– Marco –
He had to say, having Doflamingo be taken out of the picture was immensely helpful. Haruta hadn't managed to kill him nor pay him back adequately for what he did to Namur. But with him running off to lick his wounds, that had relieved the pressure immensely.
Or it did until Garp decided to wake up. Or stop pretending to be down. Either way, whatever advantage they'd briefly enjoyed, it was instantly negated once the living legend joined the fighting.
Pops, who had been giving Akainu a proper asskicking suddenly had to fight for his life when Garp, fresh and motivated, started laying into him, leaving Marco to deal with the Red Dog of the Marines. And it was taking everything Marco had to just stall the Admiral and keep him away from his brother.
It wasn't that Marco was weak, far from it. Marco was very confident in his own strength but even at his best, Marco wasn't quite on the same tier as the greatest force in the marine corps. Marco was close, like really close, but that little bit made all the difference. And after his lengthy duel with Doflamingo, his earlier scuffle with Kizaru and his fight against Onigumo, Marco was most definitely not at his best.
His saving grace came from the fact that Akainu was even worse off than he was, though that was to be expected after going a few rounds with Whitebeard. The man was bleeding from all seven holes in his head and his eyes were intermittently going in and out of focus. And even then, the man was a monster, who was charging after Ace while spewing magma everywhere.
Not that Ace was doing so hot himself either. The second division commander was doing an admirable job checkmating Admiral Aokiji with Jozu's help. Unfortunately, for all his youthful exuberance and newly rediscovered desire for life and freedom, Ace had spent the last few weeks in a very inhospitable prison environment, which couldn't have been conducive for his health. And that was even without accounting for the accumulated damage from his battle with Teach.
Marco shuddered to think of what the situation would have looked like if Kizaru were here as well. Thinly stretched as they were, the Whitebeards likely would have crumbled, their orderly retreat turning into a rout. Thankfully, the Admiral had been rushed away for emergency treatment after the marines finally managed to fish him out of the sea. He'd likely recover, but not soon enough to matter. The sea was not kind to devil fruit users.
Though, without him here, Izou was doing a fine job coordinating the retreat and from what he could see, most of their friends had reached the ships already. Now all that was left was for the rearguard to disengage and join them.
The problem was that Akainu, as well as the rest of the marine corps, had no intention of letting them do so. The issue was less that Marco was stuck in combat. If he really wanted to, Marco could just fly away and there was nothing Akainu could do about it. But if he did, the Admiral was just going to turn on the others who were still nearby. People like Jozu who had no easy way of getting away. Originally, the plan had been for Pops to cause enough of a distraction for them to sprint away at full speed, but that plan was shot the moment Garp got involved. Furthermore, it looked like Sengoku had almost finished getting a temporary prosthetic leg attached, so things were about to get worse.
Honestly, if it weren't for the music coming from the backlines, Marco was certain he wouldn't even have had the breathing room to think about any of this. As it is, Marco is just fast and strong enough to successfully land a kick to Akainu's chest, sending him crashing into Vice Admiral Momonga.
"Doma! Get out of here, yoi!"
The Bohemian Knight raises his sword in salute before skedaddling out of here, the last of their allied captains to withdraw from the field, leaving only the commanders and a chosen few to hold the line. And Ace's brother who just refused to leave. While Marco can understand the sentiment, he dearly wishes the rookie would just go with others and not force them to protect him. Let's be real, the kid was in waaaaay over his head.
Though for some odd reason, Marco couldn't bring himself to…dislike the kid. And it seemed his brothers felt the same. Odd, really. Even Ace took longer for them to warm up to and he was charismatic like nobody's business.
"Listen carefully Whitebeard Pirates! I'm going to give you an order as the captain one last time." Pops? "All of you and I will split up here! Everyone, survive at any cost and go back to the New World safely!"
A mighty swing forces Garp to fall back or be cut in two, but rather than rushing back in the old marine stands still to let Whitebeard speak and for that, Marco is grateful.
"Pops, are you planning to die here?"
This shouldn't have been a surprise and to some extent it wasn't. Marco had known pops the longest and he'd guessed that this was a possibility, one which became ever more likely the longer the battle raged on. It just had been one that he hadn't wanted to accept.
"I am a relic of the old times!" Everyone watches in horror as Whitebeard proclaims his intent, simultaneously winding back his arm, muscles bulging with unreleased power. "There is no ship that can carry me in the new era!"
"Stop him!" "Ice Pheasant!"
"Go, you guys! Live, as proud sons of Whitebeard!"
Ice shatters, the earth shakes, the very air is rent asunder…as the strongest man alive simply. Lets. Loose.
– Bellamy –
Pirates are streaming to the ships, marines nagging at their heels though for the most part a valiant rearguard is doing a splendid job of covering their comrades' backs. And judging by the tearful looks every last one of them is sporting, it looks like things are about to wrap up over there. Whitebeard likely did his "final speech" which means that Ace's big moment isn't that far away.
Though with how differently this war has played out, I'm not sure if events will occur exactly as they did in canon. But even if the circumstances change, the actors do not. And if there is one thing that is a universal constant in this crazy world, it is Ace's recklessness.
Breaking out of the back of the main group, open ground appears before me, blocked only by a small horde of screaming marines. Though, no shichibukai, Admirals or even vice admirals nearby as far as I can see. Those guys are busy butting heads with the commanders and Whitebeard's many allies. Whitey Bay really stands out with how she's dancing circles around Vice Admiral Dalmatian, her blade occasionally darting out to flick her opponent's increasingly red nose. Damn, the lady has moves for a woman pushing fifty.
"Die, pirate!"
Almost on instinct, my arm whips out to smack a marine commodore across the face and sending his sword hurtling away. Apparently, the man is a fragile specimen, his legs turning to jelly once his brain registers my little love tap to his jaw and limply collapsing like a sack of rotten potatoes.
"Die, pirate!"
Though, he does make a convenient flail to use against a trio of overly zealous marine captains, the standard issue boots of the marine corps easily smashing through various bony facial structures.
"Die, pirate!"
Bowling. It had been one of my many hobbies during my past life. I hadn't been very good at it, but I had enjoyed it immensely, often spending hours at the bowling lane whenever I had free day. There just was something cathartic about watching a bunch of pins be sent scattering every which way by an unstoppable rolling disaster released by your hands. This wasn't quite the same quality of equipment I was used to but it would do in a pinch. The marines went flying pretty much the same manner the pins did anyway when the commodore crashed into them and I'd say that qualifies as a solid strike.
"Die, pirate!"
Turning my waist into a tightly wound spiral spring, I rapidly unwind, my elongated arms whipping around at several thousand rotations per minute. Pretty much like Luffy's gomu gomu no kazaguruma (that is windmill for those unfamiliar with the local language), but just better in every way. For one, I didn't need to bury my feet into the ground for stability and two, I had no wind-up time at all. The latter proved especially deadly as the marines received no warning before what was essentially a metal chain slammed into their waistlines with the force of a small truck.
"Die, pirate!"
I barely slow down to knee a random rear admiral in the gut and sending him to Lalaland. I could use geppou to just go over their heads but sadly that would make me a very big and shiny target, not to mention that I'm not being hindered all that much right now. Well, either that or soru, but soru is tiring and I'm saving that for a rainy day.
"Die, pir…"
"Seriously, would it kill you guys to be a little original? Do you know how creepy it is if you all sound exactly the same, right down to the pitch and intonation? You would have to have specialized classes or something because there is no way this is natural."
"Those are on Tuesdays every other week, not that it's any business of yours, pirate!"
In my surprise, I trip over my own two feet, just barely catching myself on time to avoid faceplanting on the ice. "Wait, seriously? That was supposed to be sarcasm."
"It's called developing your voice for command, pirate! Not that you would ever understand!" a commodore snarls at me, before flinging himself in my direction, right into my extended fist.
"Well, guess you learn something new every day. Now, where is Ace…?"
As it turned out, fairly close by.
"As soon as you rescue 'Fire Fist' Ace, you run. The Whitebeards must be a bunch of cowards." Akainu's voice easily silences everything else on the battlefield. Such was the weight of the words spoken.
"He's trying to stir you up, obviously!" eleventh division commander Kingdew calls out, trying to calm crewmates. "If you stop you're playing right into his hands!"
"Well, your captain is that guy, so you can't help it, can you?" the Admiral continues, adjusting his cap as calm as you please, his body language screaming contempt. "Because, after all, Whitebeard is just…"
"What?"
But regardless of the outrage of pirates within earshot or perhaps because of it, Akainu's smirk is the textbook example of a mocking smile. "…a loser from the old times."
And lo and behold, the words have their desired effect, freezing a certain hothead in his tracks.
"A loser?" Fists ignite in flames as Ace turns around to shoot the Admiral a furious glare. If looks could kill, Akainu would have turned to ashes in an instance. "Take back what you just said!"
"Hey, Ace! Don't stop!" "Just let him say whatever he wants!"
And no amount of pleading from his comrades and friends, men who had risked everything to save him was going to stop the son of Whitebeard from shrugging off the hands trying to hold him back from defending his father's honor. "He mocked Pops!"
"Ace!"
"Did you say, 'take it back'?" Akainu asks, slightly tilting his head to the side. Then he smirks again, an unnatural sight if there ever was one. "Not in a million years, and I'll tell you why. Your father Gold Roger conquered the Grand Line and opened the door to the new era called the Great Pirate Era by sacrificing himself."
The moment the pirate king's name was mentioned, a small murmur goes through the crowd, while two fists clench in a subconscious movement.
"As a marine Admiral it's not my place to say so, but he was true to his name: the King of the Pirates." Akainu turning away adds further ridicule to the already abundant derision dripping from his voice. "In contrast, what has Whitebeard done? I wonder if he really had the intention to fight."
Kind of odd he would say that, considering the legend-worthy fistfight happening behind him, but nobody said that taunts had to be true in order to be effective.
"I assume he established a large family someplace and was satisfied with being a big fish in a little barrel. There are some fools in the world who'd say his name is keeping the peace on various islands, but if you ask me, he's only keeping the lightweights in fear of him and he thinks he's a hero. What a joke!"
Flames flicker as Ace visibly struggles to get his emotions under control, the fiery flashes echoing his inner turmoil and rage. Akainu pours oil on the proverbial fire.
"When Roger was alive, Whitebeard was second place. And after Roger's death, he couldn't even become a king. That means he'll never be better than Roger and will be a loser forever. That's who Whitebeard is and that's the truth."
Not long now, but fuck if I'm not too far away. Doflamingo cost me too much time and too much energy, that's my excuse. But why the fuck are the other commanders just watching? Don't you know Ace?
"He's a poor man if you think about it. He gathered up some punks who call him Pops and roamed around the seas with his fake family." And with those words, Akainu extracts his first proper reaction out of his quarry.
"Stop it!"
But undaunted by Ace's fury, the Admiral continues on. "And though he ruled the sea for years, he could become a king and gained nothing. Don't you think that his life is so empty?"
"Stop it!" And the dam breaks, Ace taking the first step towards his foe.
"Don't do it Ace, come back!" It's useless. Their voices cannot not reach the ears of someone who has been consumed by righteous rage. For to Ace, his father was the single greatest pillar of his identity, and to allow someone to besmirch his honor was to deny everything that he was.
"Pops gave us a place to live!" A second step. A third. I'm two hundred meters away.
"People don't deserve to live if they do not live justly! Punks like you guys don't deserve a place to live!" A hundred and fifty.
"Stop it!" A hundred. Ace starts breaking into a run.
"Whitebeard will die a loser. A fitting end for a big fish in a little barrel!" Fifty. I'm not going to make it in time, shit!
"Whitebeard is a great pirate who shaped this era! Don't make fun of the man who saved me! The name of this era should be White…"
"Stop being stupid!" And...Luffy just punched Ace in the face. Well that happened.
"Right, out of the way, sorry, coming through!"
"Get back here, Hyena! Release those two and I will grant you a quick death!"
"Sorry, not sorry. But you're going to have to come up with a better offer than that!"
"You will not pass, yoi!"
"Get these cuffs off me!"
"If you weren't such a hothead, Luffy wouldn't have cuffed you in the first place! Now, stop struggling so much before I drop you two!"
"You will not get away with this, pirate!"
"Go, Bellamy! Giddy-up!"
"Luffy, stop grabbing my hair!"
How did things end up like this? With the commanders desperately holding back a berserk Akainu while I'm utilizing every trick up my sleeves to get the hell out of dodge with two uncooperative bags of meat and water slung over my shoulders?
Right, because Luffy punched some calm into his brother. Which probably only worked because the cognitive dissonance caused by his baby brother calling him stupid forcefully rebooted Ace's systems, buying me the time I needed to I arrive on the scene with my sea stone cuffs and a pair of gloves. Both of which were taken off me in short order by Luffy and the former slapped onto the fire logia who had been on the verge of reigniting and getting away.
Akainu really hadn't expected this turn of events, so he had hesitated for a split second. But it had been enough to jolt Marco into action, followed by the rest of the commanders who formed a wall of bodies between the Admiral and their now helpless crewmate. One of them, I think it was Izou, shouted at me to grab them and go, and the rest is as you say, history.
Ace hasn't stopped screaming profanities in my ear while Luffy was doing his best to top him in the decibel scale, in order to deliver his version of the talk no jutsu. Focused as I was on getting away, I didn't catch most of it but from the little I could decipher, our little talk on Skypiea had left an impression.
Especially the part about messing up during the fight of his lifetime and not being strong enough, both of which came true during his encounter with Kuma. Now he was using those experiences to verbally beat the value of life and non-reckless decisions into his brother's brain. The pain of being left behind and the weight of his failed duties as a captain must have struck a chord in Ace, because he eventually stopped beseeching me to let him go.
He even promised, politely, to be good if I unlocked his cuffs. Which I did after Luffy gave me the ok sign, assuring me that Ace had promised and hence he would keep his word. And when Ace didn't immediately go rushing off to fight Akainu and made to obediently board the ship instead, I felt as if a huge load had just been lifted off my shoulders. Despite the hiccups along the way (Doffy was a big hiccup) and despite having pulled the bacon literally out of the fire at the last possible moment, we had done it. Fate had been altered and all that was left for me to do was enjoy the fruits of my labors.
I wanted to believe that.
I really did.
"Zehahaha!"
Author's note:
We're now nearing the end of the Marineford arc, the battle which should be wrapping up next time.
P.S. as always likes and comments make me happy.