Film RED got me back to One Piece, and now I'm fixated on Fix-It Fics again :') This is just a 'What If?' idea that came to mind, where the Whitebeard Pirates remained in power after the war.
Everyone thought that the Whitebeard Pirates were done for after the Marineford War. They had failed to save the brother they went to war for, their father died while fighting against a traitor who had killed one of their own prior to forming his own pirate crew, the Blackbeard Pirates, and then Whitebeard's power got stolen by said traitor, who then rose to become one of the Yonkos, replacing Whitebeard. After the war, the Whitebeard Pirates seemingly disappeared off the face of earth, and enemies rose to claim the territories belonging to the ex-Yonko crew. A new Shichibukai named Weevil, always seen with his mother Mrs Bakkins, appeared as well, claiming to be Whitebeard's biological family and hunting down the Whitebeard Pirates for Whitebeard's treasure, which they claimed to be rightfully theirs. They were all arrogant, and would soon pay the price for it.
It was only about a year and a half later, that the missing Whitebeard Pirates suddenly returned with a vengeance, quite literally.
"No way! The Whitebeard Pirates are back?! Didn't they disappear after the Marineford War? I thought they already disbanded."
"Did you see what they did? Man, that's gruesome. Didn't the Blackbeard Pirates consist of several Impel Down Level 6 prisoners? For them to have been so badly defeated like that… How much stronger exactly have they grown since the war?"
They had hunted down the Blackbeard Pirates and completely obliterated the crew, which consisted of many Impel Down Level 6 prisoners. From the state of the bodies, it could be clearly seen that the new Whitebeard Pirates had taken their time to kill them after immobilising them. Their bloody corpses had various different marks on them, from bruises to cuts to burns, some even missing limbs or parts of their flesh. With how much blood had been left behind on the ruins of Marineford, it would not be wrong to assume that they had brought the Blackbeard Pirates here to carry out their revenge on the same land where their father had breathed his last. At the end of what could only be called torture, and only after the Blackbeard Pirates had agonising bled out from the various injuries inflicted on them, every single one of them was beheaded, and their heads were vertically impaled onto wooden stakes. Blackbeard's head even had an additional talon print over it. Their bodies, in varying states of intactness, were all nailed to the same wooden stakes with seastone nails, with only the torso of the top few high-ranking members of the crew, including the captain Blackbeard himself, left relatively intact, which was clearly intentionally done, for there was a message carved onto each of their torsos that spelled out a message: 'Do Not Mess With Our Family'.
"The Whitebeard Pirates have always been known to never forgive those who mess with their family. And the fact that they did this on the ruined remains of Marineford… Are they threatening the World Government as well?"
"I wouldn't be surprised. The Marines did execute one of their own, after all."
The stakes were strung up on the now destroyed battlefield of Marineford for the whole world to see, and made headlines on News Coo for weeks. At this bloody display of power, along with the threat made to pirates and marines alike, the World Government grew rightfully fearful of them, raising their bounties and classifying their new captain, Marco the Phoenix, whose bounty now almost matched Whitebeard's, as the new Yonko.
"Oi, did you see the new Whitebeard Pirates' new bounties? They all got a huge raise after their stunt with Blackbeard Pirates on Marineford!"
"Especially their new captain, Marco the Phoenix! His new bounty is 4,050,000,000 Berries!"
"Well, he did defeat and quite brutally kill Blackbeard, who was the new Yonko who replaced Whitebeard. And leaving their bodies on Marineford with that message? I guess the World Government took it as a threat after all. They're already declaring him as the new Yonko."
The new Whitebeard Pirates sail on a new ship which is almost an exact replica of the Moby Dick, except that the figurehead whale has an additional moustache resembling Whitebeard's. They named it The Triquetra Whale, 'The Whale' being another name for the novel the Moby Dick was based off from and the triquestra being a well-known symbol with three interconnected "leaves" making an eternal form that can't be untied. It represents Birth, Life and Death. It represents Past, Present, and Future. It represents Earth, Sea, and Sky. It symbolises eternal love and devotion.
Their new flag is a modification of the old flag; just a skull bearing the crescent moustache. While most of the general public wondered what the significance of removing the cross behind the skull was, there were some people who claimed that without the cross behind the skull, the skull with a crescent moustache now closely resembled the Ankh Symbol, which symbolises Immortality and Eternity, while others just guessed that they probably didn't want to use the exact same symbol as before, now that their family is no longer complete.
Either way, the message was clear. Whitebeard is immortal and his Era will last eternally so long as his family exists.
The new Whitebeard Pirates having taken back their place as a Yonko crew from the traitor who stole it from them left the world shaken and intimidated the enemies that had wronged them after their supposed disappearance. Weevil and Mrs Bakkins had grown quiet and were said to have gone into hiding. Some of the pirates that had claimed territories that used to belong to Whitebeard quickly retreated from said islands and went into hiding as well.
"There's hope for us, everyone! The Whitebeard Pirates are back! They will surely return to claim this island back, and when that happens, these pirates will be gone for good!"
"Captain, we need to get away from here quickly! The Whitebeard Pirates have returned!"
"Don't fear! The Whitebeard Pirates were defeated in the Marineford War! They may be a Yonko crew again, but they are not invincible! We can take them on!"
Those who did not, instantly followed suit a few days later, when the Whitebeard Pirates once again made headlines, this time for the deaths of Weevil and Mrs Bakkins. It was once again another bloody display, their bodies being crushed into an empty treasure chest, with a message written in their blood on it: 'Oyaji's treasure is his family.'. From the way the two criminals' corpses' eyes were open wide in terror, it was deduced that they had been stuffed into the chest alive, and left to bleed out inside the chest to a slow painful death.
Over the next few months since their return, the Whitebeard Pirates continued to make headlines, whether it was pirate crews who had stubbornly refused to withdraw from the territories the Whitebeard Pirates were claiming back being beaten half to death or them gaining allies in the pirate crews who had taken over their territories in order to protect them. Marines have also started avoiding them after many who tried attacking them returned with injuries on varying parts of their bodies, but a single common wound at their kintama.
"It's got to be karma, isn't it? They executed one of the Whitebeard Pirates for his lineage. Even if he was the son of the Pirate King, the Whitebeard Pirates wouldn't turn a blind eye to that. Since the Marines condemned one of theirs for being the Pirate King's offspring, they're now paying the Marines back by condemning theirs before they even get to procreate. It's quite literally an eye for an eye."
"Isn't that Shichibukai, Weevil, said to be Whitebeard's biological son? The newspaper even said he was as strong as Whitebeard himself, but the Whitebeard Pirates disposed of him so easily! I heard they were hunting down the Whitebeard Pirates to claim Whitebeard's treasure, and the Whitebeard Pirates killed them for that. They've incurred the Whitebeard Pirates' wrath and had it coming, I suppose."
"They've already single-handedly destroyed many infamous pirate crews just over the past few months alone too, many of whom I heard were candidates for a Shichibukai position before. Just how crazily stronger are they going to get from here on?"
"Hey, is it just me, or do the new Whitebeard Pirates seem more…ruthless? They just seem…different from before."
"Yeah, and I'm sure the Marines felt it too. It's just a rumor, but I heard that the Marines have been given orders to avoid the Whitebeard Pirates if possible. Looks like they're getting too dangerous for the Marines to handle."
Regardless of the case, all who have met the new Whitebeard Pirates agree on the one thing. They were no longer the laidback peaceful Yonko crew they had once been, who had been content to simply sail around the world with their family. The new Whitebeard Pirates have taken up a more aggressively brutal approach with their enemies, and even allies who knew them well couldn't help but feel like they've become familiar strangers. The new Whitebeard Pirates no longer spend time partying nor having fun, and instead, put themselves through strict training regimes daily. They remained solemn and vigilant at all times, and no longer relax nor joke about anything. Their losses have made them even more fiercely protective of what they deem theirs, and they are determined to never lose anyone or anything else ever again.
The only time the new Whitebeard Pirates were seen having fun again was during the aftermath of the war in Wano Kingdom. With them giving the Strawhat Pirates and their Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance a hand, the war was won with minimum fatalities from some of the many gathered samurais. During the banquet the Strawhats had thrown in the aftermath, they had only joined in at the insistence of Luffy and the samurais, and also out of consideration for Izo, who had just reunited with Kiku and his fellow samurais. They mingled with the masses, reminiscing about Ace and Oden with everyone who knew them, which drew smiles from them unconsciously.
When their new bounties came alongside the new bounties of the Strawhat Pirates, Heart Pirates and the Kid Pirates, they were unfazed to see that their bounties have risen quite a bit, mainly on account of the fact that they had quite savagely disposed of the members of CP0 who had been in Wano, especially once they had learnt that the Cipher Pol Agents' orders included killing Luffy and capturing Robin. They parted ways at Wano after giving the Strawhat Pirates and Oden's retainers their contact information, promising to come if they ever need help, and wished both parties well in their journey to find One Piece and restore Wano Kingdom to its former glory respectively.
"First a Yonko, then a Shichibukai, and now they're even involved in the Strawhat Pirates' alliance to take down Big Mom and Kaido! Just look at their new bounties! 5,000,000,000 Berries… Marco the Phoenix's bounty is almost as high as Whitebeard's bounty now!"
"It's just what you'd expect of Whitebeard's successor, isn't it?"
This chapter is more of an introduction, if you realised, just to give you some information on what the world knows of the New Whitebeard Pirates. I will be elaborating on their behind-the-scenes grieving process in the next few chapters. For now, enjoy!