[Marco just closes his eyes, thinking off on a hundred thousand, nay, millions of responsibilities. Remembering his father and mildly willing Whitebeard there next to him like a guiding force he'd almost always been.]
Your father would be proud of that goal though, eh? Mine... [Would be happy so long as they can just survive. Keeping the crew together, or splitting them up. Whichever lets them survive. To live, to be happy, to be free.] I can protect his islands, all the things he protected, but not without being as strong as he was. And if I try to become that, I'd stop being me and doing what I want, and I'd fail. Besides, being the world's strongest just means everyone wants to beat you so they can prove that they're really the strongest. How can I protect my family or those islands if I just turn myself into a target and draw those types to us? Even now, our flag back home is like a bull's eye target for weak fools seeking to gain reputation like pike sensing trapped bait. And then following them are the bigger sharks, and then still bigger seakings or krakens. Everyone's so ambitious, they all want to go to the top, but I just want my family to live, to help them chase their dreams and survive.
[And even if he was as strong as his Pops, the situation, the world is so different now. It's not like it was 20 or 30 years ago when they could plant their flag and tell anyone wanting to hurt the island to come fight them. Now, all those people who were too scared to fight, or worse, who got defeated because they did fight, now all those people want to take a bite of them when they're already wounded. Marineford had every single one of Whitebeard's allies fighting side by side, and yet all those old enemies that survived, teamed up to kill him too. Their reputation was once their best asset, and now; their problem. Marco could start over, his own crew, claim his own territories and fight just as hard as he did back in the early days, but it would require sacrificing everything else. And in that case, why not just defend to the death what he already can? But family comes first. If he can just protect them, keep them alive, the rest will fall into place slowly. Though damn the slowness to hell.]
Pops would want me to carve out my own path, he... [Stops hunching his posture and stands up straighter as a phoenix, proud of the tattoo and practically flaunting it now.] He trusts me to do that.
I just don't know what path that is yet.
[He wants to kill Blackbeard, but not at the risk of protecting his family, and even if he kills Blackbeard, there are other enemies they have to face. If he has to become the world's strongest on his own right in order to protect them all, he'll find a way to make it work, but he can't yet. For now, it's enough to just survive and make the New World a little easier for Ace's little brother to be the next pirate king. It's not killing Blackbeard, but making sure someone else beats Blackbeard to his goal? It goes a long way.] Well, I have ideas. But I won't know what path is best until I'm there with my brothers facing it. Make sense?
ooc: massive apologies for the TL;DR orz
[Marco just closes his eyes, thinking off on a hundred thousand, nay, millions of responsibilities. Remembering his father and mildly willing Whitebeard there next to him like a guiding force he'd almost always been.]
Your father would be proud of that goal though, eh? Mine... [Would be happy so long as they can just survive. Keeping the crew together, or splitting them up. Whichever lets them survive. To live, to be happy, to be free.] I can protect his islands, all the things he protected, but not without being as strong as he was. And if I try to become that, I'd stop being me and doing what I want, and I'd fail. Besides, being the world's strongest just means everyone wants to beat you so they can prove that they're really the strongest. How can I protect my family or those islands if I just turn myself into a target and draw those types to us? Even now, our flag back home is like a bull's eye target for weak fools seeking to gain reputation like pike sensing trapped bait. And then following them are the bigger sharks, and then still bigger seakings or krakens. Everyone's so ambitious, they all want to go to the top, but I just want my family to live, to help them chase their dreams and survive.
[And even if he was as strong as his Pops, the situation, the world is so different now. It's not like it was 20 or 30 years ago when they could plant their flag and tell anyone wanting to hurt the island to come fight them. Now, all those people who were too scared to fight, or worse, who got defeated because they did fight, now all those people want to take a bite of them when they're already wounded. Marineford had every single one of Whitebeard's allies fighting side by side, and yet all those old enemies that survived, teamed up to kill him too. Their reputation was once their best asset, and now; their problem. Marco could start over, his own crew, claim his own territories and fight just as hard as he did back in the early days, but it would require sacrificing everything else. And in that case, why not just defend to the death what he already can? But family comes first. If he can just protect them, keep them alive, the rest will fall into place slowly. Though damn the slowness to hell.]
Pops would want me to carve out my own path, he... [Stops hunching his posture and stands up straighter as a phoenix, proud of the tattoo and practically flaunting it now.] He trusts me to do that.
I just don't know what path that is yet.
[He wants to kill Blackbeard, but not at the risk of protecting his family, and even if he kills Blackbeard, there are other enemies they have to face. If he has to become the world's strongest on his own right in order to protect them all, he'll find a way to make it work, but he can't yet. For now, it's enough to just survive and make the New World a little easier for Ace's little brother to be the next pirate king. It's not killing Blackbeard, but making sure someone else beats Blackbeard to his goal? It goes a long way.] Well, I have ideas. But I won't know what path is best until I'm there with my brothers facing it. Make sense?