OK, this took longer than I anticipated, but when I brainstormed ideas for this story a couple of months ago, Blackbeard wasn't part of the consideration, so I had to give some serious thought as to how I wanted this battle to play out. But, the wait is over now.
Ace stared with disbelieving eyes at the situation; this had turned from the worst day of his life into the downright weirdest day of his life. First, those strange people in cloaks appeared, decimating the entire Marine army, carrying him and his brother back to the ships, and fighting the man who had dared to insult his father. Now, here he was on the ship, staring down at the cloaked figure that had carried him as he beckoned Jinbe over. He saw that he was about to take off his hood before a thud behind him made him turn around.
"Luffy!" he exclaimed, moving to kneel beside his brother, who had collapsed on the ground.
"I…I'm fine, Ace. I'm just glad you're safe," Luffy said weakly.
"Fine?! You're completely exhausted! What did you DO to yourself?"
"Iva used his tension hormones so I could keep fighting. I guess they've worn off now. I'll be fine after I get some meat," Luffy mumbled.
In spite of himself, Ace chuckled; that was his little brother. Always thinking more about meat than anything other than his family and friends.
"We'll probably feast on Sea Kings once this is over. But meanwhile…who the hell are those guys in the cloaks?" he asked, lifting Luffy up as he watched the battle.
Both brothers' jaws slowly fell to hit the deck as they saw the results of the fights unfold, everything going in their favor. Akainu was dying, Aokiji and Kizaru were held off, Sengoku and Garp were subdued, Gecko Moria was defeated, the other Warlords were not fighting, and everyone else among the Marines was down for the count. Then the deck shook as Whitebeard jumped onto the bow, and bellowed,
"MY SONS! WE RETURN TO THE NEW WORLD TOGETHER!"
Ace almost dropped Luffy to go and hug the old man, but he held back, settling for shouting with joy like the rest of the crew as they returned to the ships. As some of the cloaked figures also made it onto the deck, another yell pierced Marineford:
"MARINES! STAND DOWN!"
At Sengoku's command, the two cloaked figures fighting the admirals stopped attacking and took defensive positions. Seeing Sengoku as he was, the admirals reluctantly retreated over to him. The cloaked figures holding him down fled towards them, and Sengoku yelled again as he stood.
"GATHER THE INJURED AND GET THEM THE NECESSARY TREATMENT! THIS WAR IS OVER!"
Ace couldn't help but smile as he heard those words. Looking around, he was about to ask the cloaked figures just who they were, but as he spotted the colossal figure nearby, behind Marineford, he postponed those questions in favor of the more immediate:
"Wait a second. Is that…'Colossal Battleship' Sanjuan Wolf? He was imprisoned in Level 6 of Impel Down! How did he get here?"
"Take a look over there for your answer," said the cloaked figure who had carried him, his tone grim. Ace's eyes followed to where his finger pointed, noting that all of the others in cloaks were looking that way, too. Then he felt his blood boil as his eyes locked onto the one man that he could never forgive.
"ZEHAHAHAHAHA! IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, OLD MAN!"
Marshall D. "Blackbeard" Teach stood at the scaffolding of Marineford, looking around the battlefield with a wide grin. Alongside him were nine crewmates, among which he recognized Avalo Pizarro, Catarina Devon, Vasco Shot, and Shiliew of the Rain, other criminals that had been imprisoned in the lowest depths of Impel Down long ago.
"Teach," Ace snarled, already burning, but a strong hand from the figure that had grabbed him rested on his shoulder, while another two figures stood in front of him. Ace missed the exchange between Sengoku and Shiliew as he spoke quietly.
"Don't be a fool, Ace. You lost last time, and he's only gotten stronger since then. But no matter what happens, Teach isn't walking out of here alive. Even if the old man doesn't win, Teach is the only person that my captain hates as much as Akainu, and you see what happened to him."
Shaking off the fact that the voice seemed very familiar, not to mention the familiarity with which the figure spoke to him, Ace looked back at the corpse of the strongest admiral, a massive hole burned through his torso, and then at his captain. Whitebeard only stared at the man whom he had once called his son as he began to gloat.
"As pirates that were enemies of the Government, it would be impossible to open the Gates of Justice and enter Impel Down! And of course, that's the only reason I needed the title of Warlord! Now I don't need it anymore!"
"So, your only goal all along was to break into Impel Down!" Whitebeard snarled, pulling a hand back. Blackbeard had hardly any warning before the tremor-infused punch cracked the air and sent the shockwave surging towards the Blackbeard Pirates. The crew barely dodged, dropping down to the ground, but none were the worse for wear from the fall.
As expected of anyone who could sail the New World, Ace thought sourly, trying to look past the figures that were blocking him from going after Teach himself.
"You are the only scum I could never call my son, Teach! You broke the only ironclad rule of my ship by killing a crewmate! Nobody interfere! In the name of 4th Division Commander Thatch, I'll take your life personally!" Whitebeard roared, leaping back down from the whale ship.
"Zehahahaha! Just what I was hoping for! BLACK HOLE!"
A pool of darkness that Ace recognized spiraled out, seeping the battleground in darkness.
"Thatch died…and so did Ace, didn't he, old man? I really did respect and admire you, from the bottom of my heart, but you've gotten old! Even when I brought Ace here alive, you couldn't stop a single comrade from being executed!"
That was the breaking point for Ace; a column of fire erupted from the ship and him with it, the cloaked figures not moving in time to stop him as he shot forward like a meteor towards the wretched man.
"TEEEEEAAAAACH!" he screamed. Blackbeard looked up in horror as Ace scattered his flames all around him, no longer unaware of the bastard's powers…and weaknesses. Pouring all of the energy he had into his powers, a hundred flaming lances formed around him, hovering in midair as he landed just outside the darkness.
"Sorry, Pops, but I'm not going to stand by and listen to this crap. SAINT ELMO'S FIRESTORM!" Ace yelled, waving his hands forward and sending the onslaught of lances straight into Blackbeard. The now-former Warlord spat out blood as his concentration failed, the darkness dispersing around him as he was simultaneously burned and skewered all over his body. Ace collapsed from the sudden exertion, and one of the cloaked figures—the one who had killed Akainu, he realized—picked him up onto his shoulder.
"Nice shot, Ace," he said softly. Again, Ace noted the familiarity both of the voice and in the tone; he knew these people, but who were they?
"Old man. I don't know how much longer I can hold myself back in front of that bastard. If you're going to kill him, you had better do it fast, or else I'll handle it myself," the figure snarled as Blackbeard used his powers to siphon off the fire, though many injuries yet remained.
"Don't order me around…your highness," Whitebeard rumbled, confusing Ace. As the figure who held him retreated several paces, the Emperor wound back an arm, preparing to strike.
"N-not so fast, old man! BLACK VORTEX!" Blackbeard yelled, extending an arm out. Whitebeard was drawn in, and his elbow touched Teach's arm. The now panting traitor grinned at his 'captive.'
"Zehahahaha! How do you like that? You won't be causing earthquakes anymore!"
Ace was caught between the urge to smirk and facepalm at Blackbeard's sheer stupidity as Whitebeard nonchalantly swung his bisento with his other arm, cutting so severe a blow in the Logia that it severed his left arm and most of his left side.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS, DAMMIT!" Blackbeard wailed, falling back on the ground and clutching his body,
"You overestimate your ability, and you have weak defenses. You're weak, Teach," Whitebeard said calmly, leaning down and grasping the man's face with a force that betrayed the anger beneath.
Blackbeard looked in sheer horror at the monstrous man that he had tried to kill even as he felt force cluster around his face.
"S-S-STOP! OLD MAN, YOU WOULDN'T KILL YOUR OWN SON, WOULD YOU?!"
Then a scream pierced the air that made even Ace wince, squeezing his eyes shut. When he opened them again, Whitebeard was standing up, and the Blackbeard Pirates, new recruits and all, were looking with pure shock at the figure on the ground, which was now short a head as well as a left side.
"C-captain…" the mime-like Lafitte stammered, falling to his knees, mouth agape.
The champion wrestler Jesus Burgess was the first to break out of it, his fist clenching as he surged towards Whitebeard.
"YOU MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO OUR CAPTAIN!"
One of the cloaked figures appeared in front of Whitebeard, deflecting Burgess with a simple kick that sent him flying into Catarina and several meters back. The swordsman appeared next, and Ace was handed into the arms of another figure with enormous and very hard arms as the captain moved forwards, cracking his knuckles.
"Old man. Mind if we take the rest of the crew?" he asked, his voice as hard as steel.
"Knock yourselves out, I'm satisfied," Whitebeard muttered, turning and moving back towards Ace. He gave a small smile.
"Good work, son."
Ace smiled weakly as the figure that held him moved with Whitebeard back towards the whale ship, ignoring the screams of agony behind them. When they reached the deck, they found the other six figures supporting Luffy, who was looking at Ace with…yeah, literally with stars in his eyes. He never understood how Luffy did that.
"THAT WAS AWESOME, ACE!"
Ace chuckled, but the figure holding him dropped him rather abruptly, and he crashed onto the deck in a heap.
"But you shouldn't exhaust yourself like that in front of people who want to kill you," said the offending figure.
"Oh, shut up," Ace snarled, glaring up at him; it was sound advice, and he sounded like he meant it, but the amusement in his tone and the fact that a lot of people around him were stifling their laughter—with varying levels of success—made it clear that they were enjoying what had just happened a little too much. At that point, however, a series of explosions reached their ears, and they turned to see the three figures that had decimated Blackbeard's crew now making short work of…a small army of Bartholomew Kumas?
"Those poor Pacifistas," said a tall, thin figure with a tone as dry as bones, while the sumo wrestler-like Sentomaru leading the army simply gaped at the destruction.
"SENTOMARU, ORDER THEM TO STAND DOWN!" Sengoku shouted.
The three cloaked figures stopped for a few moments, clearly ready to attack more, but the numerous craters left by their assault already made Sentomaru sag.
"All units, stand down. They leave unharmed."
The few who had been charging up lasers stopped, and stilled. With that, the trio made their way back to the whale ship at blinding speeds, appearing next to Ace faster than he could say 'what the hell?'
"All right, let's set sail," said the captain. Finally, Ace recognized where he thought he had heard it from, and the sudden rush from the shock of that gave him enough energy to sit up and stare at him incredulously.
"You…that voice!" Ace began, but the round figure that had first brought him to the ship spoke up.
"Not now, Ace. Wait until we're out of the headquarters of the Marines before we talk; we're hiding our faces for a reason."
Ace grimaced but conceded the point. Whitebeard slowly moved to a seat that had been prepared for him on the ship's deck as the fleet moved out of Marineford, and all of the division commanders stood or sat by him, just glad that he had decided not to die. Boa Hancock followed behind them while Mihawk departed by a different route, and Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, and Kizaru all stared after them as they departed, none daring to interfere and satisfying themselves by rounding up the very, very unconscious Blackbeard Pirates.
As they sailed away, one of the figures moved up to Whitebeard, producing bandages and medicine and beginning to tend the Emperor's wounds. The old man made no motion to stop it, and the ease with which he felt his body recovering, even the bullet and sword wounds, stirred the long-forgotten surprise again. The figure wordlessly moved to each of the division commanders in turn as well as Luffy, and he was still in the midst of it when Marineford vanished over the horizon. At that moment, Whitebeard sat up, staring at the captain of the cloaked figures.
"All right, we're far enough away from Marineford. Now, show me your face, Pirate King," Whitebeard said. All of the people on the deck looked with incredulity as the cloaked captain removed his hood at last. Revealed beneath was a young man with black hair, a small scar under one eye, and a wide grin.
"Luffy?!" Ace demanded.
"Straw Hat?!" Whitebeard said, gaping ever so slightly.
"ME?!" Luffy cried out, his jaw hitting the deck and sagging on the ground. The older Luffy fell to the ground laughing.
"Oh, that's too good! You should see your faces!" he choked out.
"Old man, that look really doesn't suit you," the rounder figure said with amusement, removing his hood to reveal a mirror of the fishman Warlord who had resigned out of loyalty to Whitebeard. All of the other people removed their hoods as well, revealing a group of faces that Ace recognized. Luffy's swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, though he had a scar over his left eye. The navigator, Nami, with waist-length hair. The sniper, Usopp, who seemed to have matured some. The cook, Sanji, who now had his right eye covered by hair. The doctor, Chopper, who…well, besides the hat, he didn't look that different. Then there were three others. He recognized Nico Robin from the wanted poster, but his wonder about her was subdued when he saw that the other two were a massive man with a metal nose and a buzzcut and a skeleton with an afro.
"Jinbe?" Marco demanded. "And Ace's kid brother? WHAT THE HELL?"
"Y-you guys," younger Luffy said in shock, tearing up a little. "I thought you all got separated at Sabaody."
"We did, Luffy," Nami said gently. "We still are. We're not the crew you know today."
"We're from about three years in the future, when we've already realized all of our dreams," Usopp continued.
"The future? And how and why did you come here?" Ace demanded.
The older Luffy looked at him, and Ace suddenly felt very uncomfortable; the darkened, haunted look was horribly out of place on Luffy's face.
"An old man with a mystery power let us go back in time to save someone that we lost before. Ace, in my time, you fought Akainu and lost, horribly. You barely managed to hold him off, but then he went after me when my strength ran out again. You took the blow…and died in my arms," Luffy said quietly.
An uncomfortable silence fell on the ship for a minute or so, and Ace heard the words of the promise he made to Luffy as a child echo through his mind.
"I'll never die!"
He had failed that promise. And he saw the results of that failure as he looked at his brother's eyes.
"…I'm sorry, Luffy," Ace said, unable to say more. And it seemed to be more than the apparent Pirate King could handle, as he moved over and hugged Ace with strength that nearly choked him.
"Agh…Luffy…too tight," he managed. The captain loosened up a bit, and Ace returned the hug after a moment. It seemed like hours passed before the two brothers finally released each other, and Luffy stepped back.
"So…what happens now?" Ace asked.
Luffy smiled sadly. "The mystery power only lasts for an hour, and from what the old man said, this won't change anything in our time. I'm just glad I could see you again one more time, big brother," he said. His expression then became less melancholy as he realized something.
"But at least now the three of you can be together again!"
Luffy and Ace both blinked in confusion.
"Three of us? What do you mean?" younger Luffy asked.
"Sabo is alive," Nico Robin said with a smile.
"Robiiin! I wanted to say it," older Luffy whined as Ace and younger Luffy stared in disbelief.
"…He's…alive?"
"When those World Nobles fired on his ship, he was seriously injured, but he was picked up by a man that was visiting the island at the time: the revolutionary, Monkey D. Dragon. He's grown up to become the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army," Robin continued, and older Luffy pouted ferociously. Ace would have found the sight amusing if the news wasn't so groundbreaking.
"Then why the hell hasn't he showed himself to us?" he demanded.
"He lost his memories from the attack, and didn't get them back until he saw the newspaper with you dead!" Luffy said quickly, looking defiantly at Robin, who merely giggled along with a couple of others on the crew.
Amnesia? I guess that makes sense, after an accident like that. Still…
"Pops. Can you get in touch with Dragon?"
"Probably, Ace," Whitebeard said, smiling slightly.
"I hate to interrupt this, but we don't have a lot of time left, and we have more that we need to say," Sanji said, looking up at the old man.
"Things have seriously changed with what we've done. In our time, Blackbeard and his crew killed you and somehow stole your Tremor-Tremor Fruit. He usurped you as an Emperor and had his reign of terror over all of the islands that you used to protect. Make sure that you have something prepared for those islands for when you're gone."
"Fishman Island had to turn to Big Mom for protection, and if it wasn't for…certain events, she probably would have destroyed the whole island," Jinbe continued.
"'Certain events?'" past Jinbe asked.
"Sorry, I can't say more without going against my captain's orders; he doesn't want to go on any adventures where he knows what's going to happen. Knowing that I join the crew is probably too much already."
Past Jinbe sighed but nodded.
"Any other world-changing news you'd like us to know?" Whitebeard asked dryly.
"One more thing, yeah," older Luffy said, looking at his younger self with an expression of dead seriousness. He fumbled with the coat he wore and pulled it apart to show his chest. Many onboard gasped or stiffened as they saw the jagged X-shaped scar there.
"You're not strong enough to take on the New World yet, Luffy, and Kuma knew it; he works for Dad. Everyone on the crew was sent flying somewhere that they could train themselves to get stronger, as fast as they could. But it took Ace dying in my arms for me to realize just how not ready I was. You need to wait and train, or you won't last five minutes in the New World."
The younger Luffy's expression was unreadable. It was a full minute before he responded. "What do I need to do?"
"Send out a message to everyone to wait two years before they head back to Sabaody, and ask Rayleigh to train you in Haki. The journey still won't be easy, but it'll be possible once you've learned all of it. Oh, yeah, and when you get to the New World, make sure you help Trafalguy."
"That guy with the weird room power?" younger Luffy asked.
"In my time, he helped me get me away from Marineford. Don't let anyone else find this out, but he's a D, too."
Luffy tilted his head.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Zoro chuckled. "You'll just have to wait to find out, captain."
Younger Luffy nodded but frowned.
"How'd you lose your eye?"
Zoro chuckled again.
"Like your older self said, Kuma sent all of us to places where we could grow a lot stronger in a hurry. I got blown away to Mihawk's home island."
"WHAAAT? MIHAWK TRAINED YOU HIMSELF?" asked several of the people on the crew.
"AWESOME!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Yeah, but it wasn't so awesome for some of the rest of us," Sanji groused. Blinking in realization, he looked around. "Ivankov is somewhere around here, right?"
"He should be on one of the other boats. Why?" past Jinbe asked.
"Tell him or her or whatever that I don't look like that stupid wanted poster, all right?" the cook requested.
"...You trained with Ivankov?"
The chef grimaced and huffed. "If nothing else, I'll admit that their Attack Cuisine recipes were worth it."
A few of those on the deck gained looks of understanding. Then Whitebeard spoke up again.
"Straw Hat...Pirate King. How much of that hour do you have left?"
Future Luffy frowned and looked at his crew.
"I think we've got roughly twenty more minutes," Nami stated.
"That'll do. My sons!" he shouted abruptly, gaining everyone's attention. Then he smiled. "This is cause for celebration. Break out the good stuff, and let's have a party."
"ON IT, POPS!" the pirates cheered.
The Moby Dick had been destroyed, but with that being the only blight on the Whitebeard Pirates' victory, the celebration was as raucous as one could expect.
The Straw Hats' musician, shipwright, doctor, and sniper all attracted such attention amidst the Whitebeards that even the other commanders were cheering them on. The swordsman was grinning madly as he found that many of the commanders were actually capable of keeping up with drinking with him, and the navigator was right beside him. The two Jinbes seemed somewhat subdued as they spoke, but even they were unable to resist partaking of the crew's activities. The chef was making a spectacle of preparing dish after dish of delicious food, which the captain, his past self, and Ace were taking particular pleasure in scarfing down, attempting with varying degrees of success to steal off of each others' plates and calling it a Haki competition. The younger Luffy was looking more and more steamed as he proved unable to steal, and the grins that his brother and his older self were shooting at him served to erase whatever reservations he had left in his mind about training until he could do that.
All in all, both crews were enjoying themselves to the greatest degree possible, and Whitebeard was making no attempt to hold himself back with Chopper's medicine working for his favor. At length, however, he did turn his eyes towards the captain. "Pirate King," he rumbled. "I want you to answer one question that I still have."
"Huh? Sure, what is it, Pops?" the older Luffy said around a piece of meat on a bone as big as he was.
"Would you begrudge me for continuing to follow the dream I have?"
The atmosphere stilled, and the older Luffy looked at the old man curiously. Said old man turned his gaze to the fire-man before him.
"My intention was to see Ace standing as the next Pirate King. The proof stands before me now that you would be the one to claim the throne instead...but would you begrudge me if I still wanted Ace to reach the top?"
"P-Pops?" Ace gaped. "I-I was trying to make you the—"
"I've never been interested in the throne, Ace," Whitebeard said with a smile. "From the early days of my career, I've only wanted one thing."
He looked around at all of his commanders. "All I wanted was a family. And it's thanks to you, Pirate King, that they're still here before me. Which is why I ask...would you begrudge me for wanting to see one of my sons rise to be all that he could be?"
Even younger Luffy didn't speak as his older self remained silent, his expression shadowed. Then, after a few moments, he raised his head...revealing a large grin.
"Shishishi! Of course not, old man! Just as long as you won't mind me kicking Ace's ass to take it myself."
"HEY!" Ace snapped indignantly, slugging Luffy in the skull. The Pirate King crashed to the ground, and all facing him looked in surprise. Then Ace's surprise turned to smugness. "Please, Luffy, if you can't even dodge a punch from me as the Pirate King, what chance do you have of kicking my ass in a fight like that?"
The melancholy tone in Luffy's chuckle made the smile fall from Ace's face. The Pirate King stood to face him. "I could have dodged that if I wanted to. But I didn't. I sort of miss you hitting me like that."
Before Ace could feel any shame, however, the Pirate King threw a punch of his own, sending the fire-man flying against the railing of the ship, and sending the older Luffy into gales of laughter.
"But I always wanted to do that! SHISHISHISHISHI!"
"Why, you..." Ace growled, getting to his feet.
"See, Ace? I can beat you if I want to!" younger Luffy said cheerily. "We'll have a fight when we get to the end, and we'll see which one of us becomes the King."
Ace processed that for a few minutes before grinning, striding back over, and clasping hands with his brother. "It's a deal, Luffy."
"Gurararara," Whitebeard chuckled. "I'll be satisfied with that; the brother of my son is my son as well."
All who heard him smiled warmly. Then they shielded their eyes as, without warning, the ten pirates from the future began to shine.
"Hmph, looks like our time's up. Ace, take care of your brother; we won't be able to come back and save you if you screw up again," said the metal-nosed man. Ace nodded, determination clear in his eyes.
"I won't break my promise this time, Luffy," he swore to the Pirate King his brother grew up to become, who smiled in response. Then the older Luffy turned to Whitebeard.
"Old man. Live as long as you can. Take it from someone who knows: it's better not to leave your family behind before you have to."
Ace stiffened at the hurt in his tone, and reaffirmed it in his mind: from now on, no matter what happened, he'd never let someone goad him into a fight that he wasn't sure he would win if it meant risking breaking his promise to Luffy. Whitebeard, on the other hand, only nodded.
"I don't have a lot of time left anyway, Pirate King, but I'll use every second of it," he rumbled.
Luffy grinned, then turned to get one last look at his brother, who gave him a warm smile filled with resolve.
And in the next moment, the light winked out, and they were gone.
So, Luffy doesn't kill Blackbeard personally. I considered it, of course, but getting old man Whitebeard to stand down when he was so much stronger than in canon? Not likely. Luffy probably already had his revenge in his own time, and he respects the wishes of another captain to avenge his own.
So, what will the next leap be? Perhaps a leap home? *Pauses.* Sorry, I just had to make that joke at some point. Anyway, that marks the end of me taking off of Blueh's work; all writing from this point onwards is mine first and foremost.
Much gratitude to my beta reader, lunanime. And yes, I know who's next. But am I going to tell you? Come now, where's the fun in that? Besides, as we all know, Patience is a virtue.