Teach was clearly confident in his skill and ability to triumph over the Whitebeard pirates. Why? Because he didn't run. He burned down the city of another one of their protected island and sat on a chair in the ash. It was like he was trying to piss everybody off. To really provoke them, even in the moment.
The crew were evacuating the injured islanders onto the Moby Dick to get away from whatever battle may ensue. Marco was on the ship when this started, as they landed at the back, and only found Teach mocking them once venturing in land, which he was just waiting for. But Marco was on the ship when it mattered most.
He was the only one in that area that had superb observation haki. So, he sensed the strong man get on, who also happened to be invisible. He grabbed them by the hair and threw them into the water below. As they were clearly a devil fruit user. The man, a rough looking guy, became visible once he hit the water.
Marco looked down at him. "You one of Teach's cronies?" he asked coldly. The man stood up and glared at him. Marco was there immediately and snapped his neck, tossing him down. He shouted for the citizens to hurry, and soon the ship was boarded. Ace was kept safely inside, hidden under Marco's bed, which was surrounded by many pillows and blankets so nobody could get him, could see him.
The ship sailed away while the commanders besides Izo saw it off, making sure nothing abnormal happened to it. Izo was the weakest one against Teach. He only worked with his guns, had no real brute strength like some of the larger members with guns. So he was guarding their ship full of innocent islanders. Men, women and children. They were the Whitebeards' responsibility once they raised that flag of protection on their island.
The fourteen of them and Pops walked to where they easily sensed Teach. He was sitting on a chair in the middle of the remains of a home. He had to have done this part on purpose: his chair was right next to a torn apart and burnt teddy bear. It angered all of them, but they kept their cool.
Thatch smirked when Teach saw him and looked shocked. "Thought you could get rid of me that easily?" he challenged. Teach wasn't looking so cocky anymore, now he was angry and on guard. His betrayal didn't actually kill anybody. It left no casualties besides making Ace ill for a bit. Nobody died.
"I was wondering why nobody came after me," he said in a growl.
Marco said, "You weren't worth the time or effort then. We had other things to do." Pops was staying silent and stoic, never breaking eye contact. "Now where's your crew of convicted felons? I hope it isn't only the guy who can turn invisible, because his neck is broken and he is drifting to the bottom of the sea."
Teach looked enraged and truly shocked. Must have been a stronger member of his new crew. Well, Marco took care of him easily. They then sensed presences coming out of hiding. They had all hidden theirs okay enough to not be glaringly obvious, but they weren't completely hidden from haki.
The invisible guy clearly thought he could get on the ship with only his devil fruit. Fool. Dead fool. Pops had still said nothing before he sighed, sounding disappointed and unimpressed, which infuriated Teach. This was clearly not going the way he'd wanted it to. "Take care of the others, my sons."
"Aye!" the commanders shouted and dispersed to battle the others. Marco was staying with Pops for back up in case he needed it. Teach was grinning at him wickedly. Marco was sure he thought he was dealing with an elderly man with a failing body. To him, Pops should have gotten worse, not better. It was really lucky Teach hadn't known about Ace's blessing or they'd be screwed and Ace possibly dead.
The island may be destroyed in the fight, which was why they evacuated, but Pops knew his sons were there, too, so he would do as little damage as he was able. Teach rushed forward at Pops, who didn't even move his bisento, he used one fist and slammed it into Teach's face. He hadn't even used haki or his devil fruit. He knew the enemy devil fruit would nullify its affect, and he felt it would be embarrassing to use his power and not have it work. But it angered Teach, and he brought out his guns.
They were in his waist band, even if Marco had never seen him fight with guns in the first place. It was usually the metal claws or a single knife. But he was living a lie that whole time, so Marco really wasn't surprised. Neither of them worried when he started firing the guns as his colleagues had a lot of trouble.
Jozu had already offed the one he was against and was now assisting Vista with the largest man in the sea. So, Teach started shooting all his guns at Whitebeard. It scared Marco, and he only showed slight worry with biting the edge of his lip until he grinned when the bullets were pressed back out of the wounds, the injuries healing.
"WHAT?!" Teach shouted in shock and utter fear. "HOW?!" Marco grinned and said some things had changed.
"If you thought you could beat Pops because he was old and declining in health, then your plans are all ruined. Now, come and die quietly. Don't embarrass us further," Marco said coldly. Teach looked so lost on the situation before the captain took a single step forward, which made Teach cower.
It was truly pathetic and embarrassing. But he knew he poked the bear with a stick. Only the bear was at peak condition. Pops had a large black puddle form under him, and he easily jumped and then slammed his bisento into the black before activating his devil fruit. It was a theory the man had.
No devil fruit should be this strong. There were always unseen weaknesses in devil fruits, ones not recorded in books. This one was that the blackness lead to a different dimension, maybe a pocket, so he only activated his quirk within the power, not against it. And it worked, as the black matter exploded outwards, papering the ground with black dots that looked like ink.
When he was shocked, Marco flew forward and grabbed onto both arms with his talons and pinched. His arms were both now useless and hanging by his side. "No!" he shouted in anger and shock. This was not the outcome he'd expected. He hadn't even thought of the possibility of not winning in his way. Teach listened as his crew screamed, the sounds of bodies falling. He could only look behind his two current opponents to see the ground, the charred, ashy remains, covered in his crew's blood.
"Did you forget that I am a yonko? I may be old, but I am still the strongest man in the world," Pops said in a deadly voice. Full of ice and disdain. Teach started to run, as it was all he could do. With the captain not even needing to rely on his devil fruit, Teach was weak without his. And since weapons did not work on the captain, there wasn't much more he could do but run hopelessly.
"This is humiliating, Teach," Marco called. The sniveling man didn't stop before Pops slammed his bisento down and that made the ground shake. Then he was in front of Teach like he was an immovable force of natural, and sliced Teach apart as he screamed and writhed on the ground. It was... anticlimactic.
While they all wanted revenge, none of them seriously thought he or his rookie crew could defeat any of them. They all didn't doubt their strength for a second. Well, some did, but not all of the commanders. The only one truly worried had been Thatch, but even he knew this time and last time were different.
The first time Teach showed his true colors, Thatch didn't even have his swords with him. And he didn't suspect a brother to betray him, either. The commanders were all done with their respective fights, and came to see the bleeding chunks that had been Teach. Haruta commented that this was a boring outcome. "But not one that we didn't expect."
Namur asked how on earth the traitor thought his baby crew could beat a yonko crew. The others shrugged. They took the bodies and dragged them to the shore and threw them into the water to sink to their deaths. The really huge guy standing in the ocean was already sunk to the bottom of it, unable to fight back quickly due to his size.
Nobody felt sad when they watched Teach sink. The pieces of him sinking, that is. He wasn't in one piece still. They watch until they were so deep nobody could see them anymore, and then had the ship return. Marco lead everybody back onto the island, saying it was safe now. They would be helping to rebuild this island, and then visit the previously attacked island to help them out. It would be a long time before their journey began again.
When he didn't see Ace on deck, Marco went inside to his bedroom, and sensed Ace under the bed. "Ace, Teach and his crew are gone for good," Marco said, slowly pulling a pillow out so he could see the little faupta.
"Ace safe?"
Marco smiled and nodded. "You're safe. Teach won't ever hurt you or even see you again. And we'll protect you from everyone we need to. You're our baby brother."
"Ace not baby," he said. Marco laughed and changed it to "little" brother. "Ace like better." He came out and Marco walked him outside, him sniffing the air and finding no scent of Teach. Marco smiled and walked onto the island with him to go to the city that was still in tact and talk with the island's leaders.
They found out Ace liked eating on a certain type of huge beetles. It was gross, but he snatched only those off of trees as they walked through a path surrounded by the woods. Ace was very happy to know Teach was gone for good. He was so excited and happy he didn't take a single nap that day, but you can bet he crashed during the celebration, and slept in Pops' lap.
Marco smiled as he drunk his mead, so happy his father and brothers were safe and unharmed. It was so pathetic, but a fitting end for a traitor like him. Embarrassing and humiliating as he was killed. The party lasted much of the night and into the morning. Ace slept the whole time, all tuckered out, but in a good way.
Marco was glad he snuck onto the ship so long ago and stayed for good.
The End