Author's Note:
Guys, I'm so sorry. I know I keep saying I'll be back soon with more regular updates, but this year has been a terrible year for my mental health. I struggle with depression and anxiety, and it's super hard to balance that with school work, college admissions, and this account, which means that this just hasn't been my first priority. I'm so upset that it has affected you guys so much with my terrible lack of updating.
This account has been really neglected due to lack of motivation on my part, but I'm getting better and do not plan on deleting/leaving this story any time soon. Please rest assured that Maggie isn't going anywhere, no matter how long an update takes! I love my fanbase so much and your support means the world, even those that don't review, I love all of you!
~Momo
I was falling. The water below and the tiny dot of a ship were all that I hoped to land on, if I survived the fall, that is. I was falling so fast that I had to close my eyes so that my eyes wouldn't dry out. And with a loud CRASH! I blew through the floor boards onto the deck of a navy ship.
Miraculously, I somehow managed to stand up after my fall and walked away unscathed? I suspect it had something to do with Father Time and my mother, but I didn't really care at that point. I was going to save Ace, no matter what!
"It went down there!" I heard someone say.
"Is it enemy fire?" another asked.
I looked up through the whole I created and saw people dressed like prisoners looming over to look.
I waved at them, smiling, and said, "Is this the ship where Luffy-nii is?"
The two both looked at each other, blinking for a minute, and said, "Yeah…"
"Can you get me out of here, then? I need to see him," I asked.
"Sure…" one said.
"Hey, can we get some rope over here?" the other asked, walking away.
A bunch of other prisoners came over to see what had happened, but I still hadn't seen Luffy.
Then, the second guy game back with rope and dropped one end down to me. I tied the end around my waist, and they pulled me onto the deck of the ship.
"Thank you!" I said, looking around for Luffy.
"You said you were looking for Straw Hat, right?" the first guy asked. I nodded. "He's up with Jimbei and Captain Buggy over up there." He pointed in the direction I needed to go.
"Thanks!" I said, running across the deck.
I climbed up a flight of stairs to get to the upper deck, and standing by the helm was Luffy, who was fighting with a clown. I saw Crocodile was standing there next to a fishman who had a hold of the helm.
"Luffy-nii!" I said happily.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards me.
Luffy's expression changed from one of confusion to elation in about .3 seconds.
"Maggie?! Maggie, is that you?!" he asked.
We ran towards each other. I hugged him so tightly, if he wasn't a rubber, I surely might've broken a few ribs.
"Maggie, what are you doing here?! Is anyone else with you?" he asked, looking behind me.
We released each other from the hug and I looked at him sadly. "No, I'm alone… But I'm here to help you!"
"I don't think that's a good idea-"
"I'm going to save Ace," I said, determined.
"Maggie, I couldn't even protect the crew back on the Sabaody…" He couldn't make eye contact with me for a moment. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"I'll be fine, Luffy-nii," I said. "You don't have to protect me."
"Maggie-"
"I'm going," I said finally.
"If the kid wants to go, let her," Crocodile supplied.
Luffy hesitated for a moment, but nodded his head. He looked off into the distance and said, "Ace, we're coming to get you."
We sailed quite rapidly towards the Gates of Justice that lead to Marineford where Ace was set to be executed. Yet, for some strange reason, the wind picked up tremendously and started pushing the boat backwards! I held onto Luffy as the wind threatened to pick me up along with it.
"What's happening?" I asked Jimbei, the fishman who was steering the ship.
He frowned and said, "It must be… Whitebeard."
The wind stopped almost as soon as it had started. I let go of Luffy and looked around, confused.
"Hurry up, Jimbei!" Luffy urged on. "We gotta get there before it's too late!"
"Don't worry, Luffy-kun. We'll make it," he promised.
Luffy nodded, trusting this new friend.
With a huge lurch, the ship began moving again. In fact, even faster than before! I looked back and suddenly felt my stomach drop in terror. There was a wave even taller than the ship heading towards us!
A tsunami.
Jimbei began shouting orders at the prisoners to take in the sales. We would ride on the tsunami, Jimbei said.
"Maggie… Hold on!" Luffy yelled as the wave began to take over the ship. I grabbed on as tightly as I could to Luffy and shut my eyes.
We both jostled and tumbled about as the ship creeped its way up to the top of the wave. As soon as we got up, the wave completely froze and turned to ice.
Luffy and I looked quite confused.
"What happened…?" he asked.
We soon discovered that the whole wave had iced in the ship, rendering us motionless for the time being.
Crocodile jumped onto the ice and said, "Look down. You can see what's going on."
I peered over the edge of the railing, not feeling brave enough to walk out on the ice, and watched as people scurried about on Marineford like ants. Everything and everyone was fighting something. It was like watching someone step on an ant pile and watching them scramble about.
All of a sudden, the navy transponder snail on the ship began ringing and tossing out orders.
"And when you are all set, we move the schedule forward. The execution will begin immediately!" the snail yelled. "That is all."
I looked to Luffy, who looked panicked. "We have to go!" he yelling, running off the ship.
He and a bunch of the other strong people kicked in the ice, making it crack, taking the ship with it into the sea below.
Everyone was falling! My stomach felt like it was going to come right out of my mouth. I could barely even open my eyes since the wind would've dried them out if I even dared opening them. I suddenly felt Luffy's elongated arm grab my hand.
"It's gonna be ok, Maggie!" he yelled.
But as soon as he said that, it felt like we hit concrete and I heard a SPLASH! We had fallen into the freezing cold water below.
"Maggie… Maggie, get up!" I heard Luffy's voice say.
I somehow found the strength to open my eyes. He was urging me to wake up.
"Maggie, we gotta go save Ace!" he said.
I nodded my head. He held out his arm and helped me stand up. Once I could stand on my own I found that we were on what remained of the ship that we had fallen from.
The clangs and clashes of metal rung through my ears as I suddenly got flashbacks to saving Robin from Enies Lobby.
Luffy looked terrified as he scanned the battlefield, calling out to his brother, searching for any sign of his whereabouts.
"Not on this side…" Luffy muttered as he began sprinting to the other side of the ship.
"Wait!" I called, running after him.
"Maggie!" he said, stopping. "Do the time thing! We have to find him now!"
"Ok!" I said. I grabbed his hand and said, "Tick-Tock!"
The world around us grew silent within an instant.
"I can't do this for too long, but we can find him like this," I said.
But he wasn't listening. He had already taken off, lurching me away as he kept a tight grip on my hand. Luffy jumped up onto the tallest part of the ship he could find as I dangled after him, hoping he wouldn't let go. He stopped abruptly as he reached the highest point.
"Ace…" he said. "There he is!"
I squinted my eyes to see him. Off in the distance, on a towering scaffold sat Ace. I didn't see any executioners near him so we had at least a little more time before he died.
I felt a sigh of relief come over me.
Luffy let go of my hand and he froze in time.
"Un-Tock," I said, letting time start again.
Luffy drew in a huge breath and yelled with all his might, "ACE!"
"Luffy!" I heard Ace yell in a faint voice.
"I can finally save you!" he yelled back, smiling.
I smiled at Luffy and said, "Let's go save Ace-san!"
"Hold on Ace, we're gonna rescue you!" he said.
"So, what's the plan, Luffy-nii?" I asked, looking up at him.
"We're gonna save Ace!" he replied, getting pumped up.
"Well, yeah, I get that part. But do we have a strategy or anything?" I inquired.
He thought for a moment and said, "I was just gonna charge straight in."
I laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's what you always do."
"Oh, I know!" he said, getting an idea. "I'll charge straight in, and you can sneak around. Whoever gets there first can get the other!"
"Alright!" I said, not knowing if I was feeling excited or scared.
"Be safe," he whispered, wrapping his arms around me. "I'll see you at the top of the tower!"
"O-ok!" I called after him as he sped off into the battle zone.
I took a deep breath and muttered words of encouragement to myself before I began. I stared down the scaffolding where Ace was being held.
"Tick-Tock," I said, starting to count the seconds as I began sprinting to the scaffold.
I had to get there within fifteen minutes or else I was doomed. But, even if I did make it in time, that didn't mean I would still be able to move afterward. This wasn't the best-case scenario, but it was the only one that kept me from fighting in a war again. I was going to avoid that at all costs.
As I ran, I passed some familiar faces, frozen in time. Bullets were littered all throughout the air and there was a constant glimmer of metal shining in my eye from all the swords and guns reflecting in the sun.
I moved throughout the battlefield in one-minute increments. I would run through with stopped-time for a minute, and switch back into real time for another and continue moving through like that. It was more efficient use of my stamina rather than just using everything I had all at once. I arrived at the base of the scaffolding within five real minutes, making the total trip ten minutes with the technically not timed part added in.
No one really noticed me on the battlefield, which helped me save even more energy from fighting unnecessarily.
By the time I reached the scaffold, the ground began to shake beneath me. I held on tightly to the metal holding up the platform so I wouldn't fall. The intense shaking lasted about a minute. After that, I looked up and tried to figure out a way to get up. The metal leading to the platform was way to spread out for me to climb.
"There must be stairs…" I mumbled to myself.
So I snuck quietly around to the back, and sure enough, stairs.
But as I touched my foot on the first step, the deep rumbling of the earth began again, but this time it was different. The ground didn't shake, but a huge wall began circling the marine base.
I stared as the walls came up, wide-eyed and terrified.
Luffy wasn't here yet, how could he get through this giant wall?!
I looked around frantically and saw a bunch more marines than from before. I sprinted as fast as I could back around and hid under the scaffold platform behind a thick piece of support steel. I tried to slow my breathing, but I couldn't, and my heart was thumping louder than the cannon blasts around me.
At once, I heard over the loudspeaker, "Now, let's begin with the execution of Portgas D. Ace, immediately!"
I nearly stopped breathing as a jolt of realization came flooding through me: Luffy might not make it in time to save Ace. That's why I was here! I was here to save Ace!
A deep voice arose from below the scaffolding. The large monster called Oars Jr. was in fact alive! "Ace-kun… I protect Ace-kun!"
"Keep firing! He's barely alive!" I heard the marines say, followed by gunfire.
This was my chance! While they were preoccupied with Oars, I sprinted as fast as I could around to the stairs that lead to the execution platform.
And as I charged up the steps, the most determined scream hit my ears, "I'm gonna save Ace!"
It was Luffy! He had arrived!
My heart fluttered with relief and I found the energy to sprint even faster up the steps.
"Begin the execution," I heard the marines say. "Do it."
NO! I thought, trying to pick up my legs as fast as they could up the steps.
"Tick-To-" I tried to scream.
But before I could stop time, I felt something kick my side with full force.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Clock-Eye," I heard as I was sent plummeting off the stairs. It was the Admiral Kizaru.
My body smacked right into a wall. It took a while for me to realize what had actually happened. The wind was knocked out of me. As I gasped for a breath, my whole chest burned with pain.
I don't have time for this… I thought.
I somehow managed to put my hand on my chest and say, "Time Mend."
It felt a little better, but I still wasn't one hundred percent healed. So I did it two more times and I felt fine.
By the time I had recovered, Oars had dragged one of the Whitebeard pirate ships into the plaza. I looked up at the scaffold and didn't see any of the executioners.
What the heck happened? I wondered.
But I dismissed it right away and began searching for any sign of Luffy.
By the time I spotted him, Admiral Kizaru had found Luffy and looked like he was about to finish him off.
"Luffy-nii!" I shrieked, stopping time.
I frantically ran over to him. When I looked up at the admiral, his attack was inches away from Luffy.
"Time Mend!" I said, healing my captain.
As I touched him, he came into the stopped time and looked at me.
"Maggie…" he said. "Thank you." He grabbed my hand and I helped him up. "Maggie, take these and get Ace out of the handcuffs." He fished a ring of keys out of his pockets. "I'll meet you up there, ok?"
I nodded, taking the key ring and said, "Be careful, Luffy-nii!"
He smiled mischievously as he let go of my hand and froze in time.
As soon as I unfroze time, Luffy had jumped out of the way of Kizaru's attack.
"Oh hoho…" Kizaru said. "You again, Clock-Eye?"
"Maggie, run!" Luffy said, starting to attack Kizaru to distract him.
I started sprinting down towards the scaffolding, running as fast as I could.
My heart was racing once more and I was almost out of breath from using my powers a little too much, but it wasn't anything I needed to worry about now. I was still standing and breathing, and that meant I could save Ace.
I looked towards the scaffolding and saw two more executioners reach the top of the platform with their long swords in hand.
I tried to run faster and faster, but my legs just weren't long enough to reach the stairs in time. I only had five more minutes left of my powers before I would become too fatigued I couldn't stand. If that happened, I would surely perish in the war. I was too afraid of the consequences of using my power, but also the consequences of not using them in this situation.
I have to save him, no matter what! I thought. No matter what…
"Tick-Tock!" I said, stopping time.
I clutched the key ring tightly and continued sprinting towards the stairs.
Once I had reached the stairs, I smiled. I was so close to saving Ace! I hopped up the stairs and in no time I had reached the platform, quite literally.
As I took the first step onto the platform, my heart fluttered in my chest. The Fleet Admiral was there.
The executioners had their swords in the air, about to do their job. I walked gingerly towards Ace and found the key hole for the handcuffs. I grasped one of the keys and started to unlock it.
Right before I heard it click, a jolt of electricity flew through my body…
"No…" I said.
Time moved forward without my consent. That only meant one thing, I was too late.
I felt the breath leave my lungs as I saw the swords come plummeting towards Ace's neck and I collapsed onto the scaffolding.
"DON'T DO IT!" I heard Luffy yell.
Suddenly, the executioners collapsed as well. But my eyelids began to droop as I fought to remain conscious.
"Who the hell is this?!" I heard the Fleet Admiral say.
Ace whipped his head around and locked eyes with me. "Mag-" he said, stunned.
But I lost the battle for staying awake and slipped away into unconsciousness because of my extreme fatigue.
(I don't own One Piece or any of the characters. This was made for entertainment purposes only and no copyright is intended.)
