(1) From the last story, I'm debating if I'm going to have Sabo come back or have him dead for the rest of the story. We're still quite a ways off with that, so not a big focus.

Anyways, back to The Promise! Last chapter we learned that Luffy and Marek's mother is in fact Charlotte Smoothie (and in case anyone hasn't noticed, this is a slightly AU story) and grandsons of Linlin. Won't play a big factor into the story until Marineford and afterwards. Marek's devil fruit is not set in stone yet, but I do have one in mind. It can be a created one, or a canon one, as long as it fits with Marek. And as a preview of this chapter, it's Marek's promotion and meetings with a lot of the big players.

Chapter 4: Another premonition, the meeting of the big players

2 weeks later, Marineford

Marek paced back and forth, only an hour away from the ceremony. He was nervous of course! He was currently the youngest captain, soon to be commodore, in the marines. Turns out, there were going to be several promotions today, as well as another announcement, of which he was unsure what it was. He heard a knock at the door, and softly said "Enter" to which both his grandparents entered.

Garp was wearing a suit under his marine outfit, as Tsuru was in her usual uniform as well. "Look at you Marek, commodore already! You're taking after me quite well!" Garp said boisterously with a laugh. Tsuru smacked his arm lightly.

"Enough of that Garp." She said before a smile crossed her face. "You've done well Marek; I know if your father was here he'd be proud of you." Marek smiled softly and nodded.

"I know. Mom said she was proud of me as well. Standing up to Katakuri, despite knowing what he's able to do, she said I had a lot of bravery for doing so."

He had a side glance out the window. "D-do you think her side of the family is proud? I've only known about you two and dad and mom, but I'm unsure of what they think."

Marek had a worried expression as Garp placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure they are Marek. It's tough, having family that is split between pirates and marines."

Marek looked out at Marineford as he gripped his head softly, making Garp and Tsuru look at him in worry. "A-another vision….." He said shakily…

10 years later, during the War of the Best

"Luffy, I've got the bridge stabilized, get going to Ace!" Marek yelled, watching his younger brother run up the bridge before someone shot through it. It was their grandfather.
Marek growled softly, closing his eyes as he knew what side he had chosen. "Gramps move out of the way! I'm not hurting you, just move please!" Luffy shouted, running up the bridge.

"If you don't strike me dead, then you'll lose Ace!" Garp yelled, preparing to knock him down a few pegs.

Once Marek had finished with the bridge, ensuring it wouldn't collapse with Inazuma's help, he jumped up the bridge, landing between the two of them, causing both of them to lock at him in shock. He had tears going down his face as he landed.

"Shut up! I can't believe you, grandfather! Making him decide between you and Ace! How could you force him to make the toughest decision of his life here! What kind of grandfather are you?!" Marek roared out, looking up at him.

Garp flinched unnoticeably, his heart tugging at it. "I'm a Marine first and a grandfather second, you know that Marek. If you're standing with him to save Ace, I won't show either of you mercy! You're both criminals and that makes you both my enemy!" He yelled, raising his fist for a punch.

Marek clenched his fist as he saw it approach and looked at him with a cold gaze. "So that's your stance huh? Fine then, Vice Admiral." Garp flinched from that, but his fist sailed at him unwavering. "Then consider me your grandson NO LONGER!" He roared out and intercept the fist with his own, infused by his silver Haki and punched him straight across the face and off the bridge.

He looked back to Luffy who was mortified before grabbing his arm. "Luffy, get to Ace now!" He tossed him up to the execution platform as he jumped after him.

Vision over

Marek panted heavily, hand wrapped around his chest as Garp and Tsuru were worried. "I-I'm fine…. The vision….. it was horrible….." Tsuru was more worried upon hearing it. "Are you okay now Marek?"

Marek, taking a few minutes to breathe, nodded slightly. "Y-yeah, I'm good." 'These are getting worse, and from what uncle told me, they're not set in stone. If that's what I saw, I don't know if trying to change it would make it better or worse.'

Bogard knocked on the door. "Vice Admirals, we're needed. The promotions are going to be starting soon." Tsuru and Garp nodded softly as Marek stood up. "Guess it's time huh?" Marek said with a small smile.

Marineford HQ, office of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, 20 minutes later

Marek was walking with his grandparents, hands in his pockets. They arrived at Sengoku's office first, which surprised him. "Ahh, Garp, Tsuru and Marek. You're here first."

Marek smiled as Garp rubbed the back of his head. "Well if we were late, Tsuru would kick my ass." Marek smiled. "Fleet Admiral sir." Sengoku waved his hand. "It's just us for now. Tell me how you're feeling Marek."

"Nervous, excited, but also tired Uncle." Marek said with a smile. Sengoku just laughed softly. "I estimated as much. As great as me and Garp were, we didn't make commodore until we were at least 21. You're doing great for yourself."

Marek chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment while Sengoku got up and hugged him softly. "I'm glad to see that you're doing alright nephew. It's not everyday you face off against a Sweet Commander, at your rank no less, and live."

Marek frowned softly. "I just did what you, gramps and Zephyr-sensei taught me." Sengoku nodded before letting him go. "Take a seat, you're not the only one whose getting promoted. They'll be in soon." Marek had a confused look on his face.

As soon as he said that, Sakazuki came in. "Sengoku-sama, you asked for me?" Sengoku nodded. "Have a seat Sakazuki, we're waiting on Kuzan and Borsalino."

Sakazuki nodded, taking a seat on the other end of the room. Soon Kuzan and Borsalino arrived. "Take a seat you two. We have a couple of things to discuss."

Kuzan nodded as him and Borsalino both did. Sakazuki chose at this time to speak up. "With all due respect Fleet Admiral, why is Marek here? If this is so important, shouldn't he wait?"

Sengoku fixed his glasses. "Because it has to do with him. I'm sure you've read the report of his failure in West Blue, but the reason for the failure isn't listed as it would cause a panic."

Marek stood up. "My mission was a failure, to ensure that the weapons deal didn't go through. That much is true, but only Sengoku-sama and Vice Admiral Garp know the reason."

"Normally I wouldn't care about the reason, but seeing as you and your crew got out alive, there has to be a big reason, isn't there Marek?" Kuzan said with a yawn as he laid back in his chair.

Marek nodded. "The deal was between an upstart, Capone Bege, and members of the Big Mom Pirates." Sakazuki's cigar dropped out of his mouth as Kuzan's eyes widened as he straightened up. "I had my crew prepared to take out Capone's ship and men until we saw another ship. I noticed the flag immediately as one of Big Mom's. The only problem, two of the haki signatures I noticed were way stronger than me."

Marek reached into his suit and pulled out two wanted posters. "Dogtooth Charlotte Katakuri and "Juicer" Charlotte Smoothie." Kuzan narrowed his eyes as Borsalino had an unreadable expression on his face while Sakazuki was silently seething. "Once I noticed the Big Mom ship, I knew we had no chance. I went on board to bargain, my life for my crews. That's how they managed to escape, as I became their prisoner."

Borsalino looked over the posters. "Hmm, but why did you do that? Those two are scary individuals young captain." Marek responded. "Because I figured that my life would be more valuable, given the deeds I've managed to accomplish in my short time as a marine already. Add on the fact that I'm the grandson of the "Hero of the Marines" I'd say it was a fair trade. More than likely I would've been shipped to Whole Cake Island to be wed off to one of Linlin's daughters or granddaughters."

Kuzan's eyes narrowed, a cold whisp leaving his lips. "How did you escape though?" Marek sighed softly. "I managed to escape while everyone was asleep, the only one who noticed was Dogtooth himself. We fought for a while, him toying with me until I managed to land a lucky blow to knock him far enough away. With the little time I had, I managed to find a large enough rock and hurled it through the ship that his sister was on. Risking to re-capture me or let his sister die, he went to save the members of the crew. I apologized for such a dirty tactic, but knew it was the only way I would've escaped."

The three vice admirals and Fleet Admiral took in the report. Sengoku spoke up: "I for one believe that's enough qualification to be promoted to a commodore. What do you three think?"

Borsalino rubbed his chin softly. "Hmm, very interesting. To be able to escape two of Big Mom's children, and her strongest two at that. I approve, you're a very interesting individual Marek."

Kuzan nodded in agreement. "I agree. I've engaged Katakuri many times and know how hard it is to throw him off his game. To be able to do so and get out alive is very impressive. If he wasn't as young as he was, I'd recommend him skip commodore and go straight to rear admiral."

Sakazuki lit another one of his cigars, sticking it in his mouth. "At the very least, the training I put him through has not gone to waste. I approve of the promotion, and I'm on the same boat as Kuzan. If the men we trained had half the toughness and intellect that Marek did, we'd have all these pirates taken out already."

Sengoku nodded. "With the approval of three vice admirals, myself, and Commander-in-Chief Kong, the promotion of one Monkey D. Marek to commodore is approved. With said promotion, you will be included as a confidant of one of our vice admirals or admirals when discussing matters with the Shichibukai and news of the up and coming pirates. We'll have Capone Bege on watch, as his alliance with the Big Mom pirates is a dangerous one."

Marek stood agape, all three approved? And Kong approved as well? Holy shit! "Thank you Vice Admirals, thank you Fleet Admiral!" Sengoku smirked softly. "You should be saying, thank you Admirals. Sakazuki, Kuzan, Borsalino. Due to the actions of the New World pirates, and these up and coming rookie pirates, we'll need all hands-on deck. You three will be immediately instated as admirals. Kuzan, you will be known as Aokiji from now on. Borsalino, you have my old title as Kizaru. And Sakazuki, you will be known as Akainu. With Zephyr retiring, we now have three admirals instead of one to tackle the pirate threat. We will be meeting with the Shichibukai immediately."

The three nodded as Marek stood shellshocked at his mentors being promoted to admirals before nodding himself. "Marek, you will be accompanying this meeting as well. We will be adding a new member to the Warlords, she is the youngest one so far." Sengoku added.

Minutes later

The five of them, with Garp and Tsuru leaving to handle their own paperwork of which Garp complained about, walked into the large meeting room. "Brannew send them in, we're ready." Sengoku said with an affirmative response from the commodore.

Marek sat closest to the Fleet Admiral, his role only being an observer unless called upon, as the Admirals took their respective seats on the Marine side. The first one to enter was Dracule Mihawk, the Worlds Strongest Swordsman. "Fleet Admiral, Admirals." He said in a soft, stern tone, nodding to the four before his eyes landed on Marek. Marek didn't flinch from the gaze and Mihawk had a ghost of a smile cross his face before taking his seat.

The next to enter surprised Marek, as he knew behind the scenes, the large man was close to his father. Bartholomew Kuma entered with bible in hand. "Fleet Admiral-sama, Admiral-sans." He took his seat beside Mihawk, not registering that Marek was beside Sengoku.

The third man, although it should be said fishman, to enter was Jinbe, Knight of the Sea. The fishman looked curiously at Marek but said nothing as he took his seat on the other side of Mihawk.

Before the next one entered, there was a faint laughter. Marek knew why his grandmother hadn't been approved to come to the meeting if the laugh was anything to go by. The next one to enter was Donquixote Doflamingo. "Fleet Admiral, Admirals! My fellow Warlords!"

He stopped his laugh as he sat on the opposite end of the table, literally on the table as he looked at Marek. "Eh, who's the kid? I thought we were having an important meeting Sengoku, why'd ya bring a kid with you?" Sengoku sighed, Jinbe was thinking the same thing. "In due time Doflamingo, we'll wait for Crocodile to arrive since Moria is unable to due to his current circumstances."

"And please take a seat on one of the chairs Doflamingo." Accepting the answer for now, Doflamingo took a seat on the chair, moving from his place on the table. Crocodile made his entrance. "Eh….. you still causing trouble you damn flamingo?" He asked, a cigar in his mouth as Doflamingo laughed. "It wouldn't be me if I wasn't!"

Marek resisted the urge to pinch his nose in annoyance, these were 5 of the more powerful pirates sitting in the room after all, and apparently there was a 6h that didn't show up. "Now onto business." Sengoku started.

"Who's the kid?" Crocodile interrupted with Mihawk looking down with his arms crossed. "And I don't want to hear it from you Fleet Admiral, I want the kid to talk for himself." Doflamingo laughed at Crocodile's bluntness with Sengoku sighing in response.

Marek sat up. "I am Commodore Marek, grandson of Monkey D. Garp, otherwise known as Silver Hand Marek." "So why are you here then kid?" Crocodile asked, "This isn't a game, you're in the big leagues right now. Don't you realize that any five of us could kill you easily?!" Crocodile demanded, slamming his hand on the table.

Marek didn't rise to the threat, instead just smirking softly. "If Dogtooth Katakuri couldn't kill me, what makes you think you could, Sir Crocodile?" The response caused Jinbe and Crocodile's eyes to widen, Mihawk to have an internal impressed face, while Kuma looked on and Doflamingo laughed harder.

"A run-in with 'ol Dogtooth, and you lived without much harm done to you? I'm starting to like you kid!" Doflamingo stated, sitting back in his seat. Marek continued, "Your bounty was frozen at 81 million beri if I remember correctly. I've taken down 90 million beri pirates before, so I think at the very least, I could handle you, Sir."

Crocodile just had an impasse look on his face, before smirking. "You can talk the talk at least, but can you walk it?" Mihawk looked up. "Enough Crocodile, we're here for something else than a pissing contest between you and the commodore."

Crocodile tsk'd and sat in a chair as Sengoku fixed his glasses. "Thank you Mihawk. As I was saying, we're going to be inducting a new member to the warlords, bringing the official number up to seven. This will be the main number, as it allows us to keep an eye out in every sea, including the calm belt."

Kuma spoke up. "Logical thinking Fleet Admiral-sama. There has been a noticeable increase in pirate activity since the death of Gold Roger."

Doflamingo tsk'd, "Of course you'd be all for it ya damn koala. Makes it easier for you to spend your time doing whatever it is you do with that damn bible. So who's the sucker that's become the newest government dog?"

There were shouts of love and lust coming from the entrance before they abruptly stopped as a gorgeous woman, being accompanied by a snake, made her entrance. "Gentlemen," Sengoku started. "Welcome the newest Warlord, Boa Hancock."

Marek looked past her to see the marines turned to stone. 'Hmm interesting, another devil fruit user.' Hancock turned her fierce gaze at Marek, thinking he was staring at her. "You've got something to say boy? Can't handle the fact that a woman has more power than you?"

Marek stared at her. 'Okay, yeah she's beautiful and all, but damn is she cold and callous.' "I was taking a look past you to see the marines turned to stone. An impressive power indeed, Miss Hancock. But please refrain from the fact that you think I'm weak."

Hancock fumed, "What do you mean by that?! You're just a commodore! And a recently promoted one at that!" Marek sighed, his gaze turning stern. "Let me ask you something, Boa Hancock. Have you been in the presence of Gold Roger before? I have when I was three years old. Not only that, but I've been between his presence and my grandfather, Monkey D. Garp, before his execution. Not only that, but I just recently fought the strongest son of the Yonko, Charlotte Linlin, and am managing to stand here in front of all of you." He stood up as Hancock flinched slightly. "You might think you're superior to men, Miss Hancock, and believe me I've met people who think the same way you do before, but I'll tell all six of you here. If it came down to a fight between any one of you against me, you'd be in for one hell of a fight because I don't go down easily."

Kuzan placed a cold hand on Marek's shoulder. "Easy there Marek, we don't want an all-out brawl taking place here. Just calm down and sit back down alright?"

Marek stiffened, but nodded softly as he sat down. Kuzan removed his hand from Marek's shoulder and sighed softly. "Continue Fleet Admiral." Sengoku nodded, sighing as well. "Thank you Aokiji. To continue on what Marek said about Dogtooth, new generations are getting bolder. Marek encountered him in West Blue in an effort to disrupt and effectively prevent a weapons deal between the Big Mom Pirates and Capone Bege. The report that Marek submitted is that the deal was that Capone Bege would be receiving weapons and aid from the Big Mom Pirates to continue the chaos going in West Blue with the Five Families, keeping our eye there, as him and any other rookie crews trickled into the Grand Line."

Mihawk stared. "To keep you busy, this alliance wouldn't just benefit Capone or Big Mom, but to all pirates seeking to sail to find the One Piece." Sengoku nodded. "Exactly."

"With our understanding of the alliance, we can prepare now for the new generation of pirates to come into the Grand Line effectively. A new generation of marines, with Marek being the shining star of this new generation, to combat the threat."

Jinbe spoke up. "With all due respect Fleet Admiral, we don't know how strong Marek is. As stated, he survived an encounter with Katakuri, but we don't know how the battle went. None of us have eyewitness account of how the fight had gone, only through the commodore's eyes. Exaggerations happen, and I mean this all respectively young Marek, but if he's weak and you say he's the shining star, then what precedence would that set for the new generation of marines?"

Akainu growled, "Are you questioning my training methods, Jinbe?" "Akainu stand down." Sengoku commanded, the magma man sitting back in his seat grumbling. "He's got a point. Therefore, after this meeting, one of you will be facing off against him to test his strength."

Jinbe nodded in acceptance, while Doflamingo laughed. "Sending the kid to his death Sengoku? I didn't think you could be so cruel!" Marek frowned. "Against you Doflamingo, I would surely lose, I understand that. The same could be said for Mihawk as well as Kuma here. The one most likely to kill me here would be you, and you'd say it was an accident. Mihawk knows his strength, and while he would actively be trying to not kill me, it wouldn't be at his full power."

Marek took a breath. "Kuma, with all respect to the tyrant, would be too fast due to his devil fruit and his fights tend to lead to sending his opponents away. That leaves the missing Gecko Moria, Sir Crocodile, Sir Jinbe, and Miss Hancock. With respect to Miss Hancock, the Warlords are seen to be these invincible "government dogs" as people put them, so me facing off against her and beating her would be a blow to how we judge who joins the Shichibukai and a sting to her pride. Therefore, my opponent would fall between Crocodile and Jinbe."

No one there could deny his logic, all impressed with the thinking of the fifteen-year-old. "Very well." Sengoku said, "Jinbe, Crocodile, between the two of you, who would face the commodore here?"

Crocodile scowled. "I'm not getting involved with some punk kid, though the kid does have balls talking to us like that. Jinbe, I'll let you face him. Normally I would deal with him, but I'm still aching from my confrontation with Whitebeard."

Jinbe nodded, "That is agreeable. It would be an honor to face you young commodore. Don't hold back for my sake, because I will not be doing the same for you."

Marek nodded, "I promise not to, Knight of the Sea."

One hour later, in the courtyard

Garp was glaring at Sengoku. "What the hell happened in there that my grandson is fighting one of the Warlords?!" Sengoku fixed his glasses. "He did that himself; he takes after you more than you think. Jinbe brought up a good point, we've been making Marek this shining star, much like how Kong did with me and you when we were first coming up through. He's dealt with relatively small fry, and with the fight against Katakuri, Crocodile and Doflamingo voiced their "concerns" on how accurate Marek's story was."

"Those two need to mind their own damn business! He nearly died facing Dogtooth!" Garp said, slightly angered at the audacity of those two.

Marek looked up at Garp, "Vice Admiral, I agreed to this fight against Jinbe. I need to prove that I'll be ready for any threats, in any of the blues or on the Grand Line." "I understand that and all, but YOU'RE ONLY 15 MAREK!" Garp yelled, surprising the newest warlord.

Marek chuckled, rolling his shoulder as he handed his jacket to Tanner. "I get that, but people are questioning of how I was able to escape Katakuri. Plus, it's not every day that I'll get to fight a Warlord."

Jinbe slid back into his stance. "Vice admiral-sama, this is only a spar, to show off your grandson's strength. I will not kill him, as I know I wouldn't make it out of here alive if I did."

Garp scowled, but tsk'd. "Fine, go ahead." Marek smirked eagerly, keeping his hands close to his chest in preparation. He looked out the corner of his eye. "Admiral Aokiji, I believe we are both ready."

Aokiji nodded, interested himself in how Marek could stand up against a warlord. Jinbe's last bounty before it was frozen 250 million beri. "Ara, if both parties are ready? Then begin!" He jumped back slightly.

Marek waited, observing Jinbe's stance and recognizing it as one of the Fishman Karate ones as Jinbe does the same. 'Odd, it seems like he's keeping a loose defense. Does he not understand how dangerous this situation is?'

Crocodile scowled in annoyance as he watched them stand like that for a few minutes. "Are you two going to do something, I'm getting bored." Marek smirked before vanishing, leaving the warlord and some of the newer marines stunned at his speed. Reappearing in front of Jinbe he went for a right hook before Jinbe ducked his head out of the way, going for a palm strike to his chest in retaliation. Marek had just enough time to activate Tekkai to absorb the damage as he skids backwards. "Normally I wouldn't be so rash, but I just wanted to shut up the 'ol sand croc, you know?"

Marek grinned as Jinbe remained focused. "If that's the fastest you can get, you'll never be able to beat me young commodore." Marek popped his neck and stretched his legs. "Yare yare, I know. Just be prepared for my strength, I killed a pirate by punching him in the gut and blowing out his back. I wouldn't want to accidentally kill a warlord."

Jinbe narrows his eyes as Garp closed his, knowing who Marek was referring to. "You will find I'm no ordinary pirate commodore. I did sail with- ""With Fisher Tiger who freed some of the slaves at Mariejois, I know. An honorable man, slavery should never be allowed under the eyes of justice."

Jinbe's eyes widened, as did Hancock's but hers were unnoticeable. Jinbe smirked slightly. "You're an interesting individual commodore, saying that in front of all your comrades." Marek shrugged, "I've been known to be blunt sometimes, especially about things that irk me. But I think that's enough of a break, shall we continue Jinbe?"

Jinbe nodded, now looking forward to the fight as both zoomed at the other, trading blows. The might of their blows caused shockwaves, surprising many. Counter after counter, blow after blow, they fought. Ducking, weaving, until Marek returned the favor that Jinbe dealt him by landing a strong punch to the chest and skidding him backward, making the fishman cough up saliva.

"Oy, Jinbe, are you holding back on me?" Marek asked, not seeming to be winded. Jinbe stood up. "Like I said, I don't want to kill you."

Marek nodded before looking up at Garp. "Eh, Gramps, should I take them off? Only time I took them off was against Katakuri and seeing as how people wanna see how I fought him, it'd probably be best." Garp closed his eyes. "What do you think Sengoku?"

Sengoku cupped his chin softly. "I'll allow it Marek, but Crocodile get down there as well. I want to make sure you're keeping up on your skills as well." Garp grinned softly, opening his eyes. "You heard the Fleet Admiral Marek, take off your weights!"

Crocodile jumped down as Jinbe looked on curiously. 'Weights?' Marek grinned, "Awesome!" He removed his shirt as he had a weighted vest on. Crocodile growled at him. "Take this seriously damn it! You think by removing a few pounds that it's going to help you?!"

Marek grinned, sliding off the vest and dropped it behind him, causing a small crater to appear. The two warlord's eyes widened as did the marines watching as Mihawk smirked softly.

Marek lifted his pant legs up and removed his shin guards, throwing them beside the jacket. He proceeded to bounce around on his feet. "Oh hell yes that feels so much better!" He grinned excitedly.

"H-how? How much did those weigh commodore?" Jinbe asked in concern. "Hmm, the vest itself weighed about 500 pounds, and the shin guards were both 100 pounds." Tanner, who was seated close to the weights, widened his eyes in shock and comically. "7-700 pounds?!"

"I'm planning on increasing them in the future, but Vice Admiral Tsuru thinks I'm going to kill myself like that. Garp's all for it, and Fleet Admiral-sama recommends me taking it a b it slower, the middleman that he is." Marek said with a grin.

He appeared behind them with an afterimage taking his place as both warlord's eyes widened. "W-what the?" Marek backhanded Crocodile who flew into the wall as he engaged Jinbe again, this time landing more blows as he was slightly faster than the fishman warlord.

Crocodile pulled himself out of the rubble, blood coming down his forehead. "Cocky little shit…" He had a sand tornado come from his hand and proceed to launch it. "SABLES, TAKE THIS YOU DAMN BRAT!" Jinbe jumped out of the way before Marek did the impossible and struck the sandstorm with his fist, a silver gleam from his hand.

Before long, the sandstorm was forcibly dissipated as Marek stood there with a grin. "That the best you got, sand crotch?" Crocodile growled in annoyance as Doflamingo laughed at the nickname. "Don't get cocky punk, we're warlords for a reason!"

"Oh I know Jinbe is, and the other 5 are. Not sure about this Gecko Moria guy though. But you, did they just give it to you out of pity or something? To be fair though, your bounty when it was frozen was only 81 million beri." Marek taunted with a shrug. "I survived Dogtooth and he has a bounty of 900 million, and you're starting to see why."

He took a look at his hand and grimaced slightly, some blood coming from his knuckles. 'That's a bit stronger than I was expecting, I'll have to be more careful, even with my Haki.' His eyes widened before ducking backwards to avoid a swipe from Crocodile's hook.

"Don't pull that shit with me kid. You piss me off, and I'll show you exactly why I'm known as the Desert King." "Either that or the Dessert King. Go ahead, flip that coin."

Crocodile growled in annoyance and summoned blades of sand. "Desert la Spada!" He threw them out at Marek, causing him to dodge and weave before going through them to kick Crocodile in the face, only for the man's head to shift into sand.

'Ahh a logia, how refreshing. It's not like I've been training with three admirals who also have logia.' Marek thought in annoyance before leaping back, Jinbe meeting him halfway with a strong palm strike to his side.

Mihawk closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "It's finished." Kuma spoke up as well. "Indeed." Hancock looked at the two of them in confusion. Doflamingo laughed, smiling. "Good show, I'm thoroughly entertained!" Hancock looked between the three. "What do you mean? They're still fighting, how is it not over?"

Crocodile's sandstorm that he threw in conjecture with Jinbe's attacks dissipated as Jinbe was panting heavily, as was Crocodile and Marek. Jinbe fell forward, out cold, as did Crocodile as Marek dropped to a knee. Hancock's eyes widened significantly.

"Ara, the winner is Commodore Marek!" Aokiji announced as the marines cheered! 'Holy shit that was rough. Gotta stop pissing people off with my taunts, then again, Croc asked for it.' Marek thought, blood dripping from his hand and mouth.

"Oy, Jinbe. You still with me?" Marek asked through pained breaths. Jinbe, still face first in the ground, responded with a weak "Yeah." Marek chuckled softly, holding his ribs in pain as he walked over to the fallen fishman.

He spoke to him in a soft voice, as to not let anyone hear them. "When this is over, I need to talk with the old man. I've got…. Questions that I need to ask him." Jinbe left his head up, blood coming from his lips. "W-why do you want to ask Whitebeard-sama questions?" Marek smiled. "Something about Haki since he's the only one I could possibly talk to about it, and about a certain individual." Jinbe nodded before going face first into the ground again, groaning softly.

Marek walked off back towards his crew with a grin. "Ara, Marek." Aokiji got his attention. "You alright kid? You took quite a beating." Marek grinned softly. "Akainu beat me worse, as did Katakuri. I'm fine." Aokiji narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing Akainu's training coming to light before placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just be careful alright, I don't want my kiddo to be brought down before he needs to be."

Marek laughed, "Sure thing "pops". And maybe one of these days you won't be so lazy." Aokiji shook his head with an amused smile before making sure that Crocodile and Jinbe were alright.

One week later, near Sabaody Archipelago

Marek was taking off his wraps, fully recovered as he sailed to an island nearby Sabaody. This is where Jinbe had arranged for him to meet Whitebeard, and he was nervous for sure. He looked around the small island and was surprised when he found a devil fruit near a tree. He looked it over, before deciding to pocket it. He'll have to check what it was later, but if it was what he thought it was, he'll give it to Ace as his parting gift for when he leaves on his own journey. He looked up to the sky and saw a blue bird in flames flying around.

He made his way to a clearing by his small ship as the bird landed and transformed into a man. "You Marek-yoi?" The man said with Marek nodding his head. "You part of Whitebeard's crew?" The man nodded his head. "Name's Marco-yoi. Jinbe told us that you wanted to talk to pops. It's weird-yoi, not many marines come looking for Pops just to talk to him. You've got the alcohol right? Pops is in a better mood with a peace offering like that."

Marek smiled. "Yeah it's on my ship further out. No traps or lies, I'm an honorable man like that. Lead me to his ship and I'll come aboard, no weapons or dishonest acts, I respect you and your crew too much for that kind of deception."

Marco raised an eyebrow but nodded. He turned into his phoenix form, shooting up into the air as Marek took his scouting ship back to his main ship and followed Marco to the Moby Dick. He stood there astonished at the size of the massive ship, so much bigger than his own, but docked alongside it.

"Permission to board Whitebeard-sama?" He asked as he could hear the faint laughter from the Yonko. Marco came up to the side. "He said come aboard." Marek nodded, proceeding to grab the overly large jar of sake, and carried it over to the ship with ease. There he saw Whitebeard standing with his naginata, one of the 12 Supreme Swords, and set the jar down with a low rumble.

"Whitebeard-sama." He kneeled down in respect. Whitebeard laughed. "Gurarara, a marine offering me respect for once? You're an odd little fellow." Marek smiled, "Well, between your battles with my grandfather and my uncle, and the fact that you're one of the more reasonable pirates on the seas, it's deserved."

"Ohoho, I've fought your grandfather and uncle before huh? Who are they lad?" Whitebeard asked in amusement. "I'll tell you of my uncle behind closed doors, but my grandfather is Monkey D. Garp." Marek replied, shocking the crew.

Whitebeard laughed boisterously and loudly. "I should've seen the family resemblance! You look like he did when I fought him in our younger years! And you've brought some sake it appears, where did you get this from?" Marek grinned cheekily. "I swiped it from my grandfather's personal stash that he's taken from pirates before."

Whitebeard laughed more, "Oh you're definitely an interesting one brat! It's interesting, to see "Silver Hand" Monkey D. Marek here on my ship, and only a week after fighting that Sand brat and Jinbe-san! He was impressed with you lad, and I am too."

Marek chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Indeed, Whitebeard-sama." Whitebeard waved his hand, "Bah, none of that Sama crap. Just call me pops." The crew's jaws dropped as did Marek's, but for different reasons.

"P-pops you can just have him call you pops! He's a marine! It doesn't make sense!" A heavier set man spoke up, causing Marek to look at him. "Teach, it's fine. He won't do us any harm, and I can tell he's a kid that needs a father since I assume Dragon didn't have much time for you, did he?"

Marek blinked, but nodded somberly. Another man with a pompadour hairstyle wrapped his arm around Marek's shoulder. "Hey, if pops says to call him pops, you go right ahead! I'm Thatch, and I'm the chef for this rowdy folks!" Marek smiled, before turning to a grin. "Now, let's celebrate the addition of our new family member!" The crew all cheered.

Later that night

Marek went around, seeing all the passed-out crew members of the ship. 'Holy crap, there's so many of them here!' He made his way to Whitebeard's room to see the old man still awake.

"I figured you'd be sleeping with the others brat." Whitebeard spoke. Marek just chuckled. "I'm not a heavy drinker, but I know I needed to talk to you about a few things."

Newgate smiled softly. "What is it lad? Something's bothering you." Marek sighed softly. "My uncle that you faced, he wasn't my uncle by choice, but he treated me as his own nephew." Newgate's expression softened. "It was Roger, wasn't it?"

Marek looked up in surprise. "Y-yeah. Roger adopted me as his nephew, said for me to watch over his son and be the best big brother I could be for him." Newgate hummed softly. "I was hoping, when he's old enough to start sailing, that he'd be allowed to join you. He wants to a crew, but I want him to have a family that will see him as Portgas D. Ace, not the son of Roger." Marek said passionately, which Newgate looked down somberly.

"Aye, no one should be judged based on actions of the parent. That's why I don't judge you from what Garp or your father have done, why I offered you a place along my family. Jinbe mentioned that you had questions about your haki, what about them?"

Marek breathed in and out. "First, as you know I'm known as "Silver Hand" Marek. This is why." He focused his armament haki to his hand as instead of the usual black, it turned silver, which in turn surprised Newgate. "Interesting, I've never seen that before, not even with my fights with Roger and Shiki."

Marek nodded, knowing it was unique. "The other thing, and I've talked with my mother and uncle about it, I've been having visions, of the future." Newgate narrowed his eyes in interest. "My mother is Charlotte Smoothie, which makes me Linlin's grandson, and I assume you can guess who my uncle is." Newgate nodded, "Katakuri."

Newgate cupped his chin, "You're not the only one I've seen to have this ability. Obviously your uncle has his ability to see a few minutes into the future with his haki, but it's not the same as this. Roger told me about having it." Marek's eyes widened, "W-what?"

Newgate nodded. "Aye, he wanted to have another journey after he set his treasure aside. We had one last conversation before he died, he told me that when he made the One Piece that he saw a vision of him taking one last journey after that, but he died during it. With his death, all his crew died with him in a major battle between him and the marines."

Marek looked down as Newgate continued. "He saw that he would fight both Garp and Sengoku, with all three going down together. Kong was furious about losing them and proceeded to wipe out Roger's crew. Rayleigh fought them off for the most part, but when faced against Zephyr he died. Your father was one of the ones that would die as well, along with Tsuru."

Marek's breath hitched. "Thus, leaving you alone, much like how his son would've been. Now you see why he didn't go."

Marek nodded, "I was three years old when I saw him last, in the cell before his execution. He knew that Ace would've been hunted down for his name, what would've happened in leaving me without my father's side of the family. I would've grown ruthless in either facing pirates, or becoming one myself due to my mother's family, joining Linlin's crew or being a subordinate crew under her."

Newgate frowned somberly. "He didn't want you to be affected by that one massive decision that he forgo to take. He wanted you to make your own decision, live your own life, like he does with Ace."

He reached down and hugged Marek with one arm as Marek sobbed softly into the giant's chest.

Wowzers, a doozy of a chapter here! Marek has a vision of the War of Marineford and gets promoted to commodore, the three admirals get promoted, and Zephyr retires! And if that wasn't enough, he meets six of the seven warlords, as well as fighting two of them! Apologies if the fight scene was lackluster, I haven't tried too many fighting scenes.

And if that wasn't enough, Marek meets his second Yonko! Granted, Shanks wasn't a Yonko yet, but in due time. It turns out that Marek shares Roger's ability to see into the future, but as stated before, it is always changing. If anyone is asking why I had Marek take down two warlords already, just think of it like this. Crocodile hasn't been a warlord for too long, only a year as of this part, and Jinbe is very strong as well, being able to hold up Akainu for a few precious seconds. But Marek's had training from four admirals, the Fleet Admiral himself, and Garp, and we all know how much of a slavedriver Garp is. That's to say Marek won't be one shotting everyone, he fought hard for this win. So in terms of power, I'd put him above rear admirals and the rookie crews at the beginning of One Piece. As stated above, he's still weaker than Mihawk, the three admirals and the Yonko and their crews. In case anyone is curious, due to his fight with Jinbe, a friendship has been formed there between the young commodore and the Knight of the Sea. This should be the last chapter before we start to get into canon One Piece, if not there'll be at least one more dedicated to building a better brotherly bond between Ace and Marek.

Like, review, favorite, do whatever it is you do! This story is my baby, for sure, and I'd love to make it better anyway I can! Don't leave hateful comments and as always, I hope you enjoy!