Ace tried to suppress a smile as he saw the familiar and comforting blue flames, approaching rapidly on the horizon. It had been a day and a half since Ace had contacted Haruta, and the time traveller was starting to feel increasingly nervous.
His past (future?) family were fiercely loyal to their crew and no matter how he thought about it, Ace knew that no one was going to be happy at learning one of their own had turned traitor.
But unfortunately the freckled teen couldn't afford to let the crew live in ignorance for another two years. Not when the cost was Thatch's life, and especially not after learning about Teach's slave trading.
Letting out a small sigh, Ace turned to face his crew once more "Ok, the Whitebeard pirates aren't usually one to shoot the messenger, but we already know they're not going to be happy about the information we've got. So until I've fully explained the situation, I want everyone out on deck and safely out the way."
Several seconds of pointed staring later and the Spades nodded reluctantly. Despite how much they may have wanted to protect their teenaged Captain, the Spades knew that Ace was more than capable of looking after himself. And in a situation like this, a weaker crew member was much more likely to be a liability than any real help in a fight.
That didn't stop Paddy staring at his Captain, concern obvious in his eyes "Will you be ok Ace?" the pirate gave his crew a large smile "It'll be fine. I trust them." Before he could say anything else, the phoenix landed on deck with a loud thud.
Allowing Haruta to climb off his back onto the deck first, the bird transformed into the familiar face of the first division commander.
Looking at the familiar calm blue eyes of the first mate of the Whitebeard pirates, it took everything Ace had not to run over and hug the man. His last memory of the phoenix had been of devastated eyes as he reached out for Ace, still chained by seastone with holes in his chest.
Snapping himself out of his thoughts Ace shoved his conflict deep down and shot both commanders a friendly smile "Thanks for coming, now I already warned commander Haruta on the phone, but neither of you are going to like the information we've got. So I'd like for both of you to promise to hear me out to the end."
Both commanders gave a short nod, near unreadable looks on their faces. But Ace had known both men for two years in an alternate time line (even if neither commander remembered it), so he could easily read the underlying tension behind their supposedly relaxed expressions.
Gesturing for the two Whitebeard pirates to follow him, Ace lead them down to the plotting room. Sitting down the teenage pirate let out a deep breath and faced the two men he'd once called his family "There's no good way to go about this, so I'm just going to come out and say it. I have evidence that one of the Whitebeard pirates has turned traitor."
The words were barely out of his mouth when he felt the tension in the room increase a hundredfold. But despite their obvious anger on their faces, both commanders kept their word and neither moved to attack Ace (even if Haruta was very visibly restraining himself).
"I very much hope, that you have the evidence to back up such an accusation." there was deadly calm in that voice and Ace forced himself to nod.
"I do." the Spade pirate pulled out the two documents and the pictures Sabo had given him, alongside the list Shanks had compiled showing Blackbeard and Teach's corresponding trips, and handed them all over to the Whitebeards.
"One of my contacts in the revolutionary army dropped this off a few days ago. Marshall D Teach has been operating under the name Blackbeard and dealing in slaves. And has thus violated the rules of the Whitebeard pirates."
The time traveller stayed silent as the two commanders confirmed the documents with their own eyes, fury burning in their expressions. Eventually, after several minutes of tense silence Marco spoke once more "This is legitimate."
There was a resigned horror in the phoenix's voice, and a wariness in his eyes that only grew with Haruta's reluctant nod of agreement. "It is. We need to call Oyaji about this now."
Marco nodded, but despite that made no move towards his Den Den Mushi, and instead turned back to face Ace "Why did the revolutionary army come to you specifically with the documents in the first place though yoi?"
The freckled teen paused trying to decide on the best way to phrase it "They didn't have a way to contact you personally, and knew I was in the area. I was also the person to first alert them to the fact Teach was operating under the name Blackbeard."
The older pirates fixed Ace with a stare "How did you find out?" Images of Thatch flooded the teen's mind, and a somewhat bitter grin emerged on his face "He killed someone close to me." He fixed the two Whitebeard pirates with a firm stare "Be warned, he's been looking for a specific devil fruit, the yami yami no mi, and he's willing to kill to get it."
In the original timeline Thatch had found the fruit almost two years into the future by complete and utter chance. But it couldn't hurt to warn the Whitebeards now, just in case something Ace had done hastened the fruits discovery.
"I'm sorry." Ace was dragged out his thoughts by the sincere blue eyes of the first division Commander "On behalf of the Whitebeard pirates, I'm sorry we never caught on." The freckled teen shook his head "It's not your fault, he's a skilled deceiver."
After all Ace had never noticed what Teach was like, and Teach was in his division. And that made him Ace's responsibility, even if he was yet to meet the man in his current timeline.
"There's one more thing you need to be aware of, I know the Whitebeards have a habit of dealing with traitors themselves, but Teach is a lot stronger than you think. He's the one who gave Shanks his scars and that was back when he still had both arms, you can't underestimate him."
Ace knew that there was more than a little bit of desperation in his voice but he couldn't help it. If he'd warned his family early, only for one of them to die against Teach...
Logically the freckled teen knew that the Whitebeards currently stood a much better chance than he had in the original timeline. For one, Teach no longer had the advantage his devil fruit had presented him the first time round. For another he was probably unaware that his treachery had been discovered and would therefore be unprepared for retaliation.
Not that any of that would stop Ace worrying, especially as he wouldn't be able to go track down Teach on his own this time round. Not when Ace still had a crew to look after, and lacked the resources he'd held as a Whitebeard Commander the first time round.
A calm voice jolted Ace out of his thoughts once more, "Call Pop's, we'll make a plan after he's been warned yoi." Haruta nodded and quickly pulled the Den Den mushi out of the phoenix's bag.
Pausing, the smallest Commander turned to face Ace, with the faintest trace of a smile on his lips. "So Ace, how do you feel about talking to the strongest man in the world?"
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Sengoku resisted the urge to glare at the Den Den mushi currently set up in the corner of the meeting room. The general meeting had been going so well for once, and now everything was going to be ruined and Sengoku would be stuck with even more bloody paperwork.
Sometimes Sengoku hated his job.
With Garp still on holiday, the monthly officer's meeting had been running more smoothly than ever, unfortunately his (sort of) freind's absence also meant there would be one less person to help restrain Akainu when the time came, which was unfortunately now.
Trying to keep a calm facade and not think of the budgeting that was going to need to be relocated after his next announcement, Sengoku let out a small cough.
"Before the meeting adjourns, I've been asked," here the old Marine sent a pointed glance to the Den Den mushi, leaving no doubt as to who exactly had given him this latest order "to address some rumours that have been going around recently.."
Several eyes widened, and some of the more intelligent naval officers took the opportunity to discreetly edge away from where Akainu was sitting. Sengoku used the opportunity to send a subtle nod to Kuzan. The man's motto may have been lazy justice, but as it stood, it was very hard to remain lazy when your current place of residence was destroyed by a pissed off lava man.
And while Sengoku could restrain Akainu himself, the old marine's interference would only increase the damage done to Marineford. So it was up to Kuzan (a terrible decision really) to help limit the damage.
Still, if Sengoku was being forced to partake in this madness, then he was dragging everyone else with him. Putting on a deadly serious face, the fleet commander met the red dog's eyes, ignoring the horrified realisation on his subordinates faces "Admiral Akainu, I would like to address your heinous act of misconduct."
The aforementioned admirals eyes widened slightly, and the temperature of the room began to drastically increase "What?" Sengoku shook his head in mock disappointment, taking far too much enjoyment from the aghast faces surrounding him.
"The upper levels have become concerned with the recent rumours about your... affair with a pirate." Watching the throbbing vein on the admiral's face with no small amount of satisfaction, Sengoku distantly noted Tsuru evacuating the lower ranking officers out of the room.
Kuzan had also started to subtly use his ice to cool the almost dangerous rise in temperature. Akainu grit his teeth, visibly trying not to lose it "Affair?"
Sengoku nodded, blank mask firmly in place "We were very disappointed by recent news of your marriage proposal to a pirate." It was easy to tell the exact moment the admiral snapped. The conference table was suddenly burned away as lava began to bubble on the Admiral's skin.
The fleet commander took a mild amount of petty satisfaction in the way the elder star's face's seemed to pale slightly. "Permission requested to eliminate the pirate of rumours Fleet Commander?"
Sengoku shook his head, mildly surprised at how well the other marine was taking the news (or at least better than expected, after all no one was dead yet). "Permission denied Admiral. One of Kaidou's lot has just gone on a rampage, so I'm sending you to the new world to deal with that."
It was complete fabrication of course, but someone was always on a rampage somewhere in the new world, and right now Sengoku wanted Akainu as far away from Marineford (and therefore further property damage) as possible.
Sending him after the Spade's was also a no go, seeing as the crew were almost at Sabaody where a celestial dragon had recently taken up post, and really that was a disaster just waiting to happen.
(Not to mention the fact that the Spade's antics were somewhat amusing and seemed to have had the unintended side affect of giving Garp a massive headache. Which in turn gave Sengoku untold amounts of petty satisfaction)
Anger growing on his face Akainu gave a hasty salute, visibly restraining himself as he stormed out of the room, lava dripping in his wake. Waiting a few seconds the old Marine let out a small sigh and gestured for Kuzan to trail the lava man and limit the damage.
Looking at the trail of firey destruction already following behind the enraged Admiral, the fleet commander resisted the urge to go fight everyone in the vicinity and instead plotted his revenge.
As the person in charge Sengoku was supposed to be seen as sane, meaning he wasn't allowed to go around beating up new recruits to rid himself of his frustrations like Garp did. Sengoku had to be subtle in his pettiness.
And really rumours about Akainu were just so easily spread these days.
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It felt like an eternity of waiting when Ace finally heard the tell tale click that meant someone had picked up on the other end of the Den Den Mushi. "Hello Brat's, how are you both doing?" Ace grinned at hearing the familiar term of endearment, even if it wasn't directed at him.
No matter how much everything had changed it seemed some things would forever be the same.
A tiny smile appeared on Marco's face "We're fine Pop's, it's only been a day and a half." Whitebeard let out a familiar laugh that warmed Ace's heart to the very core "Let an old man worry in peace Marco! Now what have you learned that required a call?"
And just like that the small smile that had been growing on the Phoenix's face, promptly died "It's not good news Pop's." There was a slight pause before the pirate continued "Teach has turned traitor."
There was a moment of silence "You're certain?" Marco's fists clenched in anger, and Haruta shot him a concerned look before deciding to answer for him "Marco and I both verified the evidence provided Pop's. Teach has been dealing with slavers."
The expression on the other end of the line was furious, but even that fury wasn't enough to mask the obvious worry on the Emperor's face "How has he been paying these deals?"
Ace let out a small cough to remind the group he was still there "Sorry to interrupt, this is Portgas D Ace. I traced back the deals timing and found they mostly coincided with your fights, it's more than likely Teach has been using your less well known enemies as payment."
"Shouldn't we have noticed that?" The frustration it Haruta's voice was obvious, even as Ace shook his head. "I'd have been more surprised if you did. The Whitebeard pirates participate in large scale battles every day and one or two missing underlings is much more likely to be overlooked as them running away or dying in the fight."
Haruta cursed, and Marco stared back at the phone a grave look of determination on his face "Oyaji, as temporary leader of the second division I want permission to hunt him down."
"Permission granted Son, but I don't want you going on your own. Even if we were unaware of his actions, the only way Teach could have gotten away with it this long, would be if he slaughtered anyone who knew what he was doing. I don't want you recklessly risking your life."
The words struck something deep inside the freckled teen, Whitebeard had said something similar to Ace before he'd left in the original timeline and he hadn't listened. Luckily Marco was far more level headed than Ace would ever be. Then again he also wasn't fuelled by anger over his brother's death.
So rather than the fire Ace had spewed, the phoenix merely gave a grim nod of determination, a savage smile obvious on his face "I won't Pop's, don't worry. I have a plan. But before that, am I still allowed to do what we discussed before I left?"
The serious expression on the Emperor's face immediately turned to slyly amused. "Go for it son. You brats take care." The was a slight pause as a large grin appeared on the Captain's face "I'm looking forward to meeting you later fire brat."
Ace grinned "Right back at you old man." Ignoring Haruta's splutters and Marco's smirk, the teen focused entirely on his future father's laugh, letting it warm him to the core. He would do anything to protect that happiness.
Hanging up the phone Marco turned to face Ace, and reached out a hand "Well then. Now that I have Pop's approval, I would like to officially offer you an alliance on behalf of the Whitebeard pirates."
Ace stared at the outstretched hand, millions of thoughts rushing through his mind at once. But above the general noise were the words spoken years ago, by the same man as the one now offering his hand.
"Because he calls us his sons. To the rest of the world we're all just outcasts. It makes us happy. It's just a word but it makes us happy."
It wasn't the same offer to become a Whitebeard pirate. Not yet. But it was a start. And that's all that mattered.
Grabbing the phoenix's hand Ace grinned "I'd love to."
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Somewhere in the grandline
"Mummy, why is that man wearing a pink flower?" The nameless young woman, who up until that moment had peacefully been doing her shopping, stopped what she was doing and stared at the man her daughter was referring to. Only to smile sadly in recognition.
"Well Ellie, that flower is called a rose, and it's apparently a favourite of Lady Spade, the woman Admiral Akainu fell in love with. Unfortunately she's a pirate and he's a marine so the two are doomed to never be together. So the Admiral wear's that flower to honour his love for her."
The little girl, Ellie, nodded in understanding a sad look on her small face. Suddenly the girl's face lit up with excitement as she ran to the side of the road and picked up a handful of the pink flowers that grew there "Maybe if we leave more pink flowers on his ship he'll cheer up!"
Smiling at her daughter's thoughtfulness, the young mother quickly agreed to help, and before long several of the villagers had agreed to pitch in.
Several hours later Akainu returned to find his previously pristine battleship covered in pink flowers, and once more resisted the urge to go and murder someone.
Somewhere in the far off distance, Sengoku (joined by a majority of the marine finance division) cackled in vengeance, and started to plan new rumours.
Author's note
Ok so I feel like I've had to say this a few times now, but I'M SO SORRY I'M LATE! Blame the lab reports I'm still procrastinating on...ahaha..ha... I really need to finish those. Anyway XD onto the reviews!
First of all to Wolfayne I based the last part off your idea for a little girl giving Akainu flowers so I hope You liked it!!!!
LongPastMidnight i'm sorry you needed something to lift your spirits, but i'm glad this helped! hope you feel better now, and stay tuned for more madness!!!
Next to ParrllelPenSW glad you liked the chapter and I promise we're not done with Shanks yet! And you'll definitely get some conquerors haki soon, as well some protective Spades! If you ever do write a story i'd absolutely love to know so I could read it!
To 4 is for clover I can promise it'll be an interesting reveal when Ace and Sabo finally get round to revealing Sabo's alive *evil cackling*
And finally To the guest who suggested a short story of if Teach found the yami yami no mi ahhh I actually really love the idea i'd never considered how different the canon could be if Teach found the fruit first and therefore never needed to kill Thatch, I might try writing that as a short story once i'm done with this is gonna be fun!
Thank you to everyone else who reviewed and leave a comment if there's a particular character you want in the next chapter!