Chapter 3: (-14Y2PR)
The Moby Dick
"ZEHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
It was early morning as a loud, powerful laugh broke across the deck of the Moby Dick, with few men out and about in the early morning fog. With no wind, the fog hung heavily in the morning air, adding a somber and desolate air to what was an otherwise a lively gathering spot for the Whitebeard Pirates. Whitebeard sat in his traditional seat completely indifferent to the early morning weather, gazing neutrally upon his 4th Division Commander Thatch as he presented his newest recruit.
"You…said your name was Teach?" questioned Whitebeard, his face unreadable.
"Yes, Whitebeard! I have sailed through the Grand Line in hopes of meeting a man like you, zehahaha!" exclaimed Blackbeard jovially, "I wandered the seas with little purpose but then I met Thatch, who has become a brother to me! It was only later that I found out that Thatch was one of your commanders."
Whitebeard's eyebrow shifted almost imperceptibly at that.
"-and I asked to join him! He explained what it means to be a Whitebeard Pirate. So here I am. Asking you to accept me as a son!" finished Whitebeard, as he got down to one knee before the massive man.
Whitebeard sat silently as Marco stood by his side, his eyes narrowed slightly as he stared a hole into Teach.
It felt like an eternity before Whitebeard made to stand from his seat, taking slow, heavy steps toward the kneeling Blackbeard, making the man lower his gaze, an ever-present grin still on his face.
"If I am to be your father…then you are to meet your brothers. For all of my sons are brothers. Welcome to my family….son," stated Whitebeard as he placed an arm on Teach's shoulder and lifted him upwards from his kneeling position. Teach's smile widened as he bellowed happily in victory.
Still standing back by his seat, Marco watched in confusion as Thatch congratulated his new brother.
That Night
Teach's joining of the Whitebeards had resulted in a massive party that brought together most of the nearby Division Commanders aboard the Moby Dick, raging throughout most of the day, as was tradition every time a man joined. It was very late into the night as the last few men turned in and the fires began to dim, when Marco decided to approach Whitebeard.
Whitebeard was sitting in his usual throne-like seat, fairly drunk from the festivities, and simply gazing out onto the water in the moonlight as though deep in thought, a satisfied smile on his face. As Marco approached, he turned his head to meet his son's gaze, having anticipated that this moment would come.
"Father," said Marco in greeting as he lazily strolled before him. Whitebeard nodded in greeting, before gesturing for Marco to follow him as he got up from his seat.
Marco silently trailed Whitebeard to the front of the Moby Dick, and joined his Captain and father side by side as they gazed out on the trail of light the moon left on the slowly rocking waves which even the Moby Dick, as large as it was, was unable to ignore and bobbed right along with its gentle motions.
The two simply stood for a while, silent, before Marco decided to break the silence once it was clear that nobody was around to listen in.
"Why did…I know you haven't forgotten Nico-chan's warning-yoi. I could see it in your eyes when you were judging Teach earlier. Why have you decided to accept him into our family," said Marco, as his voice slowly rose in volume and heat, still low, but clearly more agitated, "when Nico-chan has told us that he'll betray us in the future-yoi?" finished Marco, clearly exasperated.
Whitebeard's response was instant and confident. "Because a man's fate is their own, and nothing is set in stone. Because I cannot believe that a man can throw away their family without reason."
"Yet Nico-c-"
"Enough, Marco. I'm not going to condemn a man to death on the word of one girl," interrupted Whitebeard. Marco was visibly frustrated with his father as struggled with how to respond.
"Nico-chan isn't just any girl, father. She knows things. Things she has absolutely no business knowing-yoi. And from what Saul has told me, she's spent her entire life since he's met her giving him cryptic hints of the future. She even told him the exact date that Gol D. Roger would be captured and executed!" exclaimed Marco.
Whitebeard made to respond, but Marco wasn't finished, "-and what's more, I'm not saying you have to execute Teach. But why let him into our family? It would have been safer for us all to keep him at a distance. From what I can gather, Nico-chan doesn't drop hints unless it's something serious-yoi," stated Marco as he finally recomposed himself, exhaling loudly as he got out everything he wanted to say.
"I'm the old man, Marco. You're too young to be jumping at shadows on superstitions," replied Whitebeard levelly. "I accepted Blackbeard into our family because I don't believe in a man's fate being pre-destined. I refuse to shun a son of mine over something that has yet to happen. If he betrays us in the future, so be it. But until that moment happens, he is my son, innocent of any crime against us."
Marco was annoyed, but he understood that his father was finished on the matter and that he'd have to drop this for now. He resolved to have a conversation with Thatch, and perhaps a few of the other Division Commanders if needed. And who knew. Perhaps his father was right. Before he met Nico Robin, he'd have completely agreed with his father's sentiments on fate. But after the episode in the Florian Triangle? Now, now he wasn't quite so sure.
"Hang on old guy, we're almost there!" exclaimed Hachan as he swam at top speed towards the Sabaody Archipelago. It wasn't every day he met some random man in the middle of the ocean that had no idea how he got there.
"Thanks, Hachi-kun. You have my gratitude, as I had no idea where I was. I'm sure my wife will reward you with some treats for your help," said the Dark King Silvers Rayleigh with a small smile. He really did appreciate it. Sure there was no way he was going to die out at sea in Paradise of all places. He could catch fish or Sea Kings, if he was desperate for food. Salt water meant nothing to him. And the weather was a good workout as far as he can concerned. But being lost is never fun. It's funny how little sense for direction he had…but thankfully, his ability to play everything cool meant that in all of his lifetime, only two people ever realized how poor his sense of direction was. His Captain, and his wife.
As Hachi slowed down, Rayleigh stopped with his musing and tried to channel what little sense for directions he had. Stretched out before them lay the mangroves of Sabaody, and with Rayleigh's directions they made their way over to Shakky's Rip Off Bar over in Grove 13 after a few wrong turns, to Hachan's exasperation.
"Yosh, here we are!" exclaimed Hatchan as he helped Rayleigh climb out of the water and followed along himself. Following after Rayleigh, the two made their way into the empty bar where Shakky sat, smoking a cigarette and watching them with mild amusement.
"Look what the fishman dragged in, arara," said Shakky as she took a drag, mirth clear in her voice. After Rayleigh handled the introductions and explained how Hachan had helped him out, Shakky turned to the little octopus fishman and knelt down, patting him gently in the head fondly.
"Thanks, Hatchi-kun, for taking care of this lost old man for me. Feel free to visit whenever you like. Do you want some juice?"
"Yosh!" exclaimed Hatchi, arms up in the air in victory and a big smile on his face.
"Captain! Run! Run, and don't look back!" exclaimed a severely injured man, just as a massive mammoth's foot came crashing over him and a loud, sickly crack echoed out through the battlefield.
Before Gekko Moriah lay his crew and ship. Or rather, it's remnants after Kaido got through with them. Moriah sat on the floor, kneeling and clenching dirt between his hands, desperation and pain clear in his eyes as he witnessed the death of his beloved comrades and the allies he'd gathered in order to crush Kaido. The man was frozen to the ground out of shock and despair despite his subordinate's pleas. Perona's projected spirit sat by Moriah's side, wailing in anguish as the only friends she'd ever known had all perished. All she had left…was Moriah-sama. Kumashi, her pet bear, was dead. The crew was dead. To the 9-year old girl, this was the most painful moment in her entire life even as she tried and failed to get Moriah to get on the small boat where her body lay.
Jack, still in elephant form slowly marched forward towards the sands while behind him stood Kaido, frowning darkly at the broken remnant of a man that had thought to challenge him. All around them, fires were raging as the Beast Pirates began to desecrate the corpses of the fallen, laughing wildly at their cruelty. Moriah's flagship, the Dark Dangerous, was nothing but a burning skeleton behind him, courtesy of the Gifters.
"FLEE, COWARD!"
At Kaido's roar, life seemed to return to Moriah, if only for his pupils to dilate in fear. Looking up in to the dark and cruel face of the King of Beasts and his right hand man, Moriah shakily stood up and stumbled to the galley where Perona's body waited, as Perona's spirit continued to plead for him to hurry through her tears. Jack stopped marching towards the man at Kaido's command, staring at Moriah with clear bloodlust in his eyes.
As he woodenly got on the ship, the roaring laughter of the Beast Pirates could be heard. Perona, by now awake within her own body, quickly began to row away, still crying out her grief. The only thing Moriah could do was sit with head held between his hands as a few tears escaped his eyes, a broken man as the laughter grew dimmer and dimmer.
Magellan stood at attention, his face a mix of horror and disgust as the warden of Impel Down stared at him in disbelief.
"Shiki….severed both of his legs? They're still attached to the Sea Stone manacles?" asked the warden slowly, palpable disbelief in his voice as he stared at Magellan from behind his desk.
"Hai! Sir! Please, let me track him down! He must still be in the prison!" said Magellan as he gathered his composure and a determined look crossed his face. The warden seemed to contemplate this before nodding.
"Granted. Go, Magellan! I want you to hunt the Lion down!"
"JIHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed out Shiki as he took the air, easily avoiding the reach of Magellan's Hydra attack. All around him there was chaos. Shiki had tapped most of the Marine ships on the way out of Impel Down and as a result, they were flying about in a smokescreen for his departure. Two of them had collapsed Impel Down's outer wall. Several others had been forced below the water and were now sinking as they overfilled with water, with many Marines floating and screaming as the Sea Kings appeared and began to devour them. Another ship was simply floating upwards with no seeming end, and Magellan could hear the crew's screams from here. Magellan grit his teeth, staring a hole through the quickly shrinking visage of Shiki's back before he was interrupted with a loud "MAGELLAN!"
Jumping in shock, he quickly turned to salute his superior officer. "Sir! The prisoner has escaped, sir!"
Standing by his side at the entrance to Impel Down was the warden, leaning on his walking cane as a small, but grim smile came to the old, balding man's face. "You are granted permission to chase down and apprehend Shiki the Lion. Effective immediately, you are to go with Vice Admirals Bastille and Doberman who will be arriving here within half an hour from Marineford. Your objective is to track down and capture Shiki the Lion, alive or dead. You are given control of this operation."
Magellan raised an eyebrow in surprise, before his superior answered the unspoken question. "The Marines are stretched thin at the moment moving people around to try and cover Shiki's traditional bases of power with admirals and most of their vice-admirals. The new Fleet Admiral, Sengoku, has asked that we assist them in order to lessen their manpower constraints. And the Gorosei has made it clear that this is not optional. After the failure at Ohara, the Gorosei is eager to flex its muscles. Part of this means that you're going to be taking a Marine rank, at least provisionally, until this assignment is complete. Congratulations, Vice-Admiral Magellan," said the warden thinly. It was clear he was displeased about losing his heir apparent to the position of warden to the marines, but there was little choice in the matter.
"Hai!" said Magellan, shocked that he'd essentially jumped three ranks from the last time he'd worn a Marine uniform. A grim look crossed his face at the thought of his mission. Capturing Shiki the Lion would be no easy feat, even for three Vice-Admirals. Not when it took the Fleet Admiral and Garp the Fist himself to bring him in the first time, even if he had lost his legs.
"Sorry to interrupt you during your vacation Garp, but it's about the Gold Lion."
"I heard. We'd better be careful," said Garp into the Den-Den Mushi, sitting outside of the bar operated by Makino's frail mother.
"Still, I don't see why you're spreading us out to anticipate him. You know he's a pretty careful guy, after all," said Garp without a trace of humor in his voice for once. Sengoku nodded from his desk at Marineford, causing the Den-Den Mushi Garp was using to nod its afro-covered head along with him.
"It's true that he's cautious, but right now that man has no resources and two lost legs. If we can catch him early enough in this weakened state, I think that we'll be able to take him in far more easily than you and I did last time," reasoned Sengoku, to which Garp hesitantly nodded.
"Well, either way. I've got a grandson to visit before I go!" exclaimed Garp, breaking up the rather dampened mood.
"Damn it Garp! We need you right now to make sure this plan is a success! Are you listening to me Garp?! Garp?! GARP YOU BASTARD, PICK UP THE DEN-DEN-MUSHI!" yelled out a very exasperated Fleet Admiral into the Den Den Mushi on his end.
Makino, who'd just been playing with a ball outside overheard the angry shouting and stepped inside, starring at the Den-Den Mushi, then Garp's retreating back which was walking towards the mountain off in the distance, then back again to the Den-Den Mushi before giggling and deciding to help the person calling out.
"Hello, Mr. Sengoku? Garp is gone. He's going up a mountain," answered Makino kindly, causing the Den-Den Mushi to do a double take before sighing.
"…he left his dedicated Den-Den Mushi at a random bar in Foosha Village. Wonderful," said Garp's Den-Den Mushi with Sengoku's voice, a defeated look clear on its face.
"ACE-CHAN! IT'S ME, GRANDPA!" exclaimed Garp making silly faces at his grandson.
Baby Ace giggled happily in response, while Dadan jumped up, startled.
"GARP! At least you didn't break my wall this time!" exclaimed Dadan
"Oh don't worry, I'll be sure to get it on my way out," said Garp, picking his nose lazily in disinterest.
"GARP!"
A very large man wearing a bandana sat lazily in a bar in Alaburna, a half demolished ham sitting in front of him as he nursed his beer. The bar was fairly quiet, and the attitude of most of the patrons, this large man included, matched the atmosphere.
All of this changed once a red-headed man stepped inside loudly, shouting for the bartender to get everybody inside a round, on him to the cheers of everybody inside.
Several Hours Later
"So uh….whatcha say? You wanna come w-with us?" asked Shanks slurringly, swaying just a bit as he sat on the stool next to the large man with the bandana.
"Sure Banks, no prob. It's not like I was doing anything useful in Alabasta! No one's threatened the Royal Family in over a decade since I joined the Royal Guard! Igaram won't care, he'll be glad the food bill for the palace will drop by a third!" exclaimed the large man jovially.
Nodding happily, Shanks stood up, wobbling just a bit.
"OI! Everybody! We've got a new nakama! Everyone, please stand up and give a cheer for Betty Boo!"
"LUCKY ROO!"
"DUCK GOES MOO, EVERYBODY!"
Everyone broke out into a roaring laugh seeing the two go back and forth, and at their Captain's complete lack of alcohol tolerance. For someone so fond of drinking every day, he sure sucked at holding it.
"Your majesty! Don't you think you're spoiling Wapol-sama just a bit too much?" questioned Dalton cautiously, gauging how the King of Drum Island would take the comment. Contemplating it, he nodded in agreement.
"I think you're right. Wapol's getting rather ridiculous in what he expects of others. I'll talk to him."
"Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo! umikaze kimakase namimakase! Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu! Sora nya wa wo kaku, tori no uta! Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho! Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho!"
Laboon sang along wildly happy as Brook played the recording of his crew, singing and playing along himself with his violin. Robin stood to the side next to Crocus, quietly singing along with a small smile on her lips as Brook relished the moment with his large nakama.
Crocus and Saul were loudly and happily singing along, both fairly drunk, and both fairly off pitch but adding to the atmosphere of the whole thing as the Whitebeard Pirates that had sailed them so far back in Paradise happily joined in.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho! Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho!"
"Yatta!" exclaimed Franky loudly, the other members of Tom's Workers laughing along lightly while Iceburg scoffed, a small grin at the corner of his mouth.
"The first set of rails is finally laid out! Now all that's left is to finish Puffing Tom, tahahaha!" exclaimed Tom, a very pleased grin on his face.
The crew was sitting at a midway station out in the middle of the ocean, whooping and celebrating at their latest achievement. Kokoro was grinning wider than usual as she brought out food and alcohol for an impromptu celebration. Yokozuna sat nearby, happily partaking in the offered alcohol.
"Just about two more years to go until the first line is complete!" exclaimed Franky as he stood up excitedly, pumped and SUPER and ready to go.
"Tahahaha! Rest easy for now, Franky. Right now it's time to celebrate. Tomorrow, we'll continue with a DON!"
Whitebeard sat eyeing the retreating figure of Shiki warily as he flew off. He had to wonder at exactly what Shiki was getting at. The last few things he'd told him continued to echo through his head.
"I'm planning to go into hiding for a while, but don't worry. I'll be back sooner than you think and I'll show these upstarts what a true Age of Pirates is like. To do that I need an army. The next time we meet I hope that you'll see things my way, Whitebeard, and join me in bringing a true Age of Piracy to these amateurs!"
What is that lunatic planning?
AN:
So, a few things to cover that are somewhat plot-significant but don't spoil anything.
I'll have chapters dedicated to showing how the world has changed every once in a while. They're going to have a label (-XYZPR), which means (X years before Luffy sails out, Z years Post-Roger). So this chapter, (-14Y2PR) means (14 years before Luffy sails out, 2 years Post-Roger). Once we get to the point in time where Luffy originally sailed out, we'll go + instead of – to indicate the change
I'm going to treat Shiki as canon but I'm going to play hard and fast with the details we got from Strong World and Episode 0 since the movie was…eh. I didn't love it, didn't hate it. Some things didn't make much sense, but most of the backstory was fine. Shiki will be doing thangs, yo. But not Strong World-style thangs. Consider pre-TS Luffy singlehandedly defeating a man that took both Garp and Sengoku at their primes to beat officially redacted in this story.
My timeline was skewed by 2 years; Gol D. Roger died when Nico Robin was 6, not 8. For the purposes of this story, we're going to roll onwards with this assumption because, well, it's done, and it's a part of this story's legacy at this point. How does this affect the plot? Well, not much except that instead of treating Ace as being a newborn baby at birth, he was physically about a year and a half old at birth and everyone recognizes his 'age' to be about one year younger than he was in canon. All other events don't care; I imagine that in context, it's actually really important but because we have so few details about what went on immediately before and after Roger's death, canon isn't broken by any means
Please drop a review with any feedback, as it's always appreciated to read.