– Bellamy –
I would freely admit to using the following phrase more often than I probably should, but I couldn't think of a better way to phrase it.
It all started with a phone call.
More specifically, a phone call for Izou whose relaxed posture went rigid almost as soon as the speaker on the other side began talking. Being the polite person that my mother raised me to be, I opted not to listen in on what was most likely a private conversation. However, I did inadvertently catch the message that Izou transmitted to Ace. It wasn't very long.
"Ace, a message arrived from the home front."
"Does that mean it's finally time?"
"Yeah. Marco has sent out the call."
We raised anchor and departed from Amazon Lily not long after, headed for Whitebeard's home island. Left behind in the Kuja's care were the Sweet Pirates, whom Hancock had readily agreed to coach for the next year as a favor to me. One might assume that the Snake Princess would be upset with me for hurting her crush, and one would be wrong. While that had been one of the emotions warring for dominance on her face, it had been a minor one. In fact, the most prevalent had been unrestrained joy at being able to nurse Luffy back to health, for however brief a time the rubber man needed to bounce back to his usual self.
"I'm coming too."
"No, you're not Luffy. No way."
"Whhyyyyyy? Come on. Sabo is going with you."
"I'm your big brother. It's different. Now, don't look at me like that. I happen to agree with Ace and that's not going to change."
"But that's not faaaaaaaair!"
Of course, Luffy had been rather insistent that he come along too, but in a surprising twist, both Ace and Sabo had managed to put their foot down. Regardless of his wishes, Luffy was to remain where he was and finish his training. That Sabo was coming along to help Ace while he himself couldn't, clearly did not sit well with the youngest of the three brothers, however no amount of whining, arguing and stubbornness was enough to overcome Ace's determination to keep Luffy safe.
"…I'm still coming."
"No. I refuse to allow you to come. It's dangerous."
"I refuse your refusal."
"Well in that case, I refuse your refusal of my refusal."
"And I double refuse your refusal, so there!"
In the end, Luffy had given in and waved us goodbye with a dejected look on his face. Complete with a raincloud and a handkerchief. Though with her captain unable to accompany us, it also meant that Robin would be staying behind as well. In part this had been because Robin knew how upset Luffy would have been if she'd been able to go on this mission while he was stuck on his little island. The other part of her reasoning remained a mystery to me, but when she'd winked at me and promised to spend our time apart preparing a gift, I'd just nodded my head.
"Come back safe, Bellamy."
"I will. I promise."
Nobody questioned why the Bellamy Pirates were heading to war. Not my own crew nor the Kuja. Not even Luffy. I'd almost go as far as to claim, that there was a tacit understanding of sorts. One which had not left an inch of doubt that things would turn out this way. Perhaps, it had been Izou's extended stint on the Black Pearl marking us as the newest allies of the Whitebeard Pirates, the first and only addition after the Summit War. Or maybe it had been how I'd made Bonney promise to wait until Marco made a move before going after Blackbeard, heavily implying that I'd be around to lend my own hand, instead of leaving Bonney to hang high and dry. Though, in all likelihood, the cause behind my Crew's easy acceptance was probably something else entirely.
In any case, when considering the level of danger we were willingly exposing ourselves to, morale was surprisingly high. While exuberance was far from the first word that came to mind when trying to describe the mood, there was a sense of quiet confidence prevalent on every level. An unshakable belief that things would turn out ok, just like they had every time. Faith in our strength.
Faith… in me.
It was infectious. And not for no reason either. Despite knowing how the Payback War had ended in the original timeline, things were different enough that I held high hopes for a better outcome. After all, Ace's presence alone was huge both in terms of morale and literal firepower, even without including the benefits of Rayleigh's training.
In addition to all that, Byron's concert at Marineford and the consequences thereof had ensured a much higher survival rate amongst the Whitebeard Pirates than had been the case in canon. Many who would have fallen prey to the pacifista or been slaughtered in the encirclement by the cannon emplacements on the walls, were still alive thanks to the flapping of frantic butterflies. In a word, Edward Newgate's first mate had many more ships and allies to play around with, including a few he hadn't been expecting. Three of whom could trace the catalyst for their participation back to me, however tangentially it may be.
"What do you mean you're not bringing pizza? This bloody trashheap doesn't have pizza and you made me promise to stick with the Whitebeards for an entire year. How am I supposed to survive without pizza?"
"Just for the record, I asked you not to go after Blackbeard on your own. I never made you promise to stay on Whitebeard's home island. That one is all on you."
"…just bring me pizza, please? There I've even used the magic word. I'm going to starve to death if you don't. There's nothing to eat on this blasted rock. Hell, I've been surviving on burgers and fried chicken! That's no life for a pirate like me, surely you can see that."
"Oh, the absolute horror."
"I'm being serious!"
"I pity your cardiovascular system."
"My cardiovascular what?"
Bonney alone had the potential to be a game changer on a large battlefield, able to occupy a significant portion of the enemy rank and file by herself. In conjunction with the commanders around to keep the worst of the Blackbeard pirates away from her, it wouldn't be improbable to see her effect multiplied.
"You should have seen it, Midget. It was wonderful, beautiful and majestic! Angelic even. The way she took care of that marine was a pure work of art. While there's little that will trump a good thumping with my trusty pillar, there is something sublimely, aesthetically pleasing about watching a six-inch woman swinging a six-foot man around like he doesn't weigh a thing."
"Wait a minute, before you keep talking about your favorite giantess, let's backtrack a little. What do you mean you're coming along?"
"You didn't think I'd let you hog all the fun without me, did you? That hurts, Midget. Right through the heart. And here, I thought we were drinking buddies."
"Do I even want to know how you knew about this?"
"Disco told me."
Urouge had been another who'd pledged his support. Though in his own words he was only joining the expedition for the sole purpose of guiding some heretics to hell, while having a good time doing so. His phone call had been as unexpected as it had been welcome, even if I could have done without the man boisterously singing the praises of his newest recruit. The time he'd spent describing the demise of a marine vice admiral at the hands of the former giant rear admiral in excruciating detail… Yeah, those were three hours I wasn't getting back.
"Your peers are a quirky bunch, Bellamy."
"Eh, not as quirky as someone deciding to join a war to help a brother he didn't know he had a week ago."
"Touché I suppose. Touché. I think I'll blame the guy who helped awaken my memories of a brother I didn't remember having a week ago. You should totally hold him accountable. Absolute irresponsible cad, that one."
"Cad?"
"Would you prefer it if I used scoundrel? I do have a lot of options, if that's not to your liking. Such as reprobate, rascal, rapscallion..."
"I think I'm partial to the word: pirate."
"...though amongst all possible options, friend is the one I'd use. Seriously, thanks. We owe you one."
"You're welcome."
"By the way, Ace is bunking with me. Just thought I'd let you know."
"Alright. That saves me the trouble of preparing a separate room, I suppose. But, do remind me again. Why are you guys on my ship?"
"It's faster than ours, duh."
Yet arguably the single greatest addition to the allied forces had been Sabo, who was at least Ace's equal in almost every respect. While Ace may have been Whitebeard's adopted son for nigh on two years and Rayleigh's student for another, Sabo had been Dragon's protégé for much, much longer.
Keeping all that in mind, yes, I was feeling rather hopeful that things would turn out differently this time. A hope that rose with every ship which joined the massive armada sitting at anchor off the coast of the Isle of Spinx. The sheer scale of which became palpable by the great cheer, that buffeted our sails the moment Ace stepped onto the pier.
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Their hope had returned.
And the world would know it.
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– Mani –
She was used to tension.
It was kind of difficult not to be, when you grew up in the red-light district, where a single mistake could spell doom or worse for a helpless young girl. Yet, the sort of tension she was facing now beggared belief. Or at least, it would have if Mani hadn't changed somewhere along the way. Now instead of being a crushing weight, it was merely…very difficult. If she were honest with herself, that last bit probably wasn't ever going to change.
Especially, because Mani was well aware that she was the weakest combatant on her crew. Heck, she even had trouble fighting against Muret whenever the mad doctor pulled out Funkfreed. It still vexed her to this day that the fruit loving sword always managed to locate her whenever Mani tried to sneak up on them. She would blame the giant elephant ears, if it hadn't been for Funkfreed having begun to display a propensity for armament haki in their spars lately. Logically, if a weapon, which had gained sentience by consuming a devil fruit, was capable of using one form of haki, it was only to be expected that it had the capacity to learn the other. Didn't make the sword-elephant any less annoying to fight though.
Anyway, to be facing a crew who'd slain Whitebeard, albeit under extenuating circumstances, was a daunting task in and of itself. That their leader had been a monster capable of defeating Whitebeard's second division commander, even before gaining the power of a second devil fruit, made Mani's gut do some very uncomfortable things.
Most thought that Ross was the coward on the ship. It would be easy to think that, considering the sailmaker lived and breathed paranoia. Checking every night to make sure that no odd beings lived under his bed was but the tamest of his habits. If his trust in Hewitt weren't absolute, he'd still be testing his food for poisons like he'd used to do all the time back home. That they had collectively managed to get the man to relax as much as he'd done was a miracle and nothing would convince Mani otherwise.
Yet for all his worries and his fears, many of which drove Ross further down the rabbit hole that was observation haki, he wasn't a coward. Mani, on the other hand, very much was.
You could see it in how she fought, always hiding and striking from the shadows. Using her friends as cover and staying out of danger whenever possible. Oh sure, she could put on a good show against opponents who were so far beneath her that they couldn't pose a threat even if she'd wanted them to. Bill's officer…whatshisname…Avalon had been someone she could have finished off in her sleep with two hands tied behind her back, and he too hadn't received a fair fight from her.
Not that she minded terribly much, mind you. Mani was weak and she'd come to terms with that. The weak had their own ways of surviving, adapted and honed over generations of being nothing but prey. And that was fine. Like her mother used to say, there was no shame in it. One had to accept reality and move on.
Part of that was sharpening the few weapons she did have to ensure she could at least pull her own weight. While the captain had assured her that she'd never need fear for her place on the crew, that had only made the burden heavier in the long run. After all, few things fostered a greater sense of obligation than unconditional generosity.
Honestly? She hadn't meant to become some sort of pseudo assassin. Skulking in the shadows, hidden and unseen... It hadn't been the sort of glamorous role she'd dreamt of as a child, far from it in fact. However, it was what she was good at and it fit her philosophy quite well. Why try to batter down the enemy's defenses with a frontal assault, when a knife to the back would do? It removed her captain's foes all the same and was arguably the far superior option. At the very least, it was less messy and loud.
Unfortunately for her wallet, superb quality of equipment was a must for any stealth fighter seeking to live beyond thirty. Clothing, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, knives, needles, gadgets… what others like Ross could gain through training their bodies, Mani needed to compensate with the tools of her trade.
Hence, it only made sense to stock up on everything she might possibly need before embarking on a momentous expedition, no?
That was her excuse for dragging Rivers along for a shopping spree and Mani was determined to stick to it.
She wasn't the only one who'd had that idea and wherever there was a demand, a market would appear to meet it. Be it procuring themselves new weapons or lining up to be treated by Trafalgar Law's medical tent, the Whitebeards weren't stingy with opening their purse strings. As such, with thousands of New World pirates gathered on a single island, it hadn't taken long before hundreds of stalls had popped up to form a temporary grand bazaar. She even recognized some of the symbols flying from flagpoles here and there, denoting a particular booth as belonging to the Joker, the Bloody Countess or even Disco's new sales branch.
Though, this did mean that the Joker had finally found them, even if the presence of his lackeys here may have been a pure coincidence. Not that she was all too worried. Bellamy had beaten a Warlord already and he was already far stronger than he'd been when he kicked Moria's ass. Surely, Doflamingo wouldn't be any different.
Mani and Rivers wandered through the market, inspecting stuff here, buying some there and doing a lot of window shopping. Quite a few vendors had also significantly lightened Rivers' purse by successfully plying their sugary wares. Her boyfriend hadn't seemed to mind all that much, happy to enjoy a nice afternoon together whilst snacking on various treats he'd picked up along the way.
It was in the midst of one such moment that Mani saw…
...IT.
Sitting out in the open with no guards and no security, kept safe only by the honor of the masses and the presence of the shop keep. A greater opportunity, than the one she had so foolishly discarded all those months ago and one which she'd been too busy to pursue thereafter.
An object that her elite shopping instincts screamed at her to purchase.
Something better than the most luxurious of designer handbags.
Something more tantalising than the most extravagant of dresses.
Mani saw the Calm Calm Fruit.
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Wapol is Back!
Welcome to Marineford Daily News, your only source of accurate and unbiased truth.
If you haven't been living under a rock, then you've no doubt heard about the newest sensation, which has captured the hearts of children by storm. All across the globe, shops are experiencing severe difficulties in maintaining their stock. Small wonder, as children and their parents are turning every toy store in their vicinity upside down in their quest to get their hands upon the now famous Wapol Toys.
No one was perhaps more surprised by this development than their creator himself, the former King of the Drum Kingdom and the toys' namesake, Wapol.
Having started his new career as a humble street vendor, the popularity of his toys has allowed Wapol to set up his own factory last week with three more to follow in the coming months. This, frankly, meteoric rise has puzzled experts who haven't been able to determine what about his products sets them apart from the rest. Fortunately for our curious readers around the globe, a government insider has commented that the source of his success had to lie in Wapol's kingly bearing and the deep insight he must have picked up while ruling a country.
She cited Drum' current prosperity as proof of Wapol's successful management and his decision to pass the crown unto King Dalton as evidence of Wapol's discerning eye when it came to subordinates. The third factor is said to be his unrelenting drive to bring goodness into the world, which is also supposed to be the reason why he voluntarily left the kingdom of his birth to bring joy and happiness to children on a global scale.
As such, we wish him the best of luck and look forward to watching his inevitable rise to greatness.
This was Marineford Daily reporting.
And as always, please follow us to never miss an update on the best news reports this side of the Red Line.
Rumors of his arrest by the marines and subsequent escape are untrue. The Marine HQ has offered a generous reward of 30000 belli for any information on those spreading such lies amongst the populace.