Fiery Scales

Ch7.-Ideas (Part 1)

After having convinced their captain to let Ace stay for now and when everyone was sober once more, the good news of course having started a party instantly, the commanders had wanted to start a meeting together regarding a plan of action.
However, before they could even start, did all commanders get bombarded with ideas from their division on how to help Ace. So instead of instantly starting up a meeting, it was decided to wait a few days and use these days as time a time to brainstorm and gather ideas.

An un countable amount of ideas were flowing in and making rounds, some more plausible than others, but all appreciated. To be able to keep up with it though, Haruta thought of an 'idea box'.

One big box was placed in the mess hall, it was essentially a big mailbox. On top of it was also a stack of papers and some pens. Someone had drawn Ace on the front of the box too, or well everyone thinks it was supposed to be Ace..... Everyone's got their own thing they good at... It's the thought of the drawing that counts!
But yes, this box was Ace's idea box. Everyone who had a thought of how to help Ace, no matter your position in the crew, no matter if it's 100% thought through, no matter how difficult materials are to attain,... you can write it down and slip the paper inside.

While Whitebeard had been against Ace staying in the beginning, the current situation warmed his heart and he felt proud of every single member in his crew, his sons and daughters. It was really a wonderful sight to see, there was always someone at the box writing something down. Members of different divisions, that normally aren't even in much contact with each other, were now seen together, small groups formed on deck and in the hallway to discuss their thoughts and finetune ideas, before they all went together to write it down and submit the ideas.

When the box was full at the end of the week, the commanders decided that it was time to check the results and sequentially gave an announcement at breakfast that they will remove the box after dinner and will be having a meeting the next morning.
While the box was just about full in the morning, by evening it overflowing. The commanders knew it would be a lot of work to sort through, but it brought a smile to their faces to see all the efforts put into gathering solutions.

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Now, one week since Pops has allowed for Ace to stay, all under the condition that we find a way for him to be on his own before we reach enemy territory, the commanders were starting their meeting. Or well, they were going to have a meeting eventually, but first it was sorting through all the ideas. They had made some smaller boxes to sort the papers in, from impossible to possible, with some more different options in between, differentiation between if they had the items they needed onboard or not and if not, where they attainable, ... Seeing the amount to sort thought, it would probably take them until lunch-time, even when they were with 15 to go through it.

While they were going through everything, Ace was left with the Spades. It was the newest crew that they had recruited into their ranks. The captain with bright blue hair had stood out among the other rookies from the very beginning, but he had certainly caught their attention when he came before the world's strongest man, not to take his head like most others, but to ask him for stories about his life and adventures, wanting to use them for his own book. It had stunned even the commanders, a rookie searching out their captain just to plop down in front of the man while taking out a notepad and pen. That Pops had adopted them that very moment wasn't even a surprise anymore and they have been onboard ever since, and for some reason Ace really liked them. Even their cat, or well lynx actually, was in Ace's good books and the lynx could often be seen sneaking into the infirmary to nap together with the merman. Marco was pretty sure the lynx has tried to eat Ace his tail multiple times, but Ace laughs it off every single time before hugging the 'Big Meow Meow' ... As long as they're happy, and Ace's tail doesn't get eaten for reals, it's all good.....