The atmosphere aboard the Going Merry grew tense as they sailed closer and closer to Alabastsa. Vivi spent hours staring over the waves, waiting for sight of land, and Igaram often stood beside her, cleaning the many guns stashed about his coat and hair curls. Robin remained below deck, avoiding the windows and reading whatever books she could find by torchlight. Everyone else acted as usual, but quieter, as if out of respect for the unease the others felt.

Izuku sat in his hammock, fiddling with the Sea Prism around his wrists. The image of Chopper, with a pistol pointed at his head, replayed itself over and over. No matter how much he told himself that everything had turned out alright, Izuku couldn't help but wonder every time he saw their new doctor grinding poultices and preparing bandages what would have happened if Blackbeard pulled the trigger, and if he could have stopped it with his Devil Fruit.

No matter how much he tried shutting out Blackbeard's voice, his taunts rang in his head. He could be a hero without this power, but how many would he fail to save holding himself back? Would it be any worse than letting himself go out of control again?

A knock came at the door. Mei asked, "Mind charging my Shock Dials? They ran out again."

Izuku swallowed nervously and went with her. His wrists felt lighter with the cuffs off, and he felt nearly giddy with the sudden energy coursing through him. Power surged into the Dial, and he could feel the electrons buzzing inside like angry wasps. He wanted to let it all out, to pushy power into the Dial until it burst, rage like a storm, and-

Izuku slapped the manacle back on his wrist. The electricity cut off, and the Dial shivered from all the charge squeezed into it.

Mei gave it a careful tap. "Well, if this explodes, I get to say it was your fault."

Izuku didn't have a response to that. Just as the silence stretched for a bit too long, Usopp's voice rang out from above-deck. "Land ho!"

Izuku and Mei raced to the deck. They couldn't see the island at first, but after a few minutes, a golden vista rose out of the waves. The heat of the summer island beat down on their backs, and the air felt unusually parched even over the water.

"We're a bit west of Nanohana," Igaram said. "I would normally suggest docking there-"

"Crocodile would know," Robin cut in. She lurked in the shadow of the Merry's sails, and her eyes watched for spies out of every nook of the caravel's hull.

"Which is why I suggest we dock near the river. There's plenty of coves to hide the Merry in, and it offers a route to the capital if we need it."

Robin and Vivi, too worried about being recognized and caught, had remained with the ship, and Nain stayed with them to keep guard. Igaram slipped away by himself to contact the local garrison and send a message to the king. The rest of the Straw Hats set off on foot towards Nanohana.

A quick hike across the dry, stony ground brought them in sight of Alabasta's port city. The trade had visibly wilted, even from a distance, as stalls lay empty and people hurried past sparse wares. Equally disturbing to the Straw Hats was the sheer number of Marines posted about the city. Two battleships languished in the harbor, with crews ready to sail off at a moment's notice.

As they slipped over an unguarded stretch of wall, Usopp nervously looked around and said, "The place is crawling with Marines. Do you think they'll recognize us?"

Nami said, "Usopp and I might be fine, but the rest of you will need disguises."

"I'll say."

Izuku flinched and whirled, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Zoro had a sword halfway out of its sheath, and Sanji spat his cigarette onto the cobblestones. Luffy, however, grinned and charged right at the stranger.

"Ace! You're here!"

"Keep it down, Luffy, they'll hear you from Goa!" He looked up while hugging Luffy. "So, this your crew?"

Sanji sighed at the trail of smoke wafting from his discarded cigarette and ground it out. "Maybe we should take this inside."

A quick sprint through an unwatched alleyway brought them to a pub. Though the seats around the bar were packed, the only sound coming from the establishment were the muffled thumps of wooden flagons tapping the bar and the clink of silverware as patrons picked at their meals. Luffy, oblivious to the dour atmosphere, rushed straight to the counter and drooled over the smell of stewed meat.

Taking their seat at a large booth, Ace and the Straw Hats exchanged quick introductions. Ace fell asleep halfway through and woke up with bits of beef and lentils on his face, while Luffy's hand got swatted out of the kitchen by an angry cook with a broom.

Once the waitress brought out a round of stale beer for them all, Ace woke and checked for any signs of eavesdroppers. He took a rolled-up poster from his pocket and laid it on the table.

"So, I have questions."

Luffy scrunched up his forehead. "That number says five-hundred million. That's my bounty."

Ace's fingertips singed a hole into the paper. "I see that. Could you try explaining this part?"

Ace pointed at the part where it said he sailed with Gold Roger. Luffy giggled and said, "Yeah, I died, except I didn't, then we did the thing with the mystery box and came back to life again."

Ace huffed and turned towards Izuku. Izuku gave the quick version of the story, and Ace's frown grew deeper through the telling.

"So, Roger. What was he like?"

Izuku faltered, wondering how to explain everything Roger was, but Luffy said it for him. "He's fun! Throws great parties like Shanks. Hey, did you know Shanks sailed with him too?"

A bit of smoke wafted from Ace's hat. He idly waved it away and shook off the soot. "No, I did not," he said, voice flat as the table. I'll have to ask him about it next time I see him.

Feeling the need to add to the conversation, Izuku said, "I would say that Gold Roger is kind."

Ace sputtered on his next sip of beer. "Kind? That bastard?"

Floundering, Izuku hurriedly said, "Well, we literally fell out of the sky, and he could've done whatever he wanted with us, or simply throw us overboard, but instead, he let us stay, fed us with the crew, and even helped us get stronger. He also gave me a Devil Fruit so we could get back here, even though-" Izuku swallowed, and made himself say, "Even though I tried to set the Marines on him at first."

Ace blinked at him. "Seriously?"

"Um, yeah? This one Marine, he said he was a hero, and-"

"Wait. Garp, the Hero?"

Luffy nodded. "Yep! That was Gramps alright. He got a weird haircut."

Ace mentally connected the dots. "So let me get this straight. You went back in time and met Gramps while you were sailing with Gold Roger." He glanced around the table, as if doubting his own sanity. Then he doubled over and laughed himself hoarse.

"Oh boy," Ace said, wheezing, "I wonder if he'll ever realize. Did you call him Gramps?"

"Yep! Gold Roger was laughing a lot like you were too."

That stopped Ace's good humor cold. An awkward mood settled over the table as everyone processed the sudden switch in Ace's humor. Luffy, oblivious to the frigid atmosphere, wrapped a rubbery arm around Ace's shoulder.

"Hey, your bounty poster says you're sailing with Whitebeard now. What happened to having your own crew?"

Ace grinned and turned around, flashing the Whitebeard jolly roger tattooed across his back. "Pops happened. It was a hell of a fight, but he gave me a place where I belonged and a father I could be proud of."

"Cool. Did he tell you about the time I punched him?"

Ace, halfway through another swig, did a spit-take. "You punched him?"

"Got him good on the chest, and he didn't even budge. Then he punched me. A lot. And I thought Gramps hit hard."

Izuku huffed. "I thought you were going to die. We're both lucky they picked an island full of doctors to have their fight."

Izuku belatedly realized that it probably wasn't an accident that both crews had met there.

Ace shook his head and chuckled. "Only you, Luffy. I'll have to ask Pops about you sometime, see if he still remembers."

While Ace got a distant expression on his face, Mei smiled wickedly and asked, "You're the older brother, right?"

Ace blinked, confused. "Yeah, why?"

"By how much?"

"Two years."

Mei snapped her fingers. "Darn. You're still older than Luffy." She grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "Why don't we hop back in time another year? Then you'll be the older brother!"

Ace turned pale. "Don't you dare! He barely listens to me as is. If I become the younger brother, he'll lord it over me forever!"

"Just like you lord it over him?" Nami asked, coyly.

Ace grumbled under his breath and slurped up his stew. After a moment, he said, "The smart thing for you to do is leave the moment you have a new heading," Ace said, "But I know you well enough not to tell you to do it."

Luffy chuckled, while Nami whacked him on the head.

"We have something to take care of first," Zoro said.

"And we're not leaving without our payday!" Nami added.

"Right. So, what are you doing here?"

Luffy banged his fist on the table. "We're going to beat up Crocodile!"

Ace groaned. "That explains why the Marines are all riled up. He knows you're coming, doesn't he?"

"Yep."

"And he's had plenty of time to call for help and set up a trap for you."

"Uh-huh."

"And you're still planning on charging in there and beating him up."

"That's right."

Ace grabbed Luffy's head and dug a flaming noogie into his skull. "Luffy, you idiot! How do you keep getting into messes like this?"

"But Crocodile's a jerk, and I'm going to punch him."

Ace sat back with an exasperated sigh. "I want to help you, but I'm not a lone captain anymore. I'm a part of the Whitebeard Pirates. If I'm seen helping you out, it'll drag Pops into the action, and the only way Pops will accept that is if you become one of his sons."

Luffy crossed his arms. "No."

"I thought not. Then there's also the fact that I'm after someone who killed one of my subordinates. I owe it to Thatch to catch the bastard. The trail's already getting cold, and I can't waste any more time here."

"Who's the guy?"

"Teach, though he also goes by Blackbeard."

"Big guy with the rings and all those missing teeth?"

Ace grabbed Luffy by his shirt collar. "You've seen him! When? Where?"

"Drum Kingdom, a few days ago," Zoro said. "He says he wants to be a Warlord, which is why he gave us info on Crocodile."

Ace's face darkened. "So he plans to hide behind the Marines after what he did." He stood up and said, "Thanks Luffy, and thanks Straw Hats. I'll head out right away and-"

Nami caught him by the arm. "Not so fast. Don't you think you owe us for that info?"

Ace raised an eyebrow. "I don't have any cash on me."

Nami balked at that. "Then why did you take us here to eat?" Then she shook her head. "Not the point. What I mean is, surely you could help us out a bit?"

"Didn't you just hear me? If I get caught, then-"

"Don't get caught," Sanji chimed in. "Simple."

"Oh. Simple. The entire country is crawling with Marines hunting for you, and you think not getting caught is simple. They're already monitoring every port, and if they keep getting ships, they'll set up a blockade. How exactly do you expect me to help without drawing attention?"

"You could get us disguises, to start."

Ace grumbled under his breath. "Fine. Just sit tight, and I'll be right back."

And so, the Straw Hats sat tight. They sat tight as the crowd thinned out with the end of the afternoon lunch rush. They satt tight as the waitress gave them pointed reminders that they still had a tab to settle.

They sat a little less tight when Vice Admiral Garp walked through the door.

"Easy, I'm not here on official business." Garp had three swords at his throat, a boot behind his knee, a trembling slingshot aimed in his general direction, and a fist above his kidney. "I'm here because my idiot grandson got himself into more hot water than I imagined possible, and I need to talk him out of it before he gets himself killed. Or worse."

"Hi grandpa."

"Grandpa!" Nami roared. "Garp the Hero is your grandpa?"

Usopp glanced nervously at both of them. "V-very funny, Luffy! I almost believed you for a second. That's a bigger lie than any I've ever told!"

"He's telling the truth," Izuku said. "Are we standing down?"

Luffy gave his crewmates a nod. Zoro didn't sheathe his swords, but he did back off and lean against a wall. Sanji went back to fawning over the waitress, watching Garp like a hawk all the while, and Izuku went back to finishing his fourth bowl of stew.

Garp took out a carefully folded bounty poster. "I don't know who started this ridiculous rumor that you sailed with Roger, but we can get to the bottom of it. We just need to get to the nearest Marine outpost, I'll show the birth certificate showing you were born after he died, and we can get this all straightened out."

Luffy picked at his ear. "But I did sail with him."

Garp slapped the table. "Luffy, please, for once in your life, listen to me! They're calling the Warlords in, all of them, and I don't know how many will come, but they already got Jinbei and Hawkeye, and once they get involved, I can't do anything to help you. I know you're excited about having a bounty this high, but you're only seventeen. You just set out a few months ago, you're not ready for this!"

"He's eighteen, now," Izuku said.

"What are you talking about, his birthday's-" Garp stared at him, as if seeing a ghost. "I remember you. Jaya, right?"

"About twenty years ago, yeah."

"You haven't aged a day."

"Well, for the three of us, it was only a few weeks ago."

Garp frowned, puzzled. Then he looked back at Luffy. He aged another twenty years in that moment of awful realization. "You were there."

"Yep! You had a funny haircut and kept saying I wasn't your grandson. Are you really that mad about the pirate stuff?"

The table creaked under Garp's grip. Izuku felt a familiar pressure building in the air, the kind Shanks had let loose on Jaya. Usopp and Nami fell onto the table, and Zoro and Sanji wavered on their feet. When Mei looked ready to tip over, Izuku leapt up and kicked at Garp's face. Garp grabbed his ankle and hurled him bodily across the room.

Luffy threw a Haki-coated punch. The pressure wavered, then broke, as Garp's gaze focused on the fingers smashed against his face.

"He taught you Haki. The Rokushiki too, that thieving bastard."

Luffy didn't answer him. Garp peeled the hand off his face and felt at the blood trickling down his nose.

"You're still not ready. You could take Crocodile, and maybe Jinbei, but three at once? More? You need to run."

"That's what I have friends for," Luffy said. "We'll beat them up together."

Garp sighed and took a swig from Zoro's mug. "No wonder why Roger was laughing so damn hard. Spent all those years trying to get you to join the Marines, and what do you do? You go back in time and join his crew. How did you do that, by the way?"

Izuku, hauling himself out of the wreckage of the table and not feeling particularly charitable, said, "Mystery box."

Garp glared at him, then sighed. "I'm probably better off not knowing."

Ace chose that moment to wander back in with a pile of white clothing in his arms. "Hey guys, took a while to scrounge all this up, but there should be something for everybody." He took in the awkward silence, poked his head around, and saw Garp. "Aw man, I missed it, didn't I? Please tell me someone took a picture."

"Ace, you brat, you knew and didn't tell me!"

"Don't look at me, Gramps. I just found out a few hours ago." He glanced around the exits and asked, "You didn't have anyone with you?"

Garp grimaced and said, "Sengoku will give me hell for slipping away, but I knew I'd find one of you when I overheard cooks buying out half the city's supplies. Neither of you should be in this country right now, and I was hoping you'd be able to talk Luffy out of it."

Ace shook his head. "Already tried. He's after Crocodile."

"Of course he is. Any reason why?"

"Because he's a jerk." Luffy bluntly repeated.

Knowing they'd need more context, Izuku added, "Crocodile's plotting to take over the country. Princess Vivi asked us to remove him."

Garp pinched the brow of his nose. "And this is why I keep telling Sengoku the Warlords are a terrible idea. Then again, he never disagrees with me." He thoughtfully scratched his chin. "Well, whatever he has cooked up, he won't be able to make it happen with a full Marine battalion hovering over his shoulder. If you leave the princess here, she can lodge complaints with me, and I'll make sure investigations are carried out."

Ace snorted. "And then what? Crocodile will give himself up and let you ship him to Impel Down? Not to mention, can you even guarantee that the Marines won't sweep everything under the rug?"

Garp's silence was answer enough.

"Please be careful, both of you. It's bad enough that Luffy sailed with Gold Roger, even if it wasn't to the end. If they find out you're his son, they'll bring in a Buster Call at least, if not the Admirals."

The temperature of the room skyrocketed, and the atmosphere turned oppressive and muggy in an instant. Izuku wasn't the only one staring at Garp in shock at that sudden slip.

Garp blandly looked at them, took a box of rice crackers out of his jacket, and crunched on one. "Forget I said that."

"Like hell we will!" Nami shouted. "Gold Roger's your dad!"

Ace's expression darkened. "I never asked to be."

Izuku, momentarily stunned, soon realized that nothing added up. "But wait. Garp, you mentioned a son, but that's not Roger, right?"

"What are you, crazy? Of course Roger's not my son! I'd have been kicked out of the Marines."

Ace wrapped an arm around Luffy's shoulders. "We're brothers, just not in blood."

The Straw Hats relaxed. Usopp laughed woozily and said, "Wow, for a second I thought we were all screwed. So who is your dad, anyways?"

"Dragon."

Izuku had no idea who that was, but he noticed all the Straw Hats turn pale again. "That one I don't know. Who is that?"

"He has the highest bounty in the world," Zoro said dryly. "Entire nations went after it and burned."

"And that didn't get you kicked out of the Marines, old man?" Sanji asked.

"Well, it's not like he's been throwing my last name around, and I haven't exactly told anyone about him, so…" Garp shrugged and ate another cracker.

Igaram walked in at that moment. He froze when he saw Garp, and looked puzzled between him and the pirates.

"Hey curls," Sanji greeted. "Don't mind him, he's just our idiot captain's grandpa."

"I see." When Garp made no move to leave, Igaram reluctantly took a seat and said, "I've passed on everything I could with people we can trust. King Nefertari will know not to attack the rebels, but we need to stop the rebels ourselves. Luckily, they moved from Yuba to Katorea, so we don't have far to travel."

Garp dusted crumbs off his jacket. "I can't stop more Marines from massing here, but I can draw them away from Katorea for a while. Try not to be seen, and don't use your Devil Fruits if you can help it."

Once Garp left, Igaram, along with Nami and Usopp, heaved sighs of relief. Ace stood and rolled his shoulders. "Welp, looks like you all have everything figured out." He took a piece of leathery paper out of his pocket, tore off a corner, and handed it to Luffy. "That's my Vivre Card. Keep that on you, and get one made so I can have a piece."

They took the Going Merry further up the canal. The caravel, meant for sailing along coastlines, struggled through shallow waters and winding sandbars. A couple times, they had to push their way through, but in the end, they sailed far enough to spot Katorea on the horizon. The rebel camp's white tents dotted the landscape, and the town bustled with the visible determination of its occupants.

The resistance camp stopped dead as Vivi Nefertari strode confidently in their midst. A few drew swords and charged, but Zoro and Sanji, disguised and only using two swords, made short work of them.

Koza stood before a table, examining a crude map of Alubarna and its surrounding terrain. He glared angrily as Vivi walked up to him.

"Think you can just call the Marines here and have them handle everything for you, Princess?"

"I didn't call the Marines. Crocodile did."

As confusion flashed across Koza's eyes, Igaram followed it up with a hefty pile of documents and pictures on his table. Disbelief, anger, and relief all crowded together on his face.

"It was him all along," Koza said bitterly as he sent runners to spread the news. "And we played right into his hands."

Vivi, looking a lot less confident than before, came around the table and patted him on the shoulder. "You couldn't have known. None of us did."

"The good news is," Igaram added, "We've taken out all his top Numbers. The Marines being here also means he can't forcibly take the country. The only thing we need to worry about is if Crocodile can convince the Marines that the Nefertaris are working with the Straw Hats, so we absolutely need to keep their presence here a secret."

Trumpets blared in the background. Robin froze instantly and cast her eyes about, while everyone else wondered what was happening. A rebel ran in and shouted, "The Marines are here! They're saying we're collaborating with the Straw Hats. It must be some kind of trick from that blasted King Cobra to grind us into the-"

The rebel looked around and saw the unmasked Straw Hats. His face grew pale, and he weakly said, "Oh."

Vivi rounded on the rebel and asked, "Who gave that order?"

The rebel flinched and reached for his weapon. "Wait, wha-"

"Was it Crocodile? A Warlord?"

After glancing at Koza, the rebel answered, "Uh, no, princess. It was a Vice Captain, I think."

"Good. Luffy, Izuku, get ready to battle Crocodile. Stay hidden, find the best fighters here and have them dress like you."

"What about me, Vivi-swan?" Sanji asked.

"I'll need you to protect me with Igaram and Zoro. The only way Crocodile would have proof we were here is if he had spies in the rebel camp. Everyone else, prepare for the worst case scenario. Get weapons ready, and have supplies loaded up."

Koza swore under his breath. Vivi turned towards him, exuding a sense of regal radiance despite the worn and plain clothing she wore. "Koza, I have a plan, but I need you to trust me."

After a moment's hesitation, Koza knelt. "I am at your service, my princess."

"Good. I need you to hold me hostage."

A/N: funny rewrite of the end because my brain kept bugging me about it

Igaram: the one thing we need to do now is make absolutely sure that the Marines don't find out that the Straw Hats are here.

Marines: we know the Straw Hats are here.

Igaram: fuck

Normally, when I go on vacation, I say I'll get writing done, and spend the whole week maybe doing a Deku Ex Machina drabble or two and otherwise goof off. This time, I actually got half a chapter done. True, not as much as I could have done, but it's my target writing pace for the week and I cleaned my whole apartment top to bottom in the meantime. Such is the power of chocolate.

What's even crazier is, not only did I get this chapter done in two weeks, but in the last two days, I got 75% of the next chapter done. Had to work this weekend, and on slow weekends, I can get a fair bit of writing done. With M&Ms at my disposal? I'm almost a full chapter ahead of schedule and it feels awesome. With a pinch of luck, I'll be a chapter ahead the next time I post.

If that does happen, I won't be speeding up my schedule. I'll still post every other weekend, but I'll make a backlog of chapters, or maybe funnel some extra wordcount into one-shots or short stories. Speaking of, Mad Hatter Hero exists. If you haven't seen it already, why not give it a shot.

Mizugami18: "awesome! i loved the whole fight scene alongside the banter between kureha/izuku and Teach/luffy. plus i can't wait for ace to appear and have the whole convo and reaction to izuku, mei, and luffy."

Bardothren: Banter in fight scenes is one of my tricks to managing the pacing of a fight scene. Otherwise, it's just – "Izuku hit Blackbeard. Blackbeard hit Izuku." For paragraphs on end. I hope the Ace convo lives up to your expectations.

I Don't Want a Unique Username: "The time frame makes sense, black beard could've tried to arrive just before Luffy did by doing evasive maneuvers to explain why ace didn't catch upwhy black beard just arrived."

Bardothren: The thing I forgot to mention in the last chapter is that, canonically, Blackbeard visited Drum, then Ace visited it before Luffy but after Blackbeard. All that happening within five days is a bit of a stretch in my book. But hey, canon is putty in my fingers, so the timeline got fudged a bit.

Naruto30: "Is Blackbeard a good guy here or what?"

Bardothren: Yeah, no, absolutely not. I was aiming for more the kind of attitude he showed on Jaya. This is their new first meeting, after all.

Apotheosis04: "Just binged the fic and I absolutely love this concept and story so far. Awesome writing and action scenes."

Bardothren: Thanks! If it's action you want, something tells me you'll be in luck soon…