Luffy was sitting on the figurehead of the Thousand Sunny when they reached the meeting point with the rest of the Whitebeards.

The veteran crew had taught them all they could in the short time they had, and Luffy had indeed proven himself capable of Conqueror's. The other crew had also been horrified to discover Zoro was still recovering from almost fatal injuries from Thriller Bark, and was still training as though nothing at all was wrong.

(When they asked Chopper why he was allowing it, he only sighed in frustration and said that Zoro would only train in secret and behind everybodies backs if he tried to ban him from training, so he might as well not try. This way, he trained out in the open where Chopper could watch him and keep an eye out.)

At any other time, he would have been staring at the Moby Dick with stars in his eyes. Right now... right now all he could think about was Ace, and what Whitey Bay had told them.

Ace was in Impel Down. The place that was the subject of nightmares for both Robin and Franky. The place they almost lost Robin to. (Not to be misunderstood, they would have gone after her regardless, but nobody else was optimistic about getting her back with everybody still in one piece.) And now Ace was in there. He was worried for his crew. Freeing Ace was not going to be easy, even with the resources, skill, and experience of the Whitebeard's.

The Allied ships in front of them parted to let them pass, and even Whitey Bay carefully detached their ships bubbles and broke off to join the others around the areas perimeter.

In the middle of all the ships, all full of seasoned and highly skilled veterans of the seas, floated the Moby Dick, home of the Whitebeard Pirates.

The Strawhats watched quietly as they got closer and closer, several of them went back to preparing for what was to come.

When the Sunny finally came to a stop to float gently alongside the Moby, Franky got her just close enough that their bubbles overlapped slightly so they could go back and forth. Whitebeard pirates were standing along the railing, watching silently. Without a word, Luffy boarded the other ship with Zoro and Nami following.


Whitebeard looked down at the Strawhat wearing brat standing in front of him with two of his crew behind him. The girl was holding a folder and what looked like a copy of the Marines rules and procedures. Luffy himself was holding onto Ace's burning Vivre Card, much like Dusty had been since the news broke.

They hadn't said anything to Bay, but the newspaper Namur brought back from the surface that morning hadn't held good news. Ace was scheduled to be executed, and although the newspaper hadn't given a specific date yet, Haruta's information network implied twelve days from now. At Marineford. In the meantime, Ace was being held at Impel Down, most likely in Level 6 (which they weren't supposed to know even existed).

Jinbei himself had called and told them that he was trying to talk to some of the higher-ups about not going through with this, that the damage caused when the Whitebeard's came calling was going to be catastrophic. Unfortunately, he hadn't had much luck. Apparently, the Elder Stars had gotten involved and ordered the execution, despite Sengoku's protests, and the fact that he had the same argument Jinbei had. While Sengoku cared for his men and tried to keep casualties to a minimum, the Government leaders were known for seeing the world as pawns on a chess board.

What was to be expected from a group of World Nobles?

"I had hoped to meet under better circumstances. I know Ace was planning something for when you finally crossed the Red Line." Whitebeard finally said.

"Yeah... that will have to wait until the idiot is out of prison." Luffy said simply. Whitebeard laughed, full and loud, while his sons and daughters smiled or smirked at the matter-of-fact way the rookie spoke. Like it was already a done deal.

They liked that.

There was no hesitation or doubt in his voice or posture. He was tense, and almost vibrating with frustrated energy, but he was sure that they would free Ace.

"Well, brat. I can make arrangements for you to stay somewhere safe until Ace is back where he belongs." Whitebeard said, and waited for the rookie captains response, already knowing what it would be. However, he did feel that it would be a good idea to keep the Strawhats somewhere safe, or at least where he could keep an eye on them. Ace would not be happy if he found out that something happened to his baby brother, not on the Whitebeard's watch.

"Not happening. If I have to leave to save him myself, I will." Luffy promised, the last part of his sentence was quiet and full of promise, while the first was yelled.

Whitebeard sat back and regarded the boy with interest, and a glance towards Marco showed a faint gleam of approval in his eyes.

"I assume you've figured out a plan for yourselves?" Marco asked after a moment, after glancing towards his father and catching the minute nod of his head, the signal for him to take over from here. They all knew, based on what Ace said about his brother, that the kid wouldn't mind.

Luffy jerked his head towards Nami, who stepped forward nervously and cleared her throat. "We have detailed blueprints of the prison, and a submarine. With some modifications, Franky thinks he can get it to go deep enough for our purposes, and if we put a bubble around it, we could cut a hole directly in the side of prison. That's the clowns idea, anyway." She aimed a small glare towards her ship, where a muffled protest followed by a giggle was heard across the Moby's deck. "Luffy, of course, wants to bust into the prison and bust him out." Another glare aimed at her captain, who shrugged unapologetically. "However, we feel that the best chance for getting Ace out alive, is if we take him directly off the transport ship taking him to Marineford."

"That ship will be in the Tub Current. Once a ship is trapped by the current, there is not getting out except through a Gate of Justice, which wouldn't be where any pirate wants to be." Vista interjected.

"For a normal ship, maybe." Nami shrugged with a sly grin, her nerves forgotten for the moment. "The Sunny isn't exactly normal. The Tub Current won't be a problem for us. We also have the Sub, so it won't be difficult to sneak up on the transport ship in that, sneak onboard, get Ace off, and then get out of there before anybody even knows we were around."

"You sound oddly experienced in this kind of thing." Marco said dryly.

Zoro snorted while she shrugged. "Well, it has been a while since I pulled off a good heist from a ship. I might be a bit rusty, but..." She smirked.

"She's not called the Cat Burglar for nothing." Zoro muttered. She glared at him, which he was completely unaffected by. "It's been a while since you last stole an entire ship, too."

"Hey, you guys got the Merry back! Along with the money! I even joined the crew!" Nami protested.

"Yeah, because Luffy was too stubborn to let anybody else navigate for him. Made me promise to bring you back, otherwise I wouldn't have stuck around after getting free. Not that it mattered after Arlong made him mad. Luffy was going to take him out anyway after that." Zoro waved off.

The Whitebeard's watched the exchange in interest. Huh, that sounded like a story they would love to hear.

There was a loud groan from the Strawhats ship. "Will you two stop bickering and focus?" The blonde with a swirly eyebrow yelled.

"Like you're one to talk!" Both Zoro and Nami yelled back at him. Zoro was even growling and had his hand on his swords.

"Boys. Behave." Nico Robin said firmly, and Sanji immediately turned into a limp noodle with hearts pounding out of his eyes. He started swaying around her and shouting apologies and offers of some kind.

The Whitebeard crew collectively decided they didn't want to know.

Nami cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Anyway. We can get Ace off the transport ship, no problem. The problem might come when a Marine notices that their prisoner is gone, either before or after they arrive at Marineford."

"Wouldn't they have a guard on his cell?" Vista questioned.

Haruta and Nami both shook their heads. "No." They both answered and blinked at each other. Nami gestured for the Commander to go ahead. "It's standard Marine procedure. Prisoners being transported to their execution by ship are placed in a chair bolted down on the ships bow. I guess it's the Marines sick way of giving them one last glimpse of the freedom they used to enjoy on the seas. And they get to watch their fate come closer."

Marco frowned. "If he's going to be out in the open where the entire ship of Marines can see him, then how do you expect to get him without being seen?" He asked. He kind of liked this plan, there was less risk involved for the whole family, and certainly less risk of Ace being killed before they could reach him on the platform. The Marines had gathered a massive force in anticipation of the Whitebeards coming for their Second Division Commander.

The only question was, how were they going to do this, while also teaching the Marines a lesson they would never forget?

"Robin has... quite the collection of disguises for every occasion..." Carefully not mentioning all the times she and Robin had gone on treasure hunts and fact finding missions throughout various Marine bases throughout the Grandline. "Me and her are going to sneak onboard to find the key to the cuffs. Once I have that, sneaking over to Ace and releasing him without being seen will be simple. After that, it's a matter of timing to get him off the ship without being spotted by his guards." She fingered her Clima-tact. The Mirage Tempo would come in handy here.

"Unless you have a Devil-Fruit that makes you invisible..." Namur said in confusion. All the Strawhats had to stifle snickers at Sanji's groaning and whining at the mention of that Devil-Fruit.

"I don't, no... I know who does, though. Pervert." She snarled under her breath and shuddered, ignoring the curious or suddenly angry looks. "No... I'm just a Navigator." She said with a cheeky grin and a wink.

"But-"

"She can do it." Luffy finally spoke up, and stared the protesting Commander down, daring him to continue questioning his Navigator's skills.

"She'll probably steal every Belli on that Transport ship while she's at it." Zoro muttered. Nami shrugged, unrepentant.

"Like you don't know Robin will raid the ships communication and records rooms while I get Ace out. She'll have new information to look through and add to her files after this is over."

"We should just set you two loose on Marineford and be done with it." Zoro grumbled. "All our financial problems will be over."

"I don't think the ships hold is big enough for that." Luffy commented absently, frowning at something.

"Alright, that's a plan for getting Ace out of the way safely, now we need to plan for reminding the Marines why they don't mess with our family."

"We might need the main cannon for that... really send a message." Zoro said to Luffy quietly. He nodded. Which meant that the Sunny would need to stay with the Whitebeard's fleet, and only Usopp and Franky knew how to operate it.

"The girls can take the sub to get my brother. The rest of us stay with Ace's crew. We can meet up with them somewhere." Luffy said after a moment. The Strawhats had seen a different side to their normally fun loving, scatter-brained captain ever since he called to demand to know why Ace's Vivre-card was burning.

"I can do those modifications, they can meet us on Fishman Island. That's Whitebeard territory, and the rest of us will have to pass by it for the Whitebeard's to get back to the rest of their territory, and for us to continue our journey." Franky suggested from the Sunny. He was scratching the side of his head with a wrench while he thought. "Hey, Usopp, I just got an idea." He said suddenly and clapped Usopp on the shoulder before running off somewhere within the ship. Usopp followed, eager to help.

"Should I be worried?" Nami questioned Zoro, who shrugged.

"You have seen our main cannon, right?"

"Good point." Nami actually looked a little scared now. Luffy laughed, and his crew relaxed when they heard it, it had been a while since he laughed so freely.

The Whitebeard's again decided they didn't want to know. "Plan? Please?" Marco got the 'meeting' back on track quickly.

"As soon as the girls get Ace, they call us to let us know." Whitebeard said. He didn't like the thought of sending the girls on such a dangerous task, call him old-fashioned, but he didn't like the thought of women being in combat. But, he wasn't their captain, so he couldn't order the two to stay out of it. All he could do was trust the faith that their captain had in their abilities. "Once we know Ace is safe, we attack Marineford."

"They are making plans for a public execution. That means video-snails set up all over the place, screens set up on major island chains all over the world. Can't get a better stage than that to make our point." Haruta said contemplatively.

Somebody ran and got a map of the island housing Navy headquarters. "Here. This plaza is big enough for the numbers of Marines we can expect to face. This spot would be perfect for an execution platform to be set up at. That leaves this bay where we could make our entrance." The bay itself was enclosed with a protective wall, but they could get under that easily while their Allies kept any Marine ships not already in the Bay, out.

"I don't like it. That's a little too perfect." Nami muttered, eyeing the map. "Robin! Come here." She called towards the Sunny.

Robin raised an eyebrow and set her book down before jumping lightly between the ships. "You used to work under a Warlord, have anything for us?" Nami asked, and moved aside so Robin could study the map.

"Crocodile didn't have to go to Marineford often. Whenever he was called to meet with somebody, he usually went to Mariejois while I stayed behind to run the organization..." Robin admitted. "But... he did overhear somebody talking once about a wall they were building, using Fishman slaves by the way, around this plaza." She moved her finger where it was supposed to be. "It was supposed to be strong enough to repel the strongest of attacks, in case attackers got past the first wall." She pointed at it. "It's also supposed to be able to withstand violent storms and the like. They're supposed to be able to raise or lower it as needed."

"With Admiral Aokiji, it would be simple to freeze the water, and then raise the wall. Trapping anybody in the bay. Aren't all the Admirals supposed to have really strong Devil-Fruits, or something?" Nami said with a grimace. Haruta was staring at Robin with stars in his eyes.

Zoro noticed the looks the girls were getting and snorted. "These two are our main planners. They tend to see traps everywhere, and expect the worst. Our captain is a... bit of a trouble magnet." He explained. They truly were used to expecting the worst at all times. Especially after Whiskey Peak at the beginning of the Grand Line. Not that any plans they came up with survived two seconds with Luffy around.

"Yes, well... one tactic of Baroque Works was to lull pirates in a false sense of security with a party and then drug all the food and drink. That was my idea, by the way. Less of a mess, you see." Robin's eyes glinted mischievously at the swordsman. "Of course, you were the only one not taken in by the facade."

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Because I used to be a bounty hunter myself, and Baroque Works tried to recruit me once." He shrugged.

"Yes... sending us Mr. 7's severed head and hands was a... nice touch." She said dryly. He shrugged again.

"He attacked first." Luffy cleared his throat. "Sorry, Luffy. Anyway. If this wall is supposed to repel attacks, would our cannon even be enough?"

Nami snorted. "Don't let Franky hear something like that." She muttered, then hummed. "Maybe a combination of attacks. The main cannon, Whitebeard, probably your strongest Phoenix attack... if anybody else has any ranged attacks, if they all hit at the same spot on the wall... I would rather have overkill than you guys not be able to get past the wall." She muttered. After a moment she blinked and looked at the Whitebeard commanders, who were watching in amusement as the Strawhats pretty much took over the planning. "Sorry."

Marco snorted. "It's fine. You guys have good ideas. If they do trap us in the bay, Akainu would be able to use his Devil-Fruit on us without worry for his own men getting caught in it. The ships would be destroyed." He said, looking at his father, who looked down at the Moby in thought.

"We will worry about that if it comes to it." He finally said after a moment. "Haruta, get back with your contacts, find out the exact date and time of the execution." He instructed, having listened to everybodies ideas. However, they couldn't do much if they didn't know when they needed to be in position. The Marines had procedures for everything, including exactly when a prisoner was to be transferred for any reason. If they needed to be somewhere, then they were to be moved at an exact time depending on how far they were having to go. If they knew when the execution was supposed to be, then any skilled Navigator could run the numbers and determine exactly where in the Tub Current they could lay in wait for the ship, and when they should be in position so they wouldn't miss them. The Whitebeard's themselves would need to be in place so they could make their entrance as soon as the transport ship arrived and the Marines realized Ace was gone.

With that, the meeting was over and everybody scattered. The Strawhats were invited to come and go as they pleased, and the training started by Bay and her crew was taken over by the Commanders, who were pleased and impressed with the progress already made. Whitebeard, as the only other person around who possessed Conquerors Haki, personally saw to Luffy's training with his Conquerors, as nobody wanted to see Luffy's crew hurt. Not on purpose, and not on accident.

(This was accomplished by the two of them and Marco taking one of the Moby's smaller ships, coating it, and using it to put some distance between them and the Alliance. This way, the chance of anybody on any of the gathered ships being hurt by the uncontrolled force was lessened by the distance.)


Ten days later, two days until the execution

The Whitebeard's were slightly unnerved. For the last two years, they'd heard nonstop about Luffy and his sunny, happy-go-lucky personality. How he was loud, reckless, and a bit of an air-head. The Luffy they saw in front of them... they'd only seen glimpses of the Luffy described to them over the years, and that was usually after some considerable effort on his crews part to engage him. He was withdrawn, he was serious, and they could see worry and hints of fear whenever he looked at his crew, especially Nami and Robin.

It was clear to some of them why. They were going out on their own, sneaking onboard a Marine ship responsible for transporting a high-profile prisoner to his execution. With no back-up. For all the faith he showed in their skills and abilities, it was clear that he was still going to worry. At night, they would often see Zoro with him at the lion-figurehead, talking quietly. Sometimes, the conversations would get fairly heated, while other times Luffy would simply talk while Zoro listened. Whenever that happened, those who saw it could swear that they saw a lost look in the rubber captains' eyes.

Well, at least one thing was consistent no matter the circumstances, Whitebeard decided. Luffy was fiercely protective of those he considered his. Right now, it seemed like his need to protect his brother, was warring with his need to protect his crew. And he didn't know which instinct to listen to, he wanted to protect them all, but he couldn't do that. To save his brother, he was going to have to let his crew put themselves in danger. To protect his crew, he was potentially sacrificing his brother.

Whitebeard resolved to assign at least two of his sons to protecting one of the rookie crew at all times during the battle. As best as they could.

Meanwhile, Franky had finished the modifications to the Sub. He'd managed to make it slightly bigger on the inside, and added a bench with extra storage space beneath it, since they all knew Nami and Robin would leave that transport ship with every Belli, file, and Transponder Snail they could get away with. He'd also reinforced the hull with some materials provided by the Whitebeard's, so now it could go deeper before they started to run the risk of it collapsing from water pressure. He also made what he called a 'torpedo'.

Basically, he said it was an underwater cannonball. The bad thing was, because of it's size, the sub could only fit two torpedoes at a time. It wasn't much, but it should help should the girls run into any sea kings and just couldn't get away for whatever reason.

When he was done with the modifications, he took the girls out and they spent the day 'piloting' the underwater ship among the fleet so he could make sure they knew how to work all the systems. Especially the air system and the water-purification system he added. They couldn't store too much water, not if they wanted to have enough and still have room, or take on too much weight. So, they had to draw it from the surrounding ocean, the air system he designed did the same thing with the oxygen in the water around them. But it was much more efficient than anything the Marines might have.

When he was informed that the Marines had some of their Battleships specially fitted with Seastone on the hulls, for the sole purpose of 'masking' the ships presence from sea kings, he asked the girls to get as much Seastone as they could safely fit on the sub from the Marine ship. He was going to see about doing the same with the Sunny's hull.

Whenever she wasn't training, Nami was pouring over maps of the Tub Current and the surrounding oceans so she knew where she was going when her and Robin went to get Ace, and where she was going once they had them. It had been decided that the three of them were to go straight to Fishman Island, where they were to stay with King Neptune and his family until the Whitebeard Alliance came through to pick Ace up. From there, the girls could either wait for Luffy, or go back to Sabaody to meet up with their captain there.

Now, it was time for the girls to leave so they could get in position. Over the past ten days, the Whitebeard Alliance had been moving towards Marineford, and they were now roughly halfway between Marineford and the point Nami had chosen for them to wait. Either way was roughly two days away, with some wait time just to make sure delays weren't too detrimental to their plans.

"I've packed enough food for the two of you, and there is plenty for Ace once you get him out. It'll keep until you get to Fishman Island, no problem, and doesn't need heated up." Sanji informed the girls when the crew gathered at the railing to see them off. His attitude reflected the seriousness of the situation, it was rare that he wasn't noodling around the girls and fawning over them.

"You sis's be careful out there. And remember, you only have two torpedoes, so be careful with using them." Franky gave the girls a hug.

"Don't take risks, I know you two will rob them blind, but be careful." Usopp implored, giving them a hug of his own. He handed over three blue rods. "I checked it over, it's in perfect working order. Shouldn't have any problems with it." He told Nami, who took her weapon back with a relieved sigh. She felt naked without her weapon on her.

Chopper stepped up after him. "I made sure the first-aid kit was full of everything you might need." He had tears in the corners of his eyes, not wanting them to leave, but also knowing they needed to if this was going to work. Both girls pulled him into a hug, and whispered their thanks in his ear. He was the little brother on the ship, everybody hated it when he was sad and crying.

"Yohoho, I recorded some songs for you two to listen to during the trip." Brook held out a bag of tone-dials for Nami to take, which she did with a smile. Brook's music was good, and always nice to listen to. And it would be nice to have something to listen to in such a small, enclosed space.

Finally, Nami turned to Zoro and Luffy. "It's going to be weird, being out there without you two." She said. She'd been with them almost from the very beginning of Luffy's journey. From Alvida's ship, to Shell Island. Even then, when she wasn't on the crew, hadn't even been introduced to Luffy properly, he'd been there in the background causing havoc while she tried to do her own thing. They hadn't been separated in all that time beyond being in separate parts of a town or on different sides of the island. Even when she went back to Arlong, Zoro had been right behind her.

"Come back safe." Zoro said simply, clapping a hand to her shoulder. "Both of you." He looked at Robin, who nodded with a smile.

"If you can't get him, call us and don't worry about it. We'll get him from Marineford." Luffy instructed. He knew they could do it, but he also didn't want them to take unnecessary risks and have something happen to them. He didn't like them leaving his sight right now, but he knew that if he tried to hide his crew away, they would rebel. They'd made that clear early on. "Stay safe. Watch out for each other." He pulled both of them into a rubbery hug.

"We'll back each other up." Robin assured her captain, her savior with a small, tender smile.

"Yeah, we'll be waiting for you on Sabaody." Nami said with a grin and slight punch to his shoulder, which earned a grin from her captain, her best friend.

"King Neptune is expecting you three in about four days. He'll have food and medical attention standing by for Ace, he'll probably need it." Marco came up to them, grim-faced. He handed Nami the Eternal-pose to Fishman Island, and a slip of Whitebeard's Vivre-card, as well as another piece of Ace's own Vivre-card. "It can get kind of dark down there," He gestured downwards, towards the ocean-life beneath them. "And, in case for some reason you can't get to Fishman Island and need to come straight back to us, and that is just in case Ace isn't out in the open like he should be." He explained. They'd had to search Ace's room to find the small box he kept the rest of his Vivre-card in. He'd only taken a bit of it with him in case he ran into anybody he would want to give it to, like Luffy.

Neither Dusty nor Luffy were likely to give up the copies of it that they still clutched like a lifeline. Over the past ten days, Luffy almost had a panic attack when the life paper started burning at a faster rate than it had been before. None of the veteran's said anything, but they knew what that likely meant. Ace was being tortured. Possibly for information, possibly for fun. Who knew with those sick bastards. Luffy only calmed down when the paper went back it's previous state and rate of burning, hours later.

During the entire episode, Whitebeard's rage only grew, and his children's bloodlust, frustration, and tempers reached new levels.

"Thank you. We'll call the moment we have him and are away from the ship." Nami assured, and with one last reassuring smile, her and Robin jumped down to the small platform the sub was resting on. A few moments later, the shark designed submarine carefully eased itself out of the bubble and disappeared into the surrounding waters.

Luffy watched the sub go, and didn't move until Zoro clapped a hand to his shoulder, whispered something in his ear, and led him up to the crows nest.

With the girls on their way, the fleet turned towards Marineford to get into position, where they would wait for the call from the girls that they had Ace. From there, Namur would lurk just beneath the waters surface so he could tell when the Marines discovered Ace was missing. Once they knew, the Whitebeard's would surface, and remind the world of just who they were.


Sengoku read the report with growing worry. The last the Strawhat Pirates had been seen was almost three weeks ago, in the presence of Whitey Bay, an ally of Whitebeard. That was also the last anybody had seen of anybody associated with Whitebeard except for five of the Yonko's known allies that were clearly left behind to guard the old mans territory in his absence. He didn't like this. He didn't like this, at all.

If that wasn't enough, he'd gotten reports of Kaido trying to make a move into Whitebeard and Shanks' territories, only for the one-armed pirate to respond rapidly and harshly, on both incursions. It seemed that Shanks had taken it upon himself to help the five pirate ships with guarding his fellow Yonko's claimed territory. So, on top of Whitebeard's seeming silence after the announced execution date of one of his sons, now he had to worry about a possible alliance between two of the most powerful pirates on the seas.

All the Yonko had something of an uneasy truce among themselves, but they never openly helped each other like Shanks was currently doing.

Strawhat Luffy's disappearance worried him simply because the boy was his grandfather's grandson, and he was certainly his fathers son. Whether he actually knew anything about his father or not. In fact, the entire Monkey D. family was one that he was uncomfortable with not knowing exactly where they were at all times. Add in that the boy disappeared not too long before Ace's, his adoptive brothers, imprisonment was announced, he was concerned that the boy was planning something.

Yes, he had to find those two groups.

For now, he would call for extra guards on the transport ship, and around the prison.

On top of all that, now he had to deal with keeping the arriving Warlords in line, and try to figure out what to do with Jinbei. The Elder Stars had ordered him imprisoned alongside Ace until execution was over. After that, he was going to have to make a decision on whether or not to keep him there, or let him out with nothing else said.

Personally, he'd rather let the fishman go. He knew that he was close with Whitebeard, and technically Jinbei could be considered one of Whitebeard's subjects, being a resident of one of Whitebeard's claimed protectorates and all. If they kept Jinbei locked up and Whitebeard learned of it, well... although, that might not be a concern after the next few days.

Still, the sooner they found the Whitebeard Pirates, the better he would sleep tonight.