Chapter 22

The pirates all complained loudly at Whitebeard telling them to retreat. No one wanted to leave Whitebeard behind. Not only was he their captain, but he was also their father figure. Whitebeard smiled proudly as he faced Sengoku and the Marines around him, "What do you say we settle things once and for all Marines!"

To accentuate his words, Whitebeard gathered a vast amount of power in his hand and slammed it into the air. A powerful shockwave rippled through the entire island. Buildings began to collapse as the ground behind Whitebeard violently ripped open creating a chasm between himself and his crew. While things settled down, Whitebeard looked over his shoulder, "Did you not hear my Captain's Order?! GO NOW! IDIOTS!!"

The reluctance of the pirates to leave was clear as day. Against their wishes, they began to follow Whitebeard's order. While the pirates retreated, the Marines tried to gain at least something out of the mess and moved to give chase. Markus wasn't about to let the marines shoot the pirates in the back. Markus created a wall with his Electro-Repulsive Net skill between most of the retreating pirates and the marines.

Whitebeard seemed to have a similar idea as he channeled his power into Murakumogiri and slashed with it. Every slash caused powerful shockwaves that sent groups of Marines flying through the air. With the wall of electricity blocking them and Whitebeard threatening them, the Marines were forced to focus on him. After blowing away a large number of Marines, Whitebeard looked over to see Ace kneeling down toward him.

"There's no need to speak, Ace. Just answer me one question. Am I a good father?"

"Of course!!"

Whitebeard laughed happily and returned to his rampage. Ace turned and joined Luffy and the others as they started to run away from the plaza to return to the ships and escape. As they ran, Akainu started to make his move. He launched a massive magma fist toward a group of pirates causing a massive explosion that sent several flying. He moved toward Luffy and Ace while speaking in a derogatory tone, "Running away the moment you grabbed Ace. What a bunch of cowards. The Whitebeard pirates... The captain as well... It can't be helped, Whitebeard is just a failure from the previous era."

Akainu's words brought Ace's retreat to a halt. Markus slowly shook his head, "Fool."

This was Ace's problem. He was too easily provoked. Once he was provoked he became an idiot and just charged into trouble headfirst. He did it with Blackbeard which led to his capture and now he's doing it again. In the canon, it was this very issue that led to his death at the hands of Akainu. Markus was here to prevent it this time but if Ace really didn't learn his lesson once and for all, then there was no way he would live much longer after today.

Ace glared at Akainu, "Take back what you just said!"

Other pirates tried to get Ace to ignore Akainu, instead he ignored them and continued to glare at Akainu. Seeing that brought a condescending smirk to Akainu's face, "Stopped by your father in blood, Roger. Couldn't become a king even after his death, Whitebeard is a failure forever. Which part of that is wrong?! Called 'pops' by a bunch of scum, acting so warm like a family roaming the seas."

"SHUT UP!"

"Roaming around for decades without becoming a king or anything! Now he's giving up his life to protect a bunch of losers. Ain't that the emptiest life ever?"

"Shut up!! Pops gave us a place we belong to! You people will never understand pop's greatness!"

Akanu snorted, "Humans that don't walk on the right path have no value! The world has no place for you pirates! Whitebeard is a failure going to his death! This suits a general of a bunch of scum!"

Markus stopped paying attention to their words and focused on their actions instead. The moment he was waiting for was coming, soon. Markus crouched down and tightened all of his muscles as lightning once more surrounded his body. Ace launched a powerful attack against Akainu while Akainu countered with his own. Fire and Magma collided against each other, but the magma won out in the end. Ace fell back cradling his hand that now sported burns.

Markus activated his footwork while his eyes narrowed. Akainu made some degrading remarks about Ace and Luffy's blood alone being a sin worth killing them over. While Akainu was talking, Luffy collapsed as Ivan's dose of drugs wore off of him. He'd been pushing himself way past his limits at this point. Akainu charged around Ace while his fist and arm transformed into magma. Akainu was clearly going after Luffy.

Markus and Ace moved simultaneously. Ace moved to get in front of Luffy so he could use his own body to protect Luffy from harm. Markus's move was a bit more complex. With a sonic boom, Markus leaped off of the wall. The power of his launch shattered the wall and sent rubble flying. Markus became a blur of brightly colored electricity as he positioned himself between Ace and Akainu. As Markus arrived there was a bright flash of vertical light that seemed to cause the whole world to pause.

Everyone around froze as they tried to take in the scene before them. Markus stood in front of Akainu with his left hand holding the scabbard of Shodai while the sword itself was in his right hand and pointed toward the sky. Dark purple electricity charged to the point of turning into plasma wrapped around the Armament Haki coated blade. A moment later there was a loud thunk as Akainu's right arm, from the shoulder down, fell to the ground.

The silence lasted for a few moments longer before Akainu let out a bellow and gripped his shoulder stump with his left hand. In the split second that Markus had acted, he'd coated Sohai Kitetus in Armament Haki, wrapped it in a heavily charged Lightning Sword, and used an Iai attack to draw his sword and simultaneously attack Akainu's arm.

Akainu dropped to his knees while holding the stump where his arm used to be. The wound wasn't bleeding very much since the heat of the plasma around Shodai cauterized the wound. Markus didn't want to waste any words on Akainu. Instead, he hopped up in the air and performed a brutal spin kick directly to his face with his Haki coated foot. The blow blasted Akainu into a crowd of Marine soldiers that stared at the heavily injured Admiral in shock.

The silence lasted while Markus canceled the skills on his sword and slowly sheathed it. As the sword clicked into place, the whole world broke into an uproar. Markus ignored the praise from the pirates and fear from the Marines to turn and focus on Ace. Without a word, he slapped Ace right across the face with enough force to make him spit out blood, "Everyone here is risking their lives to save you and you go off trying to get not just yourself, but my Captain, your brother, killed?!"

"Markus! Why did you hit Ace?!"

Markus looked down at Luffy, "If I hadn't interfered just now, Ace would have been killed by Akainu and you would have become Akainu's next target! He let Akainu play him like a fiddle!" Markus turned his glare to Ace, "Do the lives of the people who died trying to save you mean nothing? Does Whitebeard's life mean nothing to you?!"

Markus grabbed Ace by the shoulder and shoved him toward Luffy, "Leave. Now! Before you get yourself or someone else killed!"

There was a look of shock and shame on Ace's face as he left with Luffy and the others. Jinbe had taken the time to pick up and carry Luffy with him. Once they took off, Luffy had passed out from his overexertion. Markus turned away from them and looked over at the Marines still grounded around the heavily injured Akainu. To rub it in, Markus crouched down and picked up his severed arm. With a flash, it vanished into his inventory.

Markus wanted to make sure the injury was permanent. He couldn't remember a single Devil Fruit that could restore lost limbs, but he knew that a good doctor with the right ability or power could reattach the arm. Trafalgar Law, for example, could easily reattach Akainu's arm. He didn't doubt that the Marines would have doctors and surgeons on the same level, or even above, Law. Without the arm, there was nothing they could do.

Akainu had recovered a little and glared at Markus in pure hatred, "YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Markus laughed while shaking his head, "You can try, but a weakling like you couldn't even touch a hair on my head."

Whitebeard gave Markus a look of appreciation before he started to go all out against the Marines. He wanted all of their attention on his to allow his sons to get away safely. With Markus helping him, it was a lot easier. Whitebeard started sending out powerful shockwaves to decimate the Marines and their base while Markus retreated back to his spot to relax and recover. His Willpower pool was massive but he used a good portion of it to take Akainu's arm.

As Whitebeard rampaged, a section of the base collapsed and revealed a man of such massive proportions that he even dwarfed Oars and oars Jr. in size. His appearance caused a lot of commotion. The commotion only increased when a Marine peon noticed several people standing on top of where the scaffold for the execution platform stood previously. As the dust from Whitebeard's last attack cleared a distinct laugh could be heard, "Zehahahaha! You finally noticed?"

Blackbeard stood there with all the current members of his crew. Some Markus had seen before and others recently released from Impel Down. Sengoku and Whitebeard both looked pissed off. Sengoku was the first to shout at them, "You scum! How did you make it up there?!"

Whitebeard was a bit more restrained as he just muttered, "Son of a bitch."

Blackbeard stood at the front of his crewmembers and laughed loudly while addressing Whitebeard, "Zehahahahaaa! Long time no see! I sure am glad I was able to make it in time to see you die, old man!!"

Markus carefully watched the events unfolding as Blackbeard explained his entire plan to Sengoku. Such as only becoming a Shichibukai to gain access to Impel Down to free prisoners. As well as how Lafitte hypnotized the people working the controls of the Gates of justice to open them for anyone. Whitebeard quickly heard enough and went on the offensive. He sent out a powerful shockwave that shattered even more of the Marine base as he attacked Blackbeard, "TEACH!"

While the dust was settling, Whitebeard glared at Blackbeard, "You are the only scum I would never call my son, Teach! You broke the one and only iron-clad rule on my ship! You killed your friend!"

Marco looked like he wanted to take off and attack Blackbeard but Whitebeard prevented him from moving with a shout, "Don't interfere Marco! In 4th unit commander Thatch's name, I'll take this idiot's life and settle things myself!!"

Markus made sure the Den Den Mushi was trained on the confrontation between the two men. The whole world had front seats to the show. Blackbeard taunted Whitebeard before their battle started. Darkness spread out from Blackbeard and covered the ground all around him. Rubble and Marines began to sink into the darkness he generated. This was the first time Markus had seen Blackbeard using the Yami Yami no Mi and he had to admit that it looked impressive.

The darkness didn't seem to have any effect on Whitebeard at all. He lifted his hand as it was wrapped in bright white light. Blackbeard laughed and lifted his own hand covered in darkness, "Zehahahaha! That's not gonna work! Any powers become useless in front of me!"

Whitebeard struck and as Blackbeard said, it was useless. The darkness on Blackbeard's hand swirled like a black hole in space and drained the power from Whitebeard's fist. That was exactly what made Blackbeard terrifying, his ability to nullify the power of any Devil Fruit through touch. Though... it did have some drawbacks. Whitebeard proved this as he slashed down with his naginata and sliced Blackbeard's shoulder.

The Yami Yami no Mi was classified as a Logia, yet unlike other Logia users, Blackbeard couldn't turn into his element to avoid damage. His Devil Fruit absorbs everything, including attacks, and if Blackbeard doesn't manually absorb the attack it will hit his body. After an attack hits him, he feels even more pain from absorbing that too. Markus was pretty certain he could defeat Blackbeard as things stood now. The problem was Blackbeard's companions. He knew very little about their capabilities. Attacking them head-on could easily be a one-way ticket to death.

While Blackbeard rolled around on the ground in pain, Whitebeard grabbed him by the face and pinned his arms to the ground with his feet. For Blackbeard to nullify people's powers, he had to use his hands and channel his Yami Yami no Mi's darkness through them. With his hands pinned down, Blackbeard could touch Blackbeard to stop him from using his ability. Whitebeard took full advantage of that and unleashed a powerful shockwave directly to Blackbeard's head. The shockwave shattered the ground all around Blackbeard.

As a testament to his insane durability, Blackbeard didn't die from the attack. Blackbeard rolled on the ground shouting in pain for a bit before shouting at Whitebeard like a petulant child, "You monster! You should have already been dead! Shut up and accept your death! LET HIM HAVE IT!"

At his command, all of Blackbeard's companions attacked Whitebeard at once. Somme shot him with flintlocks and rifles while others slashed at him with their swords. Whitebeard was too weak to move away from the attacks or protect himself. He had no choice but to take it all on head first. While Whitebeard was being pummeled, his crew were shedding tears and calling his name. This went on for minutes until every member of Blackbeard's crew ran out of ammunition.

Even after all of that, Whitebeard was still hanging on by a thread. Covered in blood and wounds, Whitebeard stared down at Blackbeard, "You're not one of them... The men that Roger waits for... Are a very rare few... But not you Teach. You are not one of them. Those who carry the will of Roger... His flame has yet to disappear... And in that way, even from far away and long ago, it has continually been passed down time and time again! And one day... Hundreds of years into the future, all of it will be written into history. Those who came to fight for this world!"

Whitebeard was panting heavily as his gaze turned to Sengoku, "Sengoku... All of you... The world Government... It's going to come... A grand battle that engulfs the entire world is coming! Not that I care... But whenever someone finds that treasure... The world will return to surprise! The day will surely come..."

He took a deep breath before shouting at the top of his lungs, "ONE PIECE!! IT EXISTS!!"

Markus made certain that the Den Den Mushi had been trained on Whitebeard the entire time. His statement would set off a whole new era! New pirates would head to the seas. New names would rise and fall. All of them would be gunning for the One Piece at the end of the Grand Line. Everything Sengoku had been trying to put an end to had been destroyed by this one statement by Whitebeard. Those were the final words of Whitebeard's life. He died right then and there while still standing tall and proud.

The Whitebeard pirates were devastated but knew they had to leave. Some of the leaders with cooler heads wiped their tears away and commanded everyone to escape. While they ran, Markus cracked his neck and crouched down once again. Lightning surrounded his body while he focused intently on Whitebeard's body and Blackbeard. He was waiting for the moment Blackbeard extracted Whitebeard's Devil Fruit.

Things did not go according to how Markus thought they would. Markus would have sworn on a stack of bibles that Blackbeard had extracted Whitebeard's Devil Fruit in full view of the public. So imagine his surprise when Blackbeard's crew pulled out a gigantic piece of black cloth and covered Whitebeard with it. Markus instantly knew something was wrong with his memories and that he needed to act. Even if he couldn't get his hands on the Gura Gura no Mi, he had to make sure that Blackbeard didn't either!

When Blackbeard crouched down to lift the cloth and go inside of it, Markus knew his hope of getting the Gura Gura no Mi was over. He acted instantly. His whole body turned into a bolt of lightning as he blasted through the air. Markus moved at the fastest speed he could manage while still being able to fully comprehend what was happening. In a few microseconds, he appeared next to the wrapped Whitebeard, grabbed his body, and disappeared again. Only a second later, he was outside of the bay right next to his boxes of fruits and vegetables.

Even from where he was now, Markus could hear Blackbeard's roar of outrage. Hearing him roaring brought a smile to Markus's face. Not only had he destroyed Sengoku's plans but he'd become a wrench to Blackbeard as well. Without the power of the Gura Gura no Mi, Blackbeard would be nowhere near as strong as he could have been.

Markus gingerly set Whitebeard's body down on the ice. He would give his body to the Whitebeard Pirates later. After setting the old man down, Markus walked to the entrance of the bay and kept watching what was happening through his Haki. Blackbeard was going on a rampage as he threw the mother of all temper tantrums. The Marines were the primary focus of his rage as the Whitebeard pirates had run away to escape the island. Markus had no sympathy for the Marines. He just watched while waiting for the Whitebeard pirates to get to their ships. Once they arrived, he would help free the ships from the ice and then return Whitebeard's body to them.