[Video]

[burnt_offering]

[Ace and Luffy are sitting together, and Ace has a serious expression on his face. This is kind of important in his opinion, they've got to figure out who their potential allies and enemies are here. Not that being a pirate is a promise of alliances, or Marines a promise of a threat, but it's still good to have a base to go off of. And to Ace and Luffy, piracy is freedom. And the Marines stand for things far worse.]

So this is a roll call. If you're a pirate, let us know. If you're a Marine? Let us know faster.

[Luffy laughs, waving at the camera. He sticks his little finger into his nose, and thinks for a second.]

I haven't seen marines here, or other pirates. Do people here know what a pirate is? [He laughs again.] We're pirates! And brothers!

[Ace's expression softens considerably, and he smiles. He's weak against Luffy's antics, even more so now that they've been separated and reunited.] Yeah, that's right. And we wanna know who else lived a life of piracy back in their home world. Especially if you're from our home world.

Comments

[resenting]

Isn't it kinda counterproductive to just come out and call yourself a pirate publicly?

[rubberpirate]

Nope! We're cool pirates!

[resenting]

Yeah, I'm sure you are. [What does that have to do with anything?]

[rubberpirate]

I am! I'm so cool my bounty is more than a billion bellies!

[He laughs, loudly.]

Are you sad you aren't a pirate?

[resenting]

Not particularly, I can't say it's something that's really occurred to me. I'm definitely not a marine or anything like that either, though.

[rubberpirate]

[SQUINTS.]

Are you sure?

[resenting]

Positive. I have my hands full as it is.

[rubberpirate]

eh? With what?

[resenting]

Just this and that.

[rubberpirate]

That's not an answer!

[resenting]

Let's just say a lot of things gave happened, and I've had to fight my way through it all.

[rubberpirate]

Do you need help? I can help you!

[resenting]

And why would you want to do that? What do you get out of it?

[burnt_offering]

No way. You've gotta have pride for your captain and crew. Hiding it is for weaklings.

[resenting]

I guess I can respect that, but wouldn't it make it harder to loot and pillage if people know who you are and expect you?

[burnt_offering]

I didn't do a lot of looting and pillaging back home. We protected the areas Pops had control over, fought his enemies, went up against those who deserved it, did raids when we needed to but it wasn't like we hid who we were or what we were doin'.

[He pauses, thinking.] Really, we were more about adventure than any of that looting and pillaging stuff.

[resenting]

Huh. That's pretty different from my image of what a pirate is, I guess.

[burnt_offering]

I was talking to someone else, and she said that pirates in her home were more like the Marines in my home. So things are kinda different for my brother and me, I guess.

[resenting]

Could be. Well it probably is, but that's how it is for all of us.

For what it's worth your description sounds like something I wouldn't hate. Not that I really fight for anyone but myself, of course.

[burnt_offering]

Yeah. Everything is so different here.

For me, family is worth fighting and dying for. That's what you do when you have people you love. But not everyone has it as good as I did.

[resenting]

Family, huh...

No, you're right. I've got some people like that myself. It's probably not that much different, now you mention it.

[burnt_offering]

My captain was the only father I had, and he accepted me even after I tried to kill him. A couple of times. [Ace scratches his fingers through his hair, a bit awkwardly. He didn't stand a chance against Pops.] He didn't give up on me though, and he gave me a family when he accepted me into the crew. It was probably different for others, but for the Whitebeards? We really were a family. And that's what made piracy amazing.

It's good to have people like that. Anyone can stand by their own strength if they try hard enough. But I'm not sure if it's worth it if you don't have someone to stand there with you.

[resenting]

Everyone's got their own circumstances, seems like. Your old man sounds like kind of an outrageous guy. Amazing that he could trust you after all that.

[burnt_offering]

I sure as hell wouldn't have been so forgiving. [Of himself, anyway.] Pops is amazing, that's for sure. He's massive, larger than life in every way, and I'm glad I got to be called one of his sons. That made my life complete.

[resenting]

You must have proven yourself to him somehow.

Anyway, no I'm not a pirate, but I'm nothing as official as a marine or whatever either.