The Return Of Joyboy!

Chapter 22

The Spade Pirates didn't look afraid at all. They were standing side by side with their captain, Portgas D. Ace, who refused to give into Whitebeard's 'request' of being his son. Beside him on the left stood a blonde man wearing a white full shirt, whose sleeves were half rolled, with two or three buttons unbuttoned, a pair of blue trousers, a pair of black boots, and a black mask hiding his face from them. They can easily guess that the young man was none other than Cyane. On the right of the captain of Spade Pirates, stood a scrawny teen, who shouldn't be anywhere near this battle, wearing a red unbuttoned half shirt in a similar fashion with Cyane, a blue fluffy short, a pair of sandals and a black mask. The kid was none other than Cyra.

If Whitebeard had doubted Ace being Cole, it was clear the moment he saw the orange crystal locket of Ace, the blue crystal locket of Cyane, and the red crystal locket of Cyra. He was confirmed that Ace was no one other than Cole, which means he needs protection if he had left the 3C's. If people can come after him, he won't be able to protect himself. And that is where he will come in.

The Whitebeard pirates upon seeing the Spades felt a bit shocked. Questions about the crew's sanity arose. Who brings a fucking kid to a battle? How the hell did they even think of going against a crew of 1500 people with only 21 people? Are they looking them down or are they so set on making fool of themselves?

"Become my sons and we won't have to fight." Whitebeard's voice loomed above the tension with the pirates facing each other on the beach side, ready to attack at one signal.

"Shut the hell up!" Portgas D. Ace roared at Whitebeard, barely able to keep his twitching hands in control for the upcoming fight. "I already told you I'm not gonna be your slave."

"Ace, yoi! We want you and your brothers as our brothers and family, not a slave, yoi." Marco tried to argue with a real point. Everyone in the crew really liked the spitfires and wanted to make them their brothers since the time The 3C's have come in the newspaper. They wanted them as a family, what's wrong with it?

"We don't care if you call your chains 'shackles' or 'family', or your mark a 'slave brand' or a 'jolly roger'. You are no better than the Celestial Dragons. You tried to force Ace and us into your service and we will never forgive that." Cyane spat with a glare on his face, boring his eyes directly at Marco's and Whitebeard's skulls. Marco would never forget the pure icy fury in those blue eyes.

"Was it really that bad?" Thatch asked with tears shimmering in the corner of his eyes. He only wanted to make Ace his brother. Were their methods so bad?

"Snatching someone's freedom is never good, bread-hair," Cyra spoke with his eyes shadowed. "You all should have listened to our choices as well before deciding on your own."

"Cyra is right, we never wanted to be part of your crew," Ace spoke, placing a hand on Cyra's shoulder as if trying to protect the small kid from the hateful eyes of the crew standing behind the commanders.

Deuce can see the commanders understanding but the large crowd, they were not. They didn't want or even try to understand. Well, that's not their problem. They will be free, even if it means they have to clash with the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Guarara!" Whitebeard shook with his laughter. "Bring all you can, you all are going to lose."

The three brothers took a step forward, eyes gleaming with the seriousness of the battle about to take place. A sudden pressure washed over the crew of the Emperor of The Sea, whose haki to defend his defenseless crew members failed miserably. The fodder of the Whitebeard Pirates dropped one by one on the shore as puppets without strings. The only ones left were the commanders and Whitebeard himself.