Chapter Text
After spending at least four hours discussing with one another, Shanks and Benn had finally decided on the date where the both of them would have the ‘talk’ with Ace (why does it sounds like they are going to have a sex education talk with their only child who is heading into their teenage phrase?). While they weren’t so sure where the conversation might lead to or what kind of reactions they would be experiencing from the fire-brat, they had both mentally prepared themselves for the worst.
Shanks and Benn are both so worried that they went ahead and inform both Yasopp and Lucky Roo about what they are about to do and the date they had set on. If the 'talk' really did screw everything up, the both of them would have to pick up the broken pieces of Ace's trust after all of the hard work they had put in.
Of course, Yasopp and Lucky Roo had tried to lessen the negativity that surrounds their Captain and First Mate by trying to lighten the mood by cracking some light jokes, but it didn’t seem to work or help.
Yasopp and Lucky Roo might not be an experienced yet uncertified counselor or an expert on how to mentally and physically prepare for some serious discussion at least they knew how being worried and tensed would not help in any kind of situations.
In the end, Lucky Roo had to slap both their Captain and First Mate at the back of their head so that they would change the energy they are releasing before heading into the room that Yasopp had set aside for Ace’s use. A situation Shanks usually finds himself in due to his idiotic actions or because of something stupid he had said, and the first experience for their First Mate.
“I’m going to do more damage to the both of you if this doesn’t stop.” Lucky Roo warned, hoping that his threat would be able to make his Captain and First Mate forget about their fears and worries.
“The both of you are ridiculous.” Yasopp pointed out. When he receives twin looks of confusion he decided to elaborate for their sake, “You,” pointing at Shanks, “are one of the four Yonko who is feared by everyone including the Marines, World Government, and the Celestial Dragons.” Turning his head in Benn’s direction, “And you’re the feared First Mate to Red Hair Shanks, even fucking Kizaru is afraid of you yet instead of being the threatening, deadly and feared pirates the both of you are, you’re as skittish as a kitten who had been let out of the den by their mother to see the World for the very first time.”
With Lucky Roo agreeing with Yasopp’s statement, Shanks opened his mouth to rebuke in order to gain back some of his dignity. Yasopp prevented that from happening by holding up one of his hand.
“I know and understood the reason why the both of you are this terrified of having this talk, however, try putting yourself in Ace’s shoes for now.” Yasopp continued, “With how skittish the both of you are, Ace would believe that the both of you are done with helping him and is about to throw him off of our ship.”
“We’re not-“
“I know.” Yasopp cut Shanks off, “But that’s not what Ace would think if the both of you head into his room looking like that and requested a private talk with him.” Realization drawn on both Shanks’ and Benn’s face, it seems like Yasopp and Lucky Roo managed to get their points through their Captain and First Mate’s thick skull, “Now that the both of you finally understood the point that the both of us have been trying to make, do something about it.”
All four of them had wasted half an hour before Yasopp and Lucky Roo are satisfied with the energy the other two are releasing before allow Shanks and Benn to head into Ace’s room, but it’s half an hour well spent. As Yasopp and Lucky Roo watched their Captain and First Mate disappear behind the closed door, they quietly wished them good luck with what they are able to do.
“Do you think they will be able to handle it?” Lucky Roo asked, ignoring the drumstick that he is holding in his hand; a sight that is only seen in threatening situations.
Shrugging his shoulders to answer his friend’s question, “I can’t be certain how this will work out since it largely depends on Ace’s reaction. We could only hope that Shanks’ good luck of being able to get out of impossible situations would help them out and that Benn could control the flow of the conversation.”
Just as Yasopp and Lucky Roo predicted, Ace started fidgeting the moment Shanks had said that they need to have a private talk with him.
Shanks really couldn’t guess how this whole thing will turn out; unlike all of those times when he got his crew and best friends into life-threatening situations that he knew he is strong enough to get all of them out alive, but when has he turned his back on impossible situations?
Never did and never will. And having a bloody sensitive talk with his ex-captain's son doesn’t change his view and belief.
“Ace, stop making up conclusion when you haven’t heard what we’re about to say.” Benn is the first person to break the silence.
With how fast and forceful Ace had snapped his head up to look at Benn, Shanks feared that their fire-brat might hurt his neck or worse, snap his neck. Goosebumps appeared through-out Shanks’ body with that thought; remembered how helpless he had been while he watched his Captain being executed by the Marines and how that execution had been aired like an entertainment programme. The tensed body posture and the fear in his eyes that Ace was unable to hide away from them broke Shanks’ heart; it’s as if their fire-brat is physically and mentally preparing him to be beaten by them.
Just what the hell did their fire-brat have to go through during his childhood to express this kind of reaction?
With his heart still bleeding for the child in front of him; who would have become his nephew if his Captain is still alive, Shanks decided to spare the child from any more stress and kick-start the conversation, “We are NOT kicking you off the ship brat, so get that out of your head.” Ignoring the flinch he receives from Ace, “We’re just here to talk about the Old Man.”
If Shanks hadn’t know how reluctant Ace is to talk about Old Man Newgate, he would have been worried about how Ace’s complexion paled even further than what normal humans should be able to do –with devil fruit or not- and maybe screaming his heads off for their doctor to come inside here to check on their fire-brat. But he knows everything, that’s why he isn’t freaking his heads off right now.
Looking at the defensive pose Ace had unknowingly taken, “W-What do you want me to talk about?”
Shanks couldn’t help but mentally curse himself.
For taking this long to realize the fact that his Captain have given himself up to protect all of them, for taking this long to remember Rouge’s existence or even remember the fact that she could have been pregnant with his Captain’s child, for taking that long to find her and even giving up on searching for his Captain’s child once he learns about Rouge’s death and that Garp had taken their child.
Shanks knew that his Captain and Rouge must be rolling in their graves by all of his actions.
Holding up his only arm left, “We aren’t here to force you to reveal anything to us Ace. If you don’t want to answer those questions now, it’s okay. We won’t force you to give us an answer, however, we would like some explanation to make sense of your repulse to the Whitebeard pirates.” Shanks tried calming their fire-brat down but it backfired on him.
“What more do all of you want to know? There isn’t much explanation which I could give the both of you about this.”
From the tone that Ace had used to answer his question made Shanks wanted to kick himself in the face for even bringing this sore topic up when he knew that Ace’s trust is pretty brittle now and that any wrong move will break whatever small amount of trust they managed to gain.
While Shanks is having a mental breakdown and trying to mentally kick himself in the face, Benn had stepped up to take over the conversation, “We just wanted you to know that the Pirate King actually trusted Newgate quite a bit before he was executed.”
Benn knew that the sudden change in topic had confused the hell out of Ace and Shanks due to the looks that the both of them are giving him. Mentally rolling his eyes at this scene, Benn couldn’t help but wondered why in the World had he choose to follow a Captain who doesn’t think about the consequences of his actions or even uses his brain for once.
Giving a silent prayer to whatever God that is out there to give him the patience to deal with two idiots, “Newgate knew about Rouge’s power.” Benn revealed, hoping that this would be simple enough for the both of them to understand.
Unglamorously splattering out, “W-What?!” Ace’s expression turned from horror to blankness before it finally settled to anger, “Did that bastard revealed a secret that isn’t his?!” He snarled out. The anger in Ace’s voice informed Benn that maybe he should have taken the time to do the long explanation instead of the quick and edited version of what he wanted to say.
Shanks quickly shakes his head, “No Ace, Roger had personally asked Rouge for permission to reveal her power to the Old Man.” Quickly stepping forward, Shanks knew how fast this ship is sinking right now, “And I am not lying as I was there when Roger asked, I was one of the few witnesses there besides Rayleigh-san. I could call him and tell him to reconfirm with you.”
“NO!” Ace’s scream is so sudden that Shanks had actually taken one step back in shock.
“What’s wrong? Why didn’t you want me to call Rayleigh-san? He is loyal to Captain which means you could also trust him.” Shanks asked, worried that Ace had the wrong idea about Rayleigh-san. The Pirate King’s First Mate might not have been appointed as their mentor but Rayleigh-san had taken both Buggy and him under his wings once the First Mate finally came to the conclusion that the both of them are not just ‘playing pirates’ like all of the other youngsters out there. Being the responsible adult that he is, Rayleigh-san had taught them the ropes of being a pirate and once he found out that the both of them wanted to create their own crew in the future, had taught what Buggy and he needed to know for being the Captain of their own crew.
While Shanks agree that Rayleigh-san’s loyalty to the Pirate King is so strong that even after their Captain’s death, Rayleigh-san will never join another crew or bow down and serve another Captain, but he is certain that the ex-First Mate of the Pirate King will be willing to extend a helping hand to the scattered crew (if they ever asked for it) and would never betray anyone of them which of course includes the last remaining person who is blood-related to their respected yet already-dead Captain.
Plus he did update Rayleigh-san about the adventures he had whenever his crew visits him when they have to go pass Sabaody Archipelago, and the fact that he remembers telling Rayleigh-san about meeting Ace in the snowy mountain could have triggered some forgotten memories that only the ex-First Mate knows (for example like the name that Roger and Rouge had picked out for their unborn child). That wouldn’t surprise Shanks at all since it’s not a hidden fact that his ex-Captain and ex-First Mate are best friends; Rayleigh-san is even Roger’s Best Man during his wedding to Rouge.
That’s why Shanks needed to know if Rayleigh-san had gone out to search for Ace and met their fire-brat, he needed to know if Rayleigh-san had done or said anything that could have offended their fiery fire-brat. And if the ex-First Mate did do something that had offended their fire-brat then Shanks or Benn would need to do some damage control over here, doing what they could do to regain some of Ace’s trust for Rayleigh-san back.
Ace shakes his head, “Rayleigh was that man’s First Mate, there’s no way where I could trust someone who is loyal to him, they will lie about anything that they say.” He huffed out, seemly annoyed with his answer.
Benn raised one of his eyebrows, “Well Shanks is pretty loyal to Rogers too, so why would you trust and listen to Shanks yet would not do the same thing to Rayleigh?” he asked.
"The both of you had already proven to me that you could be trusted."
This sentence makes absolutely no sense to both Shanks and Benn. Hell the both of them didn’t even remember or know what the both of them did to gain Ace’s trust. And it must have shown on their faces as Ace had been nice enough to explain it further.
“The both of you were the only ones who had stood by my decision that I shouldn’t return back to the Old Man’s crew, the both of you were the only ones who noticed what in the World is going through my head within a few seconds and actually understood what I had to mentally fight against, the both of you are the only ones who were willing to stand up against my Old Man and his whole crew and bring me out of the place that had been doing nothing but triggering whatever the hell that is causing me to become this bad, the both of you are the ones who had warned the rest of your crew about the forbidden territory that they shouldn’t talk about in front of me, the both of you are the ones who had made yourselves as the buffer whenever one of your crew members speaks or asked about how long I would be staying with you guys.” Raising one of his eyebrows, “So please tell me how I could not trust the both of you?”
The two older men were rendered speechless by the points that Ace had just pointed out to them. They were pretty certain that Ace was too deep in his mental space that their fire-brat would never remember or even understood what was going on around him when they finally met each other after their first and last meeting on the snowy mountains.
But it seems like their assumptions were wrong.
And that meant that Ace could have heard whatever the hell the Old Man’s crew members were talking or asking about Ace. If they had said anything bad (hard to imagine something like that happening but there’s a small possibility of that happening), there’s no way the two of them could help anyone. The only person who could do something or anything would be the Old Man himself (because the both of them are kind-hearted people who only wanted the very best for their fire-brat) but even being the Strongest Man in the World would have a hard time trying to salvage the broken trust between nakamas.
Being in different crews; doesn’t matter if the two crews are supposed to be ‘friendly’ with one another, the Old Man would never ask or wanted their help in something that he truly believed he should be able to handle and salvage (because the Old Man is stubborn as hell in his old age, not that he will ever know about this little fact).
“Back to the topic,” Benn changed the conversation flow, “why were you that repulsive to the Whitebeard pirates?” Seeing the smugness bleeding out of Ace, Benn feared that their fire-brat will ever answer their million dollar question.
After nearly 10 minutes of silence, Shanks and Benn are both ready to give up on getting an answer when Ace made the first move.
“I am not repulsive to my family members.”
Barely able to hold back the snort from bursting out of him, Shanks knew that Benn would have disapproved of his snort and would let him know by shoving one of his elbows into the fleshy portion of his body; between his ribcage and hip bone. That is something that Shanks didn’t really want to experience right now.
Of course, the logical part of his brain pointed out that Ace wouldn’t be too happy with his snort, without any doubt their fire-brat would have taken the snort as an insult thus reversing all of the hard work they had done to gain his trust.
Everyone would have KILLED him and that is after Benn had beaten him up black and blue.
Benn’s deep sigh pulled Shanks out of his thoughts, “I’m sorry for saying this, but that’s the worst come back that I’ve ever heard in my entire life. And mind you, Shanks is my Captain.”
When Shanks’ splattering gained no reaction from the other two, he couldn’t help but pout at the blunt and rude comment from his very own First Mate. Really, he needs to do something soon that could have helped him gain back the respect he deserves from all of his crew members, especially his very own First Mate.
“How about we forget about what you’ve just said and try that again. And maybe this time, try telling us the truth?”
The two older men could see the conflicting emotions that passed through Ace’s face, yet it changes so fast that none of them were able to really catch a glimpse of what Ace is feeling right now.
“It’s just… I didn’t want to cause any more trouble for my family members.” Ace hesitated for a moment here before he continued, “I know what my mother had to go through when her powers were leaked to the World; Gramps had sat me down and warn me about this when we both first learn that I had inherited those powers from her, and I didn’t want every single person in the World to target them.”
“Wait, let me get this straight,” Shanks cut in before Benn could stop him, “you’re worried that the Marines and World Government is going to paint an even larger target on the Old Man and his crew?” If looks could kill, Shanks would have been six feet under from the glare that Benn just shoots him. Shanks knew that he shouldn’t be using this tone on Ace, however, even a thick-headed person like him could smell a bullshit excuse from a mile away.
And if Shanks wanted to help their fire-brat, he would need to know the truth and not some made-up bullshit excuse that is thrown at him to get him off of Ace’s back. Therefore Ace needed to hear his disbelief.
Their fire-brat needed to know that the excuse is so badly made that it’s the worst excuse Shanks had ever heard in his entire life (and that is saying a lot since he had Gol. D. Roger as his Captain when the man is still alive). Needed their fire-brat to know that they are here to help him through whatever doubts he has in himself so that their fire-brat could return back to the place that their fire-brat could live the rest of his life in happiness.
Don’t get him wrong, Shanks loved to have his ex-captain's son here on his crew so that he could look after the brat and protect him to make up for the mistakes that he had made when he had been younger and powerless; the failure to change his Captain’s mind and how he had forgotten about Rouge and that he was too late to do anything to help her, however being on his crew would never provide the comfort their fire-brat experienced while living on the Old Man’s ship.
“Ace, I don’t want to point this out,” Benn pinched his forehead to get rid of the headache he is experiencing, “but do you realize just how ridiculous your reason sounded?”
When Ace avoided any eye contact with the two older men, Benn continued, “Look if you do not want to tell us the truth, that’s okay and we won’t force you to tell us right now. But we are trying everything we could to help you. Deep down in your heart, you knew that being a member on this ship is something that you yearn for, and you won’t be as comfortable living on this ship with us like it used to when you were living on the Moby Dick. That’s why we NEEDED to know the truth so that we could help you.”
Suffering through an intense 10 minutes of silence, Benn and Shanks were more than ready to give up and leave the room until Ace had made eye contact with them with a determined look.
That’s when the two older men knew that their efforts were not wasted.
“I’m just… Still kind of traumatized by what might and could have happened.” Ace started slowly, trying to form the words that could clearly explain what he is worried about, “The moment Gramps and I found out about my powers, hearing the origins of where the power came from and the explanation Gramps gave me; about how dangerous it would be for the people around me if my powers were leaked out and how I could and would be hunted down like a fucking prey, I started covering every single inch of my body as much as I could. Hoping that by doing so, it would have cut down the chances of me activating those powers. While it’s nearly impossible to do so when I am living in the jungles of Dawn Island without standing or looking like some sort of a freak, I still tried my best, always retreating back before anyone could touch my skin and go even as far as to stay out of skin contact with my brothers.”
The explanation given by Ace hadn’t answer any of their questions and it didn’t really make much of a sense to both Shanks and Benn now but they both know that by giving their fire-brat all the time he needed to explain himself, they will be getting their answer sooner or later. Therefore the both of them kept quiet.
“Gramps’ insistent warnings had frightened me. I’ve heard what Mom had to go through when her powers were leaked by her relatives, I’ve heard about what happened to those who had helped her to escape from both the Marines or Bounty Hunters hired by the Celestial Dragons and World Government. And it just frightens me.” The fear in Ace’s eyes made Shanks wanted to punch something or maybe someone to get rid of that look, “I don’t want to bring harm to Makino when she had shown nothing but kindness to me. She took me under her wings; someone who isn’t blood related to her, yet she took the time to tailor my clothes so that it would fit when I am growing up, took the time to feed my bottomless stomach till I am truly full from all the food she stuffed into me without taking a single cent, took the time to teach me how to read, write and do simple math so that I could survive in this World. She was and is the one who had shown me what ‘Mother love’ looks and feels like. I don’t want anything to happen to her.” Taking in a deep breath here, “I might not experience the extent of horror and fear that Mom had to go through, but I’ve been chased and hunted down before, experienced what it felt like to lose someone important to me even if it was just the future that I’ve seen with my powers, but I’ve experienced the horror.”
Clenching his fist to stop himself from doing anything reckless, Shanks heard about the ‘experience’ their fire-brat is talking about. Luffy had briefly spoken about it (through the Den Den Mushi because their anchor is being stubborn about the promise they made with one another) and Benn had demanded to know more about it after they had separated from Moby Dick with Ace on their ship. He had been furious with the BlueJam Pirates, especially when he KNEW that the crew still existed due to the frequent updates from his informant. The anger Shanks felt never really went away even after Sabo had updated them about what he had done to the BlueJam Pirates. How he wished that he had been the one who ended the lives of those pathetic beings.
“The number of people whom I wanted to protect was both small and little in amount when I had been younger. The number of people whom I could truly trust with my life at that point in time was even lesser than what. However everything changed when I leave Dawn Island to start my journey as a pirate, I’ve gained so many people who will look after my unguarded back, people who were more than willing to sacrifice their lives to make sure that I get to live to see another day. I had been terrified. Worried that something would happen to the Spades crew if anyone found out and leaked my connection to that man. The days I spent being a Captain of the Spades crew has been both the most awesome day of my life and the most stressful point. I am being surrounded by people who I could and should trust however I had to keep my guard up, keep the wall that I had built up to make sure that no one will ever know about my powers and my heritage.”
Shanks and Benn could clearly remember their first meeting, how their fire-brat had been the only person to walk into the cave (the other Spades crew are left to wait outside the entrance) they had taken refuge to escape the snow storm. How tensed their fire-brat had been when he walked in to meet one of the ex-member of the Pirate King’s crew, how they could see the exhaustion and weariness deep within Ace’s eyes.
Now they understood.
“Things had been tough when I was the Captain of the Spades crew, so I don’t really know what I was thinking when I had accepted Oyaji’s invitation to become one of his sons.” Ace continued on, “IF I had been so stress about keeping sensitive information from my own small crew, it’s even worst having to do the same thing to Oyaji and all of my brothers and sisters whom I am supposed to trust with my life. Yet somehow I managed to do it, and I was even happy with where I am. Everything had been going well for so long that I had let my guard down. Even until now, I still can’t decide if it is a good or a bad thing yet. I saw how Greed could easily tear through trust and bonds that had been forged through years like putting a hot knife through butter. I saw what could have happened to my Family; I saw the terror, the pain and the devastation they had to go through because of who I am and what I am able to do. I saw my own death, and the pain Marco, Luffy, and Sabo had to go through, I saw that my stubbornness is the cause of Oyaji’s death. That is why I had decided to live the rest of my life on an isolated island that would never be found by anyone, I had to get away from the spotlight even if it meant giving up my freedom and career as a pirate; something that I love, to hide away, and to stop my stubbornness, powers, and heritage from harming anyone else. But Luffy and his crew had forced me to return back home, the place where I saw the start of the nightmare, and the place where everyone lives on and I could still remember the expression on their face when the shit hits the fan. There’s no way where I could continue on with my life after what I’ve managed to see.”
A slightly frown managed to work its way out onto Benn’s face, and it’s not because of the large information that Ace had just dumped onto the both of them, there is just something that doesn’t feel right to them. It’s as if their fire-brat is still with-holding some information away from them. Placing his palm on one of Shanks’ shoulder, “I don’t think that that is all, am I correct?” Benn asked, stopping Shanks from saying anything to fill in the silence after Ace had stopped explaining.
Shock filtered through Ace’s face; it’s as if he hadn’t expected someone to see through his mask, before his expression settled on being defeated once again, one of his hands combed through his hair, “I’m not sure how I would handle everything after what happened and what I’ve managed to see.”
Tilting his head to the side, “I don’t understand.” Shanks started, “Shouldn’t you be relieved to see all of your family members are and still is alive and in good health? Even Thatch, the last update I’ve heard about him stated that he is doing well in his physiotherapy and that he would return back to both training and his work as a Head Chef in a few more weeks.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about!” Ace snapped, finally losing his temper at this whole situation, “I’m worried about how I would react if my heritage and my powers will cause another betrayal to happen!”
The stunned silence settled in the air for a few minutes before Shanks and Benn broke it at the same time, “What?” Benn’s voice might have been calmer than Shanks’ however it did manage to voice out his bewilderment to their fire-brat.
“What do you even mean by that? Why would you be worried that your heritage and powers be known by everyone?” Shanks continued, his remaining arm waving around to voice his confusion.
“Oyaji never really like it when one of his children hides facts and truth away from one another, so he will want me to come out to the rest. And I really didn’t want to do that. I’ve somehow managed to stop one betrayal from happening, what if I am unable to stop the other one? Will everyone blame me because I didn’t want to use my powers even though I have better control over it than Mom? What if someone got killed in the next betrayal? What if all of my family members started blaming me? I won’t be able to handle all of that! And I don’t want Oyaji to go through a heart-break when I barely managed to stop the first one from happening!”
“Calm down kid,” Benn grumbled out, “I might not be close to the Whitebeard but I could figure out that he wouldn’t force any of his children to do something that they’re reluctant to do. So I’m sure if you tell him about it, he wouldn’t force you to come out to the rest of your family beside the Commanders.”
Shanks could see that Ace doesn’t believe a single thing that Benn had just told him and decided to bring forth his plan –something that he isn’t ashamed to admit that he had just made up a few seconds ago-, “How about this,” gaining two pairs of eyes, “I will go and ask for a meeting with the Old Man and tell him that wish to keep this information among them. However if the Old Man insisted that you reveal the truth to the rest of the crew, we will steal you away and do everything in our power to prevent the Whitebeard crew from ever laying their hands on you?”
As much as he wishes that he could walk out of the room and not listen to Ace’s rejection of his plan –which he knows that there’s a high chance of it happening- Shanks knew how important it is that he let Ace makes the decision.
Shanks might not be as smart as Benn and is dumber than the normal average people, but that doesn’t mean that he is stupid.
The actions of his urges would do nothing but make him lose all of the trust he managed to gain during those few months spent with their fire-brat and helping him fight against those ‘demons’. Plus if Ace did reject his idea, Benn is here to help him change their fire-brat’s mind.
The both of them will not let their fire-brat suffering anymore. They will not allow it.
“Are you sure that you’re willing to take on Oyaji if he requested me to reveal everything to my family members?” Ace asked in the softest voice had ever heard.
“Of course kid,” Benn answered for Shanks, “You’re one of us now and like the Whitebeards, we do not leave any of our men behind.”
“Even if it means starting a war with the crew of the Strongest Man in the World?”
“Even that”
Noting the commotion coming from their communications room, Lucky Roo and Yasopp headed over there to check on things and try their best to keep things in order while their Captain and First Mate are busy with something way more important; their fire-brat.
Pushing open the door to their communication room only to witness at least half of their team; the other half are resting, running around like headless chickens, “What’s going on here?” Yasopp asked, his usual laid-back attitude was shoved back to tackle this sudden problem that had popped out of none where.
Candy; one of their small handfuls of female crew members, changed the direction of where she was running to and headed towards him, “Yasopp-san,” she called out; breathless and sounded like she is a few seconds away from hyperventilating on them, “Marco the Phoenix from the Whitebeard is on the line right now!”
Slapping his forehead with one open palm, Yasopp wondered if their Captain’s shitty luck is contagious and that they had spent too much time around him.
“What’s the Phoenix demanding?” Lucky Roo decided to speak up while Yasopp is too busy mentally cursing Shanks’ shitty luck.
“He’s demanding to know the status of Fire-Fist Ace.” Candy swiftly answered.
“I need to hit Shanks at least once after he has finished his talk with Ace.” Yasopp deadpanned to Lucky Roo causing the fatter man to chuckle as softly as he could. Turning his attention back to the communications’ team, “Alright, someone pass me the Den Den Mushi. Let the both of us handle the Phoenix and all of you could go and have a break.”
“But-“
“There’s nothing for all of you to worry about. Lucky Roo and I are more than enough to handle the Phoenix.” Yasopp cut Candy off, he really didn’t have any spare time to give them any explanation or entertain them.
The Phoenix might be the second calmest and has the most patience pirate he had ever met; Benn being the very first one, however in situations regarding their fire-brat, the Phoenix will develop tunnel vision; forgetting everything except for their fire-brat. And that’s why Yasopp believed that he should answer the Phoenix’s demands about Ace’s status right now; Lord knows what crap the Phoenix will do if they do not answer them soon.
Ignoring the sceptical glances from their Communications Team as they quickly shuffled out of the room, Yasopp couldn’t help but huffed out in irritation. He knows that Benn is usually the person who is appointed to settle those kinds of problems however that doesn’t mean Lucky Roo and he would be clueless on how to deal with it (he could still remember the crash courses they received from Benn pretty clearly and having to go through that once is traumatizing enough. Thank you very much). Well, if they could settle the Phoenix without resorting to verbal death threats Yasopp could count it as a win and it would also show everyone that they weren’t fucking clueless.
“Let’s get this over and done with.” Lucky Roo nudged Yasopp’s back.
“Phoenix.” Yasopp called out as a greeting. There isn’t any need for him to state who he is, the Whitebeards have enough contact with the oldest crew members to recognize them by voice alone.
“Yasopp,” Marco the Phoenix paused here for a while, “did I scare off your Communications Team yoi?”
Rolling his eyes, “Turned the whole lot of them straight into headless chickens Phoenix, what did you say to them?”
“I called for an update on Ace yoi, but all they could tell me is that they didn’t have the necessary information to give me any form of update.” Marco dared to accuse them of withholding information from them.
“That’s because we don’t have the necessary information to give you Phoenix.” Yasopp barked out, “We spent those past few months trying to gain some sort of trust from the brat because Lord knows that none of you had bothered to really check up on his mental state when Anchor and his crew forced him to return to Moby Dick.”
“What-“
“Don’t try to bullshit your way out of this Phoenix. You knew that Ace has a hard time trusting anyone, hell all of us managed to figure this out one way or another during those past few months. And I understand the fact that all of you were more relieved than worried when Ace was forced to return back to Moby due to Anchor and his crew however to ignore Ace’s mental state for the few weeks that he had returned is something which I do not understand. Care to explain that to me?”
While Yasopp is ranting to Marco, Lucky Roo is just standing at the side watching this show in front of him. It’s a well known knowledge by the Red-Hair crew that Yasopp could rant or lecture longer than anyone else on the ship, and that everyone could only do their best to not stop on Yasopp’s landmine to spare themselves the pain of sitting through his lecture.
“Yasopp, here’s no need for you to lecture Marco now.” Shanks interrupted before Yasopp could continue speaking what is on his mind.
With the Den Den Mushi facing Yasopp, Marco couldn’t see the fake smile that had appeared on Shanks’ face, “That’s true, but would you rather waste your breath lecturing only one person or would you like to lecture the whole lot of them at once?”
“Do you mean..?”
“Yes, we’re going to have a meeting with the Old Man and his Commanders.”