Wow, I am amazed I managed to write this as fast as I did despite being stuck on the scenes. I got the inspiration to write this chapter as I did from watching Merlin the TV series and I decided that since I can't write the fighting well, I would just skim right along to where it was most important.
Also, I am moving all my stories - including this one, to AO3 as I've heard rumors that FF will be shutting down at some point. Whether this is valid or not, doesn't matter. My username in AO3 is AceKurai and I want to thank the person who questioned if I was the author on that site as it shows that there are some decent people who are aware and willing to defend someone else's work from being stolen.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own One Piece. I DO own Aria and the ex-kuja pirate mentioned in this chapter and the ideas I've displayed within this fanfic and permission will be needed if anyone wants to use them.
Chapter 10: The One Piece is Real!
Finally, Ace was free. His smile was back and the marines were panicking by the sheer force both Luffy and Ace did just on their own. When one added a young, healthy Whitebeard with his years of experience and knowledge, Marco and the other Commanders, including one they all thought was dead due to Teach killing him, and now a strange half-breed mink was in the picture - many marines were losing the will to fight such a strong force.
Whitebeard and Sengoku faced off and despite how evenly matched it appeared, Sengoku was still old and his stamina wasn't what it used to be and he would have lost if Admiral Akainu didn't step in with a fist of lava aim right for Whitebeard's chest.
The only reason why the aim didn't hit the mark was because Whitebeard was more agile and Aria had jumped from over his shoulder with Marco joining from the other side to block the hot punch with armament haki.
Garp and Aokiji were smiling - though the latter was hiding it with his usual act of yawning. Ace was freed and running away and Sengoku was out of breath and Akainu figured Whitebeard was a higher threat than the two upstart pirates. Luffy had earned her right to rescue Ace when she punched her way past Garp and Aokiji wasn't one to get in between family business. It was obvious that the war was lost at this point and Aokiji just didn't feel like working if his good friend felt it was fine to let them go.
"Edward, get going! You know Ace isn't going to leave you behind!" Aria stated through gritted teeth as her haki and electricity were still being pushed by lava.
Whitebeard grunted with a smirk, his fist lighting up with the power of the tremor-tremor fruit. "Of course not, he's a brat and so are you." He called everyone a brat even if they weren't actually young - at least so it seemed that way. But he wasn't looking at Aria but rather at the red punk who enjoyed killing far too much. "I've had about enough of you, you lava punk. Go home. This war is over!" That said, Marco and Aria only had a breath to move out of the way as Whitebeard's powered punch smacked into Akainu's face and the momentum sent the marine to the ground, being crushed by the sheer strength of Whitebeard at the same time.
Meanwhile, Luffy had taken notice of a black bubble rising from the ground a yard or two in front of the escaping group. Ace had a look on his face that said he knew that black bubble-like substance anywhere from having first-hand experience from it.
Luffy slid to a stop at the same time as Ace as clearly this wasn't a matter to overlook as harmless. She hated the voice that sounded next almost as much as she hated the pies he liked so much.
"Zhehahaa, Zhehahahaha! Commander Ace! You made it after all. Looks like your sister succeeded in her quest despite all the odds."
The black bubble grew large within seconds and faded to reveal Teach's, aka Blackbeard's crew and the man himself, all formidable and nasty looking like the common view of pirates usually were.
Luffy simply raised her fists, well aware that she wasn't in any condition to fight for much longer. She was exhausted and she was barely able to fight the marine's they were running past, Ace having picked up the slack with his fire acrobatics and moves. He was fresh and raring to go from waiting and watching all that time. However, she wasn't about to stop fighting and make sure Ace was safe and away from the stupid marines. "No thanks to you, you bastard! You're stupid ability won't stop me from kicking your ass into next week!"
Everyone and their dog could tell that Luffy was not in any condition but at least those on the Whitebeard crew didn't say anything to give that information way.
Ace however did not hold back. "Luffy, you leave him to me. You've done enough for one day," he stated gently.
However, before anyone could even move to start fighting, the ground began to crack beneath their feet as Whitebeard's punch was still doing its work on Akainu's face. Ace wrapped his arm around Luffy's waist and jumped just as the ground rose and crumbled respectively and the siblings watched as Teach and his crew jumped out of the way as well.
Whitebeard's crew and allies were still getting on board the surprise ship they had beneath the sea but the commanders hadn't left yet simply because Ace was not yet on board and they were here for him.
Teach didn't seem to have a voice either, Luffy noticed as the bastard was gaping at the events of Whitebeard and the marine's surrounding him, Aria who had taken up guarding his weak points against swords, and Marco who was flying around to absorb bullets.
Smirking, Luffy started laughing as clearly Teach had come for something involving the old man but the bastard seemed to have gotten stumped. "You look surprised. Something to do with banana-mustache bothering you?" she asked smugly, not that she had anything to be personally smug about.
Ace looked at Luffy, then Teach, to Pops, and back to Teach before glowering at his former crewmate. "What do you want with Pops, Teach?!" he demanded, the other commanders taking notice and raising weapons to fight for their captain.
Teach's crew were looking at each other, unease settling over them and they then looked to their captain for what their plan was now. Teach glared at his former captain as the giant man stood up leaving the admiral unconscious and halfway buried in the ground.
Aria had jumped up onto his shoulder as if she belonged there and her wolf ears were twitching as if listening to every conversation nearby, her fingers moving her hair back over her shoulder. Her own glare was on Teach but the smirk on her face said she heard what they wanted and wouldn't be able to get without killing Whitebeard first.
Whitebeard's gaze bore into the small crew that arrived and his glare was just as intense as it was when he had shown his age for what it was.
"What… did you do…?" Teach asked angrily while trying to hide how stunned he really was. He never expected to find Whitebeard young and uninjured. Moreover, he was expecting a mostly dead old man barely able to put up any more fight. "How are you not dead yet?!"
"I don't think that's any of your business-yoi. You have some guts going after Pops after everything you've done." Marco stated as his feet touched the ground. "You beat Ace, but do you think you can face me or Pops? You should know that you've been disowned and are no longer welcome among us."
To make matters worse, a snail just reported that Teach had breached Impel Down and took several prisoners and one of the guards had joined his crew.
Sengoku made it clear that the Blackbeard Pirates were no longer part of the warlords and that they are to be targeted as well.
Before Teach could seem to be able to think of anything to say or what his next action would be, a sword was shoved into him from behind and then another into the front as the person who stabbed him was using running momentum to stab him with his two swords.
Thatch was only too pleased with returning the favor of being stabbed in the back and gave it back with an additional stab to the gut. "Here's your parting gift," he stated darkly as he moved out of the half dozen swords courtesy of Blackbeard's crews that moved in to attack in defense of Teach, stopping at Marco's side with a grin. "Now you know how it feels to be stabbed in the back. Not very fun, eh?"
While Thatch knew what it felt like, he was still counting his lucky stars that one of the ex-Kuja warriors had been nearby to give him aid before he was dead. He would be dead if she hadn't been there and that was something he never wanted to experience anytime soon.
If Teach was stunned before, he was shocked now to see a face he had been sure he killed when he took the dark-dark fruit from him. "Commander Thatch, it's good to see you made it even with the fatal wound I gave you." So he said, but clearly, he was not pleased to see him. He had been positive that Thatch was dead when he left the Moby Dick.
To make matters worse for the Blackbeard crew and captain, Ace had regrouped with his crew and sister, even Whitebeard had managed to move passed the marines on the way back to his ship with Aria still on his shoulder protectively, Marco and Thatch following him as if they had done this sort of synchronized movement before.
Teach's gaze never left Whitebeard, clearly pissed off that he was young and barely wounded - his strength not diminished even a little by all appearances. What was even more annoying, he didn't know how it happened or who the blonde tramp on the old man's shoulder was. "Hey Pops, you're not going to share your secret with the rest of us? The world wants to know how you managed to escape old age!" he taunted, showing a wide smirk in an effort to bait the old man turned young into giving up the secret.
Whitebeard turned to look at his former child with a frown. "You think I would be a father to someone who would betray his family and be the cause of so many of my children's deaths by your actions since you left?" he questioned darkly, clearly not in a forgiving mood towards Teach for almost killing Thatch and being the cause of Ace's suffering in the last week alone in the face of death by the marine's.
After watching Teach for a while longer, Whitebeard took a deep breath and turned to face all who were listening. "It's not you Teach. The man that Gol D. Roger was waiting for, it's not you Teach. Not a damn chance."
Luffy was immediately listening to the name of the pirate king and she was sure Ace was listening because it was Whitebeard who was speaking. Teach however, was surprised to hear the words and dismayed to hear that Roger was waiting for someone - who wasn't him.
"Just as there are people out there who inherited Roger's will, soon enough someone will carry on the will of those who died today. You may try to destroy their spirit but you will never extinguish their flame." All but Aria and Whitebeard began to run to the ship now, taking the moment to escape as quickly as possible while everyone else was distracted. Aria stayed with Whitebeard for the simple matter she wasn't going to leave his side no matter what he wanted her to do and even if the captain was young again, she still hasn't forgiven him for allowing himself to be stabbed by Squard. She wasn't about to let someone else sneak attack Whitebeard now that she wasn't beneath the sea and was free to do as she pleased.
"So it has been and so it shall continue to be from now to the very end of time. And one day in the future, when we're all dead and gone, someone will arise carrying generations upon generations of our history on their shoulders. They'll throw down the gauntlet in front of the entire world." Whitebeard continued to speak, no one daring to interrupt him - not even the marine's despite a certain buddha wielding marine wishing someone would keep the old man from continuing.
"Sengoku, you and the government know what's coming. A war that will embroil the seas far and wide. That's why you're so afraid, though nothing you do will stop it. I've no interest in it myself. But someday that treasure will turn this world upside down. You know what I'm talking about and I"m sure that someone will find it. Whether you like it or not, that day will come soon." Whitebeard could see panic rising on Sengoku's face and he smirked with a chuckle rising from his throat. Aria laughing lightly at the generals face, glad to see that finally they were getting a reaction from the stupid marine's who called for war in the first place.
Glancing between Whitebeard, Teach and Sengoku who was glaring death at them, Aria gaged the distance between their current position and the ship of their escape while Whitebeard spoke words that would shake the world anew. Just like Roger did 20 years ago.
"The One Piece! The One Piece is Real!" he shouted with pride and gusto, not letting a single word be misheard as the world over was listening and watching the events unfold in rapt attention.
"You bastard!" Sengoku proclaimed as the pirate simply smirked and then turned to make his way back to the ship.
It wasn't hard to get away either, the marine's were too stunned and Blackbeard and his crew were amazed to hear the famed treasure was confirmed as real.
Aria was giving praise while at the same time lecturing Whitebeard for his recklessness of standing in the middle of the battlefield so far from the ship they were trying to get to, giving his ear a yank and everything. Alas, with a simple punch of his tremor tremor abilities against the sky next to him, the ground behind him began to crack and split all the way back to the platform to keep the pursuers who were coming out of their stunned mindsets, from following them any further.
Whitebeard and crew, and even Luffy all had huge grins and smirks on their faces as the once old man made the jump onto the ship that was beginning to move away from the island. A new adventure awaited the pirates now and Luffy was more than excited to meet it.
Ooh look at that... a nice long chapter for you all. I shall hopefully be able to have a new chapter up in the next week or two, or if not a new chapter - a sequel to this story since this particular version of Marineford is officially done. Haven't decided yet either way.
How about giving me your opinion on the matter? I would appreciate it.
Thank you for joining me on this adventure and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. For any who were looking forward to the rest of Marineford vs Luffy and finally managing to get Ace's cuff's off and that burst of flame that resulted, I figured the anime/manga versions did justice to that all on its own and felt no need to add it here. Also because, as I've mentioned before, I suck at fighting scenes. Hope that doesn't bother you guys.
Ja Ne,
AceAyane