LW: So…. the kids get the shit beat out of them. Other stuff happens, but mostly that.
Rubber King and Mirror Master - The War hits the Plaza!
Luffy stares down the Admirals, then does the smartest thing in the last 5 minutes
Gear 2nd
"Trying to skirt around us, typical of a pirate"
"Guess he has some brains in that soft head of his after all"
"The kid clearly didn't learn from the last time" Kizaru chuckles, about to shift, when he was forced to block instead
Sen'ei Jashu
Ama no Murakumo
"Once again, using your Devil fruit to counteract your lack of haki, it's impressive… if it wasn't also just so predictable" Kizaru laughs as Kaos pulls back, his reflect armored talons having been countered by his haki-infused light sword, though his eyebrows rose when the pirate's next move was to miss entirely…. So he could heave his massive naga body over his torso, shifting back to human in the process and landing a kick to the Admiral's torso, pushing him a few inches, maybe a foot "That's more like it kid, same with figuring out your fruit can copy Zoans too" he corrects as Kaos stands up
"You're just playing around aren't you?" he asks, as Hebi spins in his right hand
"I can move at the speed of light boy, of course I am. You're not strong enough to bother fighting at even close to my best" Kizaru smirks, his eyes shimmering like a kaleidoscope
'Ok, just need to get to Ace and…' Luffy thinks before getting tail slapped into a nearby building
"You 3 really couldn't keep 2 pirates away, seriously?" Robin sighs, currently standing at the base of the platform in her Hybrid form "If you wanted to switch that badly you could have just said so" she says before having to roll away from an explosion of black fire
"Damn it, so close" Luffy wheezes as he pulls himself from the wreckage
"It's time to end this. Ready…. Now!" Sengoku commands the marines to raise their blades, then send them down right for Ace's neck
"NO"
"YOU BASTARD!"
"ACE!"
Swish
"What!" Sengoku bellows as both of the men are taken out before they could complete the act "Seems I underestimated how long the Meteor Volcano would delay you Zelena, but YOU! I thought Straw Hat had given me a card to play, given your known hatred of Whitebeard… and yet you still decided to help him to rescue Ace, Crocodile!" he snarls as both were standing in the centre of the plaza, Zelena's skin a deep green matching the tornado that was currently replacing her lower limbs, while Crocodile looks bored and disinterested like they hadn't just killed 2 people with a wind and sand blade respectively
"I'm confused" Luffy whines
"I'm grateful but this is quite the surprise" Marco hums, having landed on the Wall to observe the action
"Just a while ago Crocodile was trying to kill Whitebeard… so why is he helping us?" Jinbe wonders aloud
"I can kill that old fool whenever the mood takes me, but this, I'm not letting you crooked bastards get a win. If I'm not killing Whitebeard today, I'm going to make sure I'm part of the reason you lost" Crocodile answers, sneering up at the Fleet Admiral
Shing
Clang
"Well, I got one of them I suppose" Doflamingo chuckles as he watches Crocodile's head roll around behind him, while his 2nd string was currently held by a haki-coated fist, letting it snap before she tries to pull him to her "Or not" he hums as the head crumbles to sand and reforms with the same bored expression "You know you hurt my feelings Crocodile, 1st you reject my offer, then team up with Whitebeard, spitting in my face while I offer the hand of friendship"
"Shut up Flamingo, I'm not teaming up with anyone, I've already explained myself and you don't have any bearing on the decision" Crocodile grunts, turning to catch Doflamingo's kick with his hook, before both are blown into the assembly by Zelena
'Ok, they're all distracted by Crocodile and the Flamingo guy, now's my chance' Luffy thinks as he pulls himself to his feet…
"You die now Straw Hat!" a marine screams, ruining any hope of the element of surprise as he charges at the rubber boy with a sword, which Luffy jumps over, kicking the man in the head as he launches himself towards Ace once more
"Not another step Straw Hat!" another marine shouts, though at least Luffy was running toward him so stealth was unneeded
"Out of my way!" Luffy shouts back, launching a punch which the man dodges, then bounces off the air and drops where Luffy was a second ago
Soru
Gepo
Tekkai
But he missed, as this was far from the 1st time Luffy had fought Rokushiki users, and he'd fought much better ones at that. Not seeing the point in drawing out the fight he decided to just punch him out
Gum Gum Pistol
Tekkai
It seemed to stop him… for half a second before the marine passed out. After fighting Bluno, never mind Lucci, this loser was nothing once the surprise that he could use those techniques wore off. What did slow him down though, was getting stabbed with an icicle spear, which Aokiji then roughly yanked free of his upper arm "I still owe your Grandfather a favor, but you're really asking for it at this point Straw Hat. You risk your life, now you got to pay the price" he reals back to stab Luffy again, when he's blindsided by a green twister, which besides pushing him away from Luffy, ensured he got a Supersonic Pheonix to the gut, just below the ribs
"Wow, thanks for the save" Luffy says, wincing as he pulls himself to his feet
"No problem. Keep running kid, we'll keep the Iceman off your tail" Zelena winks before following Marco in keeping Aokiji occupied
"Fleet Admiral" One marine on the Wall calls up "The Whitebeard pirates appear to be swimming toward us"
"They don't have a lot of options given we broke the ice and took out their ships. Quick men, fire upon them while we still have the chance!" Vice Admiral Strawberry orders, every cannon tilting to aim for the broken wall the pirates were swimming toward
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
But the Whitebeard pirates just keep swimming
"What! But they should have turned around or been killed by now" one marine exclaims, before being enveloped in toxic smog
"You said it yourself" Azulong purrs behind her gas mask, as Helios claws her way up the wall to the marines "They're low on options, and most of us, have nothing to lose at this point so there's no reason to turn back. Victory or Death, that is the game state you've put us in Gurororororo!" she cackles, the metal tips of her whips tearing into skulls like melons
Of course just as she says that panic sets up on the marine side and hope blooms within the pirates as something rumbles deep below the waves… and begins to ascend
"Sir, we've got another coated pirate ship in the Bay, and it's coming straight toward us!"
"It must have been hidden under the bay this whole time"
'Damn that bastard Whitebeard, of course he had a backup plan' Sengoku sneers as the pirates were either caught in the wake of the ship's ascension or are paddling toward it like their lives depend on it
"We caught them off guard, that's good" Whitebeard smirks for a moment "I never said they'd sunk all of our ships"
"Sir! It's a paddle boat of some kind and it's heading for the gap as we speak!"
"No! Whitebeard!" Sengoku bellows
"Sink that thing, drop it like the Moby Dick!" a marine orders, forgetting one thing…
Bang
Bang
Bang
They missed one ship in the barrage, and both it and the new ship were capable of firing back on them
"The ship's too fast, they won't hit it" Garp sighs as the paddle boat impacts the land and grinds across the plaza, straight for them.
"We made it guys!"
"Ace is right there!"
"We're almost done!"
"Can he sail or what, I don't know if you can see this, but the gap in the walls is just a little bit larger than a battleship is wide, and Whitebeard's backup ship just slip in like he was built to dock there, absolutely amazing!" Alistair relays while firing the canons as he didn't need his hands to talk
"That's enough!" Ace screams, tired of everyone dying because of him
"He just won't quit" Sengoku sneers
"Seems the old fool's turned the tides, those walls were meant to keep them in the bay, but it seems now it's trapped us with them" Tsuru sighs, this was just one disaster after another
"Hold tight just a little longer Ace, we're almost there" Whitebeard says, before stepping off the edge of the ship and landing right in the middle of the plaza
"Whitebeard has entered the Plaza!" marines scream as they aim their weapons at the man, like any of them could take him
"My sons, please stay back" Whitebeard orders, before swinging Mirokumogiri over his head, and channeling a quake bubble into the blade. He then swung with all his might, the force of the attack sending anyone in front of him below Vice Admiral in strength flying. Once the tremor had ceased his Divison Commanders all dropped alongside him, ready to brawl "Listen here Pirates! Bring Ace to Safety, and Destroy the Navy!" he bellows, the Whitebeard pirates once more advancing, nothing but men standing between them and Ace. "Clear a path!"
"Shit he's readying another attack"
"Are you so sure about that?" Aokiji sighs leaping into action
Ice Ball
"He did it, Whitebeard's a popsicle!" a marine cheers
"No he's not" Kizaru chuckles, just before the technique shatters
"He broke out, those vibrations of his can't be frozen, damn it" Aokiji curses before leaping at the Yonko, guess he'll have to do this the hard way
Ice…
Shing
"Admiral Kuzan!"
"He's been skewered!"
"Is Aokiji dead?"
"No, doing fine actually, thank you very much" Aokiji replies, hands gripping the bisento while the blade was sticking out of a frost-covered hole in his chest, ice crawling down the weapon towards Whitebeard
Ice Block: Partisan
'This again' Whitebeard thinks with a sigh, not that it mattered as Aokiji was tackled and his ice form shattered by a diamond form Jozu ramming straight into him, though given he's a logia Aokiji simply reformed like an angry snowman "Go Pops, I'll fight!"
"Good luck son" Whitebeard nods and advances, knowing Jozu should be fine in the meantime
With all the heavy hitters in the plaza, it's probably forgivable that they lost sight of our protagonists, at least for the moment, meaning they were free to rush towards the scaffolding… until a familiar Vice Admiral stood in Luffy's way, swinging at and managing the cut the boy as well as send him rolling over himself
"Straw Hat Luffy, I Vice-Admiral Momonga will cut you down! It ends here" he announces definitively, turning to slay the boy
"Vice Admiral, that's the same Rank as Gramps" Luffy mutters "Shit"
Gepo
Soru
Momonga leaps into the air, using Soru to increase his height before performing a drop slash which Luffy was unable to block
2nd…
Shigin
This was not going Luffy's way as another Vice Admiral joins the fray, the full-handed Shigin sending him flying a few feet backward
"Wreckless, the kid's too green" Dalmatian sneers
"True" Momonga agrees "But, there's one thing noted in every report on Straw Hat, the boy never gives up" he adds as Luffy struggles to his feet
Bwooooom
Clang
"I think the universe is trying to tell you something" Kaos chuckles, his voice echoed and tinny due to the full armored form
Kizaru sighs "Yes, that I should have just killed you already instead of playing around" he says noting the numerous cracks in the reflections, as well as the hole in his head "Taking a lot of battle damage kid, sure you want to keep going?"
"I survived God impaling me through the face, I think I can handle whatever you throw at me, even if it'll hurt like Hell" he says with a grin
Soru
Gepo
"Damn kids need to stop rushing on ahead!" Shaula yells as she swings down with the dagger, managing to cut Kizaru's sleeve before he scattered into light to dodge
"Round 2 I presume?" he smirks "You know I can make swords right, gonna need something bigger than a little knife to fight me"
Shaula surprisingly grins "Oh I already do" she says then grasps the hilt in both hands, haki bubbling off her and flowing into the weapon, tendrils of blackness erupting from the hilt and wrapping around the blade extending it as well as revealing symbols previously unseen.
"Medusa's sword. Very impressive" Kizaru chuckles "Can you read it?"
"No" Shaula admits "But I do agree with what's written on it! §And we both know, Medusa believed the same§"
Amazon Lily
"What does it say?" Sandersonia asks, the Throne room getting picture from Marineford due to Alistair activating the Den Dens
"It looks like Ponyglph, so that means only about 3 people can answer that" Marigold sighs
"One of which, is right here" Nyon reminds them, pointing to Artemis who was staring at the silver-edged, Black Blade
"Be it Razing Heaven or Raising Hell, I would do it all, for my family" Artemis recites "Sounds like a poem"
"Probably. Sounds like 'I would do anything for my family', but cooler. No wonder she agrees with it" Sonia chuckles "Also sounds like Straw Hat"
"It does, Uncle Luffy's and Papa are out there to save their big brother Ace, and they see the whole crew as family" Artemis agrees "So they've already done crazy things to help them out"
"Like Enise Lobby?" Sonia chuckles, getting a nod from the artist "Here's hoping it turns out like that, instead of Ohara"
Marineford
"You know, I think we should take this elsewhere, we're kind of in Newgate's way don't you think?" Shaula hums as she spins the blade, seems Kaos' nervous tic was inherited
"You know I can't do that Shaula" Kizaru sighs, though his lips were curled in a half-smile
"§I could always chase you if you'd prefer?§" she teases, giving the man an out
Bwoooomomomomommom
"Not that way though" she grimaces as everyone nearby turns as they feel the shockwaves, seeing Vice Admiral Nylock Robin crossing blades with Captain Grima, both women in their hybrid forms: Robin resembling a stocky…. Deer-dragon, thing? While Grima still had her midnight black wings, dark scales along her hands and neck as well as glowing red tattoos running up and down her limbs. The big issue was their blades, Robin's shimmering with a golden glow, while Grima's had an almost haze to it as it drank in the light
"Alpha" the flying sister growls
"Omega" the younger twin hisses
Midnight…
Midday…
'Oh bollocks' for once Whitebeard and Sengoku had identical thoughts, having seen the respective fighter's attack and knowing just how powerful it was…. Meaning 2 clashing against one another would not be pleasant to experience
…Devastator!
…Radiance!
There was a blinding flash before the shockwave hit, the Whitebeard pirates fairing slightly better than the average marine simply due to being used to the quakes that Pops would throw around when he was actually fighting, though there were some things you just have to buckle down and hope to tank (hence why the Whitebeard pirates learn fast to not be standing in front of Whitebeard during a fight)
"I think the dust cloud from that attack will give us plenty cover to move this fight don't you think Cus?" Kizaru taunts "If you're fast enough to make me mov…." he stops and tilts his head, avoiding a slash across his cheek
"Were you seriously not using it until now? Haki I mean?" Shaula scowls
"Only against Marco, and a little Armament against the kid just because I wasn't sure what he could do, other than that nothing until you came knocking, wasn't worth the effort" the Lightman admits
"Glad to hear I am" the Scorpion grins, then leaps at him, cutting through the first sword he creates before being blocked by one with what seemed to be a black core
"Should have known to add haki after that question, that sword is probably almost entirely composed of it" Kizaru scolds himself before pushing back
"Pretty much, I can only feed it Armament so it's not AS good as when Medusa used it, but eh close enough" Shaula admits before engaging in a proper sword fight
"Well, that's one crisis averted" Kaos mutters, lifting Luffy onto his back "You gonna wake up any time soon Lu?"
"Just need a minute" the rubber boy pants, stubbornly trying to force his eyes open after that last attack
"Yeah, yeah that's what they all say"
"Out of the way son, I don't want to hurt you or Straw Hat" Kaos turns to see Whitebeard stomping toward them, seemingly the only person unaffected by Grima and Robin's clash
"You got it… Pops, we'll advance when it's clear" Kaos nods with an awkward, nervous smile, then spots Henry and grins, just what he needed… a distraction
"THERE HE IS! SEE JINBE I TOLD YOU STRAW BOY WOULD BE IN TROUBLE!"
And there's another one…. Great :P
"Ah! A giant disembodied head!"
"How did it get like that?"
"It's Iva, he just does that sometimes, don't think I've seen it THAT big before"
"Luffy, there you are!" Jinbe shouts from beside Ivonkov and his ship-sized head
"I BELIEVE YOU HAVE SOMETHING I WAS RESPONCI…ba..ba..ahhhhh!" Iva screams as he falls off the wall on top of a fair few pirates and marines
"Get Off Us!"
"You're wasting time!" Jinbe scolds
"Sorry :(!" Iva groans
"We… should probably go over there" Kaos chuckles, rolling his eyes as he relaxes his armor
"Jinbe, Iva" Luffy wheezes, then blinks and starts squirming as his brain reboots and he remembers where he was "Kaos we need to go the other way, we're so close!"
"And you nearly killed yourself… again… getting there Straw Boy" a voice coos, causing him to pause
"Bon?"
"Helloooo!" the dancer laughs "Thought I was dead didn't you?"
"Nope, I can sense that fruit from a mile away at this point" Kaos deadpans, making the man wilt
"Ruin the moment will ya? Anyway, you can't help Ace if you're too broken to move… let the Big Boys lead the charge for a little, then rush back to the frontlines AFTER treatment" Bon Kuri suggests, trying to make his friend see reason, or at least calm down enough for someone to try and patch him up
"You know he's right Luffy"
"Kaos?"
"We're outmatched, I don't mind running up to Ace… but we can't actually win straight fights with anyone still standing in this place" the researcher/1st mate lays out as best he could
"He's a loudmouth kid who goes looking for trouble, dumb and clumsy, reckless too" Whitebeard grunts as the medics rush over to help Luffy and check up on Kaos while he was standing there "But… it seems we both have a soft spot for hot heads and fools like them kid" he smirks and readys his Bisento "If you're ready to die, stand forth and prepare to meet your maker!" he shouts, before manifesting another quake bubble over the blade
"Not again!"
"Everybody run!"
CLANG
Only for it to be blocked by a Magma kick from Akainu
"You're always going around causing destruction" the magma man sneers
"Says the man who dropped a Meteor shower on my boys" Whitebeard smirks before both launch punches infused with their Devil fruit powers… meaning Akainu threw a GIANT magma fist, while Whitebeard's punch once more tried to break a hole in reality, the energy flowing off them in a tug of war, the shockwaves causing devastation all around them. Meanwhile as if to ensure nobody forgot about them, the New World Captains finally rejoined the fight, with Sentomaru and the Pacifista's on their asses, ready to cause as much collateral damage as they could.
Slave Arrows
"Crap, we've got a warlord gunning for us!" Bentham screams before Hancock drops down in front of them without caving his skull in "Huh?"
"Beloved you're still alive!" Hancock cheers before throwing herself at Kaos, the teen gives a half-smile as he catches the busty Kuja missile and holds her close
"I thought it took longer than that for Stockholm to set in, you only had the 1 screw" Luffy wheezes, causing Hancock to turn bright red and Kaos to laugh
"Thanks, Lu, I needed that" he chuckles, sighing as the medics left him be to focus on the more injured rubber boy "You really shouldn't be here" he sighs "Don't risk your status for us"
"I'm not" Hancock huffs, kissing his cheek "With the Whitebeard pirates so close to their endgame, all eyes are on big names like Marco and Whitbeard himself, meaning someone much less important on the marine's hitlist, can move around in the chaos undetected… more or less. Please try to be safe, you may think differently, but we both no Ace would be crushed if you or Luffy died trying to save him"
"I know, but he's right there"
"How do you know?" Luffy grumbles, looking at Hancock with a barely open eye
"Simple, I'm a big sister, now YOUR big sister thanks to my mate here. We get very protective when our younger sibling are put in danger"
"Ah, makes sense" the rubber boy grunts before continuing to let the medics check him over
"Indeed, now if you'll excuse me, I need to see a blood man abotu making a donation" Kaos mutters, flagging down a familiar blond with a wave and a smirk
'Don't worry Ace, I'm almost there' Marco thinks as he flits through the battlefield, taking flight once he had a clean line of sight to Ace
"He's flying!"
"Yes we can see that, he's a bird Zoan… now SHOOT HIM DOWN!" Sengoku orders
But, it wasn't going to be that simple, as Marco's Pheonix form was basically made of the blue flames that healed him in his other forms, making him a borderline Logia at the moment.
"Yeah Marco, you can do it!"
"Grab Ace and run!"
"This will be, interesting" Kizaru hums
"Indeed, let's see if Sengoku can still fight" Shaula frowns, having less faith in the 1st Division Commander than the other pirates "I mean he's done fuck all so far, might as well do something before we all leave again"
Key word in that last paragraph… borderline, as Garp punched the bird right out of the sky just before he reached the platform
"What's the big idea, I didn't give you the order to fight!" Sengoku shouts being an ungrateful bastard as if Garp didn't just stop Marco from stealing his prisoner
"You want to get to the Scaffold… you're going to have to go through me!" Garp declares, sitting in one of the chairs the Admirals had previously vacated
"§Backstabbing, heartless bastard! Did you ever care? If you're going to help them kill Ace… why didn't you just kill us when we were kids?§" Kaos shouts, tears welling up in his eyes, though only Hancock and Nagini knew what he saying, but the emotion of the growls and hisses were palatable for everyone in the vicinity
"Kaos relax, we can still do this" she pleads "You need to think, you need to stay calm, Ace depends on that" she says, wiping the tears from his shimmering eyes "You can still save him, even with the so-called Hero in your path. You and Luffy, keep showing them the Straw Hats bend the knee to no one" she orders, getting a sanguine smile from the male Kuja
Meanwhile
"Shit we have to fight him?"
"He may be getting on in years, but 20 years ago he was able to go toe to toe with Roger"
"Not just Roger he's the one who took down Shiki the Golden Lion and locked him up in Impel Down"
"He's probably the strongest marine they've ever trained"
Whitebeard growls, then shouts "We didn't come this far just to be scared off by an old man! Legends ain't nothing but words" he scoffs, actually getting a chuckle out of Garp
"I could say the same about you Whitebeard, your glory days are long since past!" Akainu shouts as he launches another attack at the Yonko
Hound Blaze
Only for Whitebeard to send it right back at the marines, the lava beast exploding against a nearby building
"Well shit, you gonna destroy this whole place?"
"If that's what it takes to rescue Ace… then yes" Whitebeard smirks "Besides you can bill me if you can catch me after we're done Gurarara!"
Scaffolding
"What's taking so long, just hurry up and execute him already!" Sengoku bellows, nearing the end of his tether
"Right away sir, fetching the substitute" a marine squeaks fearfully as he runs off
Down below
"How's Straw Boy?" Iva asks, trying to ignore the maelstrom of anger bubbling off to his left
"Not good, 1st aid isn't going to cut it, it barely did for the other guy. He needs to be taken out of here right now" the Doctor explains
'The odds were stacked against him from the start, but this is beyond cruel, he's so close, practically within arms reach after the marathon he's gone through'
'Did I deserve to be born, or was it all just a mistake?'
'That's not for me to say, you just keep living and hope you find out'
'And what a fine mess that turned out to be' Garp thinks, wishing those brats had just listened to him when they were younger, then they wouldn't be in this mess. They could have even spun it if it ever came out that the marines had cured Roger's Boy of the stain of piracy.
"Grab hold of the lad, but try to be careful, we're going to have to carry him to the ship" Iva orders the nearest candies 'It's not ideal, but if we want Straw Boy alive, we'll have to rescue Ace boy without him' the Okama Queen thinks, though there was one problem with this plan (technically 2… but we'll get to the other one later)...
"Iva" Luffy pants as he grabs the Okama's boot
"Calm down straw boy"
"I, need one last favor, from you" he wheezes, everyone in the immediate area seeing the look of panic and horror on the man's face at that sentence, given his last 'favor' from Jinbe was essentially "Yeet we over the wall!"
"Nope, no last anything we're getting out of here right this minute!" Ivonkov argues
"You know, what I'm going to ask you for" Luffy states, not having the energy to put much enthusiasm into his voice
At the top of the Scaffold
"Damn it, this is all wrong, how the Hell am I supposed to feel?" Ace mutters, curled in on himself, his eyes near blind with tears "Pops, Luffy, Kaos, my friends and brothers in arms, they're all here because of me, to rescue me, but they're pushing through a sea of their own blood and those to do it, it can't actually be worth it, I can't be worth this" he whimpers "I'm sick, these are tears of joy. Even after all I've done, all I've been through, I Want To Live" he cries
Back down below
"Iva, help me" Luffy wheezes
"You do realize what the repercussions of this will be right kiddo?
A little further away
"Out of my way magma punk!" Whitebeard shouts as he bats Akainu away with his bisento, before seizing up, and dropping to one knee, coughing and wheezing before spitting up a small puddle of blood "Son of a…"
"POPS ARE YOU OK?" everything Whitebeard pirates ask automatically
"Time humbles us all, even you aren't immune to its power old man" Akainu taunts as he begins to approach the now downed Yonko, his right hand shifted and already dripping magma
'This was what I was afraid of' Marco grimaces, Whitebeard wasn't anywhere near his best health, but he wasn't going to wheel up to Marineford attacked to 20 different medical bags and play the frail old man, so eventually his declining health was going to come back to bite him. Throwing around Quakes and all the other crap he's been dealing with today, it made sense they'd only accelerate the decline. Leaving his current fight to back up his Captain, Marco was double tapped in the back by Kizaru, though a sword slash across his chest stopped the admiral from finishing off the Commander
"You really don't want me finishing the job do you cuz, like seeing people suffer huh?" he asks calmly
"No, just like getting in the way of marine execution plans" Shaula fires back, before launching her tail at the man only for it to be blocked by a kick
"Marco no!" Jozu yells, only to cry out in pain of his own as Aokiji grabs onto and freezes his left arm, followed by the rest of him as the ice quickly consumed the diamond man
"You gonna make the same mistake as bird boy? Guess your daddy didn't teach you tactics" the ice man tuts
"Someone has to see you off, and it seems that someone, is going to be me" Akainu snarls, before rearing back to launch the magma punch right in Whitebeard's gut, missing the much larger blood pool surrounding the old man
FSSZSSZZSSSSSS
"What?"
Pops!"
"You really need to mind your surroundings" The voice was mostly a gurgle, but as the magma was pushed back, it revealed there was someone or something standing between Akainu and Whitebeard, a large semi-amorphous, deep crimson entity, jet black scythe blades jutting out of what it had for arms, it's liquid form bubbling and steaming as it pushed back against the Devil fruit produced magma "I've been wanting to fight you for a while Government Dog, but, I'm not going to steal a man's kill, interrupt a fight to save a friend though… I'm fine with that" a crimson, skeletal face bubbles to the surface, forming a deathly grin as the haki infused blades clear the magma "You gonna be ok Newgate?"
"I just needed a minute boy, at least you stopped the navy getting in a cheap shot, as typical of them as it may be" Whitebeard grunts as he pulls himself back to his feet "Check on the boys" he orders, the Blood man nods and slithers away "Now…. where were we?"
With Luffy
"You're insane you know that? Another Hormone Shot, it'll kill you!" Iva screams hoping volume will get the info through Luffy's rubber brain "You're past your limit, it could be days before I could safely give you another dose. I'm sorry kid, but you've been burning the candle at both ends for way too long now, first the poison you burned through days sooner than should have been possible, and then getting you back on your feet. I said it back then and I'll repeat myself, my hormones aren't a magic cure-all you can take whenever things get hard, I want to save Ace just like you do, but if you keep abusing my powers you'll just die…" he stops when Luffy stretches to grab his collar
"As long as I do everything in my power to save Ace, I don't care if I die" Luffy states, putting as much of his energy into the statement
"I'd believe him, he's been using Gear 2nd despite even his heart not being able to take extended periods of that much pressure, so saying your hormones MAY kill him isn't exactly a deterrent" Kaos argues, though his eyes were on the scaffold, and his hands were tipped with spikes
"I'm begging you Iva, you have to let me fight!" Luffy demands/well begs, clutching to the Okama Queen with all his might, even pulling the man to one knee "If I don't keep fighting, and they kill Ace because I wasn't there for him… THEN I'D RATHER BE DEAD ANYWAY!"
Fsssssss
"RIGHT NOW IS THE ONLY FIGHT THAT MATTERS, LIVE OR DIE!" Luffy continues, channeling as much of Dragon and even a little Garp in his declaration
"You dummy, what would I tell your dear Daddy Dragon if you died, like a dog, due to my Deadly Devil Fruit power. This stubbornness is really uncute" Iva scolds and then pouts
"You could tell him it was better to have someone who knew what they were doing dose him than an amateur" Kaos offers, Iva turns to ask what he meant then his eyes bulged when he saw the teen had stabbed himself in the chest with needled fingers "Would you prefer I do the procedure, or you?" he says, something decidedly off flickering in his eyes as his grin spreads to nearly reaching his ears
Ivonkov bites his lips, hemming and hawing before he sighs "You boys are drying my spare you know that, and using my own Devil fruit against me is just rude boy" he turns away from the grinning devil and back to Luffy "I've done all I can to keep you safe… but it's your life. Give us a Good Show!" he shouts, before injecting his hormones into Luffy's side, causing the rubber boy to get back on his feet in under a minute as energy floods his system
"ACE!"
TBC
LW: And… scene. Things are about to get messy aren't they…. Again.
Only one way to find out :P