Chapter 9: Loser's Welcome Back

"—It was amazing, sir. He fended off both of them. His skill and technique managed to keep them busy long enough for us to escape. I owe Captain Ace everything. Really!" Orin ranted as he stood in front of Akainu and gave his report.

Ace wanted to burst into a ball of flames and disappear. No matter how he begged Orin, nothing he said seemed to deter the battered soldier from his belief that Ace had beaten Thatch and Marco after he was knocked out.

Orin swore up and down that the last thing he saw was Ace getting ready to throw fists with the two pirates and had woken to see them fleeing after their *beating*.

Apparently Sakazuki also wasn't buying it either. His eyes bored into Ace, unpacking all the words Orin spouted no doubt taking note of how uninjured and alive Ace still was despite facing –not one—but two high skill opponents he had no business outclassing. Ace could almost see him sorting the lies from the truth through his cold gaze and the way his lips curled into a snarl at the idea of Ace fighting off two opponents most marines would crumble against.

"Is that so...?" he growled, finally standing up and cutting Orin off. He waved a hand, dismissing the excited lieutenant. Ace had no escape as he stood in the admiral's ship office to finally deliver his own report.

The fleet ship had come in early that morning, long after Ace spotted Marco and Thatch leaving the island on a small boat hidden on the other side of the island. When Ace had called into Akainu's Den Den Mushi line, he'd been met with fervent instructions to go back and capture the two commanders while the fleet ship zeroed in on the island. However, when Ace described that he'd actually just escaped the two commanders, Sakazuki yelled at Ace to stay put, intent on surveying the scene himself due to his perceived notion of Ace's incompetence.

When Sakazuki disembarked and made his way over to the landing port the Whitebeards had been laying low at, he grew steadily more annoyed as he took in the fresh sign of their tracks that led straight into the sea.

On his way back to the ship, Sakazuki ordered Ace and his men back to the ship to give full reports on what they experienced. Everyone had given roughly the same testimony to Ace's understanding; they saw the commanders, grouped up to figure out a plan, but missed their chance as Orin and Ace got caught up in a fight before they could all meet and move out together.

Now Ace was the only one left to give his side and to his detriment, Orin made him seem like he could have captured both commanders and taken them in singlehandedly. No doubt, Akainu wanted to know why he didn't or worse…to confirm that he couldn't at all.

But Ace felt wary of being too on the nose with his lies, but he would have to come up with something to save his neck and reputation.

"My lieutenant may have exaggerated the events that took place, sir," Ace grinded out as soon as Orin left. Sakazuki just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You see, one of the Commanders, Thatch I believe, had knocked him out before he could really witness the fight."

"So, he lied then," Akainu said in a dry voice, eyes following Orin's trail out the door.

Shit…

"I suspect he was half lucid or something to at least get certain parts of the fight and conversation."

Sakazuki froze on that statement. "What conversation?"

Ace gulped; he was treading dangerous water here. Either he tells the truth and be marked as an utter failure, or he lies and has to explain why he didn't capture these pirates that he allegedly fought off.

Garp's old advice to him from his early marine years played in his head. 'If both options seem like bad choices, see if you can rephrase them to make a better middle choice. Nothing sounds like failure if you talk about what you gained out of your experience!'

Ace took a deep breath and went on.

"I was outmatched, but the two commanders were holding back because they wanted to interrogate me on what the Marine's plans where."

"Oh. And what did they learn?" he growled, towered over Ace, as if ready to strike down a traitor.

He had no reason to fear he told himself. Akainu would surely think twice about striking down a well standing marine for escaping a fight he had no chance of winning. And if Ace spun this story well enough, he could see a way to make this a positive experience.

"They learned nothing. They didn't get any information out of me despite their best attempts. They tried to ask questions and figure out where I came from, but I insisted that me and the crew were lost stragglers."

"I find that hard to believe. You may think you're good, but criminals at their level need a marine with more power and strength to properly hold them off. I bet you squealed to them to avoid getting pummeled."

Ace shook his head, trying to look more confident as he described his fight. "I analyzed the situation and tried to find a way to turn the situation in my favor. One of the commanders was injured and I used that advantage to give me an edge and allow my escape."

Sakazuki paused when he heard this. "Which one?"

"Thatch, sir. I—err managed to get one of his arms in the fight," Ace lied, sickness pooled in his gut at the idea of hurting Thatch the same way that man Teach had. But he needed this lie. The only people who could disprove him were the Whitebeards themselves and Ace figured Sakazuki would sooner dive into the ocean willingly than talk to any of them about his unlikely story.

His claim seemed to be working too. Akainu backed off, doubt coloring his features but studying Ace with a look that no longer promised immediate death.

Ace went on, hoping to get more helpful words in before Sakazuki decided to stop listening.

"I didn't manage against the Phoenix too well, but I was able to fight off the 4th division commander enough for them to decide to retreat and leave us alone. That's the only way me and the lieutenant made it out. I figured it was best we stay alive to deliver this information to you than have both of us get killed since it would only benefit the enemy."

Sakazuki nodded, as if any of this added up.

"That cursed bird can heal itself. You need years of special haki training and sea stone handy to get him in a vulnerable position," he said. "It's good to hear you at least managed to get one of them sorted out. All your training hasn't been a complete waste then."

Whew…

Sakazuki paused for a moment, looking at the reports and then Ace, deep in thought. "When I was a younger marine, Admiral Borselino and I were met with many devil-fruit using pirates that seemed infinitely stronger than us. But, after much training, we both came to realize that all the gimmicks and special abilities in devil fruit could easily be overcome with the right technique.

Akainu glared at Ace as he made his next statement. "Starting tomorrow, we double your training. You WILL have Busoshoku Haki mastered so that the next time you meet those pirates, you won't be so helpless. If we're both lucky, we can make a worthy marine out of you yet."

Ace felt chills go down his spine as he excused himself, dreading the follow-up Sakazuki would have to his promise.

ELSEWHERE…

On an island far away, Marco, Thatch and the rest of their divisions all sat aboard the Moby Dick Flag ship while their Captain listened to them and sat thinking about their next move.

"Teach fled last night, Pops. As soon as he heard Thatch call on the Den Den Mushi, he disappeared, and we haven't seen him since," reported one crew mate.

"One of our smaller boats is gone too…" added another.

Whitebeard took a large drink from a hearty bottle of sake, the embers of rage sparked across his old face at the thought that Teach had planned to murder a brother. Their family…for the years they sailed together must have meant nothing to him all this time.

"All for this," said Thatch, holding up a purple fruit Whitebeard recalled him finding a week prior. None of them had noted the changed demeanor in Teach when Thatch fished the devil fruit out of the sea. But they should have…

Teach had sailed with Whitebeard almost from the very start of the crew's conception. He'd waited this long and threw away so many years of family and bonds just to take the fruit Thatch had found. The thought disturbed the older pirate immensely. But the story didn't even stop there.

Teach tried to kill Thatch and then a marine of all people had saved his son from near death. According to Thatch, without the boys help, he would have lost his life, not just his main sword arm.

Whitebeard watched as Thatch studied the fruit as own his eyes lingered on his son's injured arm. Thatch was a gifted swordsman and his body seemed to be recovering, but even Marco's healing fire had only done so much to fix the damage Teach's knife had done to the muscle and tissue around the limb's joint. It would be tough for Thatch to wield a sword as he once did, making his duel wielding style a thing of the past for now.

It would take years to relearn if he ever got full function of the tendon again. A small price to pay still since the injuries Thatch had apparently sustained where meant to kill him.

"Have you decided what to do with the fruit, my boy?" Whitebeard asked Thatch. His son held the purple fruit in his hands, conflicting emotions on his face.

"Teach tried to kill me over this thing. We found out this one is called the Yami Yami no mi. I had no idea a fruit like this could even exist," he said. As soon as they returned, they found the old devil fruit book aboard the ship and researched why this particular fruit seemed to ignite Teach's quest for blood as much as it did.

When Whitebeard finally became aware of the fruit's abilities, he understood in that moment that Teach was a man motivated by power above all else. The book revealed that the fruits darkness was an ability that absorbed all in its black void, devil fruit power included. It wasn't just powerful, in the wrong hands, it could be unbeatable.

Which left them a problem. Teach would come back for it. Unless Thatch ate it and put Teach in the position of having to kill him again to make the fruit re-spawn somewhere else in the world, all he had to do was sneak aboard the ship and steal it like he'd failed to do earlier.

It would put a permanent target on Thatch's back but better to have the power in the hands of a man who could use it to defend himself while also having his own crew as backup.

Whitebeard had discussed it with Marco. If they saw Teach again, or rather, when they did, he was to be killed, both for his betrayal and the knowledge that Teach was probably out at sea planning to kill them all since he knew the price that his betrayal had cost him would be his life.

It pained Whitebeard to think about, but his family's livelihood was on the line. They had talked about burying the fruit somewhere or letting it sink to the bottom of the sea, but something in his gut told him if they did, the power would find a way back to the surface and find a way to fall into the wrong hands.

Thatch seemed to come to the same conclusion as he finished his own internal debate and took a bite of the fruit. As usual, he cringed from the vile taste devil fruits notoriously had, but in the seconds that followed, the crew marveled as a stream of black shadows dripped off Thatch body and pooled around his feet.

The crew cheered him on for the new power, everyone reassured that their beloved commander was alive and, in some ways, more powerful than ever.

"Gurararara! Glad to see we have a resolution to this now," said Whitebeard. He turned his gaze to Marco, his other son considerably more at ease now that the fruit belonged to Thatch and Teach's plans would be near impossible to salvage in the future.

"Now, tell me about this marine who saved you."

Thatch smiled slightly at the mention of the mysterious boy he and Marco had met on one of their territory's far off islands.

"He's a good kid, but like every marine, he seems to be prioritizing the wrong things," said Thatch, as he flexed his new power and watched it expand and cover parts of his body and the ship. "It's a real shame. I kinda liked him. Too bad he was a government dog all along."

"He's also powerful. I'm pretty sure he has some sort of fire ability too. But nothing admiral level, yet. He's got ways to go before he can hold his own against us," Marco added, seemingly less concerned with the kid than Thatch was.

Whitebeard thought about it. Fresh new blood in the marines was always intriguing news. He often wondered when a new face that matched the force of Garp or Sengoku would turn up. He and his men had been itching for a worthwhile fight for many years now and maybe this kid could offer up a challenge given enough time. But still…

"He saved one of you and singlehandedly stopped Teach from starting a war that could have destroyed us all. That's all I care about. If I meet this brat, I'll have to hold off killing him and see if he's got enough spirit to make something of himself."

Thatch, Marco and a few other crew members looked up at him in alarm, curiosity brimming on their faces. Whitebeard rarely spoke of any marine in any positive way. If anything, their captain almost always had new scathing remarks ready to go whenever the organization was brought up. Whitebeard made his disgust in the Navy no secret, and made sure that whomever he spoke about the subject understood his that his stance against them lay in the fault of their power abuse, skewed ideals of justice and their own inability to guard the civilians they claimed to care about from real threats.

'I take better care of islands than they do. Nothing shows how useless you are like your enemy doing your job for you,' he used to rant to the crew after reading the paper.

Marco seemed to catch on and smirked a bit. "You don't mean to harass that poor kid, right Oyaji? He's a struggling solider of the Navy. I don't think he'd like it if the world's most dangerous Yonko thanked him for saving the livelihood of our crew."

"Gurararara! Let me meet this brat first. Anyone can do one good thing by accident. I'm curious to see if Sakazuki and that bunch manage to stamp out whatever redeeming qualities this kid has before we meet him again. Then I'll decide if he's worth looking into."