Ace stared down at the documents in his hands with something akin to disgust, and furious rage "This is definitely genuine, have you managed to copy the document?" Sabo gave a short nod, not even bothering to joke about just who the flammable person here was.
"I have. Koala's taken the copy to Baltigo to keep on file, we'll leave you a second copy to pass onto Shanks if you need it as well." Ace nodded, fire still burning in his eyes "Thanks Sabo. I'll bring this to the Whitebeards as soon as I get the chance."
Sabo nodded in acknowledgement, a somewhat regretful look on his face "I need to get back to Baltigo Ace, are you sure you don't want any back up?" The hard look in the pirate's eyes softened slightly as he looked up at his brother "I'll be fine Sabo, I'm not planning on going after him alone. But the Whitebeards need to know this information now. Before it's too late."
The revolutionary paused before giving a nod of understanding "Ok, just try not to do anything too reckless. And for the love of god Ace, call if you need the back up." the freckled teen nodded, a slightly bemused smile on his face.
"I will. But for the record I heard how you got those photos in the first place, so I really don't think you have any right to lecture me on recklessness "
The ex-noble smiled sheepishly a slight blush on his face "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Ace chuckled as his brother let out another small sigh "Anyway, I need to go, I was technically supposed to be back yesterday." The young Captain was about to say goodbye, when he felt himself being pulled into a tight hug.
"I mean it Ace. Stay safe, I just remembered you, I don't want to lose you so soon." Ace gave another small nod. "I will, but only if you promise to do the same." brief shock flitted over the revolutionaries face before he gave Ace a sincere nod and a last quick hug "I'll hold you to that."
Without another word Sabo jumped off the boat and proceeded to melt into the crowd. Watching his brother go, Ace couldn't quite help the feral grin that formed on his face. He finally had what he needed. This time, it was his turn to keep his family safe.
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.
Shanks groaned at the loud ringing that echoed throughout the ship. Still thoroughly hungover from last night's celebration the red haired man proceeded to do what any responsible Captain would do in such a situation. "Benn, get the phone!"
Somewhere to the side of him, the Emperor heard an amused snort, "Sure thing Captain." The aforementioned Captain closed his eyes, ready to dose off into a peaceful sleep once more, only for Benn to deliberately open the curtains on his way to the Den Den Mushi.
Letting out a low whine as a beam of sunshine hit him square in the face, one of of the strongest men on the seas gave his first mate one of the worlds most pitiful glares. Deliberately ignoring his Captain's annoyance Benn picked up the snail, a look of innocence on his face "This is the red force."
"Hey Benn. Is Shanks there?" Recognising the voice as Ace's, Shanks realised that he wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon. Sighing in resignation, the Emperor walked over to his bemused first mate and stole the snail off him "Right here Kiddo. What's up?" There was a slight pause.
"We've got enough evidence against Teach to go to Whitebeard." Shanks let out a low whistle, Blackbeard had proven to be a sneaky bastard so far, so the red haired man was very curious as to what had finally given him away "What did you find?"
There was a terrible rage in the teens voice, when he finally spoke "Teach had a contract with one of the slave auctions, in exchange for information on a devil fruit he seems to be searching for." Shanks felt his blood run cold, as ice cold fury burned through his veins.
Unaware of the emperor's anger, the teen continued on "He used the name Blackbeard on the official contract, but he also signed a receipt for one of his shipments as Teach by accident. The receipt matches the terms of the original contract, and the handwriting is the same on both documents. Pair that with the photos we now have of Teach at the auction house, and it should be enough to prove his identity."
Shanks let out a slow breath trying to reign himself in "Can you send us a copy of those documents kid? We'll try and leave the vengeance to Whitebeard, but if we see Teach first, then we're gonna deal with him there and then. I don't like the idea of that scumbag being alive longer than absolutely necessary."
Some of the angry tension seemed to drain out of the snail's face "As long as he's dead, I don't care who does it. I'm hopefully gonna get into contact with the Whitebeards in the next few days." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Shanks raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"And how exactly are you going to do that? From what I recall, the Whitebeards don't just go around giving out their Den Den number." Ace's face twisted into a savage grin.
"They don't, but each of Whitebeard's allies has a separate Den Den Mushi that connects directly to the Moby Dick. And I know exactly where to get one." After listening to Ace's plan, Shanks couldn't help but laugh. The kid was absolutely insane, and the Emperor loved it.
The red haired man also couldn't help but think about how proud the Captain and his lover would have been to see their son now.
So incredibly proud.
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.
Garp glared down at his eldest Grandson's wanted poster in annoyance. Was it too much to ask that the brat keep a low profile for once in his life?!
The old Marine was even beginning to miss the first few weeks after the brat had set sail, where he'd had no news whatsoever. Sure he'd been worried about the lack of news, but Garp was starting to recognise the fact that when Ace was involved, no news was infinently better than the alternative.
An alternative that had lead to vandalised marine bases, giant ducks and a cross dressing magical girl pirate. The giant duck wasn't even the worst of it.
Because for some inconceivable reason the Brat (because really, who else could it have been?) had decided to continue to pick a fight with one of Whitebeard's allies Squardo.
Ace had gone about this, by somehow infiltrating the infamous pirate's ship, and proceeding to steal all of their alcohol, before going on to hide it in seemingly improbable locations around the nearby islands. Including four of the local Marine bases.
As a result, the pink haired pirate and his crew had gone on a mini rampage, destroying most of the aforementioned Marine bases in a desperate attempt to reclaim their lost alcohol. Which also had the unfortunate side affect of generating a huge increase in paperwork.
The scowl on the marine's face intensified, not only could the old man not go visit his idiot grandson, Sengoku had also banned him from 'training' the new recruits. Apparently his training techniques were 'traumatising' or some other such nonsense.
Now what was Garp supposed to do with his frustrations?!
Suddenly an idea popped into old man's head. He may not be able to visit his eldest grandson for fear of drawing attention to his heritage, but he could go visit his youngest grandson!
The Marine laughed in triumph, it was perfect!
Not only could he escape his Ace induced paperwork, but it was also a chance to put Luffy on the right track to becoming a righteous Marine! Rather than the pirate miscreant Ace had become (not that he didn't love the brat anyway, but it was so much safer being a Marine.)
Whistling cheerfully the Marine went off to terrorise his youngest grandson, completely unaware of the storm that was about to hit the world. Hard.
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.
Ace stared at the Den Den Mushi in front of him, a slight smile on his face, now that he had Squardo's Den Den Mushi, getting in touch with the Whitebeards would be an easy task.
Turning his head towards his gathered crew mates, the freckled teen grinned "Good job pranking Squardo everyone. I'm going to contact the Whitebeards now, so everyone else head back to your duties."
Ignoring the good natured grumbles and laughter, Ace stared at his first mate inquisitively upon realising the man hadn't moved. "Dusty?" The cowboy gave a small smirk "I've finished my work for today Captain, if it's all the same to you I'd rather stay here and listen. Just in case."
The freckled teen couldn't help but feel a slight warmth in his chest, upon hearing the subtle overprotectiveness in his first mate's tone. "That's fine, but be careful what you say, this may require a touch of delicacy." Seeing his Captain's serious expression, the cowboy gave a solemn nod.
Seeing the older man understood, Ace shot him a quick grin, and dialled a number he had once memorised in his previous timeline.
It was time to begin.
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.
Haruta was bored.
This wasn't a usual occurrence on the Moby Dick where there was always work to be done and pranks to be played. But unfortunately due to Marco's recently emerged dark side no one was willing to take the risk of upsetting the already pissed off phoenix.
Which left the ship remarkably calm and quiet for the day, which also had the unintended side affect of making Haruta very very bored. Biting back a sigh, the shortest Commander considered going to bother Thatch, when a loud ringing echoed throughout the room.
Following the noise Haruta walked over to where they kept their allies Den Den Mushis and was delighted to see that the snail calling them was Squardo's. Meaning the older pirate might finally have some more information on who had attacked his ship (because when alcohol was involved prank was no longer an appropriate term).
Eagerly picking up the phone Haruta didn't bother waiting for the older pirate to talk first "Squardo, did you figure out who the evil alcohol thief was yet?" there was a short cough of distinct amusement on the other side of the line, followed by a dry and unfamiliar sounding voice "This is the evil alcohol thief, am I correct in assuming this is Commander Haruta of the Whitebeard pirates."
The youngest commander let out a small frown "Who are you and why have you called?" Because stealing from Squardo was fair enough, but who the hell used said stolen property to call up the allied crew of the ship they'd stolen from?
Especially when that crew was the strongest one in the world.
The voice let out a happy laugh, seemingly undeterred by the harsh tone "Nice to meet you Commander, this is Portgas D Ace, Captain of the Spade pirates. Sorry for the drastic measures but I needed to have a conversation with you."
Haruta couldn't help but let out a laugh in return, Oars jr and Namur had been spot on in their assessment. The Brat had balls of steel. A giddy grin on his face, the Whitebeard pirate stared at the snail eagerly "Well then, before we get down to business I'd like to say that I'm a huge fan of your work, and we should definitely try combining forces at some point!"
Before Ace could reply, a second voice rang out from the snail "Please don't commander, Ace is destructive enough on his own. I'd hate to see what he'd be capable of with your resources."
Haruta stifled a chuckle as he saw the Den Den Mushi let out an impressive pout "Ignore my first mate Dusty, he's just boring." Still grinning the small Commander decided to cut to the chase "Not that this isn't hilarious and all, but why did you contact me?"
All laughter died from Ace's face "We recently picked up some information that concerns your crew. Unfortunately it's sensitive information so it's something you're going to need to see in person to verify it's truth."
Haruta frowned, he liked the Spades, but he couldn't trust them just yet. And Ace's proposal sounded like a trap if he'd ever heard one, almost as if reading his thoughts, the teen continued.
"I understand this might sound like a trap but trust me it's not. You can inform your Captain of what's happening, and we'll let you pick the meeting place. I'd even recommend bringing your first division commander with you, because he's probably going to want to verify this as well. But whatever you do, you cannot inform the rest of your crew of what's going on."
The Commander narrowed his eyes "And why ever not?" The snail's expression turned conflicted and eventually it was the first mate of the Spades who spoke.
"This information has the potential to do a lot of damage Commander, and it's almost impossible to control information leaks with a crew as large as yours. We're not saying you can't share the information we give you, we just ask that you keep this quiet until after the meeting. Once you've heard what we have to say, you can decide how to proceed with what we've told you in regards to your crew."
Haruta paused to consider. On one hand, even though the terms would be in the Whitebeards favour, the Spades supposed information sounded suspicious, to say the least. On the other hand, the small Commander wasn't sure it was possible to fake the look of desperation currently on Ace's face.
And so the Whitebeard pirate reluctantly decided to go with his gut "Where are you currently?" The look of relief on the Teen's face was obvious, as he answered the question "We're about three days sail away from Sabody."
The Whitebeard pirate paused, if he got Marco's help he could probably make it there in slightly less than a day's time "We'll find you. But be warned if this is a trap, it doesn't matter how much I like you, we will end you."
The teen let out an understanding smile "I'd think less of you if you didn't. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon." And just like that the teen hung up the phone leaving the Commander to go and make arrangements.
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.
Sengoku took one look at the elder stars latest request (orders) and resisted the urge to bang his head on the table. Repeatedly. Not only had the old bastards demanded he discipline Akainu about his supposed 'fraternisation with the enemy' they had told him to do it at the next general meeting.
And seeing as the old codgers listened in on said meetings, it meant that the fleet commander had no choice but to obey their command. This was going to be a nightmare.
Heaving out a heavy sigh the old marine went to go and pre-warn the finance department about the shitstorm that was to come. It was the least he could do considering the disaster of repair costs he was undoubtedly going to have to drop on their desk as soon as the meeting finished.
Looking at the desk Garp had abandoned so he could go and 'visit his cute little grandson' Sengoku felt the urge to set something (or someone) on fire.
"Why did I ever want to be in charge again?"
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.
Monkey D Luffy, was not having a good day.
It had been almost a year since Ace had set off to sea, and things had been (relatively) quiet on Dawn island ever since. Or at least that had been the case, up until this morning, when a certain marine hero had appeared yelling horrifying things like 'justice' and about turning Luffy into a 'fine Marine'.
The teen shuddered at the memory of it, Luffy was going to be the pirate King, there was no way in hell that he was becoming a Marine!
Which is why the would be pirate king was currently sat at the top of the tallest tree in the forest, and for once in his life being very very quiet. Because even Luffy could tell that the gleam in his Gramps's eyes when he'd told him as such, was not a good thing.
Unfortunately the issue with being stuck in a tree, was that there was no meat hidden amongst the tree tops. Which left one Monkey D Luffy very very hungry.
Which was why, it only took ten minutes for Luffy to forget all about the crazy grandparent currently hunting him, and instead go looking for some food. This would prove to be a fatal mistake.
Luffy had barely touched down on the ground when he felt the fist hit his head "Fist of love!" The teen clutched the already aching bruise in pain "Ow! It hurts! what the hell shitty Gramps?!" The teen was about to complain more, when he looked up and saw the old Marine's grin.
Not bothering to say any more Luffy promptly ran off as fast as he could, putting all his energy into attempting to escape with all his might!
Only to fail miserably at the hands of another fist of love. "It's training time Brat. Time to make you into a strong marine!" Luffy paled.
Miles away in the safety of her bar, Makino paused what she was doing and wondered why she could hear, what sounded like, unnecessarily loud screaming coming from the forest.
Author's note
Hi guys, I'M SO SORRY THIS IS LATE! I couldn't access the documents on my computer so I couldn't edit the chapter till now, but I hope you've enjoyed the chapter regardless.
Anyway I cannot say how excited I am for next chapter! I've got a tonne of random stuff I want to include, but mainly I'm going to try and include AKAINU so let the madness begin there!
Next up, answering some of the lovely reviewers so first of all to Wolfayne hope this chapter fufilled your wishes (the Chuck Norris on top was a very convincing argument to post the chapter today XD ) and I absolutely promise to do an all marine chapter at some point but there should be some interraction next chapter and I absolutely adore your idea of a little girl giving Akainu flowers!
Next to Animegirl1279 I hope you enjoyed the small bit of Luffy, I'm probably going to try and slip some more in later but for now the poor boy is probably traumatised! And you're right, none of the Whitebeards have seen Ace's tattoo yet, seeing as most of the bounty photo's were head shots and Namur just didn't notice. There is going to be a lot of teasing when it's discovered.
Ok to ParrllelPenSW I'm glad you liked the Spades reactions, I feel like they usually don't get enough love, so now I need to give them lots! And your reviews definitely make my day! I do feel kinda bad for Senny though, he's gonna end up traumatized at this rate XD
Finally to Katske Im really glad you feel invested in the characters ive been trying to balance crack with humour for most of this, but I'm hoping it's come out alright! :)
Anyway most importantly of all I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS STORY HAS OVER 300 FOLLOWERS THANK YOU SO MUCH! XD next chapter might be a little late again but I promise to do my best to get it out on time! hope you enjoyed!