Chapter 6 : And they march forward
At the frozen Bay
The world's strongest man looked like a devil. With his shadowed eyes and an aura of invincibility around him, pirates and marines alike what would the man do to the pirate who nearly betrayed him.
"You know what you have done right, Squard? You nearly thrust a sword into your father. You are such a stupid son! "
With a quick flash, Whitebeard pushed forward his hands around squard's body. While the allied pirates and squard's crew members dreaded the worst, Whitebeard's reaction stunned both the pirates and marines alike.
He pulled Squard into a hug.
"I love you son. Even if you are such a malleable fool. I know about your history with Roger. But he is my son, like you are mine. Treat everyone equally. I do not care about bloodlines or bullshit. I love my sons, whomsoever it might be."
"I shouldn't have underestimated the new admiral brats. They are more cunning than I gave credit for" said Whitebeard, before destroying the frozen Tsunami with a single tremor attack, thus giving space for the allied pirates to break into the frozen bay from the outer area.
Luffy's group, near the plaza
"Ossan is one hell of a man." Said Luffy, who looked at the world's strongest man with a whole new light. He values his crew members more than anything. Luffy deeply regretted for forgetting about his crew in pursuit of Ace.
Rayleigh, seeing a look of distress in Luffy's eyes, immediately tried to pacify the distressed rookie.
"Luffy, don't worry. Kuma spoke to me just before sending you away. Your crew members are quite far away, but safe. Now let's get going."
Luffy, who looked at Rayleigh with a hint of surprised just nodded and started running forward. Rayleigh, defying age and logic, started sprinting with Luffy with same agility.
Meanwhile
Jimbei, who took up a defensive stance against Moria, started to get annoyed with the antics of the Shicibukai.
" Moria is still a weakling. I need to join Luffy-kun in his pursuit. I can't waste time on people like him."
Moria, who had absorbed about a 100 shadows of nearby pirates and marines alike, started attacking Jimbei with his scissors/sword. But was highly successful due to Jimbei's dodging .
"You are quite agile for a pirate of your size."
" Look who's talking Moria. You are still a weakling. I cannot waste time on people like you."
Fishman Karate! Sharkskin fist!
With a single punch on the gut of Moria, Jimbei managed to knock him off balance and eventually stumbling upon all fours. Jimbei's attack also managed to release all the shadows Moria had observed before the battle.
"I need to get going. Luffy-kun needs me." Thought Jimbei before running off to the direction where Rayleigh and Luffy were going.
Elsewhere
"Kuma stop this nonsense! Stop attacking me! How dare you forget me!"
Ivankov, who was getting more and more frustrated at Kuma's antics, began to sweat. Doflamingo, who was in the sidelines, was looking at the battle with a bemused expression.
"Strawhat boy needs my help. I cannot be caught up with Kuma. I will ask Dragon later as to what's up with him."
Ivankov, with his Devil fruit powers, began to form a mirage of sorts around Kuma, confusing the newly- programmed PX0. Ivankov, now fully charged, unleashed his attack on Kuma.
Galaxy wink!
Kuma was blasted away from the vicinity, earning a sigh from the revolutionary Ivankov. Ivankov immediately began running towards the direction where Luffy and company were off to.
"Well, that was fun while it lasted" said a grinning Doflamingo.
"Long time no see Doflamingo. At least you are near to me than Whitebeard, I can deal with him later." Said a person, who just materialized out of nowhere.
"Ah Crocodile! Nice to meet you too!"
Luffy's group.
Meanwhile a marine Commodore was busy fighting some of the Whitebeard pirates with his Jitte.
"Smoker-san, Look Strawhat is coming!"
Smoker, who's concentration was completely on the fight, immediately snapped his head upon hearing Strawhat. He noticed that Strawhat was accompanied by Rayleigh, with Jimbei, Ivankov and some of the Whitebeard commanders following him. He also knew what his allies were capable of, but it didn't deter him from attacking his arch nemesis whom he has been following from east blue.
"Straw hat!" was the yell Smoker gave before launching himself towards Strawhat, in an attacking mode. Just when was about to attack Strawhat with his Jitte, he was stopped by a haki-enfused sword.
"His fight with you is not today, Smoker-san. Luffy has other priorities today."
Smoker, just gritting his teeth and pushed Rayleigh away before launching himself towards Strawhat again. Only to be kicked out far away from the battlefield.
"Who kicked me!? And it actually hurt me! I am made up of smoke, how can something hurt me?"
He saw a visibly raged Shichibukai, Boa Hancock, giving her trademark pose, but was ready to kill someone.
"Haki from Kuja" whispered a gritted Smoker.
"How dare you touch my Luffy! How can you even think about hurting my beloved! I feel like killing someone!"
Tashigi, who tried to charge towards Luffy, was stopped by none other than Rayleigh. Tashigi, with her clumsiness, wildly charged at the experienced fighter whom Rayleigh was. Only her weapon to be expelled out of her hands due to some quick maneuvering from Rayleigh.
"Tashigi-chan. You have great potential. But you lack an attacking instinct."
"I DON'T NEED TO HEAR ADVICE FROM A PIRATE!"
Rayleigh just chucked at her antics, shaking his head. He diverted his attention towards Hancock, who was just about to brutally maim Smoker.
"Hancock! You have grown well! How are your sisters?"
Hancock, who looked Rayleigh with a slightly shocked expression, calmed down visibly.
"Rayleigh! I thought I was imagining things when I saw you." Said Hancock, before ogling at Luffy
"My Luffy! I wonder how our marriage will be? I need to ask him about our honeymoon too~~"
" Thanks Hancock! Smokey always gets me with his weird powers" said Luffy, who was pleased to see a familiar face.
Hancock just melted at the sight of Luffy calling out her name. But she went towards him and whispered.
"Luffy. I have the key to your brother's cuffs. Take it and save him."
Luffy's grin couldn't have been any more wider, as he just jumped and hugged Hancock to death. Hancock's body shut down at the physical affection her beloved was showing her. She collapsed once Luffy released her.
"He just defeated a Shichibukai with just a body attack!"
"Stawhat defeats Boa Hancock!" wondered some random marines, but did not have much time to dwell on it as they were assaulted by whitebeard pirates.
"Thanks a lot Hancock! I owe you lots!" said Luffy, before running forward with Rayleigh, Jimbei , Ivankov and half of the Whitebeard's best commanders and pirates.
"LETS GO!" yelled Luffy, rallying around most of the Whitebeard pirates.
" Don't worry Luffy~! I will take care of anyone who even thinks about harming you!" said a determined Hancock.
"Move away Hancock, are you resigning from Shichibukai?!" growled Smoker, before launching forwards to attack her. She just kicked the Jitte, making it brittle using her devil fruit abilities.
"Forget about Luffy, Smoker. I won't allow you to pass through me" said Hancock, not before giving her trademark looking-down-so-much-she-has-to-bend pose.
Meanwhile near Crocodile and Doflamingo
" Blah..Blah..Blah.. Buggy is great! Bah Bah Bah Buggy is great!"
Mr 3, who made this candle-igloo to camouflage themselves from the war, was tired of this.
"I am surrounded by idiots!"
While outside the igloo, some of the marines were stumped by this white enclosure. This looked like ice, but did not feel cold. They decided to break into it, only to be surprised seeing so many pirates hiding behind.
"There are marines here! Let's run!" yelled Buggy, only to be blown up by Crocodile's sandstorm.
"Why such stuff always happens to me?" was the last thought Buggy had before being blown into the battlefield, near Luffy's group.
Crocodile and Doflamingo
"So Crocodile, how do you feel after rotting so many months in Impel down?"
"Very nice, Doflamingo. Nice because I can deal with scum like you!"
He launched a sables at Doflamingo, who used his string powers to fly away. This hit the buggy and co, trapping them into the sandstorm.
"What's up Mr 0. Feeling rusty are we? Why don't you join me? You may have lost your shichibukai status, but you are still a warlord!"
"Thank you, but no thanks, Joker. I prefer playing solo" said Crocodile, before using his hook and clashing again with Doflamingo.
At the Scaffold
Sengoku, who was frowning at how the marines were performing, lifted his mini den-den mushi and dialed a number.
"Sentomaru, time to start phase 2"
"Yes boss!"
Near Luffy's group
A swordsman was barely breaking sweat against some of the lower tier Whitebeard pirates.
"Pathetic! These guys bring shame to swordsmen and katanas."
Just then he saw a group of pirates running towards him. Headed by a short young pirate with a strawhat.
"Red-Haired, forgive me but I won't hold down against your protégé. If he is not upto my standards, he will die."
To be continued.
(A/N Some might be wondering as to why Diamond Jozu never fought Crocodile, or stuff like that. These are the minute changes. Arrival of Rayleigh made the Shichibukai move forward, thus Kuma and Doflamingo ended up meeting Ivankov and Crocodile much sooner than canon. Moreover, Luffy has not yet used gear 2 or exerted himself much till now, unlike canon. These are some of the implied points of deviation, except the obvious ones. And as usual, reviews are appreciated!)
