Video;

[raiseyou]

[ While he's not who appears onscreen, the SmartSnail signature on the phone is Portgas D. Ace. The location behind Marco is carefully chosen to be generic as possible: a wooden plank wall, the outside of some building or the side of some ship or who knows, really. The coded location of the transmission itself is scrambled. ]

Portgas D. Ace is currently alive and under the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates, the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, and certain sections of the Revolutionary Army.

[ Marco's trying for deadpan, really, but the smirk on his face is goddamn shit-eating. ]

As First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates I am hereby proclaiming his right to live as equal to that of any other man.

Boys. Be on notice.

To the Navy, the World Goverment, and the Yonko Marshall D. Teach: Just you fucking try and touch him.

[ Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free. ]

Comments

[callada]

Told you, got enough going on here trying to keep this place together on a good day, and now there's people jumping in and out from other worlds. It's a nightmare.

Why, what should I know about your fleet? You special or something?

[raiseyou]

[ Ooookay, we've gone beyond weird and into suspicious. ]

Depends on your definition of special, I guess.

[callada]

Yeah, yeah. I've heard of the guy, but if he's not around anymore it doesn't mean the rest of you are all gonna keep up his ways. What are you now, Marco?

[raiseyou]

Watch your mouth. [ Figuratively. ] Whitebeard is our father and I'm not inclined to listen to dismissals of his death. Whether he's here or not doesn't change that we follow him.

[callada]

[Sounds like a cult if you ask him. Hm. Bad.]

Heh, sorry. He was one of the four emperors, right? I heard about that. Other than start a big war with the Marines, and fight other pirates who wanted that emperor title, what did he do that you can all still follow if he's not there to lead you? Are you an emperor now?

[raiseyou]

What's the point of this line of questioning? Are you really that blind to the world around you or are you trying to get some kind of rise out of me? Or are you from some other part of the convergence and you're just fishing for information? All the papers are in your damn snail, you know.

[callada]

[Is the guy really that dense? Man, he legitimately feels bad for the islanders out there if this is how the commander of a big-name crew like this acts toward Rafa the poor vineyard worker.]

I'm worried. Worried about my family, about my friends. Every time some big name pirate shows up, we get robbed, our town gets trashed, people die. You're making some big declaration on the network and it's gonna get people thinking they should take you on, but you're telling me that because you're Whitebeards it's somehow different. How is it different? Or are you all really that blind to the kinds of things the rest of us go through at the expense of you pirates out there?

[raiseyou]

[ Marco's honestly not buying Rafa the poor vineyard worker. Any town with commerce gets the daily papers. This entire thing smells. ]

Do you need protection, then? Because that's our business. With the convergence there will be more of us to cover more area. We have allies outside the Grand Line. Maybe we don't have a yonko here with us, but between us and the Straw Hat Grand Fleet we'll take on anyone threatening islands under our care.

[callada]

Protection? What, all the way out here? I'll think about it. I'll talk to the governor, see what he says.

That's a big reach from the Grand Line, though. You think you can really do that?

[raiseyou]

[ In the meantime, Marco's gonna be investigating exactly how big a target Micqueot actually is. It's possible, sure, but islands with a big alcohol production tend to have fairly decent naval protection. He's also gonna see how difficult it is to cross-reference a delisted number. ]

I'll reach out to allies in the area. With any luck someone will already have a foothold near you.

[callada]

Hold off on that until I ask, don't just assume we want it. Not my decision to make.

They're gonna want to know why, anyway. It's a hard sell, pirates without their former leader. Too often a hole in the command like that makes trouble, I've seen it before. You sound like you mean well, so I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but what do I tell them? Nobody's out to protect entire islands out of the goodness of their hearts. What do you want from places under your protection?

[raiseyou]

Depends on what they have to offer. If your local Marines aren't doing fuckall to actually protect your vineyards I don't imagine you've got much in the way of money. But if your season's good a percentage of cases of wine would be enough. Pops was always big on second chances and bartering before shooting. I see no reason to deviate from that philosophy.

[callada]

Thanks. Sounds reasonable. If he's interested he'll contact you directly.