N/A: Hi guys, I'm back to my usual production, that is to say much more regular chapters and especially a bit shorter than the last three, which took me a lot of time (between 4000 and 5000 words).
As I mentioned in another note, the story will change quite drastically from now on. So if you wanted a OC in the original One Piece story, you won't be happy here... For everyone else, I hope you'll enjoy it.
Feel free to join the Discord I've set up for this fanfiction to share your ideas, correct me on some things, and exchange ideas about these two universes I really appreciate.
General POV
Location: Somewhere in the Saboady Archipelago
Before the battle began, a team of journalists, accompanied by some marines, had set up a video broadcast platform to allow those who wished for the opportunity to watch the execution of the pirate king's son: Portgas D. Ace.
Even though most people had come to see the execution, the sight of the young pirate being stabbed to death by a little girl had deeply shocked most viewers, who had certainly expected a much more classic execution.
However, that did not stop the vast majority of the crowd from shouting out their joy. "Justice always prevails!" "Good riddance, the world does not need pirates"; "Bravo to the Marine!" We could see people hugging each other, others celebrating this event with an astronomical amount of alcohol provided for the occasion.
However, this was not the general opinion in the crowd. Some people, acquaintances, sympathizers, friends, allies of the Whitebeard and Ace pirates did not share this opinion. Such a blow to the crew that had placed their island under their protection would be disastrous for their safety, because since it no longer seemed as threatening as before, it might suggest to anyone that Whitebeard's territory was no longer as protected as before.
When the majority of the world's population who had access to the images saw the images in front of their eyes, they understood what was really behind this war. While the rescue of Portgas D. Ace was the main goal of the crew, there was an equally important theme behind this battle: the end of one era and the beginning of another.
Back at Marineford, all eyes were on Portgas D. Ace, who appeared to be completely unprepared. His gaze wavered from the stabbing pain that began to spread through his body.
The gunshots, the explosions, and the screams of men fighting for survival had given way to a great, almost religious silence that gave the impression that the entire island had fallen silent. There was an atmosphere similar to that which one finds when entering a church. Only the sound of the waves hitting the dikes, sometimes interrupted by the cries of the seagulls, dared to break this long silence.
The girl responsible for the deed knew that she would become the target of many pirates after what she had done, and as if to defy them, she easily disengaged herself from the young man's arms and took a few steps back to assess the situation, while continuing to stare with a defiant look at the pirates who were watching the scene helplessly. The young man could not stand it much longer and his strength was gradually leaving him. He slumped to his knees on the floor and toppled forward. It was only thanks to the presence of his adopted brother that his face did not hit the ground, for he had managed to cushion it against his shoulder beforehand. The two brothers used the time, which seemed to last an eternity, to say goodbye.
POV Tanya Von Degurechaff
Location Marineford
The execution of the condemned man was absolutely not part of the plans of the girl, who gradually became aware of the effect of her gesture. She had just undone the efforts of thousands of people in an instant, just because of a reflex she had developed during her stays on the Rhine Front. "Now that I have done that, I'll be the slaying monster for many pirates and a propaganda image for the World Government. Damn you for being Y, I am sure you are responsible for this despite your promise," Tanya reflected, gritting her teeth in anger.
Tanya looked at the scene with the two brothers playing out before her eyes and took a deep breath to clear her head and think clearly. "Well, at this point... I might as well take the opportunity and kill the other brother. All good opportunities are good to take if I want to move up and stay in the back. With the status of a heroine, I should be able to stay safely in the offices, it would be counterproductive for the World Government to lose such a useful element." Gradually, a smile appeared on the young girl's face, who already saw herself in her new office, warm and safe.
Not wanting her new target to escape, Tanya walked with a determined step towards the young man in the straw hat, who seemed to pay no attention to what was going on around him, both the emotional impact and what he just felt was strong. Whitebeard's second-in-command's face seemed satisfied as his brother showed a face of infinite sadness while listening to his brother's last words, his gaze slowly lost in the void.
Tanya felt no pity for the grieving young man. "You only reap what you sow. You, who enjoy your total freedom by trampling on the freedom of others." A shot ricocheting off her magical shield snapped her out of his thoughts. The shot seemed to come from the pirate gang in front of her, who seemed quite angry with her. Then a hundred shots followed in her direction, accompanied by cries of anger and despair, while the girl quietly approached her future victim, who still did not react.
"How can she remain unharmed despite all the bullets fired at her? what devil fruit did she eat?" wondered the pirates in the front rows, helplessly facing Tanya. Each shot seemed to bounce off some kind of almost invisible membrane with a slight green tint.
Reaching the young man, Tanya raised her right arm in the air and prepared to take his head off his shoulders like a guillotine. Despite the numerous protests, Tanya lowered her arm with a sharp blow to finish the young man off as quickly as possible. A large gush of blood splattered on the floor and on the white shirt of the girl, who protected her face with the other arm to avoid getting blood in her eyes.
When she pulled her arm back to make sure she had reached her destination, Tanya was surprised by what she saw before her eyes. When she pulled her arm back, she expected to see the young man's head rolling on the floor as heavily as a watermelon that had fallen of a table to roll onto the floor. She had already planned to collect his head and show it to the world later, as the soldiers of the Russy Federation did with the officers of the Empire.
But the Straw Hat's head was still on his shoulders, and he did not seem to react at all to what had just happened before his eyes. In front of him stood the former Grand Corsair Jimbe, who had placed himself between the pirate and the girl to save him from certain death. However, his action was not without consequences, because when Tanya looked at the fish-man, who grimaced in pain, she saw that her attack had severed his left hand.
She could see that the man in front of her was struggling not to let out cries of pain, and that he wanted to show the fish-men to stop at nothing.
"You have already taken the life of a young shoot that hasn't yet had time to blossom," Jimbe growled. "Is it really necessary to take the life of these young people who only want to live!"
Tanya couldn't help but let out a small laugh in the direction of the former great corsair. In her past life, people like him were too idealistic, and they tended to die quickly. Whether they were allies or enemies didn't matter, Tanya hated them without exception. She couldn't remember how many times these kinds of people had put their life and hers in danger in the name of their ideals.
"I am sure that dozens of innocent people have spoken these same words in front of you, criminals! Yet I continue to see headlines in the daily newspapers reporting several massacres and lootings... I will be doing a service to the world by getting rid of the bad ones herbs of your kind!"
Not wanting to argue with the badly wounded man any longer than necessary, Tanya drew her rapier as quickly as she could and attacked him with quick thrusts while dodging her opponent's various attempts to land a powerful blow to the head.
He first tried to aim the top of her skull to take advantage of their large size difference. But Tanya dodged him without much trouble by taking a step backward. "This old man is wearing himself out unnecessarily, I'll just keep stabbing him until his blood splatters on the floor".
With her very sharp rapier, the girl could stab her opponent with great ease. Also, because of her small size, she could dodge more easily and was more agile than her opponent, who had an imposing stature.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tanya saw a horizontal kick arrive to her right side. Despite his handicap, the ex warlord was a fearsome opponent, and the slightest of his blows could be devastating. Tanya made a small jump to avoid being touched, then grabbed her rapier and rammed it into his thigh.
To remove the blade as quickly as possible, she leaned against her opponent and pushed herself backward to land as best she could while staggering.
Panting, Tanya began to feel all the fatigue that had accumulated since the fight began. The slightest of her movements produced not only a physical ache, but a mental one as well. "I really need to finish this fight as soon as possible, otherwise the head of the Straw Hat will escape me and I will not be able to escape to the rear without being considered a coward. Leaving the battlefield without having completed one's mission can be considered treason. The problem is that I can feel my body slowly failing me as the minutes tick by," Tanya remarked as she looked down at her arms, which were twitching more and taking longer than they had initially.
Tanya gathered her last strength and went towards her opponent to give him the final blow. Her opponent also seemed unable to fight. While she was moving towards this last one, she saw two silhouettes detach themselves from the gathering of pirates and rush towards her. Their hostility and killing intent was almost palpable.
To avoid further injury and to avoid having to defend herself, Tanya immediately stopped using her mage blade and focused all her energy into her magic shield. She barely had time to recognize her new opponents before she was flung far from her target.
Breathless, Tanya struggled against her own body to keep from sinking to the ground. As she tried to lift her head, she immediately recognized the man who had first led her to Whitebeard: Marco the Phoenix, Whitebeard's second-in-command, and another man she had never seen before. He had long, black, curly hair and wore a dark blue hat and earrings. He also wore a dark blue, half-open shirt with a white diamond pattern, a cape that matched his shirt, and white gloves. His pants were light blue and had a belt with two sword scabbards attached on each side.
As she listened, she heard the two men exchange a few words, "It's strange," said the second in the group, "I can not get past her defense, no matter how much I use the Haki. Her comrade gave him a quick glance and nodded, "It's the same on my side, it's as if my swords hit a wall of seastone".
"I have no time to waste with you!" shouted Tanya in the direction of the two men who had interfered. She used her body boost to increase the strength of her legs, gained momentum and jumped over the two men who followed the girl with surprised faces.
Arriving back in front of Jimbe and the Straw Hat and staggering slightly on the floor, Tanya grabbed her Luger and pointed it at the two dying pirates.
The firing pin of her pistol rose and fell almost instantly, releasing the cartridge stored in the weapon. The magic-jacketed bullet pierced the thigh of the fish-man, who cried out in pain, and the shoulder of the young man, who was unresponsive to the wound he had just received.
Tanya tried to keep the sight of her handgun on her enemies, holding her breath as best she could to prevent the sight from flinching and ruining the few bullets she had left. Just as she was about to fire a second time, she saw a large shadow appear on the ground. When Tanya looked at it more closely, she immediately recognized the distinctive body of Whitebeard, who held his long blade in his right hand. Without saying anything, he brought his weapon behind his left shoulder and struck at the girl with a powerful blow.
Anticipating this, Tanya jumped to the highest height her aching legs would allow her and fired all her remaining ammunition. Whitebeard did not flinch at his opponent's attack and continued to stare at the girl, who was already beginning to fall to the ground due to gravity.
"He is waiting for me to be carried to give me the final blow," Tanya understood, panicking at the thought of receiving a new attack from this man who could kill her with just one attack, even with maximum reinforcement of his defenses. Since the defense did not work last time, the girl focused on the attack, concentrating her last mana reserves in her right leg to deliver a killing blow, aiming at Whitebeard's neck.
Unfortunately, the mana reserves were not enough to stabilize the flow of energy in her leg, so the blade, which took on a green color, fluctuated between yellow and red before disappearing altogether, leaving Tanya defenseless and at the mercy of her opponent.
"No, no, no, no," Tanya screamed desperately without stopping. She closed her eyes and prepared to suffer a shock that would most likely be fatal, as she no longer had the strength to endure anything. But nothing happened, instead of a stabbing pain in her whole body that she was prepared for, Tanya felt the shock of her fall and a strong heat spreading around her.
When she opened her eyes again, she immediately recognized her superior, who, having turned a large part of his body into magma, had prevented the old pirate from giving him the final blow, and was now facing him without batting an eye until he managed to make him retreat.
Without so much as a glance at his men, Admiral Akainu was already beginning to give his orders. "Get the lieutenant first aid and get her to a medical station! Contact Admiral Aokiji and Kizaru and tell them to come to me as soon as possible... We will get rid of this old fossil today!".
Hearing the admiral's words, the soldiers who had stayed behind became active like little worker ants. Three men grabbed the girl and started dragging her to the back, away from the coming battle. One of them was already starting to bandage the wounded parts of her body, which bled almost immediately when they touched her wounds. Each bandage that touched her body made the girl wince so much that the pain was stabbing. But not wanting to lose face in front of her colleagues, Tanya bit her lips. Despite the pain, Tanya tried to figure out the outcome of the fight between her superior and the leader of the Whitebeard Pirate Alliance.
The two men had not moved or even spoken since Admiral Sakazuki's last words. The tension between the two men was so great that Tanya saw some of the marines and pirates faint and collapse on the floor.
After a long silence, Whitebeard finally spoke up, "Get rid of an old fossil like me? Do you really think I am going to let you do this to me after what you did? The Navy has taken the lives of many of my children today, and this will not be without consequences... My job as a father is to protect all my children who want to leave this island, and to avenge those who will have to stay here forever." The old man's breathing seemed to become more and more jerky, each word he brought out of his mouth seemed to require a superhuman effort. "This island will become the grave of many souls, but one I wish to avenge personally," Whitebeard continued as he stared at the little girl responsible for the death of the second in command of his fleet.
"I cannot allow you to destroy this island, let alone take the lives of my subordinates. Your death today will herald the end of piracy." The admiral's words elicited a mocking smile from the old man, who shrugged his shoulders as if the admiral's words made no sense. "The era of piracy began because one man made so many others dream. As long as man lives, he will never stop dreaming of wealth, adventure and freedom, of everything the World Government seems to suppress." Tanya saw Whitebeard take a deep breath before speaking again, "Listen to me, all of you, my sons, soldiers of the Navy, people of the world, some think that the era of piracy is at an end, that it is on its last legs... Be the spark that ignites the beginning of your own adventure, because finally THE ONE PIECE IS REAL!".
With these words, the old man charged toward the soldiers while preparing an overpowering attack with his right arm. Akainu did the same and threw himself on Whitebeard, his left arm turning into magma. A huge shockwave followed, blasting everything in its path. A sharp pain in Tanya's thigh made her cry out in pain and surprise. One of the soldiers tending to her wounds had tightened a bandage much too tightly.
When she turned her gaze to the three people, she noticed that one of them had remained motionless and seemed to be watching the scene. His face was obscured by his sailor cap. Only after a few seconds of observation did their eyes meet. The soldier, feeling he was being watched, approached Tanya, pulling out a syringe from his small bag of medical supplies. Seeing that the syringe contained a yellowish liquid, Tanya again looked questioningly at the soldier and began to struggle weakly. Without paying attention to Tanya's gaze, the soldier injected the drug into the girl's thigh. "Painkiller," the soldier finally whispered in her ear when the drug was fully injected. By the time he pulled the needle out of her thigh, the drug was already beginning to work, as the pain subsided almost instantly, allowing her to continue her observations without being interrupted by the spikes of pain caused by the treatment.
Turning her attention back to the battle, Tanya noticed that the other two admirals had joined the fight alongside Admiral Sakazuki to repel Whitebeard's attack. At the center of this power struggle, a huge amount of air seemed to be compressed. Whitebeard shook the air with his power. Admiral Aokiji and Akainu, who embodied the hot and the cold, respectively, amplified this phenomenon.
"I absolutely must leave this place, because if they compress the air as they are doing, the explosion they create will obliterate everything in the vicinity." When she tried to stand up, her body stopped responding, the whole lower part was heavy and numb. Tanya tried to warn the men nearby, but no sound came out of her mouth. This feeling reminded her of her time in the hospital when she was a young boy in Japan. After she had broken a bone in a fall on her bicycle, the doctor had given her a gas that put her to sleep in less than 10 minutes.
"That bastard drugged me," Tanya thought, feeling completely helpless. "When I can move again, I am going to put all your needles in the...". Her thoughts were interrupted by the same soldier giving instructions to his comrades. "We need to get her to a medical center urgently, we are losing her, you two," the soldier ordered, pointing to two other of his colleagues, "help me move her." Picking up the girl's body, the soldiers nodded and headed for the city.
The last images Tanya saw were of the compressed air explosion that blew the three admirals away and threw Whitebeard far out to sea, followed closely by his first in command, who was trying to keep his commander from falling into the sea.
Along the way, the girl's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and it became increasingly difficult to keep them open. Fortunately, Tanya did not lose consciousness; the sedative merely prevented her from keeping her eyes open. So she was perfectly capable of hearing and, more importantly, thinking clearly.
"I wonder which of the medical centers those soldiers wanted to take me to. What worries me is that I do not remember hearing about a medical center this far from the front in my briefings..."
After a while, Tanya was able to open her eyes again as the effects of the sedative wore off over time. Looking at her companions, she quickly noticed that they were all out of breath, one of them constantly swaying because of the load he was carrying. Although Tanya was lighter than the girls her age, the man seemed to really struggle to keep up.
After a few minutes of walking, the small group came to a dead end formed by a huge amount of boxes and debris blocking the way. "I can not go on," one of the soldiers complained, pushing Tanya against the wall so she could lean against it and not fall. "We need a break." The other soldier nodded and sat down on the floor. Only the soldier with the medical bag had not said anything yet and was still staring at the dead end.
The other soldier, who had stopped, heaved a long sigh and sat down next to Tanya, who at the moment could neither move nor speak. "I wonder if the admirals succeeded in pushing Whitebeard back," one of the two men suddenly asked, while his buddy shrugged and replied, "I do not know, when I was asked to evacuate the lieutenant, I did not make sure of the outcome of the battle."
Tanya left the two men to discuss with each other and began to briefly debrief the recent events. "Well, if I summarize what just happened, I reflexively murdered one of the highest ranking members of the Whitebeard crew. There is a very slim chance that the surviving crew members will give up their vendetta against me and the Marine. The fact that I stood up to a former privateer should give me a few days of rest to recover from my injuries. I hope they will not hold it against me that I missed the execution of the Straw Hat. What worries me most is that the strongest man in the world seems to have developed a strong grudge against me, which could be problematic for my survival... I will have to be careful in my next steps and make sure I am always accompanied."
As she pondered, the two men continued to complain about the treatment they had received since joining the Marine. The third man still said nothing, but he had positioned himself behind one of the soldiers, who had his back to him; he reached into his pocket, but instead of pulling out a drug, bandage, or other medical material, the soldier pulled out a pistol and shot his comrade... in cold blood. The other soldier remained in shock for a few seconds before regaining consciousness and grabbing his service weapon, pointing it in the direction of the mysterious soldier. "What the hell did you do? Why did you do that? Throw down your weapon, you are under arrest..." He barely had time to finish his sentence when the other man shot him between the eyes.
Tanya, still unable to move, just stared helplessly at the scene, unable to lift a finger. "Am I really going to die like this?" wondered Tanya, cold sweat running down her back. The girl tried to concentrate all her mana, but her body could do nothing, as the fatigue that had accumulated with the product injected earlier prevented Tanya's body from recovering normally.
As her eyes met with those of the mysterious individual, a strange cloud of pink smoke appeared, causing the frail marine to disappear, giving way to a mysterious woman. She was far less attractive than most of the women Tanya had met so far. She was tall and had a whitish complexion. Her nose had a rather odd shape and was excessively long. Her black hair, tied in two braids with two yellow rubber bands, was long and reached her shoulders. The only makeup she wore was a very pronounced lipstick. Her outfit was strange. Her top was a prison top with white and black stripes, her pants, belt and coat were a color reminiscent of purple.
Even before she could say anything, Tanya knew that this woman was very dangerous, even if she ignored the double murder she had just witnessed. This woman had a murderous aura that Tanya had never seen before, not even in her past lives.
After watching the motionless girl lean against the wall to remain seated, the vile woman came within inches of her face. "Murunffuffu, you are very cute, my little one... I have a feeling that in a few years you will be a beautiful woman". Whispered the woman as she slid the blade of a dagger she had taken from one of her pockets to Tanya's neck. Her foul breath made Tanya shudder in disgust. "But hey, for now, I know someone who would love to meet you." She followed up her words with action, grabbing Tanya by the hair and dragging her behind her, taking the opposite path again that the small troupe had taken a few minutes earlier...