Sensing that the battle was far from over the future members moved back into their battle stances, watching Blackbeard as he stood up, blood still falling from his wounds and mouth.
"That's one tough bastard." Zoro muttered from where he and the other past members were watching. The past members merely nodded in agreement, otherwise remaining silent.
"I see you're forcing my hand. I didn't want it to come to this." Teach said with almost a sigh of regret. This only set everyone on edge even more as they watched a grin slowly form on the mans face, raising his hands and letting spears of darkness begin shooting at the group, everyone dodging to the best of their abilities.
"What is this guy, a one trick pony? Didn't he do this already?" Franky asked, blasting away some of the spears with a beam while dodging others.
"Something's not right... maybe he's getting ready for a bigger attack?" Tony said curiously.
"By using an attack that wastes more of his power?" Sniper asked in confusion.
"Maybe its not a matter of needing power, but needing to distract us." Robin offered, watching the man with narrowed eyes, wondering what he was up to.
"Blackbeard will use whatever tactics he deems necessary to win, yoi. Don't put anything passed him." Marco said, glaring at the man who was now laughing.
"I can't say I know much about Blackbeard, but I do know that he's a much smarter man then he lets on." Law said.
"Smart or not he needs to be stopped before he uses whatever it is he's waiting to use." Sabo said, getting ready to use any attack he could think of, wanting to stop this man before things could get any worse then they were already.
"Gear Third!" Monkeys shout was heard as he bit into his thumb, blowing into it and allowing it to grow more than double the size it had been before.
"Gum Gum Elephant Gun!" Monkey shouted, the giant fist becoming the same shiny black Roronoa's swords had been. Seeing the giant fist heading his way Blackbeards lips thinned and he sent his own attack back. Right as Monkeys fist hit Blackbeard, Blackbeards darkness speared through Monkeys shoulder, the one that had been hurt in his fight with Akainu. When he had used his gatling attack he had stretched the wound, causing it to open, but he had ignored it then and he would ignore the new wound that was irritating him now.
"Monkey!" He heard his crew shouting behind him in shock when they saw the darkness spear through him, but he ignored it, stumbling back from the impact of the attack. Both he and Blackbeard were panting, both a good distance away from each other and both covered in their blood.
"I think its time we finally get this party started." Blackbeard growled out, a sinister grin forming as he once again spread his hands out and let the darkness begin flooding the sandy floor, almost like when he had used Black Hole. The darkness didn't creep underneath everyone's feet though, it pooled in front of them, in between the space that was between Blackbeard and the crew.
"What's he doing?" Ace growled, eyes narrowed.
The darkness began rising from the ground and everyone tensed, preparing for something to happen. They weren't exactly expecting the darkness to take the form of people, or for people made from darkness to be so easily identifiable, from the expressions on their faces to the tears in their clothing. Everyone watched in a mixture of shock and confusion as they saw the darkness take on the forms of three people they knew very well.
It was strange that even with the fact that these people were made of pitch black darkness they were still able to see small details, figure out exactly what things were, as if they were in color. They could see that that was blood covering two of the figures, see that their clothes were torn and caked in dirt and blood, could see that, despite the desert being made of sand, the floor beneath them was made of stone.
"Darkest Fear" Blackbeards voice hissed across the desert to the group that was watching with now wide eyes, realizing just what this was.
They could see the dripping magma falling from Akainus fist as he slowly made his way towards a downed Luffy, the straw hatted boys attention on a piece of paper that was floating away from him. Off to the side an easily identifiable Ace was watching with wide eyes, his lips moving in what looked to be a shout but no words came out.
"W-what is this?" Cat Burglar asked, growing pale as she began to slowly understand what might be happening here.
"I-It can't be..." Monkey mumbled from where he stood, watching the entire thing with wide eyes, shaking uncontrollably as he was met with his worst nightmare, his worst memory.
Even though whatever the figures were saying wasn't audible, it didn't need to be. The calm look on Akainus face as he slowly stalked towards Luffy, fist raising in preparation of the attack he was about to make, the panic on Aces face as he screamed, running as fast as he could to Luffy.
It was almost in slow motion really, the way Akainus fist slowly fell from the sky and towards Luffy, the straw hatted boy completely oblivious still as he reached for the paper. Ace ran in front of Luffy, and there was a blast that everyone was sure would be like opening an oven if darkness could make heat.
And then Luffy was turning, and he was looking at a fist that was meant for him. His eyes slowly trailed upwards in shock as he took in the scene before him, the scene that depicted in harsh reds and oranges that his brother had shielded him from an attack that surely would have killed him and now would surely kill his brother.
Everyone could only watch in shock, paling as they saw what had happened at Marineford happen all over again right in front of them. Monkey was on his knees now, tears falling fast as he saw the moment play out once more, the one that haunted his dreams, the one that he would never be able to get out of his head for as long as he lived.
And then the fist was extracted from Aces body, and the mera mera no mi user was falling into Luffys arms, the poor boy too shell shocked to truly understand what was happening. There was talking, that much was obvious by the way Luffys lips were moving, and there were other dark forms coming into view now, and Akainu was trying to attack again, but Marco was there, and Jinbe, and Ace and Luffy were with a doctor and a large person, one Black Leg could identify as Ivankov, and they could see Luffy pleading with them.
And then the doctor admitted he could do nothing, and Ace was speaking, and Luffy had tears in his eyes as he held his brother close to him, taking in everything the man was saying to him. All too soon though Aces lips stopped moving, and a smile slowly stretched onto his features, the previous look of pain and sadness and tears gone completely as he smiled and closed his eyes for the last time.
They could see Luffys face slowly morphing as he tried to understand what was happening, Aces body slowly slipping to the ground in front of him as he realized, understood, his brother was dead.
The boy looked to the sky and the group didn't need audio to hear the heart wrenching cry that tore through the young Captains throat.
Many had tears in their eyes as they watched the heartbreaking scene, Cat Burglar openly sobbing along with Tony, Sniper shedding tears himself as well as Franky and Brook. Black Leg was doing his best but even he had tears in his eyes, Roronoa as well, and Robin was looking to the sandy floor, her hair hiding her eyes, but the wet droplets that hit the dry sand gave way to the fact that even she was shedding tears.
Marco had seen all of this before, first hand even, but tears still came, because only a heartless bastard wouldn't cry at seeing someone you considered a brother die all over again in front of you while you couldn't do anything.
Law had been there as well, but only near the end. He hadn't seen the death of Portgas D. Ace, but seeing it now he was grateful he hadn't. It reminded him too much of Cora-san that he was sure, had he been there, he wouldn't have been emotionally stable enough to help Straw Hat get the medical attention he needed.
Sabo hadn't been there during the war, hadn't even known about his brothers, but seeing it now broke his heart as he watched a death he could have prevented, had he gotten his memories sooner, play out in front of him. He didn't try stopping the tears, watching as his youngest brother broke down.
The past members couldn't believe their eyes as they watched the entire thing with held breaths. They were all pale and their jaws were dropped at what they assumed to be an accurate representation of how Ace would die in the future. From how distraught Monkey looked they knew it was true.
Monkey didn't want to see anymore. He already suffered enough with the memories, he didn't need a reenactment to show him what already haunted him daily. The tears were blearing his vision and he was sure that if he tried walking in a straight line he wouldn't be able to with how fuzzy everything was. He was just about to start rubbing away the water filling his eyes, his arms halfway to his face, when he felt a sharp sting in his leg.
Giving a choked sound of shock and pain Monkey slowly looked down, finding another spear of darkness going right through the leg. Within seconds there was another sting, his side, and he was falling back, gasping in both pain and shock.
This was enough to shock everyone out of their stupor, all flying into action once again.
"Monkey!" Monkeys crew shouted in fear, all rushing over to him as Blackbeard laughed maliciously from where he'd moved, right in front of Monkey, without anyone noticing.
"Did you like the show everyone?!" He asked, shooting another spear, this time through the same arm he'd hit before, the same one Akainu had attacked. The future members were running towards the two, Tony trying to aide Monkey.
"Mouton Shot!" Black Leg shouted as he attacked Blackbeard, only to be pulled down suddenly, as if gravity had suddenly sucked him down. He gave a noise of surprise as he fell to the ground, noticing the darkness underneath him.
"Daibutsu Giri!" Roronoa called, actually landing his attack, only to be brought down like Black Leg had.
And so it went, everyone beginning to fight once more, Tony moving Monkey further away so he could start treating him as best he could. Within minutes though everyone was on the ground, the gravity defying darkness holding them down, and before Tony could actually start to dress Monkeys wounds he was being pushed down as well, leaving only Monkey and the past members, except Ace, as those who weren't being pulled to the ground.
"Now that everyone else is out of the way, why don't we continue this Straw HAt?" Blackbeard asked.
"That's dirty, he's already hurt!" Franky growled angrily but was promptly ignored by Blackbeard who continued advancing towards Monkey. The past members were beginning to think they would need to jump in, though they didn't have much hope that they could do much if this man had taken down their future selves, but that wasn't necessary as Monkey began struggling to stand up.
"M-Monkey, you're hurt!" Vivi said, worry and fear in her voice as they all watched the wounded Captain stand, his breathing heavy and blood falling.
"Gear Fourth." He bit his arm and everyone watched in amazement as Monkeys entire body inflated, the swirls of haki forming over his skin which was becoming tinged with pink, steam rising off his body.
"Oh? So this is it, huh?" Blackbeard asked, ready to fight.
"Luffy," Zoro said softly, watching Monkey with wide eyes.
"Hm?" Luffy asked, also watching, though excitement was bubbling in his chest at the prospect of one day becoming that strong.
"Our future selves are monsters." Zoro said simply, glancing over to his own future self who had definitely shown off some more advanced techniques then what he currently knew.
"Good." Luffy said with his signature laugh after. Zoro cracked a grin at this, looking back to Monkey, interested in how everything would play out.
Everyone watched as Luffy bounced in place, unable to stay still, but he wasn't there long because Blackbeard was quick in sending tendrils of blackness right to the straw hatted boy. They watched as Monkey zipped through the sky, the darkness following his every move and turn until he was too far for even Blackbeard to follow. With a frown Teach looked into the sky, wondering where Monkey went, before his eyes widened, seeing the giant man suddenly plummeting his way.
"Gum Gum Kong Gun!" Monkey shouted, his arm expanding inward on itself in preparation of the punch. Blackbeard tried blocking the attack, but as Monkeys massive fist came flying down it broke through any defense the man could have put up, hitting Teach right in the face and sending him into the ground.
After the devastating punch the darkness holding everyone down was lifted and they began standing again, everyone wondering if this was finally the end.
And then Blackbeard twitched, his arm moving as he used it to support himself.
"HE'S A MONSTER!" Chopper screamed in fear.
"WHY WONT HE JUST STAY DOWN?!" Usopp added, equally terrified.
"That's one resilient bastard!" Sanji said with wide eyes, surprised by just how much the man could take.
"You damn-" Anything Teach was going to say was cut off when he suddenly closed his eyes, falling back and beginning to disappear, much like Akainu had.
Everyone watched as the pirates body slowly faded away, becoming more and more transparent until he was gone, like he had never been there in the first place.
And they all sighed in relief.
Oh man everyone, only one more chapter to go after this! Now, I know a lot of you have some questions about the Blackbeard fight, so I'll just address them here for anyone who was curious:
Q. Why didn't Blackbeard use Whitebeards ability?
A. He didn't use the power because, in this story at least as well as in my mind, I imagined that Blackbeard is pretty smart. He had to be to plan whatever it is he's planning throughout the anime, so as a result I thought that, in the moment, he wouldn't want to badly injure the Straw Hats. To him they were his only means of getting home. Sure, he didn't need all of them, but he needed at least one person that would be able to answer his questions and help him get home, therefore, he wouldn't want to use the Gura Gura no mi's abilities because they would do too much harm to someone, especially if he didn't have good control over his powers. And also, because of the destructive powers of the fruit, he had a chance of harming the past Straw Hats (See next question) as well as destroying Alabasta, which would, in turn, change the past, something he didnt want.
Q. Why didn't Blackbeard try to fight the past Straw Hats?
A. Like previously mentioned, I believe Blackbeard is a pretty smart guy, even though I hate the guy, and he's smart enough to figure out that hurting the Straw Hats in the past could end up changing his present in ways that would do more harm to him then good, so as to not change anything he only used attacks that wouldn't harm them.
Q. Why were Robins powers so ineffective on Blackbeard?
A. The anime mentioned that Blackbeards powers nullify other peoples devil fruits, so in my mind I took that as anyone who touches him, their power would stop working. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but this is just a work of fiction. I see Robins powers as an extension of herself onto the person that she's attacking, because if you harm her disembodied limbs it hurts her as well, so the second she tries using her powers on Blackbeard I feel his power would nullify hers, therefore making it useless.
Q. Having the enemies disappear like that is a bit of a cop out, don't you think?
A.This won't be mentioned in the story so I'll mention it here. Even though those who were sent back in time from their guilt can die the islands powers prevent anyone else that was sent back, i.e. enemies or allies, from getting injured to the point that they die. Instead, the person gets sent back before they have a chance to get to the point of death.
Q. Why didn't Ace fight?
A. Believe me, as much as I know that Ace wouldn't have taken no for an answer and would have fought Blackbeard too he wasn't going to fight Monkeys crew, future and past, just to do it. Even Luffy was stopping him, and he would never hurt his little brother so he opted to fight from a distance by protecting the past crew. Even though there's a very real chance he would have still found a way to fight I think Ace would have realized just how out of his league future Blackbeard was, and thus, wouldn't fight him.
If there are anymore questions I'll try my best to answer them whenever I can! My next semester is starting up again so I might not be able to get back to you all right away, but I'll try my best! Also, next chapter, I'll address some more reviews I've gotten about scenes people have wanted to see, and scenes I wanted to write more about as well, so stay tuned for that!
For now though, I guess I'll see you all next week for the grand finale of Future, Meet the Past!