Chapter 3 : The calm before the storm

At the Scafflod

The Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Sengoku "The Budda", was visibly sweating looking at how the events are unfolding.

"This is a disaster! First, the Moby Dick manages to enter the bay by coating their ship and directly emerging underwater. And now, not only that damn rookie has arrived bringing along with him half of the level 6 of impel down. And as if the things couldn't go any worse, in comes the Dark King Silvers Rayleigh. This is going to be a slaughter! I need to caution the marines."

Taking a look at his old friend who is sitting besides his adopted grandson, Sengoku could see a range of conflicted emotions being displayed on his face.

"This must truly be a roller coaster for Garp. Heck! Even I am too old for shit like this!"

" Don't get your hopes high, Garp! You are a marine, and you have your responsibilities. I won't hesitate to kill you if you raise your fist of yours against us."

Garp, still looking quite confused at the events which unfolded within a couple of minutes, was silent for some moments.

"This much bloodshed. Only if this damn brat had listened to me and joined the marines."

But deep inside he knew it was a lost case. Once anyone had known his parentage, he would have been killed in his sleep and the marines would have acted as if nothing was ever wrong. Though he condemns pirates, but he knew this was the best choice as far as Ace was concerned.

Looking at Sengoku with a weirdly serene expression, he said " I know my responsibilities Sengoku. But that's the least of your concerns. You had never accounted for Whitebeard directly appearing at the center of the bay. Not only he has achieved that, he has some dangerous allies with him whom we never expected to be here at all. Will our stratagem be successful?"

Sengoku, still sweating, spared a glance at Tsuru, the elderly vice Admiral. She was visibly frowning at how the events were unfolding at the frozen bay. But nevertheless, he believed that their next plan of action will be a great counter attack to strike at the marines. He never thought about the fallen descendant of Oars unconscious at the edge of the plaza.

"I still wonder why I took up this position. Sigh. I guess there's no better time to announce the world about the secret than now."

"Hey, give me a broadcast den-den mushi immediately!"

Meanwhile, Ace was experiencing a torment of emotions.

"Luffy actually came here to save me! And looking at Jimbei and co, looks like he was in impel down too. What did I do to have so many people come here on the midst of war, without even blinking an eye."

But he frowned when he looked at the "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh. The former first mate of his " Father", he thought with distaste. And what's more, he had the gall to look at him and give a smile.

"Why in the world is he here! Why does he care! He and his captain had abandoned my mother without a second glance .Why is he here now. Maybe it must be Luffy's work. That kid can convince anyone with his puppy eyes."

Sighing deeply, he bowed his head down to avoid looking at the bloodshed which was happening mostly because of him. But he did not want to admit the fact that without his intent, some tears are swelling up at the corner of his eyes.

Back to Frozen Bay

"That..That's Silver's Rayleigh! The former first mate of the Pirate King!"

"Why is he here? Did Whitebeard hire him for the war?"

"Does Rayleigh want to kill Whitebeard for himself and become the next Pirate king?"

The presence of the former first mate of the Pirate king brought mixed responses. From fear to speculation and some outrageous conspiracy theories. Meanwhile Emperio Ivankov was confused at best.

"Luffy boy never said anything about Rayleigh appearing here. He literally has no connection with Ace boy. This is a mystery indeed!"

Meanwhile the heavenly demon, Donquixote Doflamingo, was laughing like a maniac looking at how the events were unfolding.

"Fufufu! The Dark King is here! This ought to get interesting. And I will play with him a little. After all he did destroy my Auction house."

Bartholomew Kuma, who was standing besides Doflamingo, was thinking. If a monotonous set of instruction was considered as thinking.

"Silvers Rayleigh : Bounty Unknown; Extremely Dangerous. Kill on sight."

He prepared to attack him with his laser beam, without looking that Emperio Ivankov was right in the middle of his beam trajectory. And the beam went right past through his enormous hair, making a gaping hole.

"Hey Kuma! Have you gone mad! Why in the world are you attacking me!?"

Doflamingo was amused by this interaction. "A revolutionary knows Kuma in first name basis. Interesting! But let me spoil the news for him(her?)."

"Fufufu! Looks like you were in first name basis with the Bartholomew Kuma, or should I say, former Bartholomew Kuma."

"What? What do you mean former?"

"The Bartholomew Kuma you knew once, is dead. This person is a completely different entity. Programmed by none other than Vegapunk making him the perfect weapon for World Government. PX0!"

Ivankov's reaction was intercepted by cries of surprise from the marines, seeing the Dark King deflecting the powerful beam of PX0, like nothing.

Meanwhile

Rayleigh was amused and disgusted with the whole situation in front of him.

"So much bloodshed. Marines and their policy of absolute justice. They are nothing but the lapdogs of the World Government. But this war just pumps up my adrenaline. It has been long since I have been in a genuine fight. This should be interesting."

He was aware enough to see beam of light coming at him from the general direction of Kuma. Rayleigh just coated his blade with haki and deflected the beam towards the frozen wave with ease. Earning looks of awe from both marines and pirates alike.

"Hmm. These kind of looks really pumps up my ego!"

After deflecting, he leaped towards the front of Moby Dick, where the Rookie and Veteran pirates were standing.

"Gurara. Still sharp enough eh Rayleigh! I wondered whether you would be fried like chicken from that beam"

"I am still younger than you, you old geezer!"

This light-hearted rant between the veteran pirates were stopped by a serious looking Luffy.

"I heard in that marine ship that they are going to execute immediately."

"Are they? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. They said they would after getting "all set" for something. But they were using codes that I could not understand. I know you want to rescue Ace, that's why I am sharing this with you. "

"That's quite a useful information. Thank You for sharing with me."

"No problem."

Just when Luffy was about to enter the warzone, Rayleigh called out for him.

"Wait a minute Luffy. We need to discuss some things."

Meanwhile

Captain Buggy, the self proclaimed one of the world's mightiest pirates, was laughing looking at the three pirates atop the Moby Dick.

"What the fuck is going on! Straw Hat is competing toe to toe with Whitebeard, and there comes Rayleigh-san. Why in the world is Rayleigh-san is here of all the places?!"

Fortunately or unfortunately, he actually spoke up the last sentences aloud. And that alone was enough for his "sub-ordinates" to look up to him in new light!

"The great Captain Buggy knows the Dark King!"

"Our captain talks about him like he's is his lifelong friend! Nothing less expected from the great Buggy who was part of the Pirate King's crew!"

Buggy was visibly flushed with embarrassment with the praises he was receiving.

"he he. These fools are so malleable. I will build a great crew with these imbeciles!" thought Buggy, before flashing a sign of victory to his "crew".

Back to Moby Dick

A few minutes later

" Do you agree with what we have discussed? Will you obey as I say?"

Luffy, who was fighting an internal conflict, nodded slowly. Whitebeard, who did not the recent past of Luffy, was looking at him in a whole new light. "this brat packs more punch than he looks. "Red haired" chose well"

"Cmon Luffy, what are we waiting for!? Lets go and save your brother!"

The first mate of the former pirate king, and the Rookie who has wrecked more havoc than anyone over the past 6 months, entered the "War of the Best".

(A/N Hello guys. This is my first multi-chapter fan fiction. Reviews are appreciated, so is constructive criticism. Most probably the fic will go upto 20-30k words, and I cannot really predict as to how frequently I will update. But atleast once in a week is for sure.)