.
- Why are they partying ? Ace muttered.
- Who knows, yoi. Only for the pleasure of partying. The pleasure of being alive. To show the dead, the ones who left us too early, that they are happy in their memory, yoi, answered Marco while staring at his completely wasted comrades.
Ace made no comment.
- I do not want to rush you, Ace, I know it's an important choice, but we need you to do it quickly, Marco sighed. You have only two alternatives, I know that it is difficult, but think about it. Either you leave, which will make us all sad, and you start again from scratch, or you stay, you agree to wear Shirohige's mark, and become one of his sons, yoi.
- I already see the headlines in the press : Gol D. Roger's son becomes a pirate under Shirohige's orders, Ace muttered, low enough to only be heard by Marco.
- Nobody has to know, if you don't want them to. That's what Ann is here for.
- Na... Shirohige... why are you all calling him Oyaji ?
Marco smiled while looking at Shirohige, who was laughing at one of his sons' dirty joke.
- He calls us his sons. The world hates us for what we are, I don't need to teach you that. It makes us happy. Even if it is only a word, yoi. So, to get even, we call him Oyaji, Marco answered.
He sat cross-legged in front of Ace and asked him :
- Why do you call Rayleigh 'Ji-chan' ?
- As far as I remember, I've always called him that... Those are the first words I spoke, according to the villagers. I spoke while learning how to walk. Makino-nee-san told me that this day, in the bar, she was holding me by the arms, so I could learn how to walk. Ji-chan was in front of me, stretching his arms out to me, telling me : come see uncle Rayleigh. So, I walked, and I fell in his arms calling him 'Ji-chan'.
Marco smiled a little.
- I'm in a deadlock, mate, Ace confessed. My whole life, my objective was to surpass my father. Even if Ji-chan told me that whatever I did, he'd be happy, as long as I was free to choose, to surpass Roger is... what's driving me on. What's pushing me to always give my best, when it is not about protecting my relatives.
- What's that got to do with your persistence to defeat Oyaji ?
- My father is dead. Shirohige is an adversary he never overcame. From the rare ones still alive, he's the only one, that I know that if I fight him, I'll get a death I can agree with. There's still Sengoku, but I don't want to trouble my relatives by ending in Impel Down, and then for my execution to become a freak show, like for my father. That's what I'm afraid of. And last but not least, I don't want to disapoint Ji-chan. He's done so much for me...
- Whatever you choose, you won't disappoint him, Ace. I know Rayleigh, and I can tell that seeing your level, what you are, all he can be is proud of you. As for surpassing your father, there are many other adversaries with the same level, if not stronger. Genkotsu no Garp, for exemple. Even if he is an idiot, he'll understand perfectly that you do not want to suffer the humiliation of a public execution, yoi. That said, he's your jiji, so, you're the only one to know what he'd do.
- You chose a bad example, Marco. It's in part thanks to him that I escaped Sengoku all this time.
Marco's eyebrows rose. He knew Garp was attached to the kid, but he didn't know that part of the story.
That, he didn't see coming. Rayleigh didn't save Ace in his own? Garp was involved? How was such a thing possible ?
- My father managed, how, I don't know, for Garp and Ji-chan to work together to shield me from the government's hunt. I narrowly escaped the massacre that was raging, there. The jiji proposed to Ji-chan to settle down on Dawn, his native island, as I grew up.
- Baterilla, South Blue, the massacre ?
Ace nodded.
- All because of me. For my life, he murmured.
- No, all because of an abomination called Absolute Justice, yoi. You need an enemy your father couldn't defeat, don't you ? Well, here's the biggest. Absolute Justice. What do you think of this enemy ? There is not one more dangerous. The risk of public execution is there, but it's worth it, isn't it ?
Marco had to keep from smiling, seeing the flame in Ace's eyes.
- You want to talk to Rayleigh, before ? Marco proposed.
- Right in the middle of the Shin Sekai, at the risk of the communication being intercepted?
- Have you already flown, Ace ?
Ace frowned. Marco signaled him not to move and went to see Shirohige.
- Oyaji ! Marco called, slaloming between his totally wasted comrades.
- What, my son ? Shirohige asked.
- I'm going to leave with Ace, for a few days. If everything goes alright, we'll have a new brother, once we're back, yoi, Marco announced.
- Eeeh... no problem, my son ! Go ! And be careful !
Marco went back to Ace.
- Gather your things. We're taking off, direction Shabaody.
- Heey ? Ace wondered.
- Hayaku, yoi.
Ace grabbed his bag, and followed Marco towards the crow's nest.
- We're not gonna end in the water ? Ace asked. Maybe I should take my feminine appearance, I'm less heavy...
- You want to explain to everybody how you manage that, and why you're doing it, ?
- No.
Marco scaled the ropes easily and slipped inside of the crow's nest.
He caught Ace's hand to lift him at his side, the stepped on the edge, before transforming.
- Climb on.
Ace settled his bag on his back and hoisted himself on Marco.
- I'm not going to get in the way ? Ace asked, a bit unsure.
- No. Ready for your maiden flight, yoi ? A real first flight, compared to all those times I caught you in mid-air, after you went flying.
Ace nodded his head and Marco let himself fall in the air, before wildly flapping his wings to climb up.
- Wicked ! Ahahahah ! Ace laughed.
Marco gave a faint smile, happy that Ace was once again in a good mood.
They had a long, probably dangerous way to go, but they would reach their destination, and come back in one piece.
Marco landed on a branch in a tree of Shabaody's mangrove swamp, and let Ace slide from his back, before assuming his human form again.
- I need forty eight hours to recover from this flight, yoi, Marco told him. I give you this lapse of time to make your choice. I'm not moving from here.
- Thanks, Marco. I'll repay you some day, Ace told him.
- Accept our mark, and we'll be even.
Ace breathed deeply, and jumped on the ground, wrapping himself in flames in order to cushion his fall.
Once on the ground, he briefly looked up towards the branch, to see Marco settling peacefully on it (avian instinct ?), then turned on his heel and ran towards the Thirteenth Grove.
Sabo nearly choked on his drink when the door suddenly opened. Rayleigh folded his newspaper, surprised. Shakky continued to wipe a few glasses, a small smile on her lips.
- Konnichiwa, Ace-chan, she greeted him, without even bothering to see who it was.
Ace bent over his knees, out of breath for having run so much, in order to loose the Marines he met on the way.
- Ace ! You manage to escape the Shirohige ? Rayleigh wondered.
Sabo left his seat, smiling.
- Hey, Ace... what is this face you're making ! Sabo sniggered.
- Hey ! Sab' ! It's nice to see you, Ace huffed with a brief smile.
He straightened, still a bit out of breath, and rushed to give his brother a good hug. He noticed that Sabo had two tattoos, one on each side of the neck : an ace of spades on one side, and the letter L with a strawhat on the other side. And on a golden chain, his own emblem, the crossed S.
- It's good to see you again, mate. I was worried when there were no more news about you in the newspapers, Sabo told him.
Ace bowed in a salute to Shakky, then let himself fall on a seat, facing Rayleigh, at the table his adoptive uncle was sitting. He Iet his head fall on the wood and sighed.
- What's wrong, my boy ? Rayleigh smiled, tenderly ruffling his hair.
- I'm dead because I had to loose a battalion of marines to get there and because I have a tough choice to make, Ace muttered.
Rayleigh chuckled.
- Told you so, Sabo. Never bet with Shakky, the old pirate said.
Ace looked up to see Sabo count a few notes he handed Shakky, sighing.
- Na, Sab', whatcha doin' here ? muttered Ace.
- I was assigned to monitor the island. The Tenryuubitos often pass through here, to buy new slaves. Furthermore, I'm not very far from the three principal places of the Gouvernement. And I can also liaise with Ivankov who is twiddling his thumbs in Impel Down, Sabo explained. Who would suspect someone who behaves like a noble, seriously ? What my parents taught me, I use to pull this system down, and it's working pretty well. I've already sabotaged two ships of the Tenryuubitos ! Otherwise, you, you're not in the Shin Sekai wreaking havoc with the Spades ?
- The Spades are in bad shape... Didn't Ji-chan told you ?
- No. What ?
- About five months ago, I've been kidnapped by Shirohige, because he wants me to join his crew... Since then, I've been killing time meeting walls, at each failed assassination attempt. I stopped counting when I reached three hundred... the fact is that I have to choose now. And like an idiot, I grew attached to them...
Ace straightened and passed a hand through his hair, leaving his hat on the table.
- You dreamed about this, when you were a kid, Rayleigh remembered.
- He did ? Sabo wondered.
- Yes. I remember. It was after we met, that I did, Ace said. I don't know what to do, Ji-chan. If I can't fight this enemy, what do I have left to success where my father failed ? What do I have left to surpass him ?
- To have a familly, Shakky answered.
Ace stared at her, surprised.
- I didn't think about it, but it's true, by having a familly, you'll succeed where he failed, Rayleigh said. It is less glorious than to take the head of the Lord of the Seas, but what you'll earn in return will be worth more, I am sure, Ace. Roger died before having that family, leaving behind his two most precious jewels, which completely erase the value of the One Piece. There is only you, now. And you are the proof that he did not managed to have a family. When he was about to have it, his health declined. But you are healthy, so you can do it.
- But I'm afraid of being thrown out, when I'm beginning to get on well with them, if they discover who my father was, Ace confessed.
- Marco unmasked you, didn't he ?
- He told nobody. Not even his captain.
- Oooh... interesting, Shakky said with a mysterious smile.
- You're scaring me with that smile, Shakky. I think I'm gonna make myself a nice roasted chicken, Rayleigh muttered. I'll have more peace of mind.
Ace looked at the two former pirates, not knowing what they were talking about.
He looked at Sabo, so as to see if he could shed some light on the subject, but he didn't know either.
- Anyway. Whatever you'll chose, Ace, you have my blessing, Rayleigh spoke. Even if you decide from one day to the next to become a marine, I will always be behind you. As long as you don't decide to embrace Absolute Justice.
- I'd rather die ! Ace took offense.
- So... will you take the mark of the Lord of the Oceans ? asked Sabo.
Ace pouted, still a little bit hesitant.
- Marco-chan will laugh his ass off if you agree. His captain will have stolen Roger-chan's greatest treasure, the one that can eclipse the One Piece! Shakky snickered.
- Telling me that doesn't incite me to join them, Ace confessed. But I think that it is time to make an announcement. Can I have something to write with? I've got a letter to send to the jiji. And a rendez-vous to give to the press.
Sometime later
- Luffy ! called Makino, stepping outside of her bar.
Luffy turned away from his fishing and looked at the woman.
- Gol D. Ann is making an announcement, in Shabaody ! she told him.
Luffy abandoned his fishing gear and rushed into the bar. The villagers left him a place right in front of the screen where a denden projected an area in ruins of the mangrove. Ann was standing on what had been the roof of a building in her long black coat, black hat on her head, hiding her upper face.
Luffy would have recognised her in a crowd.
« -Ladies, gentlemen reporters ! Thank you for being here ! I could have done just a small thing, but we always see the big, in my family, so I am following the custom and I do it in a flashy style! What I have to say will not take long, but is very important! Ann told them after a moment of waiting.
- Can you confirm the existence of One Piece ?!
- Are you really Gold Roger's child !?
Ann lifted her hands to quiet the journalists' questions.
- I really am Gol D. Roger's child. I won't tell you where I was hidden all this time, the charming people who saw me grew up are rare examples showing that the human beings aren't only imbeciles slaves to their passion. As for One Piece... who knows... if it exists or if it doesn't exist... Whatever, it's such a beautiful dream ! Keep on running after it, what you'll find during your quest is much more valuable than all the treasures of this world !
- Are you going to walk in your father's footsteps, and become the Queen of the Pirates ? asked a reporter.
- That's why I asked you to come, today, Ann announced. I've driven the marine mad, without ever telling my intentions. Am I in the run or not ? Who knows... today, I'm speaking clearly ! No, I will not be the Queen of the Pirates ! My princely title is enough for me ! But I, however, want to designate the one that will be the Kaizoku-ou ! The one that I judge worthy of taking the throne my father left vacant !
Ann pointed in front of her as if she could, through the cameras, point the finger on Luffy.
- There is a boy who will set sail in approximatively two years! This boy has something that belonged to my father! And I count on him to become the next Pirate King! Mei-O Silver Rayleigh knows that it will be him! Akagami no Shanks challenged him to become the King of the Pirates! I challenge him to succeed where I fail again ... to surpass my father. I count on you! I know you can hear me and recognize yourself! I'll wait for you here on the Grand Line! Prove me that I was right to bet on you! With that, I'm done.»
Ann jumped behind the ruins on which she had been standing and was quickly chased after by the Marine.
- Yakusoku, Ace. I will be the Pirate King. Let me take over, Luffy said, tipping his hat over his eyes.
- When I said we would be in trouble if Ace became a pirate, Woop sighed.
- I think he showed a lot of nerve, on this one! To convene the press just for that! You heard him, Luffy-kun! a villager said.
- I'm going to train harder, Luffy assured. Nii-chan is counting on me.
At the same time, in Marine Ford.
Garp didn't know what to think of this interview Ace gave.
And he was extremely surprised to receive a message from him.
Opening the letter, he knew that something had to happen to his grandson by adoption, for that to happen.
« I, the undersigned Gol D. Ace, alias Portgas D. Ace,
Hereby waive my rights to One Piece and the treasure on Raftell in favor of the first pirate who manage to surpass my late father Gol D. Roger.
I renounce, moreover, to lay claimon becoming the new King of the Pirates, but keeps my innate title of Prince of the Pirates.
This document bears the signatures of witnesses Sabo and Silver Rayleigh, making sure that I am in full possession of my faculties, as much as a D can be, when I write this note. »
And indeed, at the end of the document, an elegant Gol D. Ace, accompanied by the signature of the Rayleigh and Sabo, was found.
The door of Garp's office opened on Sengoku.
- I've just seen the interview ! What is this kid playing at ?! the man roared.
- He clearly renounced to follow in his father's footsteps. It's written black on white in the message I received, Garp announced with a sigh. I don't know why, but I'm under the impression that something happened for that to occur... something that's telling me that Ace has no intention of settling down.
- Do something, he's your adoptive grandson, isn't he ?!
Sengoku slapped both hands on Garp's desk. The man reached into his drawer and pulled out a rice cake.
- Senbei ? he proposed.