... I always wondered if Jimbei couldn't have done more if he'd just kept his mouth shut, instead of protesting the war and outright refusing to fight.
Transponder Calls
Jimbei listened stoically as Sengoku outlined the (insane) plan to execute Ace and take Whitebeard out of the picture at the same time.
He kept his silence, no matter how much he wanted to protest and yell about how stupid this whole thing was. Nothing had been announced yet, it wouldn't cost any kind of publicity or face with the public to let him 'escape', and yet they were going to go through with something so monumentally stupid? He didn't say anything, though, merely left the room when they were dismissed, and wandered down to the harbor.
He could have said something. Should have said something. But he had something else in mind... Besides, with the way things were going right now, protesting would have just seen him and Ace as prison-cell buddies or something. He couldn't do anything for the young commander if he was locked up with him, now could he?
Instead, he swam straight down to where he knew a small (in number, not size of the animals) seaking nest was, and enlisted their aid. (If the Marines knew the nest was there, they would have destroyed it. Barbarians).
After a few minutes of communication, one swam towards Fishman Island while the others followed him... straight to Impel Down.
King Neptune frowned at the message one of his guards just delivered, brought to them from Jimbei via seaking. The Warlord was requesting back-up at Impel Down to aid him in breaking Commander Ace out of the prison before the World Government announced his execution the next day, and subsequently declared war on the Whitebeard Pirates.
The Whitebeards who were viewed as Fishman Islands protectors.
He knew exactly what this was, this was a play to get rid of Edward Newgate once and for all, completely destroying the balance of power within the New World, and possibly across the worlds oceans. Quickly, he sent for a Transponder Snail, his army generals, and the First Mate of the Sun Pirates, who he knew were currently on the island while Jimbei was in meetings on Marineford.
They had plans to make, and he needed to inform Newgate. The man would want to know what was going on with his youngest son... hopefully he could keep his old friend from doing anything rash.
As soon as they arrived, Jimbei and his new allies started communicating with the seakings that nested around the underwater prison, and scouting out what would be the best places to start drilling through the walls if needed. He'd already made a note of the doors in and out of the prison that the 'hunters' used to gather seaking meat for the prisons food supply. He figured that the other side of those doorways had to be pressurized or something to keep the water out, since they were underwater and completely open themselves.
They would also make a good entry point for the fishmen to invade.
He trusted the king would send him back-up, and inform Pops of what was going on, especially since nothing was going to be announced until tomorrow's newspapers, and news always took a while to reach anybody in the New World, they wouldn't get it until early evening at the earliest, depending on where in the New World they were (if one of Haruta's contacts hadn't already informed them). He could only hope that Pops would listen to the King's advice and not do anything hasty and rash.
Sengoku was a fool to think he would sit back and do nothing about this, and an even bigger fool for letting him leave that meeting room, let alone the Marine base. Especially after he told him exactly where Ace was in Impel Down, he was being kept in the sixth level, where all those that were to essentially be erased from history were kept. (Although, he was going to play it safe and send warriors to invade every floor, just in case Sengoku lied about that).
He had to hide whenever he saw a group of 'hunters' and a patrol go by, but it wasn't long before he had their patrol routes and schedule memorized, with the help of the seakings. This information was written down and sent to Fishman Island with another seaking, or in that general direction at least, since he didn't know if his backup had left yet. They were sure to cross paths, and his new friend could give them the information then before returning with them.
Then, he settled in to wait and watch, keeping an eye on the prison and watching the surface for unusual ship movements was the only thing he could do right then.
There was silence on the other end of the Transponder snail, and the King mentally winced, knowing that his old friend was not happy right now. Not that the King blamed him, if he'd just been told that one of his sons had been captured and was up for execution...
Well...
He was pretty sure he could find a way to make the war the Whitebeard's would make look like child's play. A few Neptunians, a large army coming from the sea... maybe displace or completely rearrange the seafloor so as to reveal or set off a nearby underwater volcano... a few redirected currents by way of moved underwater mountains... the surface-dwellers would find the seas themselves turned against them.
Oh yeah, the surface dwellers had no idea just what they were capable of.
"I see." Whitebeard's tightly controlled voice came through on the Snail. "And you expect me to sit back and do nothing after what you've just told me?"
"Not... nothing. Just... Jimbei is already at the prison, and as soon as my generals get here and a plan is made, my army is going to be on their way to break Commander Ace out. It is an underwater prison after all... it will be simple. If you want to rage against the Marines, go for it. I'm not advising you don't... if one of my sons were taken..." He shuddered. "I'm just saying, don't do anything rash."
There was silence for a few minutes, before Marco's voice came on, making the king sigh in relief. Marco had been one of the sole voices of reason on the Moby Dick for many, many years. If anybody could make Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate slow down and consider things, it was him. "If they're not even announcing it until tomorrow... there's not much we can do today anyway. Let's wait to do anything until after we get the paper tomorrow, they should have been sent out by the time Jimbei can do anything, so anything we can do will be seen as justified retaliation instead of... whatever the papers will try to print it as otherwise." Not that any of them really cared about how they were seen in the newspapers...
But if they waited to act until after the newspapers were sent out, and after allies or contacts had a chance to call them and let them know, it would take some of the attention off of Fishman Island for a little bit longer, and buy them some more time to prepare for the Marines to retaliate for their freeing Ace.
"I can't wait to see how the Marine's cover this up." Another voice was heard in the background, followed by a few cheers, jeers, and snickers. The king had managed to catch them in a Commander's meeting, so luckily (since Teach probably had somebody on the crew) word of Jimbei's actions could be contained.
Whitebeard growled lowly, instantly all the background noises ceased as the Whitebeard Commanders stopped to hear what their pops had to say. "Very well, we will wait before doing anything... for now. But I want your generals to take a Snail with them, I want to know what's going on." He demanded, and it was only their long friendship and everything Whitebeard had done for Fishman Island, for his kingdom and subjects, that stopped the King from being offended at something being demanded of him like that.
"Of course." He agreed easily, having already planned exactly that.
"We will change our course to be at Fishman Island as soon as possible... the Marines are sure to attempt retaliation against you for this... I believe there are a few Marine bases between here and there as well..." The Snail smiled savagely, which was an odd look for the little snail.
"Thank you, old friend. Whatever the Marines attempt, we will hold out until you arrive to help." The King said, gratefully. He'd known that there would be retaliation as soon as he received Jimbei's message... at the very least Jimbei would lose his status as a Warlord, a status that aided Whitebeard's protection in keeping them safe. Slave traders and the like were more hesitant to kidnap fish and mer- men right off the island ever since Whitebeard put them under their protection, and they became even more hesitant since Jimbei accepted the position. Not that many of their brothers and sisters didn't still end up in the slave markets, but it was less of them than it used to be.
He was still working on making those numbers even less, if not completely non-existent. Sadly, he didn't think the latter would ever happen, not while scum like slave traders still existed. And it was just too profitable for scum like that to ever give it up.
"I will see you when we arrive." Whitebeard finally said after a few minutes, and he agreed before hanging up to let the Whitebeard's make their plans, trusting Marco to keep tempers from getting the best of them, and turned to his advisors, generals, and the two pirates in the room.
"Alright, we have a commander to rescue." He instructed, and sat back to plan.
Aladine paused as they were leaving, seeing the massive seaking coming towards them. It was much, much bigger than the first one Jimbei had sent, that was for sure, if Jimbei had sent this one, of course.
"Hold up!" He called, and immediately preparations to leave halted, with most of the small, assembled army looking towards where he was facing.
The moment the generals and Aladine left the meeting with the king, they'd ordered their men to start gathering at the far docks, towards Impel Down. Portable bubbles had been gathered to use in the doorways they were planning on making in the walls of the prison, that way they didn't flood it (even if it would serve those Marines right, they were only there for Ace). That, and flooding it would risk Ace, assuming they couldn't get to him in time before he drowned, especially if he was in the lower level, it would fill up with water first, after all. Weapons were gathered and checked, food rations handed out (enough for several days, just in case), mini-snails distributed to squad leaders, etc. They even handed out gas masks, not knowing what kind of defenses might be in the prison itself, to prevent escape.
They might have sleeping gas, for all they knew.
"Another message?" The King's general asked, coming to float beside him. Aladine shrugged and shook his head, not knowing, but he thought it probably was.
The seaking stopped beside them, and lowered it's head so they could see the large bundle of 'papers' tied around one of its horns. "Patrol routes and schedule, a rough sketch of a sea chart for the surrounding waters... hunting schedule... and a rough sketch of the outside of the prison, with possible locations for us to cut through, and the door used by the patrols and hunters is marked, as well." Aladine informed the general in satisfaction when he removed the roll and opened it up.
The general laughed. "We can use these." He said, and took them when Aladine held them out. He could put them to use more than the pirate could. Pirates didn't exactly... strategize. Well, they did, but a pirates general strategy was to hit their enemy hard and fast. They didn't tend to take prisoners, either. That kind of strategy wouldn't exactly work here... best to give that information over to somebody who could use it best.
Aladine glanced over at his crew, not surprised at all to see them ready to go, impatiently floating off to the side, separate from the soldiers around them. "We're ready whenever you are." He hinted at the General, trying to get them to speed things up. Why did military groups have to make such a production of everything? There was being prepared, and there was just wasting time.
"Of course." The general grinned at him, guessing his thoughts. "Head out!" He yelled for all to hear, and started swimming. On the shores and docks, civilians gathered to watch, cheer, and wish them luck, all of them having heard by then that one of the Whitebeard Commanders was slated for execution, but not if the Fishmen had anything to say about it.
The amount of fishmen swimming through the area left a large wake, and several small whirlpools that continued to swirl long after they were gone.
They had an impenetrable prison to storm.
Jimbei felt the vibrations in the water around him, and grinned.
They were here.
When he actually saw the numbers, though, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped in shock.
He'd expected reinforcements, sure. But not the entire army! The King must have emptied the entire island, hopefully he at least left the reserves behind to defend them as needed.
The seakings were starting to get restless with the numbers of potential prey/predators coming closer, so he swam to meet them a little further out. Luckily, Aladine and the general were smart, and ordered a halt a distance away. Once the crowd stopped advancing, the seakings calmed down. Good, no need for the seakings to be the reason for the guards to spot them before they were ready to move.
"Captain! I take it the meeting was eventful?" Aladine called once they were close enough together.
He snorted. "You could say that." He glanced around in awe. "I was not expecting such numbers to be sent." He stared at the two of them. He knew that they owed the Whitebeard Pirates everything, and this was one of the Commanders, but still.
The general smirked slightly. "The King wants to send a message of his own. Oh, we won't release any of the other prisoners, we'll get who we're here for and leave, but the guards of Impel Down won't know what hit them." That, and they wanted to be sure they had plenty of able fighters available should the warden make an appearance. Jimbei smirked in response.
That sounded like a beautiful idea.
Ace looked around warily. Why were the walls shaking? And what was up with that noise? Were the upper level prisoners starting a riot?
No, they wouldn't have been able to, all their energy and thoughts would be centered around staying alive, especially those on Levels Three, Four, and Five. The prisoners on Levels Two and One had no idea how good they had it. They lived in relative luxury compared with those below them. Even here on Level Six, where there were no strange environmental conditions, it was so quiet and isolated down here... and there was the regular torture.
His thoughts were rambling. He blamed this place and the eerie silence.
What was going on up there?
Jimbei quickly applied the bubble to the hole, as soon as they finished creating it, and frowned. These walls were thicker than he expected, but it was doable. No, the problem with that, was that the guards would be alerted before they could get all the way through. And they had been. As soon as the guards noticed what was going on, guards and hunters flooded out of their underwater exit.
It was a good thing they had soldiers and pirates around that point, ready to storm it once the signal was given.
Oh well, the hole was made, and only a small amount of water got in, he'd gotten the bubble slapped on quickly enough, and it expanded once the air from the inside rushed out.
As soon as he was in, his nose wrinkled in disgust. It smelled awful here... like death, human (and nonhuman) waste, and despair.
"Maybe we should have let the place flood, after all." Aladine said, disgusted when he came in after him. The next to come in immediately moved to defend their captain and first-mate from the guards that had come around the corner at that moment. It had been decided, in the interest of not having 'friendly fire', that the pirates would take one hole, while the army took the rest of the prison. The pirates just weren't used to working with the strict, rigid authority that was the military chain of command, they were used to having 'vague' orders (go here and do something destructive), and doing their own thing. Neither the general, nor Jimbei, were interested in the rescue being compromised because the two groups kept getting in each others way.
So, the pirates were sent to roughly where Level Six was, to get Ace, while the army itself stormed the prison and made sure the guards were suitably distracted.
Jimbei looked around, unconcerned by the fight (slaughter) between the guards and his crew. Most of the prison guards would be left alive, and the army would take measures to ensure their actions didn't result in prisoners escaping their cells, but only because the Fishman army was involved. If it was up to Jimbei, they would just kill all the guards and release all the prisoners. But... the army was part of a legitimate government, and as such had a duty to uphold the law (despite who wrote that law) and to protect innocents.
Therefore, the criminals couldn't escape.
Jimbei and his crew would just have to respect the King's wishes in this case. He got enough leeway from the King (being a pirate and all... his crew was allowed to roam free and do what they wanted after all, the King looked the other way with him where he didn't with others), that it wasn't a hardship to give a little once in a while.
"Jimbei?!" He heard from down the hall.
"Hm? Crocodile!" He grinned, viciously. "So this is where they put you." He sneered at his fellow (ex)warlord.
Crocodile snarled. "What are you doing here?"
"That's what I want to know." Jimbei turned at the dumbstruck voice, and his grin softened at the sight of Ace, chained to the wall in the cell opposite Crocodile.
"You didn't think we'd let you stay in here, did you?" Aladine teased, returning with the key. When Jimbei looked, he noticed all the guards had been piled up against a wall, far away from the cells and any prisoners who might be able to reach through the bars. They were currently being stripped of weapons, keys, and clothes. Thankfully, though, they were left with their underwear. The weapons and keys would be piled up near the staircase, while he wasn't sure what they were planning to do with the clothes.
"Wha- But... huh?" The poor kid asked. Jimbei's grin softened even more, and he was filled with sorrow. Ace hadn't expected anybody to come for him. He'd already resigned himself to his fate on the execution platform. "But, the Marines aren't going to let this go, they'll figure out it was you guys, they'll go after Fishman Island!" Ace finally got out. Aladine crouched down next to him and started going through the keys he had to find the right ones.
"Don't worry about it." He muttered. "The King knows what he's doing."
"The King, what do you-" He was cut off by an explosion from upstairs. He looked up, the entirety of the Sun Pirates was right here, so who... his eyes widened, comprehension dawning. "You guys brought the army?!" He asked, jaw dropping. The other prisoners started cheering, jeering, catcalling, and otherwise making a ruckus.
"Yup." Aladine grinned savagely. His grin softened a bit when he looked at his captain's friend. "Ace. Whitebeard has done more to protect our island, than the Marines could ever dream of doing. You are one of Whitebeard's sons, and you are our friend. We all know what was going to happen on the day of the execution, Whitebeard was going to come. And the Marines would have been counting on that." He turned his attention back to the cuffs around Ace's wrists and ankles, and decided to unlock the wrists first, because that position did not look comfortable.
"It's our turn to protect Whitebeard this time." One of the crew said, leaning against a wall.
The first cuff was unlocked, and Aladine carefully lowered Ace's arm, rubbing it to try and restore feeling in the limb, and try to soothe the sore muscles and joints. They'd been hanging in the position for a while, judging by how chaffed the skin on the wrist itself was. Ace grunted in pain at the movement, but sighed in relief when his arm was resting in his lap, and Aladine stepped around him to free the other arm.
After all the chains and cuffs were gone, Ace sighed in utter bliss as his shoulders instinctively flared up in flame. It felt so good to feel his power again, he'd felt cold and empty without his fire. The Sun Pirates laughed or cheered at his expression before Aladine slowly helped him off the floor, then let him stand on his own, hands out to catch him in case his legs failed. Given the injuries all over his body, and the fact he'd been in one position for so long, they were worried his legs would have forgotten how to carry his weight.
He didn't need to worry, though, because Ace stood just fine, although he did have a strange look on his face while tapping his toes against the ground. "My legs fell asleep." He groused. His arms did, too, but he didn't use his arms to walk, now did he?
Their doctor replaced Aladine in the cell, and quickly looked him over, frowning in disapproval for how prisoners were apparently treated in here. Especially prisoners that were already injured. They didn't even bother to give him medical aid after the fight with Blackbeard! They just threw him in a cell, and he'd heard the rumors about the booking and 'check-in' process to know, his injuries would have been severely agitated even during that.
"We should get him out of here. The energy boost from the seastone being removed will not last forever." He advised, before bandaging up the worst that he could see, as best he could considering where they were.
"Understood, doc." Jimbei answered, and held out the personal bubble they'd brought along for Ace. The army's squad leaders had also been provided with a few, just in case they came across any other prisoners that they wouldn't mind breaking out. It had been discussed already and agreed on, that the Arlong Pirates would stay here, serving for their crimes in the East Blue. They were somewhere else in the prison, though, in a special section set up just with fishmen in mind.
Ever since he heard what Arlong had done in the East, he'd regretted ever making that deal for him to be released from prison in the first place.
"I've done all I can for him, here." The doctor said, turning around and leaving the cell, being replaced again with Aladine, who stayed nearby for Ace to lean on if needed. They all knew how stubborn Ace was, though, they knew he would walk out of there under his own power, even if one of them really should be carrying him or something.
"Ready to go home?" Jimbei asked Ace, grinning as he stepped out of the cell.
Ace's dumbstruck look finally faded a bit, as he grinned widely. "Of course!" He almost vibrated, unable to believe that he was really getting out of here, and excited that he was really getting out of here!
They were all shocked when the stairs were suddenly closed off with a large wall, while gas started spewing out of hidden pipes in the ceiling. Jimbei clicked his tongue in annoyance and called the (unnecessary) order for masks to be put on, while Aladine held one out for Ace before putting his own on.
"Did you guys come prepared enough?" Ace muttered, putting on the mask and taking the bubble so he could leave the prison and not drown immediately.
The army slowly drifted back to their camp, not in any hurry. It would take hours, if not longer, before the guards were able to muster up any kind of force to come after them. They would be unable to call for help from Marineford, seeing as how the communications room was the first place hit.
The Snails were being taken with them. The ships around the prison were sunk at the same time as the strike forces got inside the prison.
Unless the Warden had a snail of his own hidden in his office, nobody at Marineford was going to know about anything for a long, long time. Until at least the next prisoner transfer, unless they managed to get a dinghy to reach Marineford before that.
Ace watched them all return from the safety of his bubble, with a small plant sitting at his feet to prolong the oxygen supply, and was curious to see other bubbles following them. "Who are they?' He asked Jimbei.
"Good question. They would have been prisoners, though." Jimbei shrugged, not knowing who they were, either.
"General! Who are they?" He asked when he saw the general bringing up the rear of the army.
"This is Ivankov, Commander in the Revolutionary Army. These are some of his followers who got caught with him, and some newish recruits that they picked up while in prison. Apparently they escaped their cells, and created their own little home inside the prison walls." The general chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Hello! I must say, I vas not expecting the Fishman Army to come!" Iva said cheerfully.
Jimbei chuckled. "We weren't about to leave one of our Commanders behind." He laid a hand gently on the outside of Ace's bubble.
"I see." Iva eyed Ace for a few moments before turning away and moving his bubble somewhere else, most likely to check on one of his people.
"We should probably start heading back within the hour." The general said quietly to Jimbei, who nodded at Aladine, prompting him to go make sure their crew was ready to go whenever the army was.
"Doc wants us to get back quickly, too. He couldn't do much while in there, and can do even less with Ace in a bubble." Jimbei informed the general, who looked Ace over with a critical eye.
"Agreed. I would like to get the men back and in position for the Marines retaliation, as well. The prison will get word out eventually." He scowled at the thought of Marines. Honestly, they should have seen this coming. "In the meantime..." He pulled his Snail out of his pocket, and made a call.
"Hello?" The King answered.
"Your Majesty. We have Commander Ace, and we picked up a few Revolutionaries, as well." He reported quickly and simply.
They could hear a sigh of relief. "Good. That's good. What's his condition?" He decided to focus on the Commander now and deal with the Revolutionaries later.
"He'll need an Infirmary, a good meal, and a good night's sleep, but he'll be fine." Jimbei answered for the general.
"Good. Make sure you call Newgate after this, and let him know, too." He instructed. "Now, who are the Revolutionaries you picked up?"
"Ivankov and some of his, er- men. A few of them are new recruits that he picked up while in prison, but most of them are Revolutionaries captured and imprisoned while he was in there." The general supplied.
The King hummed. "Alright. I'll get in touch with Dragon, then, and let him know that some of his have been freed from prison. He'll probably want to send somebody to pick them up and check on them personally." He muttered to himself.
"Yes, sir."
"We've been monitoring communications between the prison, and Marineford. So far, there's nothing, but you should hurry back, anyway." The King instructed.
"Yes, sir. We got into the communications room of the prison and took all the Snails we could find, so it should be a while before anybody realizes anything is wrong. It probably won't happen until the next prisoner transfer. We will hurry, though." The general promised. "We're leaving here within the hour, as soon as any injuries are dealt with for the trip, and to let the men have something to eat after the battle." It hadn't been the hardest battle they'd ever been in, but they'd still fought hard and used a lot of energy. Especially those that had to deal with the Warden.
"Good. Good. Call Newgate. Let him speak with his boy." The King hung up with that last instruction, and the general almost immediately called the Whitebeard ship.
"Hello? You've reached the Whitebeard Pirates." A bored voice came over the line.
Ace grinned. "Hey, Marco. How's everything going?" He asked, the relief and joy at hearing one of his brother's voices was clear.
The Snail's eyes widened as a mirror of Marco's shock and surprise. "ACE!" All background noise suddenly stopped at Marco's shout, and suddenly there was a burst of noise. It sounded like they were all crowding around Marco, all of them trying to talk to Ace at the same time. "Hey! Back off you idiots!" Marco suddenly shouted, and the snail took on his patented 'big-brother glare'. The noise suddenly stopped as everybody backed off. Marco rolled his eyes. "You lot can talk to him when he's back on the ship." He told them, exasperated. "Hold on, let me take the Snail to Pops." He spoke into it again.
A minute later, "Ace! It's good to hear from you, son. Are you alright?" Concern was dripping from every word.
Ace smiled softly and sniffed a bit at the sound of it. "I'm alright. I'm just happy to be out." His eyes took on a flinty look. "And now you don't have to do anything stupid to get me back." He said cheerfully, with a sharp smile.
"Gurararara! There's nothing stupid about fighting for a family member." Whitebeard said simply. He knew that Ace was talking about the chance of them showing up at Marineford to stop the execution. Ace just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Where are you?" Whitebeard asked after a moment, eyes softening.
"We're camped out not far from the prison. Jimbei says that the Marines shouldn't notice anything for a while yet, but we'll be leaving for Fishman Island in about an hour, anyway." Ace said after looking at the general for confirmation that it was safe.
"That's good. We'll meet you on Fishman Island. You behave yourself, listen to the doctor the King provides." Whitebeard instructed, knowing his son.
"Aww, pops!" He whined.
"No, son. You get yourself looked at, and you listen to the doctor. We all know the reputation of Impel Down, you've actually been there. I doubt the Marines healed any of your injuries after fighting the Traitor, either." Whitebeard instructed, making it more than clear his earlier suggestion wasn't a suggestion.
Ace sighed after a moment. "Yes, Pops." He muttered, petulantly.
He heard Marco chuckle, but the Phoenix didn't say anything. He could see Jimbei hiding a grin as well, and stuck his tongue out.
"Pops, we should hang up, we don't think the Marines will be able to monitor anything in this area for a while, but we don't want to risk it." Jimbei finally said, leaning over. The army and his crew were almost ready to start swimming back towards home, anyway.
"Alright. We will see you at Fishman Island." Whitebeard allowed after a moment with a sigh. It was clear he wanted to speak with Ace for longer, but he also didn't want to risk them being found because of it.
"Ok, I'll see you, then." Ace reluctantly said, and heard the Snail hang up. He sighed. "Thanks, Jimbei." He said softly, and carefully put the snail away.
"Not a problem. Here, something to hold you over." He carefully passed several of the military's field ration packs through the bubble to Ace, who took them gratefully, and started devouring them. It wasn't exactly the best, but it was still better than prison slop. "We should be leaving soon. I'm going to leave you with the doc, he'll keep an eye on you until we return." Jimbei chuckled at Ace's disgruntled look and swam away to see that his crew was ready to go.
Marco jumped up, and settled in his usual spot at Whitebeard's side, sitting on the right-side armrest of the old man's large, throne-like chair.
Pops glanced at him, grinned, then looked back out at all his sons having fun. As soon as they were informed by King Neptune that Ace was in Impel Down and that Jimbei had a plan to free him, the Whitebeard Pirates had changed course back towards Fishman Island.
They'd already left a Marine base behind, burning from their fury, but that base must have managed to get communications out to another base, or a nearby ship, because hours after they left it, two Marine battleships pulled up, one on each side of them. At first they used cannons, but his sons were too skilled to ever let such pesky things as cannon-balls land on and hurt their ship. As soon as they were close enough to board, the cannons went silent, mostly because his children had made quick work of destroying them before boarding parties from any of the three ships even got lines across.
He laughed and sent a small Quake at a group of Marines who thought they could sneak up on him from the side. Izo was immediately there, letting them know why sneak attacks on their Pops was not acceptable.
He laughed again when he overheard another of his sons lecturing (while he fought) another Marine on why it was rude to interrupt celebrations. (They'd gotten the call from Ace right after leaving the base, and the party had just started to get interesting when the ships arrived).
His sons were having so much fun!
"Gurararararara!" His children smiled when they heard their Pops laughter, while the Marines shivered again at all the laughing that they heard coming from the Strongest Man.
"Here we are!" Doc said cheerfully (Ace really needed to learn his name, he'd never heard him referred to as anything other than 'doc') when Fishman Island came into view. Ace instinctively looked towards the private dock, but didn't see the Moby anywhere. Then again, they were coming from the Paradise side of the Island, the Whitebeard's would be coming from the New World.
Ace laughed, still unable to believe he was free again. "It's still amazing, Doc." He said, grinning. He loved coming to Fishman Island. It was just so lively and colorful. It was everything Sabaody was trying to be, but couldn't quite accomplish. Doc grinned back, pleased that Ace thought so highly of his home island.
"What the-" Ace said after a moment, once they were close enough to make out the crowds on the docks. At the front of the cheering crowds, was the royal family, waiting to welcome the Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and to see for themselves that he was really alright.
Now it was Doc's turn to laugh. "All of Fishman Island knows of your imprisonment, and rescue. Nobody here was going to stand by and let the Marines have their way." He informed the overwhelmed Commander.
"The Commander is back!"
"Commander!"
"He's safe!" He heard being yelled by the various civilians surrounding the docks. He could see various pirates (all passing through on their way to the New World) on their ships standing at the railing, clearly wondering what was going on.
As soon as Ace was safely on the dock, the bubble around him was suddenly popped, and he stumbled to get his feet under him again, only pausing to glare at Doc, who gave him a toothy grin back.
The King moved forward, grinning slightly, and the people quieted down behind him. "Commander Ace, it is good to see you again." He greeted. "You don't look as bad as we feared." He ran an expert eye over the young Commander, who merely grimaced.
"It doesn't look good to the public for an executed pirate to be half-dead." He explained.
"I still want to get him to an Infirmary or something, though." Doc cut in with a small glare towards Ace, stopping him from protesting.
"Of course, of course! And a good meal, I suspect?" The King grinned again and started to lead the small group of Ace, Jimbei, the general, and Doc towards the palace while the citizens continued cheering about their soldier's success and Ace's safe return. Most of the soldiers had been waylaid and were currently recounting the fight to awed children and their parents, which Ace found highly amusing. Those that hadn't been waylaid by civilians were already scrambling to ready the islands defenses in preparation for the Marines coming after them.
"Your Majesty, when are the Whitebeard's estimated to arrive?" Jimbei asked, coming to walk beside them through the cheering crowds.
"They are on their way. They will arrive in the coming weeks, I think." He said, honestly not knowing. He didn't know where in the New World they were, but Marco had already said they would turn around and come straight to Fishman Island, with a few stops at Marine bases along the way, of course. "I do not know where they were when I called them." He shrugged elegantly. He wasn't too concerned about it, they were coming. They could hold out against whatever the Marines tried until they arrived.
Jimbei snorted. "And how many Marine bases will they come into contact between here and there?" He asked rhetorically.
"I believe Commander Marco mentioned there being a few of them in their direct path." The King said mildly. Ace snorted, thinking of just how loosely Marco occasionally defined 'a few'. There had been times when punishment had been a few chores... a few turned out to be the entire chore list for the entire ship, and nobody was allowed to help for a month.
And no, he wasn't the one assigned that punishment, nor was it Thatch, surprisingly enough. (It was Blemenco).
He wondered just how many a few would turn out to be this time... Ah well, he would find out later, he was sure.
"Ace!" He heard from behind them. He frowned, and turned around. That sounded like... "Ace! I'm glad your alright!" Bay slammed into him with a rare hug.
"Oomph!" He grunted, and barely resisted the urge to turn into flame. "Bay!" He exclaimed once his brain caught up. "What are you doing here?" He asked, last he heard, she was taking a small vacation in Paradise, and hadn't planned on returning to the New World for a few months yet. Had he been in prison that long, or...?
She pulled back from the hug, and punched his arm. "Idiot." She scowled. "We heard about your fight with Teach, so we went to the island where rumors claimed you two fought. We didn't find either of you, and then we heard that you had been handed over to the Marines." Her scowl deepened before Ace found his hat jammed over his eyes.
"Hey!" He protested, to Jimbei's amusement. Then lit up as he pushed the hat back and put it more firmly on his head. "Thanks, though." He grinned, relieved to have his precious hat back. Luffy gave him this hat, after all. She rolled her eyes and pressed his unsheathed dagger into his hands as well, which he quickly put back into position. Clearly they had gathered his things from the battlefield where Teach left them. She rolled her eyes and fell into step with their group when they started walking back to the Palace, much to the Kings amusement.
"Hm." She hummed suddenly and pulled a newspaper out of her pocket. "I didn't think the Marines would provide you with a newspaper." She said, amused, as she handed it over. It was from a week ago, right after his battle with Teach, and a few days before he'd been handed over to the Marines.
He looked at her in question, before glancing at the newspaper, and immediately froze at the sight of his baby brother's face, and the headlines, nor the wanted posters he pulled out of the folds. "Ace?" Jimbei asked when their group realized he wasn't following them anymore.
They were all surprised by the massive grin that split Ace's face in half as he looked up from the paper. "Look! It's my baby brother!" He exclaimed, holding up the wanted poster proudly.
"Three hundred? Wasn't it only one hundred a few days ago?" Jimbei asked, shocked. The old bounty was barely three months old, just what had the boy been doing? "What did he do to earn that?" He asked, taken aback, and Ace started scanning the newspaper for more details, even though they all knew that the paper wouldn't give the whole story.
"Well... Marines version of events is that he and his crew broke into Enies Lobby for no reason and completely destroyed the island." Ace looked up again and grinned. "I, however, am wondering which of his crew they were stupid enough to capture." Luffy didn't randomly destroy things for no reason after all... usually. Besides, his crew would have had no reason to go anywhere near Enies Lobby unless one of his crew had been taken there.
He shuffled through the rest of the Wanted Posters, laughing at Sanji's, and shaking his head at Chopper's low price. That reindeer was worth much more than fifty belli, they would regret underestimating him.
"That one." Jimbei pointed, stopping Ace as he flipped through the rest. They had started walking again while Ace looked at the paper and posters.
"Ah... yes, the Marines would want her captured." The King said after taking the poster.
"She must have joined after I left him on Alabasta." Ace commented, looking at the Wanted Poster for Nico Robin.
"She's the only one in this pile that the Marines would have wanted to really capture. At the time, her, Strawhat, and the Pirate Hunter were the only ones that even had bounties. She's the only one of the crew who isn't a green rookie." Jimbei commented.
"The Marines will think twice before trying to capture one of his crew again." Ace grinned, studying his brother's new bounty proudly.
"You know... I don't think it was them that actually destroyed the island, at least, not completely..." Jimbei said thoughtfully, slowly.
"What do you mean?" The King asked, curious.
"When I was on Marineford, before I left for Impel Down, I overheard some of the men talking about the Buster Call that was issued just recently. They made it sound like it was nearby."
There was silence. "You mean... the Marines destroyed their own island?" Bay asked slowly, trying to wrap her head around it.
"That sounds just like them." The King muttered, and flung open the front doors to the Palace, to the pirate's surprise. The pirates following him were a little stunned to realize that they'd reached the Palace without noticing it, having been too absorbed in their conversation about the Strawhats, and the stupidity of the Marines.
"Is this my patient?" A Fishman wearing a doctor's coat appeared, studied Ace for a moment, hummed, and grabbed the startled Commander by the arm before dragging him away.
"Uh..." Bay blinked. "What was-" She asked.
"That was the Court Physician. Ace will be in good hands. Once he is released, the feast will be served." The King waved off her concern and confusion, and waved for a guard to take the two pirate captains somewhere so they could get cleaned up before said feast. The other captain was an unexpected addition, but if she was allied with Whitebeard, then she was welcome at his table.
Marco sighed in relief when they finally docked at Fishman Island. As much as he wanted to take his anger out on the Marines (just like everybody else on his crew), he'd been more eager to see their youngest brother again.
Honestly, he was fairly certain they'd gone through every single Marine warship or base stationed in the New World.
(They hadn't really, just the ones that happened to be on their route, but still.)
"Marco!" He heard, just before a freckled, black-haired missile slammed into him with a laugh.
His eyes widened, and he grinned. "Ace!" His brothers and sisters started clamoring once they realized Ace was there, and surrounded the two of them, while Pops laughed in the background from where he stood by the railing of the Moby. "Are you alright, what happened?" Marco tried to demand over the noise of the rest of their siblings.
Ace just laughed, thrilled to be back with his crew. "I'm alright, I've already been poked by the King's doctor, and he's given me more food than Luffy could probably even eat." He informed the crews mother-hen.
"Gurararara! Son, it's good to see you safe." Whitebeard finally said, and all his children fell silent. "Welcome home, son." He said with a soft grin.
Ace grinned back, an invisible weight falling off his shoulders at the unsaid confirmation that Pops wasn't mad at him for leaving and getting caught. "It's good to be home."
