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Ace wasn't quite sure what was happening anymore. One moment he was standing between Akainu and Luffy, prepared to take the hit if it meant his little brother would live and the next Luffy screamed and something warm was suddenly curled around him. Somewhere a crunch that sounded oddly like broken bones being chewed echoed and screams rang across the plaza, but he couldn't see anything, not when whatever it was around him - scaled and metallic and comfortable - wouldn't let him out.
It was impossible. It should have been impossible unless Dragon was not only a shitty father but also had shitty tastes in women, but the body curled around him, rumbling in something that was half caught between a growl and a purr, felt too much like Luffy for Ace to be able to deny what has happening in front of his own eyes.
"Lu'?"
The dragon, because it was a dragon no matter how much Ace wanted to say it wasn't, rumbled back at him and yeah that was his little brother. His little brother who was a dragon.
Don't think of the implications Ace.
Who no one could try to kill now because everyone knew what it meant when someone had a dragon shift.
Anyone but Luffy probably.
"GARP!" echoed from somewhere and on this Ace at least could agree with that bastard fleet admiral. If Gramps knew about this he was going to punch him straight in the face. But he probably did not know; Ace was sure Gramps would have told them if he had, would have told Ace at least, because Luffy's concentration would have gone out the window the moment he found out the discussion was not about food. Even if he couldn't see him now, Ace was sure Gramps had to be shocked and scared.
But that mattered less than getting out of there. Luffy was curled around him and Ace was sure one of the reasons was the fact that his brother was tired.
"Lu' we can't stay here. Come on, you gotta get up."
Just as his brother rumbled something back at him, a wave of furious haki hit them, making Ace shiver slightly and Luffy whine in his throat. Ace knew that haki and from the looks of it, Luffy remembered it as well, the dragon's whine turning into something more plaintive, both scared and relieved.
Shanks had known he would be late. From the moment he had had to fend off Kaido's attacks, from the moment he had started watching the comms and saw the battle unfold, he had known he would be late. He had hoped, prayed that he wouldn't be. But he had been still far, too far when Akainu raised his fist against Ace, when Anchor fell to his knees. He had Shaved as fast as he could, haki blasting everyone in his path and rushed through the plaza with the speed only desperation gives you.
And reached them a moment too late.
But somehow that did not matter because Luffy, his little Anchor, was a Dragon. And probably one from a powerful family not a ruined vestige like the likes of Saint Roswald. His form was not a distorted, bloated dragon, but rather sleek and powerful, shiny bronze scales intermingled with metallic red, pink red eyes glaring at the crowd around him.
Shanks thought he might need a moment. A moment or more because even as he tried to keep his haki from sputtering out, keep his Will imposed on everyone around to show that he will not - could not - allow this war to continue, he could not deny the sight in front of him was shocking.
Shanks didn't stop to think how odd that eye colour was. How dragons usually kept their eye colour in a shift.
Who the fuck had Dragon even had him with? The realisation made something uncomfortable shift in Shanks' soul. Not against his kid, no never that, but against Dragon and his choices. Against Garp and his stupidity.
Against himself and not seeing the clues faster.
"Hey there Anchor," Shanks crooned, trying not to feel hurt at the way the dragon flinched away from him and clicked sadly. "You've got yourself in a predicament here, haven't you?"
Shanks was not quite sure dragons could pout, - he had kept his form hidden after all, used it rarely and Shamrock had always been too full of himself to think about doing something beneath him such as pouting in dragon form -, yet the huff and look Luffy threw him definitely looked like a pout. Good, at least it seemed whatever had made his kid flinch from him wasn't big enough to make him incapable of being a brat.
Shanks didn't think of the promise. Didn't poke too hard at what Luffy might have understood or misunderstood. His kid was more important than any promise.
His attention turned to Sengoku on the platform, clenching his fists and Garp looking pale faced at the dragon in the plaza. Perhaps he hadn't known. But even so.
"Boss," Beck said, eyes set on Luffy and the tip of Ace's hair, the only thing visible inside the coil of his dragon's form. "You know this stalemate will not last. We need to get Anchor to shift."
"I know."
Shanks could not help but grit his teeth. Right now the only thing keeping things calm were the confusion the marines had in dealing with a Dragon and Shank's own haki and men screaming danger. And the fact Akainu had become Luffy's snack. Shanks was trying not to remember that one. But that did not mean Ace was not in danger. Did not mean Luffy would not be in danger the moment the world government decided his mother's heritage, whoever she might be, was less important than Dragon's blood.
"How about letting Ace go, hmm Anchor?" Shanks couldn't stop himself from reaching out, running his hand over the dragon's smooth scales. Luffy was running warm, perhaps warmer than he should even in this form, definitely warmer than Shanks had felt Shamrock's form be, the only other dragon he could have used as comparison. Here and there the scales were chipped or dented, scratches and wounds marring the kid's body.
It took a lot to keep his haki under control. To reign it in when he figured out this form might be one of the few things keeping Luffy still conscious.
The dragon rumbled, something caught between a growl and a denial, and the Emperor sighed, letting his haki envelop his kid, projecting as much safety-protection-comfort as he could.
"You wanna get Ace away from this island, don't you Luffy?"
The dragon's body uncoiled slightly, revealing Ace a bit more, but the pink-red eyes honed their attention on Shanks. Determined, almost demanding a promise from him. And that much the Emperor can do.
"Nothing will happen to him, I promise."
Nothing will happen because Shanks would drench Marineford in more blood than it had seen till then if any marine so much as twitched in the boys' direction.
It was only then that Luffy uncoiled fully, revealed Ace properly and the Emperor did not need to look to know his crew was taking position to protect the boy.
"Shanks?"
Ace seemed more dazed than anything, one hand still pressed to the dragon's body to steady himself probably and Shanks was not kidding himself to think that the boy hadn't realised half the possible implications Anchor's new form posed.
"Bit of a predicament you boys got yourselves in, hmm?" Shanks couldn't help but echo the words he had told Anchor back to Luffy. It was easier like that. Easier to not think about what he had almost lost. A brother or a son or both. If Luffy had not shifted due in fright or desperation, if he hadn't been fast enough, if he hadn't managed to shield Ace and kill Akainu, if the Marines hadn't frozen.
If, if, if, so many ifs and for all of them Shanks had been too late.
"I'm taking both of you boys on the Force."
It was a decision he would take no pushback on. As soon as Anchor was back to his human form, neither of them were leaving Shanks' sight for a while. Newgate could bitch and posture all he wanted.
If he even survived that was.
Ace nodded and approached Shanks, apparently not in a mood to defy the Emperor's decisions and with him finally at Shanks' side something seems to deflate in Luffy's eyes. The pink-red gaze that had been so alert since then, dimmed somewhat and Shanks could see in real time as pain and fatigue caught up with Luffy. His dragon form shivered, once, twice, three times and between one blink and the next where once had been a dragon now stood Shanks' kid. Beat up to hell, barely standing and with angry, half healed burns on his body.
And then he toppled. Shanks moved before he could think, catching the kid in a one armed grip and pressing his haki even harder on the plazza. Luffy was wounded and he momentarily could not take out Gryphon. Until the kids were safe on his ship everyone else could just -
Stay. Down.
He felt rather than saw more bodies drop. Sengoku was cursing somewhere and Newgate's Voice might have been fading, but that mattered so little to him. Not when the kids were finally safe and he vowed to keep them that way.
That was the moment a new presence pinged on his Observation Haki. One that had not been in the war before, that despite his new status as a Warlord had not joined the likes of Moria and Doflamingo. One accompanied by others who felt just as slimy as him.
A presence that will not be allowed near the kids
"Beck?"
His first mate was already at his side, hands out for Luffy before Shanks had finished speaking. The handoff was smooth, practiced, just as they used to do it back on Dawn when Luffy was just an audacious seven year old. Their seven year old. Beck's arms closed around the kid with the same care Shanks' had, and something in Shanks' chest eased fractionally even as the rest of him sharpened.
It was almost physically painful to allow Luffy out of his sight, out of his arms, but he could not deal with the leech that had tied itself to Newgate until it was time to betray him with the kid in his arms. And Beck would rather die than allow something to happen to Anchor, just as the rest of the crew would do. Not that Shanks would allow that to happen. Distantly, he could hear Ace cursing, the fire logia probably wanting his own revenge, but Shanks was sure Yas' and Hongo had him well in hand.
"Zehahaha, you look a bit caught up there, Red-hair," the voice echoed before Shanks could even see him and for a moment all Shanks could see was red, haki bursting out in a wave that toppled everything in its wake, a lack of control he had not experienced since the first time the asshole had tried to corner him, when he had slashed his eye and Shanks had seen a different type of red. But it was not blood staining his vision this time, it was fury and Shanks was no longer in his twenties playing a double role. He had nothing to hide. And there was nothing that would allow Teach to escape this time.
"Seems I missed out, haven't I, Red-hair?" Teach laughed again. "Was gonna go after Strawhat initially, but then our darling Second Commander just landed in my hands. A pity. A brat tied to you and with dragon blood. They'd have made me more than a Warlord. I'd have gotten a kingdom." He leered, turning his attention to Luffy again. "Say who did Dragon fuck? That was quite a powerful dragon form. Mister Revolutionary, such a hypocrite. Wants to bring down the Celestial Dragons while he's fucking them on the side."
"Get your eyes away from my kid," Shanks snarled, Gryphon already humming with bloodlust in his hand. Devil fruit or no, Teach was no challenge for him. Would not be allowed to be a challenge for him.
"Figures you wouldn't have a problem with the brat being a dragon," Teach snarled. "What with your bastard of a father and bitch of a mother."
Shanks could not help the way he flinched, almost reared back at the words. How did Teach know? How could he know? His grip on Gryphon tightened, haki lashing out with more rage and less finesse than before. He grit his teeth and forced himself not to react anymore, although he could see from the glee on Teach's face that he had realised the blow had landed.
"Didn't think anyone knew, did ya?" Teach sneered. "That you've got scales too." His beady eyes turned in the direction of Beck who was holding Luffy in a tight hold, towards Ace who had stopped struggling and was looking at Teach with fury. "They know your little secret? Know your ma' was a who-"
"Enough," Shanks snarled. Enough. He would not have this discussion here. Would not allow Teach to air out secrets that should have stayed buried from the moment he left Mariejois. He lashed out again with Conqueror's, making Teach stagger back one step, two, three, the men he had brought with him forcing themselves to remain upright.
He didn't have the time to pay attention to them. Knew them, if only by bounty posters. Knew his crew would deal with them. His attention was on Teach and Teach alone.
Darkness coalesced in the other's hand, his slimy laughter replaced by a snarl.
"I've hurt you before Red-Hair," he snarled. "Wanna risk it again all for a dragon brat? Who knows maybe this time I'll take that eye. Or perhaps your remaining arm."
Shanks didn't bother answering; Teach had always been the type to talk too much, to lose himself in grandstanding and miss out on his attacks. It was why Shanks could still see out of his eye to the day. Instead, he attacked, Gryphon tight in his grasp, Divine Departure already slamming into Teach before he could get the chance to figure out what was happening. It didn't keep him down for as long as Shanks would have wanted, but it kept him down enough. He staggered to his feet coughing blood and swaying. Around them Shanks could hear rapid gunshots and the sound of weapons drawn; he didn't need to check to know it was his men taking Teach's crew down.
Ame no Shiryu, Vasco Shot, Van Augur, Catalina Devon. Monsters and monsters following another that hid his monstrosity under a friendly facade. But that mattered little; despite the blood in his veins, Shanks had never been a Saint. He has always been a monster too.
"You're getting ahead of yourself, aren't you, Teach?" Shanks asked, stalking closer. The burly man spat blood on the ground, a glimmer of white bone alongside it telling the Emperor he had also lost some teeth as well. "You forget the reason why you were even able to get close to me last time."
Treatchery, because of course it had been. Shanks had not expected Teach to attack on sight, not when the other did not even know that the red haired pirate was playing his double role in Mariejois at the moment. Not when Roger and Newgate had been friends. And yet he had, metal claws sinking in Shanks' face the moment he saw him. It made sense now, why he had done that. Somehow he knew about Garling. Somehow he knew about Shanks' mother. Now there was no element of surprise. Would not be, not when Shanks' kid was at stake.
"Can't even come up with your own attacks, huh?" Teach spat as he reared for another attack. "Hiding in Roger's shadow even now?"
Shanks didn't bother answering; already Teach had said too much. Already Ace had heard too much, perhaps Luffy had heard too much and even if his crew knew it was not something he liked remembering. He had done it for Captain, had done it for the plan, but his family was and had always been the Roger Pirates. He moved instead, Gryphon coming down in a diagonal slash, black with haki. He was too close now to use Divine Departure again, but that did not matter, not even when Teach managed to twist out of the path of the attack with the desperation of a man not wanting to die.
"Pops, are you going to let him kill me?" He cried out, trying to buy a few more minutes. Not that it would work; not when he was a nakama killer, not when Thatch was dead because of him. Even Newgate's sentimentality had limits and going by the way he was gripping his bisento, Shanks could just tell the older Emperor had reached them.
With no response coming from his former father, Teach snarled again, darkness coalescing in his palm, opening up a maw of shadows under Shanks' feet. The Emperor Shaved away, jumped in the sky and within seconds he lunged -
Teach's eyes widened and he gulped when he felt the sharp edge of Gryphon pressed to his neck.
"Not so confident anymore, are you now, Teach?" Shanks whispered coldly. "Still want to play this gamble?"
Teach laughed, the same zehahaha laughter, but this time it was gurgling, broken by the blood in his mouth he kept choking with.
"What you gonna do, Red-Hair? Your brat's watching. What's he gonna think?" Gryphon pressed closer, a shallow line of red opening over Teach's neck, allowing blood to drip down the column of his throat. The man gulped, and still stared back, challenging, always challenging. Shanks didn't need to look back to Ace, to Luffy. He knew how these kids thought - even if he had met Ace briefly, even if Anchor had been just a child last they had met. Protecting family was more important than anything else.
Luffy had showed that after all. Seven years old and he had tried to protect Makino from Higuma. They would not care about him killing Blackbeard.
"He'll think I'm a pirate, Teach. Something you seem to have forgotten about me."
Gryphon slashed before Teach had the chance to say anything again. Before he revealed more secrets that were not his to reveal. Already there would be questions Shanks could barely answer. He would not allow the man to reveal more.
Turning around was the easiest thing he did; behind him was a thud, the only sound of Teach's death, echoing in the plaza that had suddenly gone silent in what? Shock, surprise, horror? Shanks did not know and did not care to know. He had other problems right now such as making sure the kids were on the Force and getting the hell away from this island.
He reached Ace first. It seemed the firecracker had actually managed to get away from Yasopp and Hongo because he was closer than Shanks had expected. Wide eyed, his freckles stark against pale skin, looking between Teach and Shanks with a look the Emperor was not sure how to decipher. Until he stopped and finally looked at him, silver eyes flaring with the same type of determination that used to flare in Roger's eyes.
"Thank you," he said with a decisive nod, before his stamina suddenly flagged and it was the second time that day Shanks had to catch one of the kids. Honestly, could they not fall around one of his crew members who had two arms?
Marineford remained behind them, shrinking at the horizon and Shanks tried to ignore the fact that he did not know where they would have to head now. He could not take Luffy in the New World; that was out of the question especially since Anchor still had his crew out there somewhere - Shanks did not know how he had gotten separated from them, but would find out as soon as the kid woke up from the medically induced coma Hongo had placed him in.
Shanks did not think about the burn marks. At the wounds. At Hongo telling him that his insides were almost cooking because of poison and hormones. If he did, he would never let Luffy go and that was unacceptable.
Luffy would have to learn; about being a dragon, about having scales, about what this heritage meant. For better or for worse. And Shanks was not sure where he could do this best. And Ace? Part of him wanted to be petty, to keep him. His almost little brother, the child their mamma had sacrificed herself to bring to life. The child neither him or Blue ever met. But Ace wouldn't want that either. Probably. Most likely.
"Boss?"
"How do you not know, Beck?" Shanks sighed. "How do you just father a child with a Celestial Dragon and decide, woops, this is information that should not be shared. No matter that everyone knows dragons shift. Everyone. The kind old lady on Dawn who was selling carrots knew this. And he just what? Gave him to Garp. Garp. No one who is sane enough would give him a child."
"It's Dragon."
Beck did not bother to say more than that, merely lit another cigarette. They had been sailing together long enough for Shanks to understand all the subtext beneath that single word.
"He should have told someone. Garp. Makino. If he didn't want the kid, fine, that's a hazard of the job. But you tell someone. You tell someone who'll be there when the scales come in. You don't let the kid freak out in the middle of the war."
"Maybe he didn't know," Beck offered with a shrug.
"So he what?" Shanks looked at him, rolling his eyes. "Woke up one day with a kid on his doorstep and went ok, he's mine now, I won't ask questions, won't follow up to find who the potential mother might be. I doubt Dragon had time to have that many illicit entanglements, Beck."
Beck didn't answer. He didn't answer because there was no answer, because none of them had any answer. That's where Dragon came into play.
"Are you going to talk to him?" Beck asked eventually.
"Yes. I can't afford not to." he said, "I'm going to tell him that Luffy killed an Admiral today. That the kid grew scales and teeth and ate Akainu because Akainu reached for his brother which I honestly hope does not give him indigestion. I'm going to tell him that Luffy is on my ship now and is going to stay on my ship until I am satisfied thathe understands what he is, and that if Dragon has a problem with that he can shove it because I honestly don't give a rat's ass about his opinion. And I'm gonna ask about Anchor's mother because it's one thing if she's just a run of the mill Celestial Dragon and quite another if she's from a strong family. They might come for him Beck and he needs to be ready for it."
"Want me to set up the call?" Beck asked taking a drag from his cigarette. Personally, Shanks thought his first made and best friend was too calm for the entire situation, but it might have just been that Shanks himself was close to falling into hysterics. One of them needed to not lose it and it was clearly not going to be Shanks.
"No. Not now. I need Anchor to wake up first," Shanks sighed looking at the Sea. He had time. That was the only thing he had, for once.
Beck drifted off toward the helm. Shanks stayed at the rail and continued thinking about the boys he had below deck. About how much Luffy would have to learn. What he tried not to think was about Newgate, wherever he might have gone. About Dragon's failures. About his own blood family, the only dragons he had ever had as example apart from himself for what he would have to teach Luffy.
At the back of his mind he couldn't help thinking that Shamrock would have loved to have a nephew.