The revelation that Ace was, in fact, Roger D Gold's son sent shockwaves across the entire world.
"That monster had a kid? I can't believe it."
"That means the legend of Roger Gold never ended."
"Why haven't they killed him already? If he's the son of the King of the Pirates, then he's too dangerous to live."
"If only I caught him and put him up for auction. I could have made a fortune."
"Haha, so many twists. A fine execution."
"Does that mean he got his Fire Fist powers from his father?"
"Better yet, you think he's got the One Piece?"
"What's it matter? He's as good as dead. That bloodline is about to be wiped off the face of the planet."
At Marineford, all the Marines and the Warlords were completely shocked by this revelation.
"Then Ace isn't Hiccup's real brother after all," said Atali.
Sander just stood on the scaffold, allowing the shock to sink in with his fellow Marines.
"Roger Gold?"
"He's his son?"
"A miracle the little bastard survived this long," said Moria. "We know the story. The Navy executed every person they could find that was connected to Roger in any way."
Gustav and Sven looked at one another, confused.
"I always thought his mother was Valka," said Gustav. "That is Hiccup's mother, right? They're brothers."
"Yeah, that's what I thought to," said Sven. "What's the deal here? Does Hiccup know about this and he never told anyone?"
Wrinkly just looked on sadly as his thought turned to the past.
"Wrinkly, come here," said Roger from inside his cell. "You're never going to believe this, but I've got a baby on the way. A boy, I bet. For obvious reasons, I sadly won't be there for the kid's birth."
Wrinkly sighed. "Why the hell are you telling me this to a Navy officer? What are you thinking? You realise what will happen? Are you trying to get the mother of your own damn child executed?"
"I'm telling you so that won't happen," he said.
Wrinkly stared at him in shock.
Roger then rose to his feet and began to approach him. "There is no doubt that the Government will dig up my whereabouts over the past year, and when they do, they will find her and kill her. Would you approve of them punishing a child who hasn't even been born? Wrinkly, you and I have tried to kill each other more times than I can count. That aside, I know that you're an honourable man, one that I can trust.
"Stoick has agreed to take care of the child, but he can't make a move, or the World Government will realise what you're up to. We need someone who can move freely and who can be trusted to hand the child over."
"You want him to be raised as a pirate?"
"The Haddocks have a tradition of leaving their children on an island at the age of five. They do their southerly sharp; it's just that very few of them have turned from a life of crime." Roger smiled. "Look after my child."
Wrinkly furiously, they grabbed hold of the bars of the cell and glared at him. "Why me, you selfish bastard!"
"Because I know you do it. Keep them safe for me, please, Wrinkly."
On a faraway island was a beautiful young woman with long red hair; she had her hand over her stomach and was looking at a newspaper with a sad look. But today's newspaper had just announced the death of the King of the Pirates, then slipped out of her grip and began to blow away with the wind.
The World Government was quick to act to eliminate anyone with any close ties to Roger D Gold. Most of their effort was focused on finding any woman who had been close to Roger and who may very well be carrying his child.
As a result, they began searching every single island that Roger had landed on, rounding up any women who were currently pregnant. It didn't go unnoticed by the Marines that the residents were completely terrified of their presence.
"I don't know. Are you sure this is the island we're looking for?" the Navy officer asked.
"It's got to be. There have been a lot of Roger sightings reported here. They say he wasn't acting like a pirate but a man in love."
"The Navy has put Roger's era to an end, and we've got to cut the bloodline to keep it that way. Check the pregnancy tests; if they happened within 10 months of his capture, I want to know about it."
The Navy began going to clinics and hospitals and began searching through concerned pregnancy tests in the last 10 months. They then began knocking on the doors of those pregnant women, especially those who were living alone.
"Round up any pregnant women and kill any suspicious mothers on the spot!"
While the Marines were looking for Roger's lover, Rouge continued to go on her daily business. She had been smart enough not to go to any clinics or hospitals to confirm the pregnancy, and, using sheer willpower, she was able to keep the pregnancy hidden. However, the Marines were still snooping around even after grabbing all the pregnant women, so she had to be very careful.
Rouge also looked far away from any settlements, which meant she didn't get many visitors, and the Marines were mostly focused on the towns and villages. Every night, she would return home and sit in a rocking chair, patting her stomach.
"Not yet," she said to her child.
The Marines were not satisfied with just the single women; they were also taking the married women into custody. As a result, this led to several confrontations with their husbands.
"Taken married women. The marriage could be a ruse."
One husband tried to stop them from taking his wife, and he ended up getting hit in the face with the butt of a rifle.
"You'll get her back when we clear her," said the Marine firmly.
The husband could only watch helplessly as they took his wife and could only hope that she would come back with his child.
"No, not yet," said Rouge. "You have to hold on a while longer."
Rouge could feel her child kick, and it took every bit of willpower for her to not show her pregnancy.
For 10 long months, the Marines remained on the island and continued their search and still, Rouge's pregnancy wasn't showing. By this time, the Marines had completed their search, but their investigations had led to nothing.
"No more pregnant women, sir."
"It's been 10 months since he went to jail, I don't think Roger sired a child."
"So that really is the end of the King of the Pirates."
The Marines then left the island. The moment they did, Rouge's pregnancy hit her and hit her hard. She was now at the clinic waiting for the birth of her child, but then someone barged into the room.
Holding a lamp to his face was none other than Wrinkly, and he looked directly at Rouge. "Your name is Rouge D. Portgas, correct?"
Rouge nodded as if she had expected him.
Wrinkly stayed with her until she finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
"If it's a girl, Anna and if it's a boy, Ace," she said, smiling down at him as she held him in her arms. "Those names he picked them. So his name is Ace D Gold."
She hugged him tightly. "Our son… our little boy. Oh, Ace…"
She held him in her arms as long as she could, but she had used all her willpower to carry him for nearly 2 years, and that had weakened her. She then passed away while still holding him in her arms.
Wrinkly, fulfilling his promise, took Ace to the meeting spot, where he encountered Stoick and Valka.
"I must say our surprise that you agreed to this," said Valka as she took Ace from him.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Roger was right," said Wrinkly reluctantly. "A child should be put to death just being born, regardless of who their parents are. Though I don't think being raised by Pirates is the whitest upbringing."
"I did try to be a marine, but it didn't affect me, especially after all this injustice I witnessed," said Valka bitterly.
"He will follow the same traditions as anyone in my family," Stoick promised.
"Where will you drop him at?" Wrinkly asked.
"We were thinking if we ever had a child, on our home," said Valka. "There's a nice little peaceful village on the other side of the island. I think there would be an ideal place for a child to grow."
Wrinkly nodded. "Very well, but the next time we meet it will be as enemies."
"Goodbye, Dad," said Valka.
Wrinkly nodded and walked away.
Wrinkly now felt as if he had failed.
Estelle just rolled her eyes. "Oh, Wrinky."
"Two years ago, you took your mother's maiden name as your own," said Sander. "And with your exquisite speed and strength, you quickly gained notoriety for out the world as the unrelenting captain of the Spade Pirates. And that is when we put the pieces together; there was no doubt that Roger's blood had been passed on.
"Stoick raised you for five long years before leaving you on a remote island in the East Blue. Once he saw what you're capable of, he quickly brought you back into his fold to secure your mantle as the next King of the Pirates. He warmly accepted the son of his old rival onto the ship."
"That's not true!" Ace roared. "I joined his crew to make him the next King!"
"Nobody believes that, except you. Why do you think it took us so long to finally catch you? You were under Stoick's protection. So today, we know that if you were to go free, you would use your abilities to become the next King. The only recourse we have to avoid this inevitable risk is to execute you. Even if it means that we face the prospect of war with Stoick the Vast!"
The Marines then broke into cheers.
"We have a situation!" said a Marine rushing towards the scaffold. "Fleet Admiral, the Gates of Justice is opening without any orders from us, sir, and we can't make contact with the control room!"
"What did you say?!" Sander stared.
Hiccup and the others were in front of the gates of Justice, trying to think of ways to get past them.
"I could try flying around it and get to the gate controls," Hiccup offered.
"They'll be too heavily guarded even for you," said Astrid.
Then, something peculiar happened before anyone else could come up with any other ideas. The gates of Justice then began to open.
"They're opening?" Hiccup stared.
"I see it, but I don't believe it," said Astrid.
"Now that is unexpected," said Jinbe.
"It's opening! Are they actually letting us in?"
"But that maybe guys said they were going to leave us in the Tub Current to rot."
"It's not the control room that's in Marineford," said Jinbe, puzzled. "So who is behind this then?"
Buggy's followers then noticed that he was standing on the ship's bow with a long stick in his hand.
"Keep opening!" he ordered. "Just a little more now. You will open all the way; I can feel it. My bones are dancing in total harmony with your whirling gadgets and gears; we move as one. Yes, keep going. There we go. There we go… A little further."
"Hey, wait, Captain Buggy, are you…"
"Almost there!" Buggy cried.
"You're really opening it!"
"He is our saviour! He's the chosen one!"
"They seriously believe that?" said Astrid, rolling her eyes.
"Will you quit milking the moment!" Mr 3 snapped. "This is clearly a trick!"
'Seriously? Who is opening the gate?' Buggy pondered. 'Maybe the universe really does want me to be the King of the Pirates.'
"I don't know why they're opening, but we should use this opportunity," said Hiccup.
"Agreed," Jinbe agreed as he began to sail the ship through the gates.
Everyone held on tight as they rode the current through the Gates of Justice.
Sander was still shocked by the report Gates of Justice had been opened, but his concerns were more focused upon the open sea.
"It's so quiet," said Atali.
"Yeah, you can cut the tension with a knife," Johann agreed.
The lookouts were looking through their telescopes for any sign of any enemy activity, and then, several pirate ships emerged from the mist.
"They're here!"
Alarms began to sound throughout the entire base, and everyone immediately prepared themselves.
"Ready battle stations now!"
Every single cannon on, every single ship and bafflement pointed straight towards the enemy fleet.
"They appeared out of nowhere," said Sander shocked. "But how did they get in here?"
It didn't seem plausible that a huge fleet like this managed to sneak past without them noticing, even despite the loss of their scout ships.
"It's an entire fleet of pirate ships!"
"Keep an eye out for Stoick! He must be there."
"Bohemia Knight Gomer! Lightning Lord Karl! The Greline Brothers! World Spider Squall!"
All the Marines were looking through their telescopes every single pirate captain, and each and every single one of them was famous in their own right.
"It's worse than we expected. They've got about just every big-time captain from the New World with them! We've counted 43 ships in total, and there's no sign of Stoick, not even all the commanders, but everyone is a sworn ally of Stoick.
"All right, Ace, we're here."
"We've got your back, bro."
The Marines looked at the vast fleet of pirate ships; they hadn't expected to encounter so many at once.
"Listen to those children panicking," said Estelle. "It's pathetic."
"They actually came," said Ace surprised.
"Should we attack?"
"Not yet. Stoick's got to be around here somewhere. He is planning something big, so keep your eyes on the sea."
"Now, this is fun," Johann smiled broadly. "I am ready for some war! Now come on, Stoick, I'm hungry."
It was then that they saw something bubbly out from inside the bay.
"It's him," said Sander.
The Marines looked confused as there was still no sign of Stoick.
"Where is he?"
"It's a surprise attack," said Wrinkly as he looked at the bay. "Go figure. Stoick is no fool."
"Oh, don't act like you're so smart," Estelle grumbled.
The Marines then noticed a huge shadow in the middle of the bay.
"There is a shadow in the middle of the bay!"
"What's happening?"
"It's just as I feared," said Sander through gritted teeth. "Why didn't we plan for this? They got their ships coated to ambush us from underwater!"
Suddenly emerging from the water was a giant ship covered in a protective coating that launched into the air.
"It's Stoick's ship! The Skullcrusher!"
The ship then crashed back down into the water, and Ace just stared in shock.