– Bellamy –
This was the second funeral I was attending since my reincarnation, and I found I didn't care much for them. At least the Shandian funeral was a celebration of the life of those now gone, tears hidden behind smiles and dances. This? This was more in line with what funerals had been like in my past life, as Whitebeard was laid to rest by his mourning children. Alongside his four hundred and sixty-three sons who had died during the war.
A shockingly low number if one considers what they were up against, but that was of little comfort to those left behind. Thousands of gathered men and women and not a single dry eye between them. A testament to the lives Whitebeard had touched and improved over the course of his lifetime.
It wasn't just sadness I was seeing either. One of the most prevalent emotions present was despair. Hopelessness. A complete and utter lack of direction on what to do in the future, on how to live now that their guiding light was gone.
Perhaps that was why Marco gathered them all up to attack Blackbeard in the Payback War. Nothing unites a group more than a common enemy and for the Whitebeard Pirates who were already on the verge of splintering, the idea of getting revenge would have worked as a fantastic binding factor.
After all, there was much to avenge.
"Alright! Let's begin! I'm gonna put on a show!" Blackbeard gleefully declared, motioning for his crew to bring forward a large black cloth cover, which they draped over Whitebeard's still form. "It's a show that will shake the whole world!"
And with that promise, Teach disappeared beneath the cover to do something only I was expecting. Something that everybody else wouldn't expect even in their dreams, for it went against all commonly held beliefs regarding the inner workings of devil fruits. If they had known, none of them, least of all the marines would have allowed Blackbeard to get anywhere near Whitebeard's body.
Instead, they just milled around in confusion, stunned into inaction by Whitebeard's final words and glad for the chance to recover their breaths. The leadership was more concerned with the effects those words would have on the world and with how they were to create firebreaks to mitigate the damage, than they were with what Blackbeard could ever want with a body whose only remaining purpose was to be used as a publicity prop.
They would soon regret not acting sooner.
"Alright, everybody, thank you for waiting! It's the greatest show on earth, presented by Captain Teach of the Blackbeard pirates! Please, enjoy!" With a mocking bow, Lafayette steps aside, no concern for his dead and wounded crew mates visible in his entire demeanor. No, the only emotion he displayed was a sense of excitement as Avalo Pizarro, who while safely ensconced amidst his new crew, was cradling his right arm which Garp had pulverized.
"Nothing seems to have changed with Whitebeard's body."
"Nor with Teach. What was he doing in there?"
Blackbeard basks in the confusion, savoring the moment before strutting forward triumphantly.
"Marines! This is the power of my Dark-Dark Fruit!" Much like earlier with Whitebeard, darkness spreads out with Teach at the center to engulf the nearby and unprepared marines, triggering a round of panicked cries as veteran officers helplessly sink into a black marsh. "And this!"
Marco was the first one to notice. "That stance is just like…Pops!"
Indeed, it was. The follow-up was just as similar. The marine HQ, already damaged beyond repair by Whitebeard's rampage, gave out a final shudder before all its remaining walls toppled over. The effects were felt even from where I stood on the ship, eyes riveted on Blackbeard. Though in our case, it helped that the tremors broke the ice holding all our ships in position.
"That's the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit! How does he have the late Whitebeard's power?" one marine questioned.
"What did that bastard Teach do?" asked another. Blackbeard did not deign to answer them, for he was busy with other matters. Like grandstanding.
"The gravity of darkness brings total annihilation! And the power of tremor destroys everything! I possess them both! Nothing can stop me now! I'm the strongest man in the world!"
Starting from immediately claiming Whitebeard's title and subtly proclaiming himself his successor to the throne in one breath…
"Did you guys see that? Tell all the people of the world! The boring people who love peace, the marines, the World Government, and pirates! Yes, here comes the era that I conquer!"
…to declaring war on order and on peace in the next…
"Look all you people of the world! Behold me and my power! I can feel the power coursing through my body! What power! It feels like I could control everything in the world at my whim!"
…even revealing a budding god complex, Blackbeard was busy sowing the first seeds of chaos.
"Bastard!" Of course, the defenders of said order objected. Some even bristled. And a scant few looked like they were about to end the threat right here. But all that bravery withered and died the moment Blackbeard's gaze fell upon them, none of the marines willing or even able to look the man in the eyes. For such was the terror Whitebeard had instilled within the very fiber of their being, a fear Blackbeard had inherited. And he loved it.
"Hey, what's wrong? Doesn't anybody want to fight? I'm willing to fight you to your heart's content now!" Blackbeard challenged, but he only got silence in return. The marines who stood there, trembling in rage and in fear were the stronger ones. Those with a weaker will fell to their knees and despaired, much like I imagined the civilians of the word were doing at this moment. "What a shame. I have no choice. Let's start by sinking Marineford into the sea!"
"Shock Wave!" But not all marines would sit back and allow hope to die. Like the pirates had Whitebeard's flame, the marines had their own light. And it burned ever brighter in the darkest of times. "A building can easily be rebuilt!"
Eyes are drawn to a golden hope, standing tall and proud. A broad and strong back the marines had followed for decades.
"But the island of Marineford is located virtually at the center of this world! To protect the people of the world who are threatened by rampaging villains, it is important to them that we are here!"
Life returns to formerly empty eyes, strength to weakened knees as victims die and soldiers rise in their place, hearts once more ablaze.
"Justice that comes from humanity will never perish! Don't claim to be able to sink this place so lightly, you little punk!"
Eyes grim and determined glare at the darkness, their fear forgotten as an iron will takes its place. A will to do their duty, to protect the innocent and to defend their justice.
The darkness laughs.
The realization that Blackbeard had somehow stolen their father's power had really done a number on the morale of the remaining Whitebeard pirates. After all, no one knew that power more intimately than they. No doubt about it, if Marco wanted to motivate them, he would have his work cut out for him. Which is probably also why the Payback War had taken place a year later after the Summit War.
Though I'm not certain it will happen the same way it did in canon. While it is set in stone that a war will take place, the circumstances are quite different this time round. The fact that Ace survived instead of Namur is just one of many changes. Granted, the man is an emotional wreck right now, but objectively seen the Whitebeard Pirates achieved their primary objective in this war and Ace is a more powerful fighter than the late 8thdivision commander ever was
Additionally, unlike in canon, the Blackbeard Pirates didn't come out of the war unscathed. Certainly, having a destroyed limb was a crippling injury back on earth, but with the typical One Piece physiology? They'd eventually find a way around it, but for now, the Blackbeard's were weaker than they would ever be. Well, except Shiryu but he's better off dead.
Speaking of not coming out unscathed…the marines arguably got mauled the worst out of the three parties in this war. First, they failed to execute Ace, whom they had publicly announced as the son of Gol D. Roger. Then, while Whitebeard did pass away, it was less a glorious triumph for justice and more of a publicity disaster on a planetary scale. All because Whitebeard refused to die without some now very famous last words.
That the final blows were struck not at the hands of the marines, but instead by the Blackbeard pirates was just the cherry on top. Not to mention the deaths of several Vice Admirals, countless veteran officers, the heavy injuries suffered by the Admiralty and the utter destruction of their headquarters.
And if the papers were to be believed, Gecko Moria died in the line of duty. Not sure if Doffy was involved in that one as when I last saw him, he was poisoned and fighting Haruta, but I wouldn't put it past the Gorosei to send him in regardless. Plus, surely the marines had enough medics who could administer emergency treatment to slow down the poison.
Which probably played a part in why all sides backed down when Shanks arrived.
"I have come to put an end to this war." Those were the first words Shanks spoke after landing on Marineford. Which probably also saved my bacon because about this point in time Kizaru had recovered enough from his impromptu swim to glare menacingly in my personal direction. I've never been as happy to see a middle aged man than I had been to see Benn Beckham at that moment, holding the Admiral at gunpoint.
And how could it be otherwise, everyone got into an uproar once they registered his presence. Something Kizaru tried to take advantage of and sink the ship Luffy and I were on, but that was probably the wrong choice on his part, as he received two bullets to his face, courtesy of Benna and Yasopp. The Admiral did jerk out of the way in time, but it threw off his aim by a mile. He didn't try that again, much to my relief.
"Hawkeye, where are you going?"
"I agreed to fight Whitebeard, but I never agreed to fight 'Red-Haired' Shanks." With those parting words, Mihawk walked off, cool as a cucumber and robbing the marines of another powerful fighter. I have it on good authority that he later met up with Shanks to share a drink, but that's something for later.
"To go on fighting will only lead to more loss of life on both sides." Shanks continued, causing a silent stir amongst the marine ranks.
If Akainu had been in any shape or form to fight this, I'm sure he would have. But as it were, he wasn't. That didn't stop him from trying though, as he gripped Whitebeard's bisento with unsteady hands to rip it out of his body in a spurt of blood.
"You think…you dare think that we…we will let Roger's spawn escape…alive?" he panted, leaning on a subordinate for support. "That we will allow…Dragon's son to live? That…that we will accept this…humiliation? NEVER!"
But Shank's following statement shut him up.
"But if any of you still want to fight, we will be your opponents." And why wouldn't it? Akainu may be a fanatic but he wasn't a fool. He knew damn well that the marines weren't capable of overcoming Shank's crew in time if at all, to complete their objective of killing Ace and Luffy. And should they try, the losses they would incur were likely to be beyond catastrophic. "What about you, Teach? Or should I call you Blackbeard?"
"Zehahaha, I'll pass! I got what I wanted. This is not yet the time for me to fight you." If there had been a winner in this war, it would be Blackbeard. And rather than overextend, he chose to back down and bide his time. Much like he'd done in canon. "Zeahahah! Let's go, guys!"
"We'll see to the funeral of Whitebeard and his fallen crew. You've already broadcasted the battle throughout the world. I will not allow you to make a spectacle of their deaths."
Sengoku looked like he wanted to protest. Likely because he hadn't planned on broadcasting much of what had been. If he wanted to fix even a little of the damage done by Buggy, he needed the spectacle. To spread the propaganda of the navy's victory and parading Whitebeard's body around was one of the easiest ways to do that. As it was right now, the war had ended up being more of a draw than anything else, though one could argue it was a pyrrhic victory for the marines.
But despite the outrage of his officers, Sengoku was not fool enough to turn a pyrrhic victory into a decisive defeat. "I agree, but only because it's you. I shall take full responsibility."
"Thank you."
"THIS WAR…IS OVER!"
And so, it was.
"Midget."
"Urouge. What's the matter with Bonney?" The girl looked like someone had killed her father, that is to say about as depressed as everybody around her.
"Urgh." My friend grunts as he plops himself down beside me. "We may have killed Kuma."
The overblown pufferfish say what?
"What do you mean, you may have killed Kuma?" I sputter out. I sent you in to save him, not kill him!
"Thing is, we got our act together and cornered him so Pinky could glomp him from behind. Wasn't easy mind you, but we managed in the end. And instead of throwing her off, the big guy kind of just froze."
"I'm not seeing the problem."
"You know what her power is, don't you?"
"What does that have anything to do with…oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
Bonney's ability was to de-age people or objects, mostly people. Kuma as a person would have qualified, as despite his cybernetic implants, he was still conceptually speaking, a person. But Bonney could not replace lost body parts nor heal wounds using her power, as showcased when Jinbei still had his scar. Kuma didn't have organic limbs anymore, in addition to whatever else they replaced…I think that extensive list included his brain.
If Bonney had de-aged his body, that new body would no longer have fit his transplants, tearing the connections apart and inflicting grievous bodily harm. Kuma was likely to have bled out in minutes if all four of his limbs got ripped open all at once. Not to mention what would happen if the replacement brain stopped functioning properly.
"But why do you say that you 'may have killed the guy?" You either killed him or you didn't.
"Because not long after we started seeing some visible changes, Kuma started blaring about detecting major system failures before teleporting away. He did leave an arm and a leg behind, but those should the least of his problems. So, we don't know for certain, but I wouldn't be surprised if Kuma was d…"
"My Daddy isn't dead!" Bonney interjects, outraged at the mere suggestion, acting as if she hadn't been worried about the very same possibility just earlier.
"I'm sure he's not." But I agree with her. Vegapunk probably had some redundancies installed to buy enough time for emergency repairs, which is probably what Kuma went to get after reaching a certain damage threshold.
"He's not dead!" Bonney insists.
"Yes, I agree with you."
"He's not!"
"…are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"
"He's not dead!" I don't think she believes me. Or she's deaf. Either way, this was turning out to be a long day.
Author's note:
And so ends the Summit War. Some things changed, some didn't.
Blackbeard is down a crew member, Ace lived, Namur didn't, Kuma sadly got away (I can't have everything).
A lot of people were telling me not to give Whitebeard's fruit to Blackbeard, but I found that to be a key element in the story so I kept it.
Even tired as they were, the Marines would not have let Blackbeard kill one of their own (like Sengoku) and Blackbeard probably wouldn't have chosen to fight if there was another option right there.
P.S. as always, if you enjoyed this story, do please leave a like and a comment. It really makes it easier to write.
P.P.S. fruit ideas. I need fruit ideas for a female character.