Chapter 50: Vow of Brotherhood

"I don't know about you guys," Franky said, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "But this island wins my vote for the 'worst island ever'!"

"I'm with you there," Usopp moaned out as he let Chopper wrap a bandage around his arm. "I don't know how much more we can take here. I'm starting to feel like a sack of broken bones…"

"And that would be tragic in my case, Yohoho—OW!" he winced, rubbing his cracked skull.

"Can't say it's surprising since we've been fighting practically every foe we've ever faced all in one night," Robin offered, she glanced over at Zoro and Sanji as she added, "But I take it that you both fell much better after that little fight?"

"Much better in fact," Zoro confessed. And he meant it, it really did feel good to get out some of that pent-up frustration on one of the bastards who had made his captain's trip a living hell. "Now, if only Blackbeard will show up so that I can take him on…?"

Nami was sitting down, resting her chin on her knees as she sighed, "I'm just glad that that Magellan didn't poison us like he did with Luffy."

"Doesn't matter, I still would've kicked his ass," Franky growled, punching his hands together to make that clunking noise. "I hope to meet up with the real one someday so that I can break his face in!"

"Even after seeing what he could do?!" Brook asked, still shaking from the sight of that Venom Demon. That guy wasn't normal and he couldn't help but pray that they never had to face him again… even just the fake version of that man was enough to send shivers down his spine… which wasn't hard for him since that was all he had of his back.

"Payback for all the misery he's caused in his life," Sanji sighed, lighting up another cigarette. "Though it's not the same as fighting the real guy, I think that was a good warm-up."

"Warm-up? What do you mean warm-up?! You're making it sound like we might end up running into him again someday?!" Usopp cried out, paling at the thought.

"Think of how many people that we've seen again just tonight?" Robin offered, "People we never thought we see again? No one can ever know the future so there's always a chance that we might run into him for real someday?"

"I hope not!" Chopper cried out, but was already making plans to try and discover some kind of cure for that poison stuff of his just in case. He didn't ever want to see any of his crewmates go through something like that. When he saw Luffy writhing on the ground in so much pain like that, it broke his heart at the thought that there wasn't anything that he could do to help… and it wasn't just because it was all just a memory… the worst part was that he knew that even if he had been there, there wouldn't have been anything he could do to help him.

He had studied a lot in the last two years, reading and even re-reading every book he could find on medicines and antidotes. He made a vow to himself that he was going to be prepared for anything from here on out, he was never going to feel that helpless again! His hooves curled up tightly as he promised himself that he was never going to allow one of his precious crewmates to go through that kind of suffering alone ever again!

That fake Magellan certainly put up a fight for them all, though his body seemed to melt and drip with poison, they found out right away that it wasn't poisonous… though it did burn when it touched them… thankfully Chopper was able to take care of the burns very easily as Zoro and Sanji were able to use Haki to protect them from suffering any of those attacks. The battle was pretty much at a stand-off for some time before Magellan sank back into the gloom to get away from them.

No one was sorry to see him go as they rested and were all out of breath. After this night, all the injuries they took and old enemies that they were forced to fight again, it was really taking its toll on them physically and emotionally. They were worn out and thinking longingly of their beds back on board the Sunny, but they knew that the memories were reaching the final stretch… they had to be.

After they were able to rest for a moment and catch their breath, the memories changed around them so that they were back in the open air once again. They were on the marine warship that they had stolen and escaped from Impel Down, in fact they could see the gates shrinking behind them the further they sailed away, at this rate it wouldn't be long before it was out of their sights all together.

But what got them all was the mood on the ship itself. Most of the prisoners, and even some of the New Kamas were on the deck with food and drinks, eating and dancing as they celebrated their freedom. That was what infuriated them all… as if Bon Clay's sacrifice wasn't worth grieving over any longer.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sanji asked sourly as he glared over to see Buggy there, drinking down a mug of booze.

"How could they?!" Chopper yelled out in fury, his emotions already stretched to the breaking point. "Bon Clay he… he… HE SAVED THEM ALL! THEY OWE HIM THEIR LIVES BUT…?!"

"Chopper…" Nami said gently, trying to comfort him, her hands on his shoulders as he looked tearfully up at her. "They're bastards, that's all you need to know," she told him, "We won't be forgetting what Bon Clay did for Luffy and the others anytime soon."

"I doubt that Luffy could ever forget it," Usopp said as he sniffled, feeling close to breaking down all over again. He couldn't remember being as worn out as he had been this night, and he hoped never to go through it again as he rubbed his eyes, spotting a familiar purple afro not too far away. "Hey?" he said, pointing out to how Ivankov was kneeling next to an open doorway, several New Kamas gathered around him with concerned expressions on their faces.

Wanting to get away from the party that was going on, they walked over to see what was going on.

"Let vus rest Inazuma here," he said, his head shrunk back down to normal size, at least normal for him, and was addressing his followers around him.

"What?" one of the New Kamas asked worriedly, "You mean the poison has affected him that badly?"

"VI was able to cure the poison he hit me with my Healing and Tension Hormones," he explained, a worried glance inside the cabin. "But that is a technique which shortens one's life, not to mention the intense side-effects afterwards."

Curious, they walked in, wanting to see how bad a shape that Inazuma was, and they found him lying on a makeshift bed, covered in bandages and a wet cloth on his forehead. Though he was very pale and looked the worse for wear, he didn't seem to be in any pain and was sleeping rather peacefully, which they were all glad to see. His glasses and his glass of wine was lying next to him as several other New Kamas kept silent watch over him.

Chopper bent down, glad that they knew enough about medicine to be able to treat him right. He was still in bad shape, but he didn't seem to be having a fever and the worst of the poison was out of his system, which means that there's a good chance that he could pull through on his own without having to go through… what Luffy went through.

"If possible it would be less painful for him to wait it out and recover normally," Ivankov said, his face so large that it took up the entire doorway, and some of them shivered at the thought of opening a door one day, only to find that looking back at you… not a pleasant thing. "Once vyour lifespan has been shortened, you'll never be able reclaim the years vyou've lost. Inazuma is an important New Kama to the Revolutionary Army. This isn't the time to be messing up his body like that."

"Yeah, I guess it would be a harder choice to make if it's a good friend instead of some random stranger," Zoro stated, though still a little ticked off. How is it that they were able to do something for Inazuma here, and not Luffy?

Chopper might've guessed what he was thinking for he sighed and stood up. "Because he wasn't over-exposed to the poison like Luffy was," he explained. "He was beaten, yeah, but Luffy was forced to endure that entire fight while he was breathing in poison and was getting covered in it." He rubbed his eyes hard as he added, "It looks like Magellan barely spent any time fighting Inazuma…?"

"That would make sense," Robin stated, "Since he knew that the escape team was already making for the exit, he probably just covered Inazuma in a lethal dosage before he went up… probably not even bothering to fight him."

"But what about Ivankov?" Usopp asked, "I mean, he used his powers on himself to save him! I thought… I thought that it took two days for it to cure you! But he was able to catch up to the group in time?"

But Chopper only shook his head, unsure of how to answer. "I don't know how his powers work," he confessed, "There's no way to know for sure… maybe he's used that technique on himself before and it had already given him a strong immune system so he didn't have to wait as long for it to work? I don't know."

"But it's really making me worried about Luffy," Nami said, biting her lip. "Ten years…?!"

"That is a heavy price to pay," Sanji muttered grimly as they walked out through the wall so that they were back in the air again. After so much time spent in Impel Down, they wanted to enjoy the blue sky for a while.

"Everything about this is messed up," Franky spat furiously as he walked to the edge and looked down at the water. "First we were all separated from each other…? Then Ace about to be executed…? Luffy having to brave Impel Down alone before losing those ten years…? Bon Clay…?"

The reason he wanted his back to them all, was so that they couldn't see him crying. Tears were falling fast down his face, this whole journey through Luffy's memories was like an emotional roller-coaster and he wasn't sure how much more he could take.

"Speaking of which, where is Luffy-san?" Brook asked suddenly, but it was Usopp who spotted him first, pointing up to the very back of the ship where he spotted the Straw Hat flapping in the breeze. They all climbed up the stairs to see that Luffy was leaning against the railings right next to Mr. 3 along with many other New Kamas as they continued to stare at the Gates of Justice.

"You know," said Mr. 3 miserably, "He wasn't such a bad guy, after all."

"I'm surprised to see him taking this so hard," Robin said, having known Mr. 3 for only a short while, but she had been under the impression that he disliked Bon Clay—or Mr. 2—while they worked together with Baroque Works. Yet, after seeing that selfless sacrifice that he had just pulled for their sake, she could understand why he was feeling the way he was.

Luffy was rubbing his own eyes hard, yet he couldn't stop the flow of tears. "After we've finally been reunited too…" Some of the Straw Hats cried a little as they looked up at the gates again, seeing Bon Clay's face slowly fading away as they left him behind.

"And he ended up saving me again!" Luffy sobbed out as Mr. 3 lowered his head, not bothering to hide his weeping either.

"I just can't believe it… after all that… that Bon Clay's really…?" Brook said softly.

"He might not have died," Robin offered.

"What?" Usopp asked, looking back at her with red eyes, "You… you think that he's alive?!"

"I don't want to get your hopes up," she said shaking her head. "I don't know how he was able to get to the control room and work the gates…? He could've easily taken out the guards and worked at the controls to let them through. If Magellan didn't catch up to him right away, he could've used his powers to escape. I know that he's clever, and if he was lucky he might've been able to disguise himself as a jailer or even as a Marine in time before Magellan showed up. He might've been able to sneak outside then and escape on a warship… or even make his way back down to New Kama Land and hide out there if there wasn't anything else he could do."

She knew that she was thinking optimistically at best. But she just couldn't bring herself to fully accept that he was dead after all that he had done for Luffy. She knew that he could be clever and crafty when he wanted to be… and it all depends on what happened inside that control room. If he did take out the guards and worked at the controls before Magellan or anyone showed up and then pretended to be a guard…? She shook her head, not sure anymore… if Magellan did reach the room and he did catch him… there was no way that he was ever going to let Bon Clay go with nothing short of a death sentence.

"Hey… y-yeah!" Usopp said, wiping his nose on his arm. "You're right! He might still be alive! Who knows?! If we ran into pathetic people like Buggy again, then…?"

Chopper and Brook were also looking a little more hopeful than they had been a moment ago, but for some of the others, such as Zoro, Sanji, and even Nami, they were more pessimistic about Bon Clay escaping. If anything, they hoped that if Bon Clay was killed by Magellan, his death was quick and painless—though it was cruel to think that way; that was better than to spend the rest of his life in Impel Down and being tortured every single day.

The New Kamas around them were also looking tearfully at the gate as they continued to mourn Bon Clay, crying out his name and slumping over on the railing in grief. They, at least, knew what was owed to them and were thankful for what he had done for their sakes.

"Bon Clay!"

"Big Bro Bon!"

"BON CLAY!" they all sobbed together.

"Hey, how long are you guys are going to stand there sobbing?" a slurred voice that hiccupped slightly behind them. They glanced up to see Buggy was staggering up the steps with more booze in his hands, and his face flushed as he tried to stay on his feet.

"Hey, come on now, you guys!" he cried out. "How long are you all going to be sulking like that?"

"How long?!" Brook demanded furiously as everyone turned to glare at him, their eyes shadowed over so that you couldn't see their emotions, but there was no doubt that each one of them was livid over Buggy's indifferent words. "You couldn't even be half the man that Bon Clay-chan was!" Brook yelled out, "He gave up his freedom to save you as well! How could you completely ignore his sacrifice like that?!"

"He's a jerk! That's why!" Nami said, her eyes still stinging from all the crying that she had done. "He doesn't care about anyone but himself! Damn, why didn't they leave him behind instead of Bon Clay?!"

"If we lived in a perfect world, then maybe," Zoro spat out. And if a perfect world, they never would've been separated from him, and Ace would still be alive now wouldn't he?

But Buggy just went on speaking, not realizing that ever word he said was making them angrier than ever. He just went on with a laugh, a horrible smile on his face as if he was mocking their mourning and anger was quickly building in the Straw Hats, a muscle going in each one of their foreheads—aside from Brook who didn't have one—and each one could feel their hands itching suddenly, longing for just one good punch.

"Sure he was a good guy, and all, but he's dead now and there's nothing that we can do about that! What's say we celebrate, huh? I mean, after all, we're free men!" Buggy went on, "Hey! I've got an idea! Let's hold a wake for Mr. 2!"

"If he doesn't shut up in the next two seconds, then I'm gonna…" Usopp growled furiously as Franky was grinding another bottle of cola into dust in his hands as Buggy looked on with that stupid smile on his face.

Yet, they were spared that threat when Luffy marched right over and punched him hard in the nose, sending him down the flight of stairs and laying there at the bottom with blood bursting out of his already large, red nose.

"Hit him again!" Nami cheered on. "Hit him one for each of us, Luffy! And an extra in for Bon Clay!"

"Yeah, then do it a few more times just to make sure!" Sanji added loudly, feeling better that someone finally shut that clown up for a moment.

"What a bloody nice service…" Buggy croaked out.

"We don't know for sure that Bon Clay died, you Big-Nose!" Luffy yelled down at him angrily.

Buggy sat up, looking angrily as blood dripped from his nose. "Who're you calling a big-nose?!" he demanded.

"Who does he think?" Zoro asked, wishing that Luffy would just knock him out again. Luffy jumped down the stairs, got right in Buggy's face before he started to yell at him.

"YOU!" he shouted. "I DON'T SEE ANYONE ELSE WITH A BIG RED NOSE LIKE YOURS AROUND HERE, DO YOU?!"

"There you go, Luffy," Sanji stated, "Your insults are getting better."

But then Buggy childishly began to pull on Luffy's cheeks so that they stretched, "Well, you're the one who's got a rubbery, stretchy, stupid face!"

"Really?" Usopp asked as Luffy began to squeeze Buggy's nose hard as his face was still being pulled at. "I can deal with them fighting like this, but come on Buggy… that's got to be one of the worst insults I've ever heard!"

"Just one more thing that Buggy's pathetic about," Zoro sighed as Luffy finally pushed him away.

"Bon Clay isn't dead!" he shouted out, though it was hard to know if he truly believed that or was trying to convince himself of that. Either way, it was enough reason for him to slug Buggy hard enough to get him to fall to the deck with a large bloody lump on his head so that it looked like he had two red noses.

Once he was down, Luffy seemed to just want to get away from him and so he went and stretched his arms out so that he was able to jump to the front of the ship where Jimbei was at the wheel, and Crocodile was sitting calmly on a nearby cannon.

His face was still fuming as they went up to join him, but maybe looking a little better after he took some of his anger out.

"Luffy…" Jimbei's gruff voice suddenly spoke up and they looked to him. His back was to them, and he turned his head a little, but wasn't really looking at him as he continued to speak, "I owe you a great debt for allowing me the chance to help you save Ace."

"What's he saying? He's done nothing but help Luffy out even before they let him out of that cage?" Usopp said.

"Yeah, but he's now out of that cage and has a chance to do something about this war instead of sitting there chained to a wall," Robin reminded him.

Luffy seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Usopp for he actually smiled again a little. "Oh, don't say things like that! It's no problem at all!" he jumped down from the railing and added, "I feel better that you're here actually! You're really strong!"

Jimbei was quiet for a moment, as if he was on the verge of saying something, yet seemed to think better of it. "You can call me Jimbei," he said, but they all had a strong feeling that wasn't what he wanted to talk about.

"I used to be one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, but I abandoned that title," Jimbei went on seriously, as Buggy climbed up and started to wrestle with Luffy for that last punch. "Let's unleashed hell on Marine Headquarters!"

"Hell ya!" Franky cheered, only wishing that he didn't know what that outcome would be.

"We must not let Bon Clay's efforts go to waste and rescue your brother," Jimbei informed Luffy. They all knew that he was trying to help Luffy deal with what happened with Bon Clay by giving him something to hold onto, but Franky wasn't the only one who felt pain at knowing the future. His words just seemed to cause a terrible ache inside all of them.

"One of the Warlords?" Luffy asked slowly, trying to wrap his mind around what he heard.

"Marine Headquarters?" Buggy repeated in confusion before it fully seemed to register what was being said.

"Really, Luffy, he's a Warlord and you hadn't even realized it?" Nami sighed tiredly.

"It's not like he had a chance to introduce himself," Sanji offered but Robin frowned a little as she thought that over.

That wasn't right… there was one chance after they let him and Crocodile out of their cages and Inazuma had mentioned bringing two Warlords along. Luffy asked what he was talking about, but Jimbei quickly changed the subject…

She looked over at Jimbei and could see that there was a shadow of guilt written there, and so she had a feeling that there was a reason why Jimbei didn't want Luffy to know just who he was at the moment. But then… they had more important things to deal with at the moment such as reaching Marineford before the battle broke out.

Luffy and Buggy both let out cries of shock as they fell backwards onto the deck. "You mean to tell me you were one of the Seven Warlords?!" Luffy cried out in amazement, as if he had just made an important discovery. "No wonder you're so strong!"

Most of the former prisoners and New Kamas all gathered on the deck to see what all the noise was about. The New Kamas were all looking rather calm at the mention of Marineford, though maybe paler at the idea of where they were going.

"Forgive me," Jimbei said as Luffy got back to his feet, though he didn't seem too surprised that Luffy hadn't realized who he was. "I should've introduced myself sooner."

"I'm more surprised to hear you DIDN'T know," one of the New Kamas added to Luffy.

"You know, we didn't even know what he looked like before we met him," Usopp said suddenly said as he thought it over. Sure they knew his name and that he was a Fishman, but until he actually saw Jimbei's picture in the newspaper with Luffy he didn't know what the guy even looked like.

"Hey!" Buggy suddenly yelled, getting their attention, "Whaddya mean, Marine Headquarters?! You better not be saying that this ship is going to Navy HQ!"

"Where else would they all be going?" Zoro asked with a roll of his eye. He would've thought that was obvious. Why else would they end up breaking out so quickly and head through the gates like that if they didn't have somewhere they needed to be? And Buggy should've known that Luffy wasn't going to give up on the idea of saving his brother that easily.

"That is right," Jimbei answered coolly.

"WHAT!?" Buggy screamed in terror, "You DO know about the war between the marines and the Whitebeard Pirates, right!?"

"Of course they all knew," Sanji spoke up as the prisoners were looking at the group as if this whole conversation was going clear over their heads. "Why else would they be talking about going to Marineford and raising hell?"

Crocodile blew out a puff of smoke as spoke up in annoyance, as if even the trouble of just looking at them as he talked wasn't worth his time, "What are you talking about? It's not our faults that you're idiotic."

"WHAT?!" Buggy screamed at him, looking torn between his fear of the idea of going to Marineford and his terror of Crocodile.

Crocodile looked deeply bored by Buggy's fright as he calmly answered, "Now that we are through the Gates of Justice we're travelling on the Government's private sea route, the only possible destinations are Enies Lobby and Marine Headquarters. It's this big swirling current that connects the Government's three top facilities. The only reason we escaped in the first place was because we wanted to join the battle."

It was worth bringing him along just so that they could see him explain where they were going to Buggy and Mr. 3. Both of them screamed in horror as they realized the hell they left behind was nothing compared to the one that they were heading off too.

Luffy was also smiling as he nodded calmly, "Yeah, the battle begins now!"

Both turned and had horrible smiles on their faces as if they had lost their minds as they repeated his words like a broken record.

"N-NOBODY TOLD US ABOUT THIS!" the prisoners all screamed at the idea as Buggy and Mr. 3 went running over to try and take the wheel from Jimbei, begging that they change course right now.

"Now that we're riding the sea current there's no way for me to stop it," Jimbei informed them.

"He's right. It won't do any good," Nami said, shaking her head. "If this current is as fast and as strong as they make it sound, even if they do try to change course it will either cause the ship to capsize, or they'll be taken along with it anyway. There's nothing that they can do to stop it unless they either learn how to fly or stop the waves themselves."

"Why don't you two just get off?" Luffy suggested.

"I'm all for that plan!" Zoro said raising up his hand.

"YOU REALLY THINK WE'RE THAT STUPID?!" both of them yelled at him, their teeth practically sharpened as they glared at him. "WE'RE BOTH DEVIL FRUIT USERS! IF WE GET OFF WE'LL DIE!"

"I know… that's what I like about that idea!" Franky added with a laugh.

"You know… after all that they went through in Impel Down, I do feel bad that they were brought along when they weren't told where they were going," Brook spoke up.

"You know the saying…" Robin stated, "The ferryman demands a high price."

"Huh?" Chopper asked innocently, "What's that mean?"

"It means that a free ride is never free," Zoro said calmly. "They wanted to be let out of those bars? No problem, but they don't have any say in where they're going."

"Navy HQ and the Warlord vs. the Whitebeard pirates!" one of the prisoners shouted out, "This war is even scarier than Hell!"

"If we're going to a place like that then I rather go back to prison!"

"All of us from New Kama land knew all along," one of the New Kama girls stated.

"Then you should've told us!" one of the former prisoners cried. There was crying going on all around them, a lot of them even offering up their prayers when they heard a familiar sound ringing off.

BELLIP-BELLIP-BELLIP! BELLIP-BELLIP-BELLIP!

"A Transponder Snail?" Usopp asked in surprise as they looked around, trying to find out where it was coming from. It was then they traced it to a small door that was built right into the main mast. They all went over to the edge to look at it with apprehensive expressions on their faces.

"Who would be calling them way out here?" Brook asked curiously.

"Who other than the Navy?" Nami asked with a roll of her eyes. "Either they don't know that the ship was stolen—which I highly doubt—or they're calling to give them some kind of threat."

"A threat?" Franky asked puzzled.

"Yeah, you know…" Zoro said with a yawn, "You're pirates and we're gonna punish you… you have no hope of victory… blab, blab, blab… the usual."

"I don't care," Sanji said tiredly, "Someone answer it already! That ringing is getting annoying."

"That's not a good thing!" Nami yelled, "It's better if they just ignore it and…?"

Luffy suddenly opened the little iron door, hitting Buggy in the process before he picked up the receiver. "Uh, hello…?" he asked.

"LUFFY, YOU IDIOT!" Nami and Usopp both cried out in panic. This wasn't good at all.

"This is Marine Headquarters," the serious voice said over the receiver.

"Hi. This is Luffy," Luffy said casually.

"DON'T TELL HIM YOUR NAME!" everyone from past and present shouted as Robin chuckled a little at how impulsive all this was. "YOU'RE A PIRATE!"

"The Impel Down security fleet reports that a large group of prison escapees has captured a ship. We've identified the two ringleaders from the prison's video transmissions!" the marine stated. The talk went on with the unbelievable news that the Marines thought that Buggy was one of the ringleaders behind the escape. And of course that was only because they found out about how he had once been part of the Pirate King's ship and even once like a brother to Red-Hair Shanks.

The Straw Hats all rolled their eyes, feeling deeply annoyed at all this. Seeing how weak and cowardly that Buggy had been since near the start of the memories only seemed to mock everything that they had seen and experienced out here on these seas. Maybe Buggy was big enough to bully the people back in the East Blue, but out here he amounted to nothing. Even Nami, when she still worked with a simple wooden staff, was able to stand up to him…

The Marines had admitted that they were surprised that a former member of the Roger Pirates had been staying out of big trouble for so long, but they announced that they weren't going to underestimate him again.

"That's also the only reason why he was made into a Warlord," Nami said in deep annoyance. "Come on… Buggy? Even his name is lame!"

"I can see Luffy being one of the biggest threats here no problem since he was the one who broke in, but they're acting like two former Warlords and a couple members from the Revolutionary Army aren't even there," Usopp pointed out.

"After Roger was executed over twenty years ago," Robin stated, "The Government was so frightened of anyone who had even a slight connection to him, they began a massive search. Anyone who even just met Roger was in danger of being locked away. So it only makes sense that they would take someone who had been on Roger's crew as a big threat… even if it is Buggy."

Franky frowned heavily at those words. "That's the biggest bunch of crap I ever heard," he said grumpily as Tom's laughing face flashed in his mind's eye for a moment.

"So it's only because of Roger's name that Buggy's where he is today," Zoro said with disgust. "That's sad. I mean, look at Shanks? He's an Emperor! He rules over part of the New World! He did that all on his own strength even after Roger's death." He just couldn't believe it… didn't Buggy once say that he and Shanks were both still apprentices while they were on Roger's ship? Sure, he could picture them being young and inexperienced and even working together as cabin boys… but how could two people who started off at the same time end up with such different power levels…? They weren't even in the same universe when it came to strength.

The worst part was seeing the prisoners all look at Buggy with awe in their faces, as if they couldn't believe who they had been with all this time. They were looking as star-struck as Luffy, Usopp, or Chopper would when they were faced with one of Franky's new inventions…

"As if this couldn't get any sadder?" Sanji said as most of the crew did face-plants onto the ground at the sight of it all. "Really…? Can't they not sense how weak he is? They're all much stronger than he is! He's the weakest person on this ship!"

"I guess that they spent a little too long in prison?" Usopp suggested with a shrug.

"That makes more sense than anything else here," Nami said, pushing her face up from the ground. Really, if Buggy had ever become a threat to the world, then she would know that there was no hope for humanity.

The Marine had also admitted that they were aware now that Jimbei, Crocodile, Ivankov, and over 200 other escapees were working with Luffy on that stole ship and that they let out a warning that unless the gates of Justice open, they'll never be able to escape the current and reach Marineford. They had nowhere to run and they will never survive.

"Wait! He's right!" Nami cried out in worry. "The Gates of Justice that are at Marineford! How are they supposed to get through that?!"

"They'll have to get someone on the inside to do that," Sanji said, though he sounded highly skeptic himself. There was no chance in hell they were going to open the doors for them?

"They might not know, right?" Usopp offered. "If they see a Marine warship then…?"

"I doubt it will make much of a difference," Robin said with a shake of her head. "They would already have been warned. That Marine just proved it by telling them that they knew that they're heading towards Marineford."

"So… then… what are they supposed to do?!" Chopper cried out in utter confusion. He didn't get it. If the only way to get to Marineford now was to get through the Gates, and the marines would never open them for them…? Then how did they get there in the first place?

But before anyone could think of an answer, Luffy suddenly yelled into the receiver, "Hey, wait Marine!"

They all looked up at him, wondering what he was going to say as he took a deep breath. "I'm definitely going to save Ace!"

"He just had to say that didn't he?" Usopp whimpered, his head hanging as he felt lower than dirt.

"Why do we have to know the future here?" Chopper moaned out, though the mood lifted slightly when Luffy finished his threat.

"So just wash your potatoes and wait!" he shouted out over the receiver before he hung up and slammed the little metal doors shut.

"Eh… what?" Franky asked as there was an awkward silence all around them.

"I think he means for them to 'watch their necks'," Robin offered, and she had to fight a smile there.

"Luffy… typical…" Sanji sighed bitterly.

"Necks! It's necks, Straw Hat!" one of the New Kamas shouted at him.

"Like this is any time to wash potatoes!" another prisoners shouted.

"Hey, why is this guy picking a fight with Navy HQ anyway?" someone asked suddenly.

"Because that's what he does best," Nami sighed tiredly.

"I thought eating was what he did best?" Sanji couldn't help but remind her.

"No, it's getting us all in trouble that's the problem," Usopp countered at once. At his words they all thought it over and nodded in agreement to those words. Yes, when it comes to trouble, Luffy had a true gift for it.

"No, wait!" another person shouted, "More importantly, Captain Buggy…"

"When are these people gonna realize that he's no captain?" Zoro asked with irritation in his voice. Damn, he just wanted to smack them all awake.

"You were a member of the Pirate King's crew?!" someone asked Buggy, who turned tense.

"And you were like a brother to Red Hair?!"

"Brother? I thought Buggy hated Shanks?" Chopper questioned.

"He blames him for the fact that he hid a Devil's Fruit in his mouth and accidentally swallowed it," Sanji spoke up with a gagging sound. "Damn, who does something like that? Hiding a Devil Fruit in your mouth? You were just begging to swallow it!"

"I'm more amazed that Buggy was able to swallow the whole thing," Brook said, thinking about the awful taste. "I only took one bite and it was the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten! I swear that I wanted to rip my own tongue out to get rid of the taste! Not that would be a hard thing for me to do now since I don't have a tongue! Yohohoho!"

"Our savior is truly one amazing pirate!" the prisoners and even some of the New Kamas began to cheer and most of the Straw Hats sighed miserably at those words as Robin shook her head in an almost piteous way. She just felt so bad for those prisoners… their time in prison clearly took a sad toll on their minds. It was only reasonable she supposed…? After being imprisoned and tortured for years on end…?

To their surprise, Buggy was looking horrified that his past was revealed like this. He gapped around at them all with his mouth wide comically, and for the first time in history he seemed to be too stunned for words.

"Well, I never would've guessed he had such an impressive past," they heard Jimbei mutter behind them, still at the wheel.

"No one could've guessed," Nami sighed, shaking her head, she had heard the stories… how anyone who ever knew Roger or had even been there that day he was executed, had eventually rose to greatness. She didn't know how much that was true, or any of it… but what went wrong with Buggy here?

"And despite all that he's so weak," Mr. 1 spoke up, his expression still as calm as it had always been as Crocodile merely looked on, as if he honestly couldn't care less about anything that was being said.

"But then, why is he such a coward?!" Mr. 3 asked with utter bafflement on his face.

"That's what I want to know," Sanji couldn't help but add under his breath.

"They do say all ships have one black sheep," Ivankov said and some of his New Kamas nodded sagely around him in agreement.

"SHUT UP!" Buggy shouted at them all.

"Is that really true?" Chopper asked in surprise.

"That is what they say," Brook said, having heard that saying even from back in his day.

"If that's true, then who's the black sheep on our ship?" Franky asked curiously.

"You're kidding right?" Usopp asked with a roll of his eyes. "No one on this ship is normal."

"So what you're saying is that all of us are the black sheep?" Robin chuckled, though she had to agree with that statement.

"I wouldn't disagree with that statement," Nami laughed a little hysterically.

"Really?" Luffy spoke up as he thought about something. "Now that you mention it… the old Vice-Captain guy said something like that too."

"Huh? The vice-captain?!" Buggy repeated in confusion.

"Yeah. An old guy named Rayleigh," Luffy said. "You know him, don't you?"

"YOU MET RAYLEIGH?!" Buggy gasped out in excitement, looking pleased that he got to hear something from one of his old crewmates after so long. "Oh, that takes me back! The vice-captain, huh? Where'd you meet that old sea dog, now?"

"So he really does know him?" Usopp asked, unable to believe that Rayleigh could've ever sailed with Buggy. "Why did they take him onboard anyway?"

"Entertainment?" Zoro suggested as the former prisoners around them all had eyes as wide as dinner plates and their jaws dropping open in astonishment when they heard Rayleigh's name.

"The 'Dark King' Rayleigh's name came up!"

"What an incredible conversation!"

Buggy froze again as the Straw Hats all rolled their eyes; some of them even gagging when they heard someone declare from the crowd, "Captain Buggy! I knew you were something special, the moment I saw you!"

"Special? Compared to what?!" Sanji called out, remembering the scene back in Orange Town. How Buggy's second-in-command couldn't stand up to a little dog without his lion there to back him up. Doesn't that show just what kind of crew he's got going for him?

"N-no, no wait a second!" Buggy stuttered out to them, and they were shocked by this sudden modesty coming from him. "I mean it's all true and that, but… compared to those big shots, the life I've lived up till now is just…?"

"You're amazing!" someone cried out, "You were a member of that legendary crew!"

And suddenly they all began to cheer. Buggy! Buggy! BUGGY!

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Nami said, smacking herself in the face at all of this.

"I'm surprised to see he's not lapping it up like usual," Franky said, frowning a little.

"If I had to guess, he had been trying to lay low," Robin shrugged. "If he really did sail across the Grand Line then he already would've had a good idea how dangerous it is out here. Like I told you, there was a massive search for anyone connected to Roger in any way, and I'm guessing that he would know better than anyone how dangerous the Marines could be. That was why he kept his past secret for so long."

"To avoid anyone sending someone really powerful and dangerous after him," Zoro finished up for her with a shrug. "That I can understand. But something tells me that this won't last long."

"What do you…?" Chopper began as Buggy was suddenly lifted up onto someone's shoulders, like some kind of conquering hero.

"You idiots!" Buggy yelled, sounding angry, "Quit cheering! I was technically only an apprentice! Even though you have me to thank for your freedom, I'm still just…"

"Oh, please! What did you do that was so helpful except for run?!" Franky yelled as Usopp and Chopper booed as well. The cheering kept going as Buggy kept trying to explain that they had it all wrong, but like Zoro had predicted, that soon disappeared. The worried look on Buggy's face faded away to be replaced by a rather dark smirk, as if he was already plotting something unpleasant. The former prisoners around them were all wild up and most of them were even getting hold of their swords, guns, and anything else that could be used as a weapon. They were shouting out their devotion to Buggy, and all he had to do was give the order and they'll steal the ship.

"Ah… they're kidding right?" Sanji asked, glancing around to see Luffy, Crocodile, Jimbei, and Ivankov scattered around them. These guys could take them out without even breaking a sweat. And they think that they stand a chance?

Several of Buggy's new followers glared at Luffy with smirks on their faces, though Luffy didn't seem to be paying any attention to them. "Now then, Straw Hat!" someone said, "How about you handing the ship over to us?"

"We finally escaped! You think we'll go to Navy HQ?!"

"We've got Captain Buggy on our side to lead us!"

"We're counting on you, Captain Buggy!"

"They're just gonna get themselves killed at this rate," Robin stated as she glanced at Crocodile out of the corner of her eye.

"This could be a problem," Jimbei commented, though he didn't sound too concerned about them actually taking over the ship. They knew that he was more worried about the idea of actually having to finish them all off should it get to that point.

Crocodile held up his hand so that a small sand twister began to form. "We'll just have to kill them all," he said as Mr. 1 skin suddenly shifted so that they could see the glint of something sharp off his arm.

"Should've known that he would resort to that first and foremost," Usopp gulped, really hoping that he wouldn't have to see all that. "But… he can't kill them all…"

Brook and Chopper were both on his side, neither one wanting to see even more death than they had seen already. Sure, they were a bunch of ungrateful criminals who were planning to steal the ship and kill whoever they had to so that they could leave… but they didn't deserve to be sliced apart or dried up after having escaped prison.

Things were shaping up for that end however… and it looked as if the fight was about to break out at any second…

But to the prisoner's luck… it was Buggy who stopped them. As they continued to cheer, he had floated up to the upper railing and stood there, looking over his new 'followers' and ordered to be silent. That move had took them all by surprise, but not as much as what he said next. He went into a speech—and it was a pretty good one too—how this ship wasn't going to stop until it reached Marineford. They were never going to get another opportunity like this for him to have a chance to take Whitebeard's head and rule the world.

"He's joking right?" Usopp asked as the entire crew had sweatdrops falling from their heads.

"I think all this praise has gone to his head and he convinced himself that he could kill Whitebeard on the battlefield," Nami offered.

"Whitebeard did die on that battlefield," Robin stated, trying to remember all the information that she had gotten about the war over the last two years. "Apparently, it was all the injuries that he took from the battle… and Blackbeard and his crew finished the job."

"That rat…" Franky growled, his hands shaking at the thought of that smug bastard. What he wouldn't give to knock out several more of that jerk's teeth out.

"In either case, it seems to work out in Luffy's favor," she stated as she pointed at the scene, and it looked like she was right. Buggy's followers were all drinking in every word that he said as if they were pure gold, and they even began to cheer louder than ever at the thought of going to war.

"You gotta hand it to him," Robin stated as the others stared, unsure of what to say now. "He's pretty good with words."

"You mean he has a use after all?" Zoro stated, shaking his head before he looked away and ran his hand through his hair in a tired way. There was no way… how could anyone buy that story? Apparently, these guys…

"So it looks like it's settled then," Luffy said calmly, his hands behind his head as he continued to watch the prisoners cheering.

"It would seem he has a talent for convincing people at least," Jimbei stated as the praises continued. They were a little surprised to see that he wasn't reacting to hearing that threat against Whitebeard… but then they guessed that he realized that it could never happen and so let it slide. Besides, if it kept a mutiny from breaking out, it was best that he remained quiet. Though it took a good ten minutes or so for things on the ship to quiet down completely.

Buggy was on the deck with his new followers and began to celebrate, with Buggy's followers so convinced that Buggy was going to take Marineford by storm that they had nothing to worry about, and merely going on with their drinking and eating. It was sickening to say the least, but Luffy, Jimbei, and the others were ignoring them as they all stuck with their own agenda, preparing themselves for the battle that was about to come.

Ivankov just sat near the door where Inazuma was still resting, continuing to keep a close watch over his friend as he would occasionally order one of his New Kamas to change a bandage or bring to place a new wet towel over Inazuma's head to help keep him comfortable. Chopper decided stepped in to get a good look at him one more time, glad to see that he was recovering a little bit more than before and his hopes were rising higher. If he kept improving at this rate, he should be able to recover completely in just a few days at most.

The other New Kamas were cleaning and checking their weapons, also going over any battle strategies that might end up helping them survive. Though the Straw Hats kept a wary eye on Crocodile and even Mr. 1, still expecting some kind of back-stabbing to happen, but both were on their best behavior for the moment.

Crocodile passed the time by merely sitting on one of the cannons, looking off at the sea behind them—as if lost in thought. While Mr. 1 was sitting lower down on the stairs as he partook in some booze from the stockroom, keeping to himself and not saying anything… really, from their reactions you would think that they were here only because they had nothing better to do. Then again, the only other option they had was to sit in prison…

But they would worry about that later, for they had just spotted Luffy sitting up front of the ship, staring ahead of him at the sea, and they all climbed up the stairs to join him. He was sitting up on the front cannons, the wind blowing his hair and straw hat around wildly as the sun beat down on them. After spending so much time in Impel Down, it truly felt wonderful to be back out in the open air and they wondered if Luffy was also enjoying the feeling of the sun and wind on his body.

But the look on his face was strangely stoic as he gazed up above him to a lone seagull that was sitting up on the mast. Brook sighed, and he knew that Luffy was having a hard time savoring his own freedom since one friend ended up giving up his own, and his brother has yet to be given his. He knew that until he was able to see Ace freed from chains and bars, he was never going to be able to relax and even feel happy again.

Seeing their captain like this was harder than they thought it would be, and it really seemed to bring it home just how dangerous this was… up to this point, Luffy had been risking his life more times than they could count and now that he was out in the bright light, they could see that his little trip into Impel Down had left him looking like a mess.

Not just looking like it. Chopper had grimly reminded them that Luffy wasn't in any shape to be fighting… that he should be in bed right now recovering from his 'treatment'. The only reason he was even able to move is because of the adrenaline that Ivankov gave him, but it was only going to be a matter of time before even that wore off and he'll be too weak to move.

"It's supposed to last an entire day though, right?" Brook asked, remembering what Iva had said when he first injected Luffy with that stuff.

Chopper didn't answer, his concern for Luffy's well-being continuing to mount higher and higher as he looked hard at Luffy. He wasn't ashamed to admit it, but he was really scared here for Luffy's heath… if he ruined his body this much in prison… he didn't want to imagine just the kind of abuse he put it through on that battlefield. At that moment the X-shaped scar on Luffy's chest suddenly flashed in his mind—he didn't know what had caused such an injury, but whatever it was it had to be something big… he didn't want to know what.

Zoro, probably guessing what was going through his mind, bent down and clapped a hand on his shoulder. Chopper looked up at him, feeling his touch differently from the comforting way that Nami would do that or even the motherly way that Robin would. This touch was silently telling him that he had to be strong and just solider on. There was nothing that they could do now but watch and hope for the best. Gulping down his emotions he nodded up at Zoro, showing him that he understood and Zoro nodded just once as they turned back to the scene.

Just then, there was another seagull that caught Luffy's attention and he looked down at it as it flew up near him, before it met up with the seagull still up on the mast. Both birds joined each other and soared happily through the sky and above sea.

Luffy was completely lost in thought as he stared at the two birds, and they suddenly had a flashback of when Luffy was with Ace and the two of them sitting up on the cliff after hearing about Sabo. They had watched a pair of seagulls flying off into the distance that day before they both made promises that they had done everything in their power to keep.

Luffy just kept his eyes on the pair, as reality set in for them all that this was it… this was the final stretch of memories that they were going to see—they could all feel it. They welcomed the little relief in the form of Jimbei's clunking footsteps, as he walked up so that he could join Luffy at the front. Jimbei suddenly breathed in deeply, as if he was also enjoying the smell of fresh salty air after the smell of blood and death in that prison. Luffy didn't look back at him as Jimbei glanced down with a hint of worry in his face.

He suddenly closed his eyes and said, "I know you're worried about Ace, but right now you should rest while you can." When Luffy didn't answer, he went on, "We're about to plunge right into a war that will change the world." He opened his eyes and looked on ahead, "If Impel Down is the world's greatest prison, then Navy HQ is the world's mightiest stronghold."

For a long moment, Luffy stayed silent, and the Straw Hats were actually starting to worry that he couldn't even hear Jimbei anymore, but at last he said, "I see… Navy HQ sounds even worse than Impel Down was."

"Marineford is afraid that old Whitebeard will attack them, and so they gathered their greatest forces together in one place," Jimbei confirmed, glaring ahead with a determined expression on his face.

"This Whitebeard sure sounds like he was a force of nature or something," Nami whispered.

"Yes," Robin stated. "He was one of the strongest pirates who ever lived. And he was apparently the only one to have ever been a match for the King of the Pirates himself." She looked up at the sky and told them all that she knew of the Whitebeard Pirates. "They were a legendary crew even before the Great Pirate Age started… he wasn't known as the Strongest Man in the World for nothing. And it's because of that strength that he was named as an Emperor. From what I've heard, the Four Emperors oftentimes have commanders instead of just having them all serve under the same flag at the same time.

"Why's that?" Chopper asked innocently.

"Because there were too many of them," she answered. "I doubt that any ship smaller than Thriller Bark would've been enough to hold them and let alone control them. I do know that there were around 16 division commanders, with Whitebeard at the very top. And each commander had around a hundred men at most. So in other words…?"

"In other words there were at least over a thousand people in Whitebeard's crew alone," Franky said in amazement.

"Yes, and that's not counting the countless allies that Whitebeard also had," she added. "Whitebeard had many allies all over the New World and each one of those captains was an infamous pirate who had made a name for themselves. If I remember correctly there were over forty crews that had allied themselves with Whitebeard's.

"That many?!" Usopp yelled out, his eyes wide.

"And you don't join Whitebeard's crew if you're a weakling either," Zoro said, shaking his head. "I can see why they were so scared of him and his invasion force."

"He sure sounds like a monster," Usopp croaked out, wondering if they were going to see the infamous pirate first-hand here. He started to shake in fear at such a thought…

"But the Marines are no weaklings either," Sanji spoke up bitterly. "We all know that don't we? If an entire army of Marines like captains and Vice-Admirals… as well as the three Admirals and the Warlords of the Sea… this battle could've gone either way."

They could see it in their minds… an entire army of Marines such as captains and Vice-Admirals… as well as the three Admirals and Warlords of the Sea. Suddenly, they all felt a lot of fear for Luffy going to such a dangerous place. Even if he had Jimbei and Ivankov there to help protect him, they couldn't be there all the time could they?

"I wanted to avoid an all-out war, but it seems inevitable now," Jimbei said angrily, holding up a fist. Luffy only nodded dully after him before Jimbei decided to go and double-check their heading to make sure that they were going to get there in time. He soon left Luffy alone, heading down to the lower deck and make plans.

Luffy continued to sit there, not saying a single word as the Fishman left, just continuing to stare out with his mind looking like it was a thousand miles away by now. Franky started sniffling and had to turn away again as he broke down crying all over again once he realized this little fact. They spent some time trying to calm him down, time passing usually slow for them all as they waited for the memory to hurry and play itself out. It had taken another half an hour at most before Jimbei had returned to the upper deck, slowly climbing up the stairs near the front again. They looked back at him, hoping that he would say something, anything, to knock Luffy out of this stupor.

Jimbei seemed a little surprise to see that Luffy was still sitting there.

"Luffy-kun," he called, "You'd better try to get some rest."

"Sure, thanks," Luffy called back absent-mindedly, "But I'm fine."

"You don't look fine to me!" Nami yelled, wanting to hit him for that. "You're about as far away from 'fine' as it's possible to be!"

She wished that Jimbei would point that out to him as well, and it did look like he was about to protest until something else caught his attention. He looked around at the sails and flags with a concerned look on his face. They then heard him mutter under his breath, "The wind is slowing down. We're still advancing on the sea current… but it could take longer for us to get there."

He looked back to Luffy and called to him, but seeing how unresponsive he was, Jimbei seemed to think it better not to disturb him. Not that they blamed him—it was hard to wrap your mind at the magnitude of the battle that was coming up. And so he stayed quiet, yet they noticed that he kept a watch on Luffy from a distance, as if he was nearby if Luffy did need to talk.

Nami sighed tiredly before she glanced up at the wind, wishing that she could feel it for just a minute, having always felt better when the breeze kicked up. "If I had to guess, I would say that it's been at least an hour since they left Impel Down… maybe more."

"Sure taking their time getting to Marineford," Sanji said, pacing anxiously around.

"The current is taking them there quickly, but the wind is against them," Nami stated as she looked away from the sails. "Yet, even if the wind isn't on their side, it shouldn't… it shouldn't take too much longer for them to get there."

"They can take their time, if you ask me," Brook whimpered nervously. Though there was someone who strongly disagreed with that remark.

"Can't we move a little faster?" Crocodile suddenly asked grumpily, having stayed quiet up till then. He glared over at Jimbei, who had gone back to the wheel as he added darkly, "I'd rather not arrive after the battle is over."

"I think I liked him better when he was quiet," Franky growled, his eyes narrowed in strong dislike. He wasn't the only one, for Jimbei was giving him a nasty look, looking close to bearing his teeth as he growled Crocodile's name.

"Uh oh…" Usopp gulped, backing away slightly, "Something tells me things are gonna get violent."

"And those two might end up destroying the whole ship if they start fighting and then they would all drown," Robin offered.

"DON'T SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Usopp screamed at her.

"The Navy won't take down Whitebeard," Crocodile said before his eyes narrowed dangerously, "I will."

Jimbei's webbed hand curled tightly around the wheel hand as he barked, "You're still talking like that?"

"I don't mind taking your head first, you know," he added and for a horrible moment it looked like a fight really was going to break out then and there as Crocodile raised up his hook. Suddenly he charged at Jimbei, who held up his hands, as if ready to blast him back to the sea… it was hard to say who would win in a fight, but before they could even touch the other both suddenly froze.

It was Luffy who had slammed his fist into his hand that caused them both to stop, Crocodile's hook inches away from Jimbei's face, while Jimbei's fist was inches from Crocodile's heart. They both glanced up at Luffy to see that he finally moved, getting to his feet, but never looking away from the sea.

"Luffy…" Jimbei said calmly.

Crocodile looked away, coolly walking back to the cannon he had been sitting on, and made himself comfortable, as if nothing had happened while Jimbei went back to the wheel.

"Holy crap…" Franky said, shaking his head in amazement. "How did he…?"

"Now isn't the time to be fighting with each other," Zoro said, though he was also surprised that the two of them had calmed down so quickly. "They could settle it on the battlefield."

"Go Luffy!" Chopper cheered. He solved that potential problem without having to do anything really. Now that was really cool.

"I'm coming now," Luffy suddenly muttered, "Wait for me, Ace!"

"Luffy's awesomeness aside for the moment," Franky said, glancing over at Crocodile's darken eyes. "He really does seem to hate him, you know? Whitebeard I mean? Do you know the reason for that, Robin?"

"No," she confessed, glancing at her old boss with interest as well. "He rarely ever talked about his past, if at all. I do know that he was once a rookie pirate and he had even been to the New World at one point during his journey. But he had always seemed to have a grudge against Whitebeard…?"

"You think that he fought against him in the past and was defeated or something? You think that's it?" Nami asked her.

"It's certainly possible," Robin offered, "I cannot say for sure. But I do see that it was his desire to kill Whitebeard that got him to want to come along and help them out. I think that's the only reason he's behaving so well."

"That and the fact that Iva's blackmailing him," Usopp added with a smirk. "Man, I'd kill to know what it is. Whatever it is, it's got to be big to keep even Crocodile under control."

"I agree," Robin nodded a hint of a smile there as well. "I had known him for years, but he had always been very protective of his past. I truly do wonder what it is that has tried to keep buried?"

"I'm more surprised here that he's working with Luffy, especially after Luffy handed his ass to him in Alabasta," Sanji said, having thought that Crocodile's pride would've put a stop to that and have refused to lift a hook.

"I don't think that we need to worry about that," Robin told them, "At least not yet… it doesn't seem as if he holds any kind of grudge against Luffy."

"How can he not?! After all that's happened? I mean, Luffy stopped his three-year long plan and got him arrested!" Nami asked, "I don't see how he doesn't hate him."

"Oh, I am sure that he still dislikes him… but I can't make that call for sure," she confessed. "I do know that it has always difficult to guess what has been going on in his head… he keeps his secrets close."

She wasn't just imagining it though, she could see a slight grudging respect that Crocodile also had for Luffy. For being able to defeat him and his whole organization with only one princess and a tiny crew. But she also wondered if he was interested in seeing if Luffy had what it took to really stand against the entire Navy just for a chance to save one life. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was here? To see if he could really pull off something this impossible?

She wish she had the answer.

Another five minutes had passed Luffy held out the Vivre Card in his hands, letting it guide him to where his brother was waiting for him, as if just making sure that they were going the right way. Jimbei noticed this and called, "Is that Ace's Vivre Card?"

"Yeah," Luffy answered, finally looking back and jumping down to the deck to join him, while the first smile appeared on Jimbei's face.

"Ace-san told me a lot about you," he confessed to him. "I heard you always used to run around on the hills together with him."

"That's an understatement," Nami said, but she couldn't stop smiling as she thought of some of those earlier memories.

"They were both so cute when they were little," Robin chuckled. And it was nice to think about those two little misfit boys running around, with the younger always trying to catch up with his big brother—especially after all this.

"Ok," Sanji stated suddenly. "What is it about little kids that women seem to love so much?"

"You don't think that children are cute?" Robin asked Sanji.

"I got nothing against the rugrats," he confessed. "I just want to know what it is about them that all ladies seem to love?"

"Maybe that's because they're not you?" Nami offered coldly.

"Oh, Nami sweet… you're so beautiful even when you're so cold," Sanji sighed.

"Yeah… I'm guessing that's why Luffy's so popular with the girls since he's like an overgrown kid," Franky said as he thought it over.

"DON'T REMIND ME OF THAT!" Sanji yelled at him, still sore at the thought that Hancock was… was… oh, he couldn't even think of it. It felt as if his heart was being ripped out at the very thought.

Zoro rolled his eye, silently wishing that the cook's heart would stop again. But Luffy got their attention by finally smiling again, looking more like his old self for a moment. "Yeah," he said, walking right up to Jimbei as he said fondly, "Me and Ace were always together."

"Eating together… sleeping together… and testing your skills whenever you had the time…" Jimbei went on with a slight chuckle, "Those days of the past… Ace seems quite fond of those memories."

Luffy beamed at those words as he quickly told him, in a tone of great pride, "Ace set out to sea three years before I did. He hadn't even eaten a Devil Fruit back then… and I could never beat him!"

"I suppose you haven't seen him since he left?" Jimbei asked, though the Straw Hats had a feeling that he was asking that question to help keep Luffy's mind occupied, since they knew that Ace had told him about how he had ran into him a while ago.

"No," Luffy countered, "I ran into him once in Alabasta." He then told him about how he had run into him there and how he even traveled with them for a few days before he had to leave. But the smile soon turned into a frown as he looked back to the burnt piece of paper. "Blackbeard… I ran into that guy once in Mock Town. I still can't believe that Ace would lose to someone."

The smile faded from Jimbei's face as he thought of Blackbeard as well, much like how the rest of them were doing.

"I know what he means," Franky said grimly, folding his arms as he thought of Tom again. "He really looked up to his big bro didn't he? Thought the world of him… and it's never an easy thing to accept when someone you think that big off is defeated… or taken away."

"You gotta hand it to Ace though… that was one hell of a fight he put up," Sanji spoke up.

"If only it was enough," Usopp said miserably.

"When I first learn it, I couldn't believe it either," Jimbei confessed as he looked forward. "Still, is that how it is? You had already met Teach? Well, I had a hunch from the way you spoke to him…"

"Yeah, and that bastard's gonna pay for mocking him like that!" Usopp said in outrage, shaking furiously as he thought about how Blackbeard laughed in Luffy's face as he told him how he had beaten Ace just because he wanted to protect him. He was sick…

Jimbei sighed as he told Luffy, "The man he killed… was the Commander of Whitebeard's Fourth Division, Thatch. He was a good man. I simply wanted to be of help to old Whitebeard, to repay my huge debt to him, so I spent a lot of time on his ship."

"Debt?" Chopper asked in surprise.

"He means the fact that Whitebeard had been protecting Fishman Island," Brook reminded him. "Remember while were there and Pappagu told us that Fishman Island couldn't exist in peace without the protection of someone really powerful?"

"Yes," Zoro said, "Attacking an island that had been claimed as an Emperor's territory is as good as declaring war on that Emperor. That is usually enough to keep pirates away."

"But I never realized what he was planning!" Jimbei cursed himself furiously for never seeing through the ruse that Blackbeard put up. "After that, Ace set out to sea by himself, in order to give Teach his punishment as the Commander of Whitebeard's Second Division."

"To get him to pay for what he did to Thatch," Brook nodded in understanding. He could get that… it was only natural to want someone to pay for killing a good friend.

Luffy looked forward, his arms folded crossly as he seemed to be fighting down his hatred for Blackbeard at the moment. There were more important things to dwell on than him at the moment. But then an annoying familiar voice spoke up.

"Ah, I ate so much!"

"For once, can't he go away?" Usopp groaned as Buggy came up onto the deck with his followers, all of them looking full and happy after eating all that food that was in the storeroom.

"Ok, now I know that Luffy's upset if he didn't try to steal food from them," Sanji said, really starting to worry about Luffy here. But his worry was pushed aside as Buggy's followers continued to praise him, even bowing low to him as Buggy strutted straight up to Jimbei to ask how things were going over here, as if he owned the place.

"Hmm?" Jimbei asked unconcerned, as if dealing with an annoying fly, which caused some of them to laugh at how disinterested he treated him.

That remark ticked Buggy off as he shouted, "Don't 'Hmm?' me, you bastard! I'm asking, how long until we get to the place where I take over the world: Navy HQ?!"

"Oh, would he shut up?" Zoro groaned as Buggy turned to them all and boldly proclaimed, with his upper body floating in the air. "The Seven Warlords who sold their souls to the government and the three stupid Admirals are nothing compared to us!"

"He's kidding right?" Usopp asked, shaking his head. "If he feels that way then why did he join the Warlords in the first place?"

"Just pretend he's not here," Robin commented, doing what Luffy was doing and ignored him as she looked forward, following him up to the front of the cannons once again. Another ten minutes soon went by as they entered a deep fog off the sea… but just as they were beginning to wonder how much longer they would have to wait before reaching the gate, Luffy suddenly leaned forward, spotting something through the mist.

They looked at once, and through the fog they could make out a familiar symbol stamped overhead.

"So they finally reached the gate, huh?" Franky asked, shaking his head, "You know… I'm really getting sick of looking at these things. I've had enough of it back at Enies Lobby."

"Just put up with it," Sanji said, still at a complete loss as to how they were supposed to get through that massive thing? Those steel doors were thicker than warships… he couldn't see how they were going to be able to force it open.

"I see it!" Luffy cried out excitedly before he turned his head back and shouted out back, "Hey! Jimbei! I can see the Gates of Justice! That was pretty fast!"

Jimbei, however, didn't look like he shared Luffy's excitement. "No," he said seriously, "We're actually pretty late! If the wind had been more favorable, we would've arrived here much sooner! Although…" he frowned as if lost in thought before he asked, "So, how are we gonna get through that gate?"

Of course, Buggy would try to steal the limelight by jumping up and he proclaimed that they were almost there and the prisoners were all going nuts, looking like they were willing to take on the whole world.

"Who will become the Pirate King?!" Buggy asked.

"Captain Buggy!" they cheered and the Straw Hats were disgusted by the smug look on the clown's face as he laughed and drank in all the cheers. Though they were all rather surprised to see that Luffy couldn't seem to care less what Buggy said… yet that was understandable at the moment. They just stood with him as Luffy got to his feet and stared at the gate hard.

"Ace…" he said, and they knew that he knew that his big brother was somewhere passed those doors. But even as everyone came pouring up to the front of the ship, no one seemed to have any suggestion as to what they were supposed to do now.

Luffy's eyes narrowed as he began to swing his arm around in a vast circle, his impatience quickly surfacing as he declared, "Maybe they'll open if I just punch them!"

"Not everything can be solved with your fists, Luffy!" Nami shouted out.

"I doubt that even he could burst through those bad boys," Franky said knowingly. "I don't think anything less than one of those ancient weapons is gonna be enough to break them down. Not that I'm not interested in seeing someone try…?"

"WAIT!" Mr. 3 shouted at him. "DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY'LL BE SO ACCOMMODATING?!"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to hope would it?" Usopp sighed, lowering his head. Because unless they had a miracle here, there was no chance in hell that gate was gonna…? But before he could even finish that thought, without any kind of warning, the two massive doors in front of them very slowly began to open up.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sanji shouted out, his eyes bursting out of his head at the sight of it.

"The doors are opening!" Chopper cheered out.

"But how?!" Nami cried out, her jaw falling open. Her mind was boggled… didn't that marine just say that there was no way that it was going to open for them? So then what was happening here?

The others were just as stunned as she was at seeing the gates moving, but no one was able to think of how it was even possible.

"They opened!" Luffy cried out happily.

"What is going on here!?" Jimbei asked, and he sounded rather unnerved by this whole thing.

"It's a trap this time," Usopp said at once. "There's no way… wait! I get it! They're trying to kill them all in one go! All they have to do is closed the doors really fast when they sail through and they'll be crushed!"

"Don't say such horrible things!" Brook cried out as Chopper screamed at the very idea.

"I doubt it's that simple," Robin said, and even she sounded completely lost as to what was happening here. "I can't even guess here, but it's lucky for them."

"More than luck," Zoro said. But he pushed that thought aside as he watched everyone on the ship began to point and gasp at what they were seeing.

"The engine room is most likely in Marineford," Jimbei said seriously, as if he was also expecting some kind of trap, "But who could've done this?"

Yet there was someone who had to go and make everything seem stupid again. Buggy stood up at the front where Luffy had been before and he was bathed in light. "Here it comes!" he cried out, "It is time! I know it! How? Because my shoulder blades are dancing a Lambade of rapture!"

There was silence from each of the Straw Hats as they stared at what Buggy was saying. Franky was the one who summed up what they were all thinking.

"What…?" he said.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Usopp shouted out furiously.

"Just when I thought that he couldn't get any stranger," Robin said in an impressed voice, as if she couldn't imagine how anyone could continue to say such things.

"Here it comes! It's coming!" Buggy continued to chant as his shadow spread across the ship and this seemed to be too much for his followers to take.

"Don't tell me you're..." one the prisoners gasped and to their amazement, they fell to their knees to bow in front of him. "I never realize you were actually God's messenger!"

"You have got to be kidding me," Zoro said, smacking his own face at that. "Who would be so brain-dead to believe that crap?"

"WHAT?!" Chopper cried out, having not been paying attention to anything that Zoro just said. "YOU MEAN THAT HE WAS REALLY GOD'S MESSENGER?!"

"Is that true, Buggy!?" Luffy shouted out as his eyes bugged out at such a thought.

"Well, that answers that question," Sanji said as Usopp shouted out, "I DON'T BELIEVE THAT YOU BELIEVE THAT! HE MAKES SOME OF MY LIES SOUND LIKE THE TRUTH! AND NOT JUST ANYONE CAN DO THAT!"

"I think we should really start to worry about them," Nami whispered and some of them nodded in agreement to those words.

"Ah… you think that maybe Buggy suffered a really bad head injury while he was on Roger's crew… or something?" Franky asked.

"That would explain a few things," Zoro nodded in agreement.

"Of course it's not true!" Mr. 3 shouted at them all, "There must be some kind of trick here!"

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with him," Sanji shrugged at Mr. 3's words. Thankfully for their sanity, waves suddenly started to rise thanks to the opening gates and almost everyone ended up losing their footing and ended up sliding to one side of the deck into a giant pile-up.

But nothing could dampen Luffy's spirits this time as the Straw Hats scrambled to stay upright. "Well, whatever!" he laughed, landing right on top of Mr. 3, still smiling, "Let's go!"

"Oh! Fall Buggy!" Franky cheered as Buggy was running madly in place to keep himself from slipping right into the sea. But Jimbei took hold of the wheel and forced the warship to stay on course as he sailed it right through the open doors. The Straw Hats kept a close eye out for anything that seemed like a trap, but the doors didn't suddenly close, nor were there any enemies waiting for them on the other side.

They passed right through without any difficulties, though no one complained, simply glad that they had made it out of the current and were free to escape to open sea at any time. In fact, they half-expected some of the prisoners to start asking about that… however, again they were so convinced that with Buggy there, they were sure to win.

Boy, were they gonna be disappointed to see him in action on that battlefield compared to some of the strongest in the world. Everyone pulled themselves up and were now awaiting the battle that was just ahead of them… it wouldn't be long at all before they reached Marineford. In fact, some were already keeping watching ahead of them, trying to see if they could make anything out…

"VWe made it past the gates after all," Ivankov spoke as he strolled up to stand with Luffy. "Now then, I wonder if you and Ace-boy's father will show up."

"Huh?" Luffy asked, looking up at him in confusion. "Ace's dad?"

"Oh… so this is where Iva finds out that Dragon isn't Ace's old man after all?" Franky asked, tilting his head.

"Yeah, I don't know how he's gonna react to that," Sanji admitted. It was impossible to tell how that idiot was going to react since he spent half his time fooling people anyway. But he had a feeling that whatever is about to happen, it'll be good.

Ivankov bent down and whispered to him, "Since his son Ace is about to be executed, I'm sure that Dragon will do something."

Luffy suddenly understood what he was saying and he told him happily, "Oh, me and Ace don't have the same dad."

Ivankov froze, staring at him with wide eyes as Luffy went on, "My dad is Dragon. But Ace's dad is Gold Roger."

"He's got such a big mouth," Usopp groaned out.

"Not that it matters," Nami sighed, "The whole world knows about it now." She remembered how stunned she had been when she read that morning paper and how she read about Ace… though she hardly paid any attention to the fact that he was Roger's son… all she could think about was poor Luffy… how just how much pain he must've been in. She had to fight the few stray tears that were threatening to spill over… she had a bad feeling that she should save those for later.

"How come he's never let himself slip about that kind of information to any of us, but he blurts it out here?!" Franky demanded.

"Never came up?" Zoro offered with a shrug. "Not that it was any of our business to begin with, but it's not like we ever asked Luffy."

"WHAT!?" Iva screamed in shock, his eyes bursting out of his head.

"I feel bad for, Iva-san…" Brook said, Ivankov's eyes were bigger than usual and he looked close to gagging. "After all, he wanted to help save Ace-san because he thought he was Dragon's son as well."

"True, but… technically Luffy never lied," Robin pointed out. "Luffy never said that he and Ace were blood brothers. It was Ivankov who just assumed that. Besides, if he didn't come along, he never would've broken out of prison."

"Good deal either way," Sanji said.

The entire ship was staring at him in stunned disbelief as Luffy went on, not even noticing that he was talking too much, "It's pretty amazing, but they never actually met. Although, Ace will probably be mad at me for telling you."

"Mad nothing… he'd have killed you for blurting that out," Franky said knowingly, thinking of how Ace had beaten up both Luffy and Sabo when they were kids when they asked him about Roger.

Everyone was continuing to stare at Luffy, their jaws all open in shock as they were trying to register this news. Even those like Crocodile and Mr. 1 were both looking startled at the news that the King of the Pirates had a son. But it was Buggy, whose jaw had literally hit the deck who looked the most stunned.

"WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" they screamed at him.

Luffy blinked as he looked around them and seemed to realize what he had just said. "Oh yeah," he added, "This is a secret by the way so don't tell anyone about it."

"WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

The Straw Hats just felt more sweat drops falling from their heads as they watched.

"You know, he really is just like his grandpa," Brook chuckled. "I can really see the family resemblance, Yohohoho!"

"I know," Usopp stated dryly, wondering just how Luffy can be willing to die to protect a secret, but then accidently blurt one out randomly. He just didn't get it.

Most of the ship was suddenly hammering Luffy with all sorts of questions, asking him if it was true and what it was like having the son of the Pirate King for a brother.

"He's my brother, what else is there to know?" Luffy asked calmly before he went back to staring out at the sea and completely ignored their questions as if he had suddenly become deaf.

"And that's all that we need to hear," Zoro sighed tiredly. Ace may not have been related to him by blood, but what those two had seemed to be stronger than family. Luffy wasn't doing all this for fame or glory… he was doing this simply for the fact that it was his brother and he needed help.

He smirked a little. That idiot… really, what were they going to do with him?

Not that he minded so much to be honest. He liked him like this… despite all the trouble that he puts them through.

Luffy was so unresponsive to all the questions that they were giving him that they just seemed to give up and went back to doing their own thing, but there something in their faces that showed that they hadn't let this matter drop just yet. Things had returned to a tense atmosphere as they continued to sail further and further onwards, but at last… only minutes later… something happened.

The sea around them froze for a second before suddenly it was being tossed around in the waves violently, like how a child would splash in the tub with a toy boat.

"What's happening?!" Chopper cried out.

"I don't know!" Nami shouted, having not even seen a warning sign that the sea was changing. Even for the Grand Line, she couldn't figure out why she didn't see it coming.

"That's because it wasn't natural!" Robin shouted, having heard of Whitebeard's power. "There's only one thing that I think it could be. And if I'm right then we're right at Marineford's doorstep!"

"Why? What is it?!" Usopp shouted, trying to grab hold of the railing in front of him, only for him to fall right through it and land hard on the floor. "What's happening?!"

"What?!" some screamed as people were forced to grab onto anything in reach to hold on and prevent from getting blown right off the ship. "What's going on?!"

"The ship is being blown backwards by a tremendous force!" someone screamed in panic.

"How is this even possible?!" Buggy screamed as his front half held onto the railing with Mr. 3 holding onto his lower half next to him, who had hooked his feet around the rails. "We were just moving forward smoothly a second ago!"

"How is this happening?!" Mr. 3 shouted before he let go and Buggy freaked out at the sight of seeing half his body go flying away.

"There's only one man who could've done something like this, and that would be Whitebeard," Robin stated, having remained on her feet even as most of the rest of her crew fell and were stumbling around on the deck.

"Whitebeard?!" Chopper screamed out. "You mean he's doing this?!"

"He was a Quakeman," she answered, "Having eaten the Quake Quake Fruit… one of the most powerful Devil Fruits out there. Actually, if what I heard is true, it's the most powerful of all the Paramecia types. He had the power to create earthquakes and even seaquakes."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Usopp shrieked at such a thought.

"It's true," Robin called back, "He had the power to create powerful shockwaves by shattering the very air around him and that would then be redirected to either the ground or sea! That is why they said that Whitebeard had the power to destroy the world! For he could split it in two if he wanted!"

Usopp, Chopper, Brook, and Nami all shrieked as they imagined something like that as the ship was suddenly being sent almost flying backwards.

Luffy was one of the few who still stayed on his feet, his hand holding onto his hat as he cried out, "We might've been moving slowly, but at least we were going forward!" as Buggy and Mr. 3 went flying behind him. "What's going on?!"

"Wait!" Sanji shouted, pointing forward, making sure that he hadn't let go of Nami after he caught her from falling. "Look!"

They all looked where he was pointing and they could see some kind of vibrations ringing out through the air and even the sea beneath them. Much like how when a drop of water would hit a puddle and create ripples and they had to guess that was where the battle was now taking place… just past the horizon.

Everyone fell to the deck and landed hard in giant piles all over the place as the vibrations slowly came to a stop and everything around them suddenly became calm and smooth.

Most of the Straw Hats were panting hard as they cautiously glanced around them.

"Well… it's stopped…" Usopp gasped, slowly lowering his head to the floor as he felt his heart beating hard in his chest. If that was just a taste of what was waiting for them, he didn't want to know anymore. He wanted to wake up in his bed back on the Sunny… why did they have to come to this stupid island in the first place?! He wanted to go home to the ship already.

"I… I don't get it!" Brook gasped, staring around as he tried to get to his feet, though he was shaking so badly that he couldn't seem to figure out how to stand up just yet. "That attack… was amazing! It was so strong that it gave me goosebumps! Not that I have skin for goosebumps to form! Yohoho…ho…"

"Something's not right, though," Nami said, looking at the waves and the sea with a deep frown there, with everyone on the ship slowly pushing themselves up, trying to get up and look around to see what was happening as well. Luffy looked to see that they hadn't moved an inch in this sudden calm sea and ran to Jimbei, grabbing him by his coat and began to shake hard.

"Hey! Jimbei!" he cried out in, looking like he was trying hard not to panic here. "Try to hurry up! Please!" he begged, "We have to get there before Ace is executed!"

Jimbei looked back at him and nodded in understanding. "Do not worry, Luffy," he promised firmly, "We will definitely get there in time!"

"Really?" Luffy asked, a smile there as he believed his words.

"But how?!" Chopper cried out. "They're not there yet and they're not moving! Where did the wind go all of a sudden?!"

"Wind…" Nami whispered before her eyes widen, and she went deadly pale. "Oh no…" she whimpered, looking close to screaming.

"Nami my sweet?" Sanji asked quickly, at her side in a flash—though he hardly let go of her at all. "What's wrong?"

"You know when you're in the bath and you are able to make waves by rocking back and forth?" she croaked out.

"I don't really like baths so… not really," Chopper spoke up. "But why…?"

"Because we're in some trouble here," Nami gulped down. Though she knew that they weren't really in trouble… this wasn't something that was going to be pleasant to see. They kept trying to get information out of her, but Buggy was suddenly talking again.

"Hey! Hey!" he shouted and they looked to see him there, lifting Mr. 3 up on his shoulders as he glared at them. He then tossed his partner up onto the front deck as he demanded, "You sure seem confident here! Do you think that Fishman Karate is gonna work here?" His lower half joined him and he finally reconnected as he asked, "Or are you gonna summon up whale sharks to help us again?"

"Yeah! That might work!" Brook cried out, thinking that they might be able to create a wave to ride on, or even ride those delightful whales the rest of the way.

"My power will not help us here," Jimbei confessed.

"Of course not," Nami said, her eyes on their behind as she waited for it to start. "There's nothing that can stop it from coming now."

"Stop what?" Zoro asked, really starting to hate that she wasn't telling them anything here, but seeing that terrified look on her face was really starting to tell him that something was seriously wrong.

"Really?" Buggy demanded, "Then who's power are we gonna use?"

"He said we'll make it!" Luffy snapped back at him, "So I'm sure we will!"

"Wow, he already had a lot of faith in Jimbei didn't he?" Usopp said.

"It's hard not to like Jimbei-san," Brook said happily. He hoped that Jimbei was doing alright and wished that he was here as well… they could really use him right now. He was good to have around and he wanted to thank him in person for helping out their captain so much in their place.

"He said we'll make it! So I'm sure we will!" Buggy repeated childishly. "Just do whatever you want! I don't get this at all!" he added as he turned, waving his hand a little and laid down. "I'm going to sleep."

"Good! Maybe now we can get some peace and quiet from your loud mouth," Zoro said in disgust. But he spoke too soon. For about a minute later, the current suddenly started up again and they were speeding forward faster than they had been going before.

Luffy noticed this and quickly asked Jimbei, "Did you do something?"

"I'm just holding the wheel," Jimbei confessed, though he seemed to be bracing himself for something bad as well.

Not that Luffy noticed for he was looking excited. "Well, whatever!" he cried out eagerly. "I don't know what's going on! But let's press forward! GO!"

"What's causing this?!" Usopp yelled, staring around as Nami covered her eyes in fear.

"The repercussion of that seaquake!" Nami cried out, shaking her head. "It's almost here! I know it!"

"WHAT'S ALMOST HERE?!" Usopp screamed out at her as Buggy was trying to get attention once again, but they had grown so deaf to his voice by this point that they didn't even notice what he was blabbing about.

"Right!" Luffy cheered out, "Now we might make it after all!"

But the good mood faded there as a dark shadow slowly began to appear over them, causing Nami to shriek even louder.

"Nami! You want to tell us what the hell you're freaking out about…?" Zoro began before he stopped, his voice dying in his throat when he saw just what she was panicking over. His eye widen in shock, and for a moment he thought that they were in some kind of nightmare.

For towering over them was a wave… a wave that rose up like some kind of living beast, a massive black wall, as if it were a mountain that was about to come falling on top of them. One so large that it blocked the sun and even the sky from their view.

"It's…" Nami croaked in terror, "from that seaquake…"

"That's one hell of a declaration of war…" Sanji gasped softly, his jaw falling open and the cigarette falling from his mouth.

"It's… it's…?" Brook choked before almost everyone in the past and present screamed out, "IT'S A TSUNAMI!"

"IT'S HUGE! IT'S GONNA SWALLOW US UP!" someone screamed.

"NO! THEY'RE GONNA DIE!" Usopp screamed in panic, "THEY'RE GONNA GET HIT BY THAT THING AND DIE!"

"NO! I DON'T WANT THEM TO DIE!" Chopper cried out, tears falling as he jumped up and hugged Usopp.

"THERE'S GOT TO BE SOME WAY FOR THEM TO GET OUT OF THIS!" Brook cried out, thinking of the Knock-Up Stream and those Serpent-Currents.

"THERE'S ONLY ONE THING THAT I CAN THINK OF!" Nami screamed out, "BUT ITS A ONE IN A MILLION SHOT THAT THE'LL SURVIVE IT!"

"ONE IN A MILLION IS BETTER THAN NONE!" Zoro shouted back at her.

"DON'T YOU YELL AT HER!" Sanji warned, but they were all too busy staring up at the wave as everyone began to run around in panic, screaming in terror that they were going to die.

Luffy was one of the few people who had remained calm, which was surprising. But he looked back at Jimbei. "H… Hey Jimbei, if this continues…" he seemed to forget how to speak as Jimbei glanced down at him, "I can't be killed by some tsunami here! I have to save Ace!"

The Straw Hats didn't know how to react to that. Even after seeing the size of this force of nature, he—once again—wasn't thinking of himself. But still only of his brother.

"Pull in the sails!" Jimbei ordered before turning to address Luffy. "Luffy! We will hold steady and ride the wave!"

"Huh!?" Buggy shrieked at him. "You're not going to avoid it!? What are you talking about, you damn fish-brain?!"

"At least he's got a brain!" Sanji shouted at him as Buggy ran up and actually tried to pull the wheel from Jimbei's hands as he shouted at him to turn already.

"WHAT IS HE DOING?!" Nami shrieked, "IF HE DOES THAT THEN THEY'RE ALL SCREWED! THEY'LL OVERTURN IMMEDIATELY!"

"Which is why we have Jimbei there to make sure that he doesn't get them killed," Robin pointed out as Jimbei wrenched the wheel out of Buggy's hands.

"Hey! Would you cut it out!" he yelled at them angrily as panic was growing worse on the ship, some of them looking ready to jump into the water for a mad chance to try and avoid that wave.

Funnily enough, it was Crocodile who spoke sense by barking at them in annoyance, "How many years have you been pirates? Are you complete amateurs? If we recklessly change our course now, we will capsize immediately. There is only one way out of this."

"You mean…?" Usopp whimpered as he and Chopper shook and looked up at the massive wall.

"It's the only choice left," Nami nodded, gulping hard. "They have to ride it."

"You have to be one crazy bastard to try and ride that thing," Sanji said, "Good thing that there are more than a few nutjobs onboard here."

"He is right!" Jimbei shouted kicking Buggy away from him before he declared to everyone else, "Hold on tight or you will be pulled into the wave!"

Luffy was cursing to himself at how deadly everything was going, yet he did what he was told. The prisoners onboard were all quickly folding up the sails before they went running for cover, either inside the ship, or grabbing onto anything that wasn't nailed down in a desperate attempt to hold on. Luffy ended up wrapping his arms around the railings, with Buggy seeing this and quickly copying.

The wave only seemed to continue to grow bigger and bigger, the noise so great that it was deafening, roaring in their ears so that they couldn't hear anything else. The ship might've have just been the toy in the tub for all the good that it was. With a horrible sucking sound, it began to draw the ship towards the very bottom of the wave… and they were forced to hang on for the ride. The Straw hats had no means of holding on, though they were safe inside a memory, terror was in each one of them as they were sucked right up above the sea. They went swooping up the steep curve, soon they were hanging on by their fingers, completely upright and still rising up the wave. Brook and the Weakling Trio all shrieked in fear, tears falling fast as they held onto each other, unable to understand how they were able to stay on the ship when they weren't holding onto anything. No one else could hear them however, for the wave seemed to suck all the sound around them other than roaring water. If anyone else was screaming, it was being drowned out.

Up and up they went, completely at the sea's mercy. Until at last they broke through the top and were riding along the crest of the wave, miles in the sky. It was terrifying to say the least… and they rode it for what felt like a lifetime… but at that moment it stopped.

The wave didn't fall back to the sea, it just stopped, as if time froze around them. It was also deathly silent around them as they hung there, suspended in the air. One by one, everyone was looking around, shaking from the ride, and unable to see what had happened.

Usopp, still clinging to Chopper like a teddy bear, cautiously raised his head. "W-What happened?" he croaked out.

"I… I don't know," Nami gasped, shaking from head to foot.

"That was so scary!" Brook gasped, lying flat on his back and staring up at the sky, suddenly having a very good idea as to how his crew felt after they rode that Knock-Up Stream to the Great White Sea. "So scary I thought my heart was about to burst! Not that I have a heart however… Yohoho…ho."

"I don't think it was that bad," Zoro stated as he also pushed himself up and looked around as well, as Sanji was able to get to his feet and went to the side of the ship to see what was going on.

"Yeah, other than the fact that we were riding up the side of a tsunami, it was a piece of cake!" Franky barked. "Come on! What's going on!? I grew up at Water 7! There's a Aqua Laguna every year and it doesn't just stop moving all of a sudden! What's going on here?!"

"Hey guys!" Sanji shouted, "You might want to see this!"

"Huh? What is it?" Usopp whimpered as he staggered to the side of the ship and looked out. "GGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT HAPPENED? EVERYTHING'S FROZEN?!"

The other Straw Hats went to the side to see what he was talking about as everyone in the memory were already starting to recover and were slowly sitting up. But Usopp was right, the sea all around them had turned to solid ice, and they were trapped right on top of the frozen tsunami.

Robin frowned at the sight of it all. "There's only one man I know who could possibly freeze a wave like this," she said as the others stared at the ice with open mouths.

"You mean… Aokiji?" Franky asked, looking over at her.

"I've seen Aokiji's power first-hand, but it never fails to amaze me," Brook said in awe, knowing that Robin had to be right and it had to be Aokiji who was behind all this. That man's power was truly devastating at the best of times.

"But…" Chopper said, "If… if that's true, and he's nearby, then Marineford must be near here too!"

"We're not near it! We're right on top of it!" Zoro shouted, having had a bad feeling about this and jumped down to the ice below him.

"What are you…?" Nami began, before she blinked, remembering that they were up in the air on this frozen surge.

Buggy was screaming his head off. "What the hell!? We're trapped in ice! Now we can't go anywhere at all!"

Crocodile was the first of them to jump down and he glided over to the far edge of the frozen wave and looked down, calling them all over. The Straw Hats all jumped down as Zoro just stood there, staring down at what he was seeing.

"Zoro…?" Usopp asked and then he looked down. He wished he didn't. He could see them all directly below them. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people raging battle right below. They were standing all on a frozen sea as they were swarming against each other. The sky was thick with explosion and there was smoke billowing out from deep scars on the ground. The sounds of swords and gunshots were being fired off and could be heard from even this far up, but what mostly drew their attention was the giant that lay across half the battlefield, a giant that was just as large—if not larger—than Oz had been from Thriller Bark.

"Holy hell…" Sanji whispered as he looked down at the splashes of red that was flying from all over, the people so small from here that he couldn't tell the marines from the pirates.

"AHHHH! We're up even higher than I thought!" Chopper gasped as he tried to make anything out through all the smoke.

"Damn, that sure looks like hell from here," Franky hissed, looking at the giant ice walls that kept everyone stuck in the bay.

"But there's still the fact that we're stuck up here and Ace is down there!" Nami cried out, trying to think of a way to get out of here without getting themselves killed.

"Listen up, everyone!" Luffy yelled out, getting them all to look over at him standing at the very front of the ship. "I got an idea about how we can get past this! Now that we have made it this far, we have to hurry!"

"I don't like his ideas… they scare me," Usopp moaned out.

"No doubt it's something stupid and reckless," Nami said, bracing herself for the worst.

"We got less than three hours until they execute Ace!" Luffy let them all know.

Buggy looked as if he couldn't care less about any of this as he shouted out, "Yeah? So?!"

"How could he not care?!" Usopp demanded furiously, "Ace was Roger's son! His former captain! You think he would care just a little bit! I thought that even Buggy looked up to Roger!"

"Why should he? I thought we had this all figured out," Zoro asked, "He cares about nobody but himself. Remember how he used his own crewmates as a shield when we first met him? I would've thought that was prove enough of what he's like."

"Awful," Brook said bitterly as Luffy told them about his plan. They were a little surprise to hear that it was probably their best choice… simply break the ice around the ship and then go down the side of the wave like a giant slide.

"You wants us to slide the ship down the wave!?" Buggy yelled at him as if he thought that he was insane.

Luffy folded up his arms and said firmly, "It's our best choice!"

"Strangely, he's right…" Nami said, wondering just how he came up with such an idea.

"He sees the world so simply that he oftentimes comes up with the simple solution to the problem," Robin smiled.

"But you think it'll work?!" Chopper asked quickly, his eyes shining a little.

"It's their best chance to get down alive," Robin said with a shrug, "But like everything else in life…?"

"It sounds easy in theory, but it always seems to get messed up along the way," Sanji said knowingly.

"First off, we have to break the ship out of the ice," Luffy told them, glancing at the ice beneath them that was as tough as stone.

"Are you an idiot!? This is a battleship!" Mr. 3 yelled skeptically. "It is not going to move that easily!"

"That's right, you moron!" Buggy screamed.

"Where they not paying attention?" Zoro asked in annoyance. "They've got some powerhouses on their side and if they can't break a little ice, then I'll eat my sword."

"Which one?" Chopper asked curiously, looking at the three swords at his side.

"Shut up," Zoro barked.

Luffy's hands were clenched tightly as he declared, "If we work together, I know we can do it!"

There was just something in his words, how sure he was that it would work, that really got you to believing pretty much anything he said. All the former prisoners around were looking like this might actually work, and even someone like Buggy was looking like they might just pull this off after all. His followers all soon began to rant that they had Buggy on their side and if he could do it then they were sure that they could as well. The Straw Hats rolled their eyes at how ridiculous that sounded, but what happened next pretty much pushed everything else out of their minds.

The Transponder Snail that they used earlier was suddenly ringing. The Straw Hats looked back to the ship, wondering why the Marines were suddenly calling them again while they were in the middle of a war. But that was when the snail began speaking, "Calling all ships and troops, out target site is TOTTZ. Change formation and initiate Operation Three."

"What are they talking about?" Usopp asked in confusion.

"It's code," Robin stated, "Though I don't know what it means. But if I had to guess, this message is being broadcasted to all warships in the area." She frowned heavily though at that. She knew that warships always spoke in code to prevent the enemy from understanding if they were overheard… but if that's the case, they were acting pretty baize about this code. Were they so confident that they thought that no one could possibly understand what it meant… or was it possible that they wanted this particular message heard?

"Whatever it is, it can't be good news," Franky said, and sometimes he hated being right.

"Make haste the preparations. Once the preparations are complete, we will push the schedule forward and execute Ace, over!"

"Oh, hell no!" Usopp shouted, his eyes wide as Luffy looked terrified at that moment.

"I'm afraid that Ace has been at their mercy from the very start," Robin stated, "They wanted to make an example out of him… like a warning to all pirates. But more than that…?"

"He was bait to bring the Whitebeard Pirates here," Sanji said in understanding. "Kill two birds with one stone so to speak…"

"And it worked in the end didn't it?" Nami whispered, trying to erase the horrible picture of seeing Ace's body on the front page of the paper.

"Don't say that!" Chopper cried out, though he knew that just because he wanted it didn't mean that it was going to help anything here.

Luffy's eyes were wide with fear and he was breathing hard before he barked at everyone that they had to hurry and he went jumping off the ship, ready to break through the ice on his own if that was what it took.

Ivankov had come out as well, crying out, "We can't wait any longer! There's no time to argue about this! Everyone, we're going ahead with Straw Hat-boy's idea!"

"Hopefully they won't regret it!" Sanji winced as Luffy was joined with Jimbei, Crocodile, Mr. 1, Ivankov and even Buggy to stomp down hard on the ice around the ship. Buggy didn't even make a scratch when his foot hit down, but the others had no problem cracking right through the ice. Yet it seemed that this was all too powerful… for they ended up breaking the wrong side that they were supposed to.

The ice cracked apart around them as if made of glass and the predictable happened. It broke to pieces and they ended up falling right through the wrong side, straight to the battle straight below them.

"Like we didn't see that coming?!" Sanji shouted out as they were all falling through the air, the broken ship and everyone onboard tumbled right after them.

"I can't believe that they did that!" Usopp shouted as the screaming all around them started.

"And if they fall from this height, then they are sure to die once they hit the ice below them," Robin stated.

"HOW CAN YOU ALWAYS STAY SO CALM?!" Usopp screamed over at her as he spun around.

"I knew you would overdo it!" Buggy screamed as tears burst from his eyes and he flailed his arms around wildly as if hoping that he would start flying.

"This is because of his wink!" Crocodile yelled, looking over at Ivankov who was also crying hard.

Robin couldn't help but laugh at how childish that her old boss sounded here even as they were falling to their deaths. This was a side of him she didn't remember seeing before.

Ivankov stopped crying long enough for him to yell back, "VYou're blaming this on vme, Croco!?"

"If you're going to die anyway, why not make it miserable for someone you don't like?" Franky offered with a shrug.

"Like that's gonna help change anything!" Nami shrieked at him. "How is that gonna get them out of this?!"

Luffy seemed to be on her side. "Who cares?!" he screamed, "We're going to die! The sea beneath us is frozen solid!" He continued to scream in terror before he seemed to remember something and he shouted out, "Oh, wait! I'm made of rubber, so I'll be fine!"

"Well, that's a relief to hear," Brook sighed gladly. Though that may have been cold, he was still counting his blessings that Luffy made it out of this mess alive.

"Then you'll be the only survivor!" Mr. 3 sobbed out as he waved his limbs around wildly in the air trying to slow himself down.

Ivankov's tears were soon starting to mess up his make up as he cried, "I don't want to die like this! Someone, please stop us!"

"That'll be one impressive feat," Franky said, bumping into Chopper and sending the little guy spinning away from him, screaming the whole time.

"But you gotta admit!" Zoro called, twisting in midair as he looked down at the crowd below him. All the fighting seemed to have frozen for a moment as they stared up at them, apparently too stunned to notice anything else. "This is definitely one of the biggest entrances yet!"

"One for the record books for us!" Sanji snorted, "Since most of our entrances are awesome as hell!"

"I never should have listened to you, Straw Hat! Dammit!" Buggy shouted at Luffy, pointing wildly at him.

But Luffy ignored him as if he wasn't even there as he looked below him, his eyes already scanning the battlefield. "ACCCCCE!" he screamed out, as if hoping that his brother was there and could hear him if he shouted loud enough.

"Ace is really down there?!" Chopper shouted out, and was clinging to Zoro's head, with the swordsman trying to throw him off so that he could breathe.

"He's the star of the show here," Brook called, feeling a sick feeling in his stomach—if he had one anyway—and he couldn't ever imagine being the center of attention as a bad thing.

It was chaos just falling as everyone was shouting out anything that came to their minds.

"Vmy heart feels like it's gonna burst!" Ivankov screamed.

"Hey partner!" Buggy sobbed out to Mr. 3, "Can't you do something?!"

"How is my Wax powers gonna help us here?!" Mr. 3 cried back, looking like his own heart had stopped beating and he was stuck in a petrified state. The ground suddenly came up fast from beneath them, but to their astonishing luck… there was one place on this entire frozen battlefield, there was a massive hole of water and they were right on top of it. They couldn't have landed any better if they tried…

At least until they remembered that Luffy couldn't swim…

But too late. They hit the water and the entire memory shook violently darkening in and out as they hit the water, the warship hitting it right behind them.

"LUFFY!" the Straw Hats shouted out in panic. Luffy was still there, along with Buggy, Mr. 3 and even Ivankov as they were sinking hard and fast. They looked up desperately, hoping that someone would jump in after them and pull them out… the memory slowly blackened, they could just make out the sun shining above the surface as they sank…

But the last thing they saw before the memory blacked out completely was the familiar form of Jimbei heading down towards them.

"That was one hell of a fall," Sanji said, shook up from that. "I doubt that even a rubberman would've been able to walk away without a scratch."

"Thank god that Jimbei was there," Nami sighed in relief.

"Yeah that would've been lame that he went all that way just to drown in the sea," Zoro couldn't help but speak up.

"You be quiet!" Nami snapped at him, not in the mood for his pessimism right now. Thankfully, the memory returned soon after that. They were blinded by light for a moment and had to blink hard several times to be able to see clearly but they could make out that they were lying on the slanted deck of the battleship. It was broken clear in half, both sides now making a V shape as it drifted there, and Luffy was lying right beside Buggy, Mr. 3, and other former prisoners. They could see that Sanji had been right however, for that fall and the sudden shock of the sea clearly took a toll on him.

The sun above them was unusually bright yet foggy at the same time, as though the memory was halfway to fading out again. The sounds of yells and gunfire was going on around them, but again that was also very faint, as if they were merely hearing the echoes of it from far away rather than being stuck right in the middle of a war.

"Luffy?" Chopper said anxiously, running to his side, and trying to get a good look at his injuries. It was no good, without being able to touch him, there was no way that he could get a clear view of how seriously beaten he was. Meanwhile, his injuries only continue to grow… he wanted to just tear his antlers off his head in frustration at not being able to do anything to help.

"Where… am I?" Luffy croaked as he looked around in a dazed way, blinking sleepily, as if he was about to doze off. He looked up at the sky, "I see…" he choked to himself as he tried to make out what was going on. "I fell from all the way up there…"

"Damn, he really hit his head hard there," Franky said, not liking this at all.

"I doubt that he'll be in La-La Land for long," Zoro said darkly, and he was right. It only took a few moment for Luffy's dazed and confused expression started to fade and his eyes slowly widened in panic as he remembered what was going on.

"Ace!" he cried, sitting up so suddenly, he winced in pain and began to cough up the little sea water he had in his lungs.

"Luffy!" Chopper scolded, "Don't move around so suddenly like that! You're going to make yourself sicker!"

"I don't think he cares about that," Sanji said as Luffy went running to the back end of the ship—or what was left of it. It was a horrible sight.

The full scale of this war hit them all at once as they stared around them. It was a vast plain of ice that they were all standing on, and on top of it all was a battlefield of death and destruction, ships broken up in pieces so that they were hardly more than giant splinters, while marines and pirates were fighting to the death just below him. Blood was splattered all over, with bodies continuing to line up as people were either sliced apart or blown to pieces.

Nami covered her mouth, her eyes wide with fear as the others were all shaking from the sight of the bloodlust that was going on. Chopper let out a cry of terror, tears starting to fall as he looked at all the death and injuries around him. Usopp and Brook both fell over in shock, trying to scoot away from the battle as the screams of agony were making their ears ring.

"It's hell…" Franky gasped, taking off his sunglasses and staring in shock. "This is horrific! And I thought what happened to Enies Lobby was bad!"

"Most of the people, if not all of them had managed to escape from there before the Buster Call came…" Robin whispered, and even she was looking sickened at this. "Here… it's simply kill or be killed."

"It's terrible," Nami whispered, fighting back the bile that was rising in her throat.

"It's a war," Zoro reminded her with a sigh and shaking his head a little. "It's not supposed to be nice."

"Where are you?" Luffy said, staring around for the one person he wanted to see, but couldn't find him. "Where are you, Ace?! ACE!" he suddenly coughed again as cannons were booming in the distance. They couldn't see Ace anywhere around them, but things grew to be serious when a few grappling hooks suddenly hooked up onto the side of the ship, and several Marines were climbing up to get at him.

But Luffy was as good as oblivious to them as he muttered, "So he's not over here?"

The Straw Hats were really starting to worry for Luffy's sanity, or what was left of it, as he desperately turned and ran down the side of the broken ship, stumbling and slide, almost back into the sea, all the while still calling for Ace. He climbed up the broken masts and began to head for the front of the ship as more Marines jumped up to stop him. He slipped underneath the first one while effortlessly dodged the rest, but when they wouldn't give up and continued to chase him, Luffy grew frustrated and turned around to knock them all out.

"Get outta my way!" he shouted, taking care of them all with just one punch before he finally reached the front of the ship and climbed up to the top of it so that he could see over.

It was the first time they had seen the full of Marineford; the massive wall that protected what looked like an entire city behind it, and a massive building that towered over them all much like how Hancock's palace did back at Amazon Lily. The enormous giant lay over the wall, blood gushing from his missing foot, as a full-out war raged on around him. But that was when Luffy suddenly had an intake of breath and they looked to see where he was looking. Standing at the top of a large execution platform just passed the wall were three people.

Two of them they recognized on sight, the third they didn't. Garp was sitting on one side of the platform, looking relative calm while at the other end stood a tall and muscular middle-aged man with a long braided beard and a mustache as well as a cap with a seagull. While in the middle, on his knees and seemingly tied to the platform was none other than…?

"Ace…" Usopp croaked in recognition.

"It's almost surreal…?" Nami whispered, shaking her head a fraction of an inch to either side. After all that they had seen, after all that they watched Luffy go through, the fact that he had finally made it this far and finally found his big brother… it was almost too much. She wasn't the only one who seemed to feel that way, for Luffy just stared ahead and seemed unsure of what to do. It was like this hadn't sunk in just yet for him.

"Garp's here too?" Chopper asked, jumping up to get a good look for himself.

"He's still a Marine and it was almost mandatory for every Marine that is rank 'Captain' or higher, to be here," Robin stated calmly. "Any other Marine that wanted to fight was welcomed. If nothing else, he wanted to be here for Ace."

"Even though he's just sitting there doing nothing?!" Usopp shouted at her. "He's not doing anything here to help! He's just gonna let them kill him?!"

"Ace isn't a child," Robin answered sadly, "Garp had no more say in this matter than we do. He does love Ace, but there's only so much that even a Marine Hero like Garp can do. He's a sworn Marine, and he can't go against the World Government… not without paying a price."

"But…?!" Chopper cried out, not understanding what they were talking about, but Sanji just waved him down, letting him know that now wasn't the time.

"Ace…" Luffy whispered so quietly that almost no sound came out. He remained in a stupor for about a minute before he seemed to grasp what was happening. At last he smiled, a real true smile as he stared at Ace that was still so far from him, but at least he was in his sights again.

Beaming he took a deep breath before he then began to scream out at the top of his lungs, "AAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Though Ace's face was still too far away for them all to see properly, he definitely heard that cry. "LUFFY!" Ace screamed back, but unlike Luffy, he didn't sound the least bit happy here. On the contrary, he sounded scared out of his mind.

"Something tells me that he's not happy that Luffy followed him here," Brook said quietly, not remembering when he had seen something so powerfully touching… and sad.

"I wouldn't bet against that," Sanji offered as Luffy didn't even seem to care how upset Ace sounded.

"ACCCCCEEEEE!" he screamed again joyfully and he even laughed a little. "I finally found you!"

Having heard the yelling, everyone whom he broke out of prison with soon joined him.

"Luffy!" Ace yelled out again, sounding like he was torn between wanting to yell at Luffy to run away… or threaten that he was going to beat him up senseless as soon as he got out of here.

"Ace, wait for me!" Luffy declared, a new fire burning in him as his 'rescue team' soon joined in behind him, "I'm coming to save you! We're all here to save you!"

"Matter of opinion," Franky said, glancing over at Crocodile, and even he could tell that guy was thinking of anything but saving Ace. His attention was focused behind them and he turned to see what he was looking at. He let out a loud whistle of amazement at what had to be one of the largest ships he had ever seen, massive with a whale figurehead right up front and dozens of masts all over… the sheer size of it all looked like it could comfortably support a good five hundred people more or less…

Even Foxy's enormous ships was puny compared to it. He was so lost in staring at it, he barely paid attention when he heard a furious voice shout out, "Of all the things you could have done, you joined forces with Straw Hat Luffy! So, I see that this is your answer, Jimbei?!"

"Who's that?" Chopper's voice asked.

"From the looks of things, I'm guessing that would be Sengoku," Robin answered, "He was the Fleet Admiral. The highest rank of them all."

"The Fleet Admiral?!" Brook cried out in shock. "So then the other three Admirals reported only to him? Then he must be frighteningly strong!"

"Yes, but from what I know, he's tame compared to Akainu when he took over," Robin informed them all as Franky glanced back in time to see Jimbei marching forward to stand next to Luffy.

"That is right!" Jimbei proclaimed proudly, "I quit being a Warlord!"

If the point of that answer was to make Sengoku angry… it certainly seemed to work. Sengoku looked like he wanted nothing more than to start fighting with him then and there, but seemed to restrain himself.

"One hell of a way to turn in your resignation, Jimbei," Franky laughed as he looked back to the ship, having heard of her name before. "So… that's the Moby Dick, huh? What a beauty she is. I would've loved to have seen her built."

"Huh?" Usopp asked, looking to see what he was talking about. "Holy crap! That ship's huge! Most galleons aren't even that size!"

"That's the Whitebeard's Pirates main flagship?" Sanji asked, also looking up at it with interest.

"Which means… that that man up there must be…?" Nami said pointing, but before she could finish that sentence something went rushing passed her. It was Crocodile, suddenly becoming a cloud of sand and he was heading straight towards the Moby Dick, his hook held high as he bolted for the pirate standing at the very top.

For some reason though they were able to keep up with him, suddenly catching up with astonishing speed as they stood next to the giant of a man. It was the first time they had ever seen him up face-to-face. And they could suddenly see why Ace looked up to this man. There was no doubt who he was…

Crocodile held up his hook, ready to strike at him, as if he longed to put that hook into the back of his neck—yet Whitebeard didn't even look at him as Crocodile came right for him.

"It's been a long time, Whitebeard!" they heard Crocodile's voice ringing out, yet it was also in tone that sent chills up their spines. This one was of pure hatred, as if he had dreamt of skewering this man for years—even the look in his eyes was one of malice.

Whitebeard still hadn't turned his head, but he spoke in a deep and aged voice, clearly showing that he knew he was there, "You never learn, do you?"

"Look out!" Chopper tried to warn, but there was no need to worry, for faster than lightning, something came flying out from behind them and knocked right into Crocodile's extended arm. It was Luffy, having shifted to his Second Gear, and had stopped the attack with a single kick, making sure that the hook never came near Whitebeard.

"Wow!" Usopp cried out, thinking back to the last fight that Luffy had with Crocodile. He was barely a match for him the whole time, but here, not only did he diverted his hook, he did so without much trouble. This sure showed him out far he had come since Alabasta… it never failed to amaze him. In fact, he applauded loudly when he watched how Crocodile was actually sent flying backwards from the impact, sliding along the deck.

He glared angrily at Luffy, and that was when they realized that Luffy was already dripping wet, most likely from his little swim he took moments before.

"Go, Luffy!" Chopper cheered.

"Yeah! Show that croc how it's done!" Franky added loudly, punching the air.

"So…" Crocodile stated, a hint of anger in his tone. "You've already been prepared to fight me? I have honored our agreement and helped you get here. So tell me, why are you defending Whitebeard?"

"I gotta say, I am impressed that he did say what he was going to do and actually helped get them all here," Sanji stated, lighting up another cigarette.

"Well, they both had something to gain from it," Robin stated causally, but now that she was here, there wasn't anything left holding Crocodile back. He was free to do whatever he wanted, even if that meant striking at Whitebeard—which she still suspected was the main reason he wanted to come here in the first place. Though still unsure of what kind of history the two of them had, she had a feeling that it was better off not to know the whole truth.

"So, this old man really is Whitebeard?" Luffy said, not sounding surprised, "Then don't touch him! Ace likes this old guy!"

Several Whitebeard Pirates suddenly ran from the lower part of the deck and were holding Crocodile back with a few swords, yelling at the others to make sure he didn't get near the Old Man. While he was… detained… they all looked up to see Whitebeard properly for the first time.

He was about three times the size of a normal human, with a long face that was ploughed and wrinkled around his dark yellow eyes from his age. He seemed to be made up of nothing but muscle though, despite how old he was. He wore a large black bandanna around his head, with large white captain's coat around his broad shoulders that bore his Jolly Roger on the back. He was also bare-chested and had many scars along his chest, some looking like they had once been nasty wounds. How many pirates had tried to take this man's life, yet each wound he recovered from and grew stronger. And despite his name, he didn't have a beard, but rather a huge mustache that was in the shape of a crescent-moon on his face.

But what got them all was the sense of power that pulsated from his body. It was as if he was giving off the same kind of energy as the sun… strong and unrelenting.

"Whitebeard…" Nami croaked out, gulping hard as she stared up at him in terror. She knew that she didn't know Observation Haki, but you didn't need that to be able to sense the aura that this guy was giving of. Just being near him made her feel like she was going to pass out.

"That's what the strongest man in the world was like," Sanji said, and he was grinning at the sight of him. He wasn't the only one either, for Zoro was grinning like a madman bent on slaughter.

"Now that is some serious power," he stated in amazement.

"And if he is like this on his last day, I can only imagine him back in his prime," Brook whispered in awe. Most pirates are never able to live so long… job hazard and everything, but to reach such an age, and have never grown weak once in that entire time? He was truly a force of nature in his book. Now that he thought of it… wasn't there a rookie pirate around his time who…?

"I haven't even seen him in action, but I already know that he's earned his reputation," Usopp squeaked, feeling like a mouse confronting a tiger or something. He just wanted to run and hide under a rock or something, he was just scared out of his mind just looking at him.

And he even flinched a little when Whitebeard turned his head and glanced down at Luffy, who barely came up to his boots.

"Kid," he grunted, "That straw hat of yours… it looks a lot like the one that Red-Hair used to always wear."

Luffy turned and looked up at him. "You know Shanks, old man?" he asked, before he looked over his shoulder to where his trademark hat continued to hang there. "I'm hanging onto it for him."

Whitebeard seemed to be sizing him up, as if testing him and trying to guess what he was capable of. "Have you come to save your brother?" he asked.

"Yes," Luffy said defiantly, not a shred of hesitation, and he almost seemed to be daring him to say otherwise.

He wasn't disappointed.

"Do you have any idea what you are up against?" Whitebeard demanded, as if he was telling off a little kid from pulling off a stunt that could get him hurt. He then raised up the colossal bisento that he held in his hands, and slammed it down on the ship's deck with so much force that the entire world seemed to shake around them. That was when the Straw Hats could see just how vastly different their power levels were as he yelled, "Someone like you does not stand a chance!"

"He won't like that," Zoro said with a wider smile. If he knew Luffy as well as he thought he did, then there was no way that he was going to take that lying down. If someone says that it can't be done… the Straw Hats just take it as a challenge.

Luffy didn't react at all, and slowly lowered his head. If it had been anyone else, they would've thought that he was giving up. But like they all thought, a muscle was going in his forehead before he looked up and barked up at him, "Shut up! That's not for you to decide!"

"Is he crazy? He's gonna get himself killed?" Usopp hissed, wishing that Luffy would just keep his mouth shut for once.

"I doubt that," Robin said with a smile. After all, Whitebeard was here, trying to save Ace… and he would never think about hurting someone whom Ace cared about as much as his little brother.

"I already know about you! You want to be the King of the Pirates, right?!" Luffy demanded, "I'M THE ONE WHO'S GONNA BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

His declaration shocked everyone in hearing shot, Marines and pirates all around them froze, completely forgetting that they were supposed to be trying to kill each other—they were just so taken aback that anyone had the guts to say something like that to Whitebeard.

"Way to go, Luffy," Sanji said, though he was laughing. "If it had been anyone else, he might not still be here."

Whitebeard remained calm, though he was glaring down at Luffy—who only continued to glare right back at him. Both of them seemed to be trying to see what the other was made of. When it became clear that Luffy refused to be intimidated, Whitebeard raised up his weapon, and spun it around in his hands, creating a whirlwind that would've blown anyone off to the other end of the Grand Line. And then he slammed it right back down onto the deck, the shockwave enough to knock over some of the weaker fights below them.

But Luffy stood his ground, refusing to back down and run away. At last, a grin appeared on Whitebeard's face. "You're pretty damn cheeky aren't you?" He then looked forward again as he added, "Don't think I'll spare you if you slow us down here ya little brat."

"Well, that's as good as a compliment coming from someone like him," Robin chuckled as Usopp, Brook, and Chopper all stared in wonder.

"Luffy's so awesome!" Chopper gasped out.

"I'll do whatever the hell I want!" Luffy snapped, glaring forward as well to where Ace was still in danger. "I'm going to save Ace!"

"You know, it's not every day that someone has the brass to be able to say something like that to Whitebeard," Zoro laughed. "Shame he's dead… it would've been something else to have fought with him."

"We still have the other Emperors to fight someday, if that makes you feel better," Robin told him.

"How does that make us feel better?!" Usopp yelled as Chopper whined in terror.

Luffy looked ready to run in and join the fighting himself, but he seemed to hold himself back for a moment. They were wondering what he was waiting for when he took several deep breaths and turned to look back at Whitebeard. "Hey, old man," he said.

"Yeah?" Whitebeard asked uninterested.

"There's something you should know," Luffy told him. "We heard a message on the warship a minute ago." And he then informed him about what they overhead, about how they were planning on moving Ace's execution early so that they didn't have three hours like they had thought.

Whitebeard didn't seem all that surprised when he heard the news and his tone seemed to suggest that he had already guessed something like this would happen when he said, "They're moving up the time of the execution? You are sure that is what they said?"

"After they finished some kind of preparations," Luffy confirmed, "Then some code stuff that I didn't understand."

"You're good with codes, Robin, do you know what they meant?" Usopp asked her.

She sighed and shook her head. "It can take days, even weeks to figure out code. I'm afraid that we don't have the time to ponder it. If I had to guess, it's not good for us."

"Why isn't it ever good for us?" Usopp moaned miserably.

"Since you're here to save Ace, I thought I should tell you," Luffy let him know.

Whitebeard looked up, a thoughtful expression on his face as he stated, "I see. That is rather important news to know." He then added causally, "Sorry about before."

"Don't worry about it," Luffy answered back, just as coolly as if it had just been a little thing before and not worth getting upset over.

"How can they be having such a friendly chat?!" Usopp cried out as there were other shouts of shock coming from people all around them.

"He's talking to him like they're old friends or something," Nami said in a stunned voice as Brook's jaw hit the ground.

"I love this," Sanji laughed, feeling a surge of pride going through him. Not too many people could remain that fearless when confronting someone who could destroy the world on a good day. "Only Luffy could get away with something like this!"

"Damn, I wish that I was there…" Zoro said, looking at the marines, whose shock was quickly wearing off. And he wasn't just saying that because he just wanted a chance to be able to fight against these powerhouses. He looked up to see where Ace was and he had only wished that he could've done more to help Luffy when he really needed them.

"Right!" Luffy declared, preparing himself to finally join the fight. "Ace! I'm coming now!"

And without another moment of hesitation, he jumped down, hitting the ice hard before he took off running, not even batting an eye as a crowd of Marines came charging after him.

"Gum Gum… BAZOOKA!" Luffy hollered, his attack hitting the ground below them and sending them all flying off as if they weren't anything at all. "OUTTA MY WAY!" Luffy screamed as he continued running forward. Everything after that seemed to be happening fast. They went running after him as Jimbei joined the fight with Ivankov and the rest of the New Kamas… the Whitebeard Pirates were swarming all around them, inspired by Luffy's reckless determination, and they even heard someone shouting orders not to get in Luffy's way.

It was like seeing how stupid and crazy that Luffy was acting there to get to Ace, it seemed to be infecting them all, making them fight even harder than before, actually pushing the marines back as they ran.

The Straw Hats were all actually starting to feel hopeful again that they were going to make it… at least until they saw a highly unwelcomed sight.

"AHHHHHH! IT'S KIZARU!" Brook screamed. And he was right, for the Admiral who almost killed them back at Sabaody had appeared in a glint of light, right in front of Luffy, ready to block his way.

"Damn, I knew that we were going to see some tough opponents, I just didn't think that we'd run into an Admiral this soon!" Franky yelled out, sweat falling from his face.

"I guess he's not too happy with how we escaped from him before," Nami yelled.

"I'm sure that he got told off for that," Sanji said, not at all sorry for him. "But that just means that he's got a reason to want to make sure that he doesn't let Luffy leave a second time."

"In that case, he really must've got told off after this whole thing," Zoro said loudly.

"It's you!" Luffy yelled, his eyes widening, "From Sabaody!"

"Don't remind me, Luffy. Just thinking about it hurts," Usopp winced.

Kizaru looked extremely bored here, as if he could be doing other important things than fight in a war as he stated, "The Celestial Dragons will never let me hear the end of it if I let you escape again." And they saw what was coming as he raised up his leg, preparing for a kick. "Straw Hat Luffy!"

"Hopefully they'll dock his pay at least," Sanji muttered darkly under his breath. The next time he saw that bastard he was going show him how you really kick.

Kizaru's foot started to glow as he aimed a laser right at him—but it was Ivankov who came to the rescue this time. Though he now knew that Ace wasn't Dragon's son, his main reason for being here was to protect Luffy.

"Death WINK!" he hollered, jumping out of nowhere—but instead of going after Kizaru, he used it on Luffy and sent him flying back. Though it looked like it hurt, it clearly saved him from the blunt of Kizaru's attack.

"He didn't have to do that, did he?!" Chopper yelled out.

"Ivankov is strong, no doubt about that," Sanji said grudgingly, "But can't say for sure if he's strong enough to stop an Admiral's attack."

"Straw Hat-boy, are you alright!?" Ivankov yelled after Luffy after he did a face-plant right on the ice. Not that it kept him down for long, pushing himself up, calling out a quick thanks for helping him.

"I'm not sure I'd be thanking him after that," Nami muttered skeptically.

Ivankov stood tall as he declared, "It is my duty to protect you from dying!" But it seemed like Kizaru was still hot on their heels as he came right after them with another light attack. "Kizaru again?!"

Yet it wasn't Kizaru like they all thought, but it was someone that they all knew. The large form of Kuma had joined them, his mouth smoking slightly from the last attack.

"Another tough guy right off the bat," Brook gasped. And the war was just beginning here? How many more powerful enemies were going to show up after this? Luffy just arrived and already he was up against a Warlord and an Admiral!

Kuma turned his attention directly to Ivankov, preparing to fire once again.

"It's him!" Luffy cried out, anger flashing in his eyes, "That bear guy who sent us all flying!"

"KUMA!" Ivankov shouted, his eyes wide as he spotted him there.

"He knows him?!" Usopp yelled in wonder before he blinked and added, "Wait… didn't Kuma say something about having a connection to the Revolutionary Army…?"

"Then you think that they were friends or something?" Nami called, her eyes wide as Kuma shot another laser, one that Ivankov was forced to dodge.

"More than likely, but that's not the issue here," Franky said worriedly.

"Bartholomew Kuma!" Ivankov shouted, pointing a shaking finger at him—he was looking extremely tense as he looked him, before declaring, "You… HERE I COME!"

But Kuma only fired another laser right at him, and this time, Ivankov was shocked when a large chunk of his afro had been blasted clean off.

"How horrible!" Brook gasped, reaching up to pat his own hair and was unable to bear the thought of losing something so precious.

"Iva!" Luffy cried out in worry, but Ivankov never looked away from Kuma as he barked, "Don't worry about vme! Leave him to vme and just keep going ahead!"

"Ok," Luffy called in understanding before he ran off, heading straight off towards Ace. But it didn't take them long to run into someone again… this time there were two more people they recognized, though they weren't happy to see them either.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sanji groaned out. "Why's that loser here?"

Standing there were none other than the hypnotist that had been the vice-captain for Kuro… Jango. While standing next to him, was Fullbody, though it was hard to recognize him without his face having not been beaten black and blue.

"I can't believe that he's fighting for them!" Usopp yelled in outrage, furious that the bastard that had once tried to kill Kaya was here and fighting for 'justice'. "What did he do get them to let him join the marines?!"

"Maybe he hypnotized them?" Chopper offered, that seemed to be the most likely answer to him. Luffy didn't notice the two of them at first, at least not until Jango threw two chakrams blades at him as if they were Frisbees. Luffy managed to dodge them, narrowly missing the razorblades, but that was when Fullbody came charging in and threw a punch—but missed completely.

"How unlucky for you to bump into us!" Fullbody declared, standing up tall, his fists held high.

Jango had caught his weapons and spun them expertly in his hands before he declared, "Straw Hat, this is where it ends for you!"

"He's kidding, right?" Franky asked, shaking his head. Those two weren't even a match for them way back in the East Blue, what made them thing that they were going to do any better here after all this time?

"I don't know…" Robin said, looking more at Jango. She remembered how easily Luffy fell under his hypnosis before, and knew that if could very become a victim to that again. If he did, then he could fall asleep here and now… before he would be impaled.

"Huh?" Luffy asked, looking at them in confusion, "Do I know you guys?"

"I guess you can get some comedy even in the middle of a war," Zoro smirked a little as the two looked outraged that he didn't remember who they were. "But to be fair, I barely remember them as well."

"Not worth the time if you ask me," Sanji yawned.

"I'm Fullbody!" Fullbody yelled furiously, "And I still plan to make you pay for what happened back at Baratie!"

"Talk about holding a grudge!" Sanji yelled out, rolling his eyes. "Just get over it already!" Besides, he was the one who beat him to a pulp, at least have the guts to want to fight him instead of keeping Luffy from trying to save Ace. That was low…

"Oh, wait," Luffy said, as if his memory suddenly came back, "You're the guy who got his ass kicked by Sanji."

"That's really all that he'll be remembered for," Sanji said as several of them let out a few laughs at those words. "And I'll be more than happy to kick the crap out of him again."

You could see Fullbody's eyes twitching furiously, as if the memories were haunting his mind at just mentioning it.

Jango stepped in, holding up his rings as he asked, "Don't tell me you forgot who I was!?"

"Right… you're that hypnotist from Usopp's village," Luffy stated darkly. "Why are you here?"

"He's not from my village," Usopp said, anger boiling in him as he remembered how that jerk had Kaya by the throat and how he was prepared to kill her, "He's just some lowlife weirdo who came to shore!"

Jango swung both the chakrams from his fingers as he bragged, "Thanks to the marines, I finally perfected my Jango Hypnotism!"

"Oh no…" Robin said, knowing how easy it is for Luffy to fall for mind tricks like this. And if it was even stronger than before…? Wait… she suddenly remembered one important thing… this was Jango they were talking about. He kept hypnotizing himself! So maybe…?

Jango began to swing the two rings back and forth, and already, Luffy's eyes seemed drawn to them, watching them swinging there. "Two chakrams are twice as one!" Jango informed him nastily. "One, two, Jango you will fall asleep!"

"Luffy, no! Look away!" Brook cried out in fear.

"I can't look!" Usopp cried, covering his own eyes as Nami was aching to punch Luffy to snap out of it.

"One… two…" Jango counted off, but to their relief, there was a loud boom in the distance that knocked Luffy out of it. Completely distracted, he turned his head to see what exploded just as Jango finished saying his name.

The Straw Hats sighed, glad for Luffy's short attention span for once; Jango and Fullbody however… they weren't as lucky. Both of them suddenly dropped to the ground and were fast asleep, even snoring as the sounds of the gunfire around them hurt their ears.

"Those two are both still complete losers," Franky said, shaking his head. Really, didn't those two get any stronger since they last saw them?

"I guess that this fight is over," Zoro said, sweat falling from his face again. Really, why can't all their enemies be this pathetic?

"What are you two doing?" asked a disappointed voice. The voice belonged to a very tall and slim woman who had long, pink hair. She stepped forward, a cigarette in her mouth, that brought out the red lipstick… and Sanji seemed to lose his mind at how cute she was.

"What a hottie!" he cried out before he yelled in pain when Nami grabbed his ear.

"Now is not the time for you to be womanizing!" she scolded furiously.

"Captain Hina," Robin said knowingly, "She almost ended up catching us when we were escaping Alabasta. They call her the Black Cage."

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but why do they call her that?" Usopp asked tensely.

"I don't care," Sanji swooned, his eyes little beating hearts, "She could lock me up at any time."

"I said, shut up," Nami said in annoyance as Hina kicked the two sleeping idiots at her feet awake.

"Hina disappointed," she sighed.

"Why is she talking about herself in third-person?" Usopp asked, scratching her head.

"Oh… I find that such an endearing quality…" Sanji sighed lovingly.

"Would you give it a rest, lover-boy?" Zoro hissed in annoyance. "Just pick a girl and stay with her."

"I love all the beauties of the world! They are all precious jewels in my eyes, Moss Head!" Sanji snapped back. No matter what anyone said, he will always be here to serve the ladies.

"You!" Luffy cried out, recognizing her right away. "You attacked us back in Alabasta!" He looked furious as he muttered, "But I can't waste any more time on you guys!"

"You better not hurt her, Luffy!" Sanji warned loudly before it was Usopp who hit him hard over the head.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?!" he yelled as Luffy charged forward at Hina.

"Don't think I'll let you escape again," Hina declared as she held up her hands, and to their amazement, steel bars suddenly shot out and folded around the area, trapping Luffy inside.

"What's she doing?!" Nami gasped out.

"Looks like we know why they call her Black Cage," Franky muttered. "Some kind of Cage Cage Fruit? Damn, these Devil Fruits just keep getting weirder and weirder."

"I've heard of it," Robin answered, "Everything that touches her bodies will become bound by a metal cage. Would be useful for her."

"Yeah, because she doesn't need to drag someone to prison to lock 'em up," Franky nodded, hoping that Luffy gets out of there quickly.

"Everything that passes through my body is locked tight," Hina spoke up, causing the idiots Jango and Fullbody to start drooling, much like how Sanji was.

Luffy glared at the bars that were surrounding him before they heard him mutter to himself, "I've had enough of being in cages."

"And I don't blame you there, pal," Usopp said, hoping never to have to see himself or any of his crewmates in one of Impel Down's cells ever again.

Luffy shifted to his Second Gear just as Hina brought her hands together, trying to bind Luffy. But he was too quick for her—easily jumping right out of her reach and jumped over her… making a sprint for the execution platform. Hina gasped in shock, having not seen what happened before it was too—and ended up trapping Fullbody, Jango, and several other Marines… though to be honest, none of them seemed to be too disappointed.

Chopper was biting down on his hooves anxiously. Luffy had been forced to use his Second Gear an awful lot in the last two days. He couldn't even keep count of how many… but that technique was dangerous even at the best of times. And Luffy's body is a wreck right now… he was really worried at how much more Luffy was messing up his body.

But he ran after him along with everyone else, trying to just trust that Luffy knew what he was doing here. He didn't get far though, another marine came running out of nowhere and tried to take him out with a club. But he might've had better luck if the spikes were actually sharp on that thing… though Luffy got a slight cut on his cheek, he was more than able to throw a punch right back at him. The marine blocked it with the club, but it was enough to knock Luffy back onto the ice, forced to roll over and jump up to kick the marine as far as he could.

There were so many enemies around though and it was only a second later for a second marine to charge up from behind with a sword. Zoro looked ready to run in a block it, but Luffy had already sensed him there. He dodged it in time by doing a handstand, and kicked several other marines out.

"I think I taught him that," Sanji said with pride in his voice.

"Marines are just like cockroaches," Zoro hissed angrily. "Doesn't matter how many you take out, there's always a bunch more ready to take out their place."

"Looks like every marine in the Grand Line showed up here," Franky said through gritted teeth. "Even with all these other pirates here to take care of them, I don't see Luffy making any progress for a while."

"He'll have to fight through each and every one of them if he wants to make it up to Ace," Robin said, keeping an eye out for Kuma or Kizaru again. "And I'm getting concerned for Luffy's health. I know you must be worried, Chopper. You haven't stopped tearing at your shirt there."

Chopper blinked, looking up at her before down at the shirt that his little hooves were twisting around and saw that he was accidentally tearing it to pieces and he quickly stopped.

"Sorry," he said, looking away, "I know that he's gonna be ok, but I… I just can't…?"

"We know, Chopper-san," Brook said softly, "We are all deeply worried for Luffy-san."

"If this goes on too much longer, Luffy might end up doing something really serious to himself," Chopper confessed, a few tears poking from his eyes once more. "I'm scared. I'm really scared that he might do something to his body that…? He could make himself really sick this way. If he keeps this up, it's only going to be a matter of time before…?" He stopped speaking, yet no one needed him to continue.

Luffy steadied himself and went off running again, but the Marines were far from giving up. They were running at him, trying to block him off and to kill him. Luffy had speed on his side however, and was able to outrun or dodge them for the most part… at least until another familiar face appeared.

"Straw Hat!" hollered an annoying screechy voice.

"Oh, shit…" Sanji cursed.

Gekko Moria waddled towards them, looking almost just like how he was when they first met him; though now he wore a furry coat over his shoulders. The only signs that he bore of their battle with him were the bandages wrapped around his head—still he was in much better shape than Luffy was at the moment.

"What are you Devil Fruit Users made of?" Nami cried out exasperatedly, having thought that Moria would've been down for the count after the beating that Luffy gave him. "Does nothing stop you guys?"

"You get used to it," Robin chuckled. "But still… even for a Warlord, I'm amazed that he made it here at all."

"Moria's lazy as hell, but I guess he's tougher than we first though," Zoro stated lightly, and he was concerned here. It took everything that Luffy had to fight him before… and he hadn't even given himself time to rest—though he doubt that Moria was up to full fighting force as well, he wasn't the one whose body was messed up.

Moria cackled to himself as he held up his hands. "Come out and play, my zombie minions!" And several of the Straw Hats let out cries of fear as the ground broke apart and out burst several zombies.

"Hey, wait!" Brook cried out, "If they are zombies then they should only come out when it's night!"

"I don't think it matters," Sanji added, looking up at the sky, to see that the sun had been blocked out thanks to all the cloud cover and smoke. "But that's not the issue here. Those things are hard as hell to deal with, remember? And last I checked, Luffy doesn't have any salt on him!"

"He might not need it," Robin commented as Moria ordered his zombies to capture Luffy, and she noticed that he said 'captured', having a guess that he had a mind to take Luffy's shadow again. "But in either case, he mustn't get too close to him, he can't give Moria a chance to take his shadow here."

"I'm with you there," Nami added with a firm nod, hoping that Luffy was paying attention from the last time that he underestimated him. But then again, Perona wasn't here to put Luffy into that fetal position…?

"Moria?!" Luffy hollered, having just spotted him, "Another tough guy!"

He readied himself as the zombies all swarmed at him. They were weak enough for him to knock down easily, but the fact that they just kept getting up and coming back for more was what made them so difficult. Moria certainly seemed prepared, and didn't seem to be playing around with him like the last time, seemingly have learned his lesson not to underestimate Luffy here. He just kept bringing more and more zombies out to face him with the ones that he was already having trouble with. It soon got to the point that he was completely surrounded on all sides by not just zombies, but marines who had come for a chance to take his head.

"This is ridiculous!" Usopp shouted out as Luffy went into a mad flurry of punches and kicks, dodging the strikes as best as he could in such a limited space. "How's he supposed to fight them all off like this? Why don't they go fight with one of the others here?!"

"This is a battlefield!" Zoro shouted for the hundredth time, "It was never going to be easy! And you think that they were going to let him go marching in here and take control of everything? Luffy's one of the biggest threats here!"

"More of them?!" Luffy cried out, so many zombies rising up that they couldn't see passed their heads.

"Of course! This is a battlefield after all!" Moria taunted, "My zombie army will only continue to grow!"

"Yeah, but what about the shadows?!" Franky called out, "Come on… where's he getting them?!"

"Probably from some poor people who had the misfortune of running into him after we defeated him," Nami said and those few of the crew who had their shadows stolen felt their sympathy for those people.

Luffy kept going forward though, no matter how many kept popping up. But it was becoming almost impossible for him to even take a step forward with the sheer numbers of marines and zombies bearing down on him. He kept punching and kicking his way through, though they kept getting attacks in, slowly starting to cut him up all over.

But it wasn't until one Marine made a mad dash at him, and gave him a deep cut on the arm did someone finally speak up.

"STAY AWAY, LUFFY!"

They jumped just as Luffy finished knocking several more enemies down and looked up. That voice had come from none other than Ace.

"Ace?" Chopper question quietly as the others could get a clear look at the furious, tormented expression on his face. It was as if he was fighting tears the entire time… but he ignored them as he continued to shout out.

"You and I are both pirates! You know that! Which means you should be out there sailing however you want!" he yelled, "I have my own adventures and my own crew! You have no right to interfere with this!"

"What's he doing?!" Chopper demanded furiously. Even if he didn't know about it, he had seen everything that Luffy went through just to see him again. He remembered how he had charged into Impel Down on his own, lost all those years of his life while being tortured for hours on end… before finally breaking out and coming straight here while losing Bon Clay in the process… and now Ace was telling him to just go away?! Chopper would forever be haunted by the sight of seeing Luffy strapped to that table and all that blood gushing from his body… and Ace was just ignoring all that?!

He looked up to the others, expecting them to be just as angry as he was at this, but he was surprised to see the sad looks instead, their eyes glinting in understanding.

"You think I want some weakling like you to save me?!" Ace went on, his face looking more choked up than ever, "This is humiliating! Go away, Luffy! Why are you even here?!"

Ace suddenly seemed unable to speak as he shut his eyes and lowered his head low as if in terrible pain. It looked to them as though he wanted to say more, but for some reason he wasn't able to do so. Robin had a guess as to what it was… to tell him that he couldn't live with himself if his little brother got hurt any more than he already had been. But maybe it was because he thought that Luffy wouldn't listen any other way than if he tried to drive him away, or because he wanted to protect Luffy's connection to him from the Marines.

But she knew that the guilt that was inside him must've hurt more than any of those wounds he received from Impel Down. That it was now Luffy doing everything he could to try and protect him even if those injuries killed him.

But Luffy kept going through the crowd, clearly not even listening to his words, nor dealing with all the blood he was losing from those cuts as he ran even harder towards the execution platform.

"I'M…" Luffy exclaimed for a moment, getting Ace's attention and when the two made eye contact, Luffy shouted out to the entire world as loudly as he could, without any trace of hesitation or shame, "YOUR LITTLE BROTHER!"

And so it was all out. That declaration was enough to startle the marines all around them, with all of them completely lost as to how it was possible that Luffy could be Gold Roger's child as well. But the Straw Hats couldn't care less with what they said anymore. Everything around them faded out until all they could see and hear were the two brothers, who were looking long and hard at the other… tears actually forming a little in Ace's eyes.

It reminded them all of when Luffy used to chance desperately after Ace when they were children, and how he had always put him through hell. Yet even after Luffy finally grew strong enough to reach him, he ended up getting beaten to an inch within his life by Porchemy…

The words he said to Ace after that ordeal was over stayed with them. Because even though he was practically killing himself in this one in a million shot of a rescue, even if Ace was yelling at him to just go away… the thought of being alone hurt him more than any one of those wounds.

"And I'm a pirate too! I don't listen to rules! Who cares?!" Luffy went on shouting, not caring who heard him.

"Don't you get it?!" Ace shouted at him in frustration that he wouldn't just leave.

"Oh, he does…" Zoro said calmly, mixed feelings going on inside him at this information.

"But…?" Chopper gasped out, not understanding as Zoro sighed.

"Luffy knows why he's saying that," Zoro told him quietly, "But right now, Ace's life means more to him than anything else. He will do everything he can to save him even if Ace ends up hating him for it."

"And Ace wants Luffy to leave before he pays the same price that he's going to," Nami answered, crying again, and really hating all these tears. "He's trying to get him to leave…"

"We all have someone that we want to protect, even if they claim that they don't need it," Brook whispered softly as he looked up to where Ace was still watching, his face tormented. "He's right in front of him, and is in trouble… but Ace-san can't do anything but watch. But seeing him getting hurt finally caused him to snap."

"So he's saying all this to try and drive Luffy away because he doesn't want to drag him down with him," Usopp whispered as he burst out crying with Franky.

"That's so sad!" Franky bawled out, crying into Usopp's shoulder, and almost knocking the little man over. "I LOVE THESE GUYS! I… I… BWAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Luffy stood his ground, ready to face another round of zombies when a giant wave of saltwater came rising up out of nowhere, striking the zombies all at once, releasing the shadows that were inside them.

"What happened?!" Chopper cried out.

"Saltwater!" Robin smiled, "Moria couldn't be up against a worse opponent for him!"

"Jimbei!" Nami cried out happily as the zombies all dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Moria couldn't have looked more stunned as Jimbei leapt out of some water nearby, coming up to stand next to Luffy, as if acting as some kind of bodyguard.

"Jimbei!" Luffy cried out, smiling when he saw him.

Jimbei smiled back at him before he turned to Moria and stated, "Your zombies are weak against salt aren't they?"

Though it wasn't a taunt… it might as well have been one, for Moria's eyes to narrow in hatred.

"It's a relief to see that he's still looking after Luffy even after they arrived," Robin said in relief.

"But I thought that Jimbei promised Ace that he would take care of him?" Chopper said, thinking back to when those two were still sharing a cell.

"Only if he… ended up dying here," Zoro stated, his words getting caught in his throat for a moment. "And he was still alive here. Besides, didn't Jimbei said that he might have to turn down that offer?"

"Yes, he did say that," Robin nodded, "That he would not lend his protection to someone he didn't care for or think highly of. But…" she added looking at the two, "After all they went through in such a short time, I don't think that it's hard to think that he might have changed his mind about that."

"Luffy," Jimbei told him, "I'll take care of these zombies."

"Alright!" Luffy said, turning and running off again as if nothing had interrupted him before, "I'll leave it to you!"

Now with Moria out of the way for the moment, it looked a little more hopeful for them, but just then, a giant came running up to challenge Luffy this time. "Out of the way!" he roared to the marines around his feet. "I'll finish him off!"

"I doubt that," Usopp said firmly, not doubting the giant's strength, but knowing Luffy far too well to think that, even for a second, that he would lose a fight even to a giant. The giant raised up his club, ready to smash him and Jimbei, which they both dodge as the club came crashing down onto the ice. Luffy jumped up, going to take him down personally.

"What are you all doing?! Don't let that rookie take control of the war like this!" Sengoku suddenly called out through a Transponder Snail, his voice amplified so that no one could hope to miss what he said. "That man will become a dangerous enemy in the future!"

"I'd say he's a dangerous enemy now," Sanji couldn't help but speak up.

"He was raised with his sworn brother, Ace," Sengoku went on before he declared for them all, "But his actual bloodline makes him the son of none other than the Revolutionary Dragon!"

"And he was the one who blurted it out," Nami said sadly as Luffy had gave an enormous jump, getting right up to eye level with the giant.

"Not that it matters anymore," Robin stated, "Luffy's become such an infamous criminal that it was only going to be a matter of time before someone found out."

"Dragon?!"

"The Revolutionary Dragon?!"

The marines all around them were all letting out cries of astonishment and shock. They weren't the only ones though, even the pirates—Whitebeard's or Warlords—seemed to be startled by what they heard.

"You mean he's the son of the world's most frightening criminal?"

"Someone kill him!"

"He cannot be allowed to live!"

"Jeez, that's intimidating," Franky said, sounding nervous as the marines all started to focus their attention on Luffy now. "All these people want him dead just because who his dad is?"

"Yes," Robin said, and an odd shadow came over her eyes. "Evil lives in the blood, at least in their eyes. And it only makes sense that they would treat someone whose father is considered to be the biggest monster to have lived since Roger, to be a monster as well."

"Well, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Nami said angrily.

"But that's how it is to them," Robin told her calmly, but her eyes showed that she seemed to agree with what she said. "Life isn't fair. But that's just how it is. Believe me when I say that I understand that better than anyone." She shut her eyes as her mother's face, Professor Clover, and all the people who had been on Ohara… with Saul's face shining clearest of all. "As far as the government is concerned, Luffy was never supposed to live. That is the same thing for Ace… and me. All because of the blood we carry."

She opened her eyes sadly and confessed, "My mother was considered to be a threat… a monster to them all. She was a criminal. And as her daughter, I am also a criminal."

"Robin…" Chopper whispered, his eyes wide, with Luffy behind him, still fighting with the giant.

"That's terrible!" Sanji said in outrage, furious that anyone could punish a woman… mother or daughter. "You were eight years old when they went after you! How could you have been guilty of anything?!"

"For the same thing that Luffy and Ace are in this mess here," she answered softly, looking over at her captain, feeling a strong connection towards him. "For existing. Our existence is enough reason for them to want us all dead. Even if we never did anything for the rest of our lives, the government never would've let us go. Because in their eyes, the ultimate sin that we committed was the fact that we were born at all. In one way, our fates were sealed the moment that we came into this world."

"Don't you dare believe a single word of that!" Brook stated loudly. "Your life is something precious! Not just yours, but Luffy-san and Ace-san's too! You three have as much right to live in this world as anyone else!"

"That's right!" Chopper cried out in determination. "And I'll take on anyone who doesn't agree!"

Soon everyone was letting out similar words of agreement, letting her know that they didn't believe a single word of any of that crap. Robin only smiled back, her mind going back to that day when she stood on top of the Tower of Law and how they had come there to save her and Luffy's encouragement to keep on living. And she also thought of that moment after Thriller Bark when Brook had just found out that Laboon was alive and well…

"I'm so happy to be alive…!"

She understood completely his words that day. Though the rest of the world may condemn her life, as long as she was with this crew of misfits, she wasn't afraid anymore. She was so happy to be alive, and she wished that Luffy was here so that she could thank him for renewing her love of life. She turned back in time to see biting down on his thumb, causing it to grow to match the arm that the giants all had.

BOOM! He just rammed his fist into the giant's face, knocking him over with just one blow.

"ACE!" Luffy screamed as his arm shrank back to normal. "Say whatever the hell you want!" he cried out as he declared, an almost mad look in his eye, "I'M SAVING YOU EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!"

Robin closed her eyes as cheers went on around them from the Whitebeard Pirates, all agreeing with what Luffy said. She wanted to thank Luffy for all that he had done for her, yes… but more than anything, she wanted him here so that she could tell him something else.

That she was glad that he was alive too.

(Happy Halloween. Ok, I think I'm starting to catch up on everything. Sorry, I've been having a bit of a rough week. It's Halloween, my favorite holiday of them all, and it started raining and snowing all day. So I think that after standing in the doorway passing out candy in a gypsy costume while it was about thirty degrees outside with the snow sticking everywhere has made me sick. But I wanted to at least put this chapter up for you all for my 'treat' to you all. Also, I just wanted to put in that I'm been rather down lately, for my sweet kitty, whom I had raised since he was a kitten for about thirteen years, has a tumor inside him that's slowly killing him now. So while some say that he's just a cat and I should get over the fact that he might be dying soon, I'm really upset about that. But… good news is that he's doing alright now… and I'm hopeful that he might be able to hang on for a few more years at least. Sorry if I'm troubling you all like this, but I think I just needed someone to know. Anyway, I've had a sucky week, like you can tell and I hope that you will continue to support my story-writing because it really helps to take my mind off things. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween…)