Chapter Text
Night had fallen over the Grand Line, painting the skies in shades of obsidian and ember. A quiet unease settled over the Moby Dick, far too tense for a ship known for its laughter and thunderous celebrations. The deck was empty, save for a few pacing figures—restless, uncertain.
In the infirmary, Ace stood at the bedside of Thatch, his jaw tight, fists clenched hard enough to shake. Blood still clung to the sheets. The scent of it—coppery, sharp—lingered like smoke after a wildfire.
Thatch was alive. Barely.
“I’m telling you… don’t go after him, Ace,” Thatch rasped out, breath ragged but voice steady. “It’s not worth it.”
Ace’s flames licked at his arms, flickering with emotion he couldn’t contain. “He stabbed you, Thatch! He tried to kill you! That bastard betrayed us—he has to pay for this!”
The door creaked open. The presence that filled the room was more commanding than any Admiral’s.
“Portgas.”
Ace froze. Whitebeard didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.
The old man stepped forward slowly, towering over them, the old bisento slung across his broad back. He looked down at Thatch, then at Ace.
“We don’t lose more family over one fool’s betrayal,” Whitebeard said, his deep voice carrying the weight of command, pain, and love. “Let Teach go. He’s not worth another son.”
Ace swallowed. Rage still boiled in his gut, but he dropped his head and gave a single, tight nod.
And just like that, history shifted.
---
Teach fled under the cover of darkness, like a rat abandoning a ship it had set on fire. He didn’t look back. His plan—his grand ambition—still moved forward. The Warlord seat was still within reach.
All he needed now… was Straw Hat Luffy.
If he couldn’t use Ace, he’d use the brother. The bounty was tempting, sure—but it was what that bounty could buy that truly mattered. Power. Authority. Status.
And yet, every time Teach reached for Luffy, the boy slipped through his fingers like mist.
---
The first opportunity came when the world was in flames over Enies Lobby. The news had made its way to Teach in an instant.
Straw Hat Luffy Declares War on the World Government – Enies Lobby in Ruins!
Perfect, Teach had thought. That kind of move would light a signal fire high enough for him to find. He turned his ship toward Water 7.
But fate—or perhaps karma—intervened.
Garp was there.
The Hero of the Marines himself had landed to confront the Straw Hats. Teach hadn’t even reached the island before he sensed the danger and turned back. He was bold, but not suicidal.
Missed.
---
Time passed. Teach watched. Waited.
His second chance came at a haunted place—Thriller Bark. Rumors said the Straw Hats had been swallowed by the foggy island. Teach set sail immediately.
By the time he arrived, all he found was the wreckage of a shadow war and nothing more. No Straw Hat. No prize.
Missed again.
---
And then came Sabaody. The punch heard around the world.
Luffy, bold as ever, decked a Celestial Dragon.
That act set the world ablaze once more. Chaos followed. Pacifistas. Admirals. Slavery exposed. Scandals erupted from the Holy Land.
Teach gritted his teeth. This should’ve been his window. But the marines swarmed the island like hornets. Too much heat. He couldn’t move without burning himself.
A third miss.
And the world kept turning.
---
The Straw Hats disappeared—vanished without a trace after Sabaody.
But they weren’t gone. They were just preparing.
Rayleigh found Luffy alone, face bruised and spirit shaken—not by defeat, but by helplessness. He hadn’t lost a brother. He hadn’t failed at Marineford. But he had still lost.
His crew. His friends. His family.
He couldn’t protect them.
“You’re not weak,” Rayleigh had told him, as they sat on the windblown beach. “But you’re not strong enough yet. Not for what’s coming.”
Luffy didn’t need convincing after that. He clenched his fists, stood tall, and made a decision. He would train. Not because he was broken… but because he refused to let himself break again.
And so began the two years.
---
The world moved on.
Teach’s crew was smaller than in canon, his rise slower, more bitter. Without the chaos of Impel Down, his influence stalled. He prowled in the dark corners of the world, still hunting, still waiting.
Ace never faced the chains of Marineford. Whitebeard never launched a suicidal rescue. The seas remained tense but not broken.
The truth—that Ace and Luffy were brothers—remained buried beneath layers of lies and coincidence.
As far as the world knew, the Pirate King’s bloodline was still a mystery.
But change was coming.
The Straw Hats would return soon, stronger than before.
And the world had no idea what fire was about to be unleashed.