Sabo put his fist in his mouth, desperately trying to stifle his giggles. He was supposed to be undercover god damn it. If he got discovered because he was laughing too hard, Koala would never let him live it down.
But it was so difficult.
Averting his gaze away from the currently cross dressing 'Ace of Spades' the revolutionary gave a valid attempt at retaining a straight face.
Only to fail miserably, as he watched the supposed 'Lady Spade' reduce a Marine base to rubble, all whilst making loud and purposeful comments about, how it was such a shame her 'precious little brother Ace' was too busy to help her. Props to whoever had done the teen's makeup though.
Because between the subtle differences in bone structure, disguised freckles, long blond wig, and difference in height (due to high heels and damn was it impressive the man could walk, let alone fight, in them) the teen looked like a different person altogether.
Albeit one with enough similarities that Ace could still claim familial relations to.
"Sabo." The smile died from the revolutionaries face, as he heard a young voice calling his name. It was all in his head of course, but it had been happening much more frequently these last few months.
He still couldn't remember anything significant.
Merely whispers and shadows, but they felt important. The two small silhouettes which frequently appeared in his dreams felt so incredibly important. And Sabo couldn't quite help but both fear and anticipate what they might mean to him.
Snapping himself out of his thought the amnesiac stared as the Spades returned to their ship, ready to set sail. He had been trailing the crew for the last two days, to evaluate whether or not they'd be suitable to join the revolutionary armies information network.
It hadn't taken him long to decide that they would definitely be worth asking, now all Sabo had to do, was wait till they'd set off to approach them. Hopefully everything would go smoothly.
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Ace tried not to flinch as he felt the presence which had been watching him for the last two days, grow nearer. The Spades had set sail from the last island an hour ago. And the fact the oddly familiar presence had appeared once more, proved that whoever the person following them was, they were after the Spades specifically.
The real question was whether the person was a friend or foe. There were more than a few people who might hope to gain something by approaching the Spades.
Purposefully keeping his back to the stranger, Ace waited until the presence was close enough to be within hearing distance and spoke, "I don't suppose you'd be up for telling me, why you've been watching me and my crew these last few days?"
The pirate heard a low thump, followed by a chuckle as the man who had been following them jumped onto the deck behind him. "I wondered if you'd notice." Turning around to confront the man, Ace felt himself freeze at the sight of a familiar top hat.
"Sabo?"
The name was out before Ace could stop it, and the pirate watched as the cocky smirk fell off teen in blue's (Sabo's, whispered Ace's mind) face. The blonde lifted a hand to his head, body swaying as if disoriented "Ace?" there was recognition in the way Sabo said his name, as well as confusion and unfamiliarity.
Before Ace could ask any questions, or punch the bastard for letting him think he was dead, Sabo collapsed. Rushing forward to catch his brother Ace placed a gentle, yet frantic hand to his neck desperately searching for a pulse.
Upon feeling a steady beat Ace relaxed slightly before letting out a large shout "DOC!" The older man stumbled onto the deck, along with half of the crew.
Seeing the stranger on deck, the old Doctor shot his Captain a concerned look "An intruder Captain?" Soundlessly, Ace shook his head, his hand automatically reaching for the crossed out S on his arm "My brother I think."
The crew stared at him in complete and utter shock, until finally Dusty was the one to speak "You think?" Ace was distantly aware of Doc coming closer to check his brother's condition, but his whole attention was still focused on Sabo.
"We thought he was dead. He was blown up by a celestial dragon when we were kids, I don't know how he could have survived." Doc gave a small cough to draw attention to him "I think I can answer that Captain, the kid's got deep burn scars, but none of them seem to have hit anything vital. Someone must have got to him in time to help treat him."
"But why would he stay away for five years?! Even if he was avoiding the celestial dragons he could have at least sent us a message?!" The crew fell silent, unsure of how to answer their Captain's unfamiliar desperation.
Suddenly Kalin noticed the top hat on the floor and let out a short gasp "Shit, I think I know why Boss." All attention snapped to the man "There have been rumours going around for a while now, about an amnesiac revolutionary with a top hat."
"Then why approach us now? If the kid's just fainted from seeing the Captain, then clearly he didn't remember anything up until now?" Kalin paused trying to think through the possibilities "If he is the same guy from the rumours, then it's likely he's here for the revolutionary army. I've heard of them reaching out to pirates before, for information purposes."
Ace gave an unsure nod before turning to Doc "If it was amnesia, any idea when he might wake up Doc?" The doctor shook his head "I can't tell for sure. He seems to be in good health though, so its likely his body has shut down to try and recover the memories he lost. For now we should probably just move him to the infirmary and let him sleep."
Ace nodded and picked up his brother and left to the infirmary without another word, the deck fell silent before Dusty let out a loud groan "You guys do realise that we now have an unconscious member of the revolutionary army on our ship right?" Paddy looked at the first mate, confused as to where this was leading "Yeah, so what?"
"So what do you think the revolutionary army is gonna do when one of their own doesn't report in, after going to see us." The pirates froze "Well shit."
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Koala was worried.
It wasn't often that Sabo operated alone, and the fact that he was more than a few hours late checking in made her nervous. Sabo could be reckless, and occasionally irresponsible, but he was usually incredibly diligent about making sure he checked in on time.
The fact that they'd heard nothing from him, after saying he'd gone to meet the Spades ten hours ago was worrying. Koala could tell Dragon thought so to, because despite the man's usual stoic facade he had already snapped five pens whilst waiting for Sabo's report.
Finally after another tense five minutes of silence, the most wanted man in the world spoke up "Call him." Koala immediately grabbed out her Den Den Mushi to call up her lost partner.
Technically it was against revolutionary policy to up call any agents currently working a mission, in order to avoid blowing their cover. But seeing as Sabo wasn't currently undercover, it was more important to try and figure out if he was ok.
The tension in the room grew with each unanswered ring of the snail, until finally someone picked up "Hello?" Koala froze, it wasn't Sabo's voice "Who are you and what have you done to the owner of that snail?"
The Den Den Mushi's eyes widened "I'm assuming this is the revolutionary army then?" Koala glared at the snail refusing to confirm his suspicions "I'll take that as a yes then. Don't worry, your friend is fine, let me grab the Captain so he can explain the situation."
The revolutionaries sat in silence as they listened to the faint echoes of footsteps before a new voice spoke up "This is Ace." Koala tried not to snarl "What the hell have you done to my partner?" Oops, so much for not snarling then. Contrary to expectations the snail grinned happily in return.
"Nice to meet you too. And before I say anything else, Sabo is fine he's just unconscious in our infirmary at the minute." There was a pause as the pressure in the room increased as Dragon spoke "And just why exactly is one of my men unconscious in your infirmary, and how do you know his name?"
If possible the pirate's grin widened "He's my brother, thank you for taking care of him." The only indication of Dragon's surprise was the slight widening of his eyes, Koala's reaction was much more visible "WHAT?!" The pirate seemed to wince slightly at the volume.
"I was surprised as well, we thought Sabo was dead after those bastard Celestial dragons shot him. I heard he had amnesia?" Koala stared at the snail intently before deciding to answer the unasked question "He did."
Relief seemed to flit across the snails face, as if the pirate was glad his brother hadn't willingly abandoned him with no contact "Anyway after he saw my face he collapsed, Doc said it was his bodies way of dealing with his lost memories, and that he'd wake up whenever he was ready to."
Koala let out a small sigh of relief, but saw her Boss was still tense, "And do you have any evidence the support this, other than knowing Sabo's name?"
The face on the other end of the line turned serious "If you really did rescue my brother from the burning wreckage of his ship on Goa island, then he should have been missing a tooth on the left upper side of his mouth. You should also know that Sabo is technically a noble."
Dragon paused before giving Koala a slow nod "I'll believe you for now." The solemn face turned to a devilish smile "Good. Because my little brother, Luffy, would be very upset with you if I died." Koala stared in awe and confusion, as her boss stiffened, before shifting somewhat uncomfortably at the sentence.
Ace gave another grin "I'll tell Sabo to ring you as soon as he wakes up. But before that, what did he originally come here for?" Koala let out a small giggle "I forgot about that, we were going to ask if you wanted to join the revolutionary armies information network?"
"What exactly does that entail?" Dragon waved a lazy hand in his subordinates direction, gesturing for her to explain "Simply put we ask any pirates in the network to pass on any information about corruption or slavery they might encounter."
"Pirates seem to run into that sort of stuff more often than anyone else. And while some of the more decent pirate crews might want to help, most don't have strength enough to survive the fallout of acting directly against the world government. But the revolutionary army is protected by our anonymity so we can act on the information provided."
"In exchange, we can give the pirates in our network, Intel on marines and other pirate crews in the area. So it's usually a beneficial arrangement for both parties." The pirate gave a small pause before replying, voice as cold as ice "I'll join, but for payment I want any information you might have on the pirate Blackbeard."
The revolutionaries shared a glance before Dragon spoke "That is acceptable, but I'd like to hear your reasoning for such a request." The pirate Captain let out a savage grin.
"I can't say too much, but the bastard has apparently been hiding as a Whitebeard pirate called Teach. A Whitebeard helped me out once so I'm also hoping to return the favour, before it's too late."
Koala tried not to curse, Blackbeard was hiding as one of Whitebeard's kids?! No wonder they'd never caught the fucker. It also added a whole new layer of mockery to the name, the real question was, how the hell had a pirate from East Blue found that out?!
"Before you ask, the man who told me that is now dead. But Shank's has been able to match up Teach's travel With Blackbeard's appearances. We just don't have enough evidence to explain it to Whitebeard."
Dragon nodded, a grave look on his face "We'll pass on any information we get, when Sabo wakes up tell him to give you details of the information network." Then without another word, the most wanted man in the world hung up.
The original revolutionary then turned to face his subordinate "Find whatever information we have on Blackbeard, then go join the Spade pirates until Sabo wakes up." Giving a sharp nod, the Sun pirate walked off, head still reeling with new information.
One thing was for sure, things had just gotten much more complicated, the real question was, would it work in their favour?
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Garp took one look at the latest damage reports caused by the so called Lady Spade and destroyed his desk. "That damn Brat."
The old Marine could admit to having found his grandson's recent antics entertaining. The idea of Ace cross dressing and pretending to be his own nonexistent older sister, was not only hilarious, but would hopefully provide another false trail in the never ending search for Gol D Rodger's child.
However now the damn brat had gone and destroyed a boatload of Marine bases and gotten his bounty increased again. Or rather got both his bounties increased again. Absentmindedly Garp wondered if Luffy had figured out his brother was pretending to be two people yet?
Somehow he doubted it, Makino had probably figured it out by now. Dadan definitely had. The old hag had called to laugh at him already. Still if the bandit's laughter was bad now, it was going to be a million times worse by next month, if the other document on his desk had anything to say about it.
Garp groaned at the thought of it. When he next saw Ace, that boy was getting a few dozen a fists of love!
Unfortunately the old Marine still couldn't risk drawing attention to his grandson just yet. Letting out a large grin Garp decided to get rid of his frustrations in the time honoured tradition of going to 'train' the new recruits.
Whistling cheerfully to himself Garp proceeded to start, what would later be referred to as, the Garpocolyspse.
Sengoku merely sighed and wondered why the strong ones were always batshit insane.
Author's note and important questions!
Ok so first of all I have some questions for all the readers so feel free to leave your response in the comments!
So first of all, do you guys want a pairing? I've been sitting on this one for a while now and at the minute it could go either way, though just to warn you, if I do include a pairing it will not be a major focus of the story!
Next question, which Whitebeard commander do you want the spades to meet first? Ok, man, I have a scenario planned out for pretty much every commander so if people have a preference I'd love to know!
Other than that thanks to everyone who left a review they are so incredibly motivating to read! And to aswer some specific questions, first of all to ParrllelPenSW (firstly thank you for the lovely review) I'm afraid I never had a chance to read the novels so the Spade's journey is pretty much 100% made up at this point! And you're right Whitebeard is very interested in Ace XD as for the Warlord title you'll just have to wait and see, but I can promise a little bit on Squardo next chapter *evil laughter*. To AzureWarrior I actually really love the idea of Ace finding a Spade look alike imagine all the chaos they could cause, thank you for the idea! And finally to LittleOneTale someone is definitely going to suggest a drinking competition when the Spades and Whitebeards finally meet! XD hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I'll try and finish the next one soon!