Fair weather. Flat sea.
Then a shadow swallowed the Moby Dick.
Panic rolled across the deck. Whitebeard Pirates craned their necks at the sky, where a bird-shaped monster blotted out the sun.
"What is that thing?"
"A bird? Quit joking. It's Sea King big."
"What does it want?"
Grunts shouted. Division commanders did not, but their eyes tightened. That pressure from above felt lethal.
"This is not your average bird, yoi."
First Division Commander Marco's arms fanned into wings, blue-green flames licking along the feathers. As a fellow Mythical Zoan flier, he could tell this raptor was different.
Above it stood someone different-er.
"Stand down, Marco. The kids too." Whitebeard did not raise his voice. He did not need to. Beside him, another old monster casually watched the sky.
They both felt it.
A king's presence.
"Long time no see, Golden Lion."
A calm greeting dropped like an anchor.
Black-red lightning crackled from the raptor's back, rolling across the ship. Planks split with sharp little screams. Out on the water, Sea Kings flipped belly-up and floated like dead logs.
Thump.
Thump thump.
Interns and even a few full-fledged pirates hit the deck frothing. Marco's eyes widened.
That Conqueror's Haki was obscene.
"Looks like we are late to stop this," Whitebeard muttered, taking a pull. In the vast sprawl of the Whitebeard Pirates, fewer than twenty were still standing.
"I did not invite you, brat," Whitebeard added, voice gravel and rum. "Glug glug."
He was not in a friendly mood. Some weeks back he had traded blows with the Black Emperor and the papers would not stop cawing. Cleaning up that mess across his territories had been tedious.
The Golden Lion recognized the silhouette on the bird's back and grinned around his cigar. His tone was big and bright, not a hint of rust.
"Kyahahahaha. Been a while since Marineford, kid. We gave the Navy a proper beating that day."
"You have grown, cabin boy of Roger."
Since his breakout from Impel Down, Shiki had not rampaged. He had been brewing something. This was the first time he and Ozz had met again. The scrawny intern from back then had grown into a man who could stare an era in the eye.
"An old-timer reunion without me?" Ozz's voice came lazy and sharp.
The giant raptor shrank as it descended, folding into a very pleased seagull that perched on Ozz's shoulder. The tall young man stepped through fallen pirates like it was a garden path. As he passed one survivor who was not a division commander, he paused and looked, long enough to leave a chill.
"Could not knock you out even if I tried. Competent for a straggler, Teach."
He smiled at Marshall D. Teach, patted the scar-laced shoulder, and kept walking.
For Ozz it was a hello. For Teach it was ice down the spine. He gaped his gap-toothed grin and sweated. Why single him out? Marco had a Mythical Zoan and did not get a word.
Did Ozz see something?
Across the deck, Whitebeard's pupils flickered. Roger had told him long ago. Those with D in their names were not normal people. Now even Ozz…
"Hey, Shiki."
Ozz sat down on the air, crossed one leg over the other, and jabbed straight at the Golden Lion.
"You dare bring that up? If you had kept Sengoku and Garp busy like you promised, I would not have had to pull back from Marineford so early."
No sugar. Just teeth.
"Tch. Those two old bastards ganged up on me. Otherwise how would I lose," Shiki snapped, hackles up.
Whitebeard's grin split wide.
"Gurararara. And after that you got yourself arrested, and the kid got himself crowned the Prince of the Next Generation."
Poke the lion's ribs, watch him cough.
Back when the sea spoke of three great rulers, Ozz had dented each of their reputations in his own special way. Whitebeard felt better remembering that he was not alone.
He did wish Roger were here to hear it. Captain went too early. Would have been nice to watch Ozz sass him to his face.
He would get his chance.
"Let the past be past."
Old Shiki would have drawn steel by now. The version who had majored in patience down in Impel Down only exhaled smoke and turned to Ozz, delivering lines the sea had heard once before.
"Cabin boy of Roger… no. Ozz. We had our grudges. Forget them. Back in Edd War I admired you, and I still do."
"With your grip on the underworld and the great machine I have been building, we can take the world overnight."
He spread his arms, cigar blazing, voice grand enough to wake the horizon.
"Partner with me, Ozz."
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