Author notes:

Chapter 1: rewritten and beta'd by Kurapikababu.

Chapter 2: rewritten.

Chapter 3: small mistakes corrected.

Chapter 4: posted again and beta`d by Gerbilfriend

Chapter 5: written and beta`d by gabrielsangel23 and Gerbilfriend

Chapter 6: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend.

Chapter 7: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend

Chapter 8: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend

Chapter 9: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend

Chapter 10: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend

Chapter 11: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend

Chapter 12: written and here, beta`d by Gerbilfriend and Black' Victor Cachat (Blackbeard POV)

Chapter 13: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend.

Chapter 14: :/.

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I don't own one piece!

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This chapter was beta'd by Gerbilfriend. As usual she is an awesome help, helping me build the scenes and motivating me, and of course correcting my grammar and making it all clearer for your enjoyment. She wrote the continuous of the Marine!Lina omake (part3) in the end, check it out XD.

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Special thanks for Black' Victor Cachat for his inspiration (see more in the end :D).

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Warnings:

English is my fourth language. The story will include thoughts about suicide, self-harm, Ace self-worth issues, and cursing.

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SleepyPuppy

Thank you for your review

Well, I think after this chapter you would have an idea, how things would go for Law. it wouldn't be pretty.. lol

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts.. :D

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CupcakeLoopy

Thank you for your review.

So glad to hear, one of my goals is to make my readers laugh.

Hmmmm, you will have to read to find out what happen. ;)

"Lina hitches a ride with Shanks" .. its one of the ideas that I am considering, we will see. XD

After this chapter, what do you think about Lina with Shanks crew ?

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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lizziecats

Thank you for your review.

I am happy you loved it. Glad you like my Lina. She is awesome and a lot of fun to write. I begin writing this story because marineford in the original series didn't sit well with me. So things are going to be different, to know more you would have to read yourself.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts.. :D

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GreenDrkness

Thank you for your review

"Well Law fucked up and is now in some deep shit " LOL

Truer words have never been spoken. Read and let me know what you think!

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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Black' Victor Cachat

Your great highness, I wish to present you this special offering. It took long hours and sleepless nights for it to become its magnificent self in front of your eyes. Please, your grace, heed my call and feast your eyes on my creation.

LOL

Thank you for your awesome review and encouragement.

You are a great friend to have.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter thoroughly and the new omake. Really Looking forward to hear your thoughts. XD

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CelestialPirateQueen

"Officer, please hear me out! How could I know that written words by my awesome self could be used as such gruesome weapon…."

"Please officer… spare me.."

"What? I can walk free if I wielded my killer weapon again … Oh that was her last request… well if that what she wanted who I am to refuse.."

Lol

Thank you for your review

I am so ever glad, to hear that you are enjoying my writing that much. It take a lot time and effort to post each chapter so hearing those words warms my heart.

I feel like I am bullying Buggy too much.. You are right about people overestimating him too much. Was looking to see what your reaction would be when it was revealed that the admiral wasn't there.

The one in disguise is some poor marine sod.

"Oh and who hit Marco to the 3 walls? " WHAT how did you miss it, you should read it again.

GARP hit Marco.. Poor Marco..

Sorry to say we will see more of Akainu here. Happy to know that I get both douchebags right!

POOR LAW indeed! lol

You should remember your guess about the last part, we will have to wait for a bit to know what was going on elsewhere.

Really happy you enjoyed the omake! There more here! My Beta read the reviews feel free to tell her how awesome her ideas are.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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sousie

Thank you for your review.

"you are an evil person! stoping there!" .. your words warm my heart XD

I tried to be more gentle here.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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DreamsOfTheDamn

Thank you for your review

I am doing my best. You would have to read to know what happens.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts.. :D

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YMLR

Don't worry about it! I was a bit worried that something may had happened to you!

Congratulation on your graduation (or is it to happen yet), hope everything going smoothly for you.

I am so happy you loved my Ace, have some more here.:)

Which other story? So curious right now.. Do leave me a line, (with your name) I would love to hear feedback.

Half the fun for me is hearing your thoughts and feelings to my story, so as writer I really appreciate and cherish each and every review, especially ones as thorough as yours.

So whatever and whenever you can, do leave a review.

Thank you so very much for your review :D

Indeed Buggy is complicated character, but he is easy to understand. He is coward and everyone overestimate him which put pressure on him to meet their expectations. He is fun to write like this, without going too much into his inner dialogue.

" What I would love to see is if the escapees are more loyal to Buggy or Lena th".. Well, it is quite simple, when Buggy sees everyone is following Lina, he would join too, saying he was there first. LOL

Ace have a lot of guilt and insecurities to deal with, but he is getting there.

Oh, honey, welcome to the club. Ace's crush is a common disease.

ME TOO!

You will see more of him here.

Things in general had gone how Lina had expected but not everything, and oh boy things get a bit muddy here.

Looking forward to your reaction to it.

Clashing with Whitebeard is one of the mistakes that Sengoku would come to regret.

Glad (not in that way) that I was able to get the admiral right! It was a pain in the ass to write him and here too.

YES! So happy the rescue give that effect! Wasn't sure how to write it.

Luffy is serious when it is needed, and his hat was given to Lina for a reason.

SO looking forward to your thought about the specific scene involving a hat and… ;)

SO happy you liked the omake, we have more here. :)

Well, your ideas are in my awesome list (you can see the endnotes for explanation), feel free to send me more. :D

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts.. :)

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Guest or is it AaC?

How dare you use my fic name is your name… (lol, you made my laugh good going or was it a mistake?).

I know, right? My story is the best shit, hope this chapter is even a better shit. LOL

Thank you for your review

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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iluvstorys

Thank you for your review

"Somehow...she sounds like shikamaru trying to plan around naruto's craziness..."

LOL, really it does fit! Except Luffy and co are much worse… XD

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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treavellergirl

Thank you for your review.

Glad that you like the chaos. It was a hard chapter to write so was this.

You get Buggy down right! Your points are very accurate. I like reading your interpretation. He is complicated character, in my mind I sometimes find him similar to usopp.

I chose to show only what fit in my vision here and according to what happened on the marineford arc, so I am using him more for laughs. I will see if I can show his other sides as I go.

YUP, Pure spite.. Sound quite accurate.

"massive oversight of Jinbei not to have "accidently" cracked his neck" .. he would have if the admiral wasn't half lava.

Looking forward to your thoughts about the facedown here.

Honey, I don't like Akainu either and his attitude suck big time. You are totally right!

He get some of what coming for him here.

I am really happy you're enjoying the omake and thank you for sharing your ideas and thoughts.

"when they realize that hey, we have a kid of the Revolutionary Dragon, in the Marines. Like holy hell would the Magma bastard fly of the wall, if he find out about that part.." .. oh boy, this is going to be so fun!

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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Kookie

Thank you for your review

It was hard chapter to write, too many details to check and recheck, but I think it is an awesome chapter? What do you think? ^^

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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FanFicEssie

Thank you for your review.

OMG, thank you! Love your opinion too. ;)

I work hard to show each character as accurately as I can and still make it fun.

Happy that I get it right.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts.

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thanzintay.2000

Thank you for your review.

Tell me more, tell me more! :D

Glad you are enjoying my stories.

Unfortunately the "person talking with the den den mushi " .. you will have to wait more to find out.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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tavitaalvarez33

Thank you for your review. :)

Really happy that you enjoyed it so much, you are more than welcome to check my other stories (I have been told they are awesome before ;)).

I take my time with each chapter, trying to make it as perfect as possible.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and the new omake. Looking forward to hear your thoughts..

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Please read notes at the end.

AFTER THE NOTE THERE is A Marine!Lina omake (part3) written by my adorable Beta

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Friendly Advice: For the full effect of this chapter, please read again the first section of chapter 9. Believe me it would be worth it to do so.

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Dammit!

F**king Dammit! He needed to get his siblings out of here.

He should have grabbed Lina and ran, dragging Luffy by the ear if need be.

Ace narrowed his eyes, letting his gaze linger on the threat in front of him while his mind was replaying scenario after scenario, trying to find the best way to escape with all their lives intact.

He knew that even though Lina wasn't saying anything about her injuries, she wasn't in good shape, her smile was pained and she flinched slightly if his hand squeezed her leg even a bit hard (She was trying to hide her reaction), F**king dammit!

Luffy wasn't in any shape to fight anymore either. He looked energetic and was standing at the ready but his shoulders hadn't stopped heaving and a large number of visible injuries marred his body (What about the invisible ones? Ace cursed colorfully in his head). Dammit to hell! It was all his damn fault.

It was all his ..

Ace released a long breath, his eyes still watching the obstacle to his siblings' safety.

Now, wasn't the time to play the guilt game he reminded, his traitorous mind. First, he had to get them out of here, alive.

Focus, you are not in the best shape either and you can't use your fire freely, Lina might get more hurt if you are reckless he reminded himself.

Lina was safe on his back and was busy murmuring quietly into the Den Den Mushi, he tried at first to listen, but the conversation she was having was too damn confusing. He heard shouts from the other end and was sure someone had mentioned his name.

None of them were in any shape to fight.

But neither was the shitty F**king admiral that put Lina in this state. Pop's attack from earlier had surely left some lasting damage.

They needed to attack him from several sides like they did before but this time they didn't have the element of surprise. But maybe (hopefully) their combined attacks would be just enough to buy them time to escape from his range.

"Ace, I and the others will keep him busy. Take Luffy and Lina and run when you see your chance." Jinbe, who was standing beside him and to his right was Luffy, whispered to him.

"That is right, Ace-boy. The most important thing is that all of you get out of here alive," the one called Iva something? maybe-chan?, a man? (Ace was not entirely sure) with purple afro hair and tiara, whispered to him from his other side. Ace couldn't help but wonder if his sister's choice in clothing was influenced by this person, her (torn) clothes were too short and revealing (his inner voice taunted him, 'so says the shirtless guy'. Ace ignored it).

"Strawhat-boy is in no shape to continue fighting.." the afro guy added to be cut off by-

"No," Luffy shouted, anger clear in his voice.

Ace had already known that Luffy was in no shape to fight. Impel Down, and then here, it was all his damn fault, he should at least get them out of here. What a shitty big brother he was. Dammit!

"We are leaving no one behind. We will beat this bastard and then be on our way."

Luffy announced for all to hear with unwavering resolve and his usual thoughtless recklessness.

Ace snorted, now they wouldn't be able to use the others as a distraction even if they wanted to.

Jinbe wasn't happy about it, Luffy was staring him down angrily for even daring to suggest something like that.

"Strawhat boy, stubborn just like his father..."

No, none of them was anything like those good for nothing pieces of..

Ace glared at the afro-man. He had to keep Lina and Luffy away from him, he was clearly a bad influence. (He was under no illusions that he could control his siblings, but he was still going to try his damn hardest to keep them from harm's way and that included the delusional afro-man).

Ace forced every other distracting thought out of his mind and dragged himself back to reality, focusing on the admiral and the river of molten lava around him.

"You are right Luffy, we will beat anyone in our way and run free."

He would not leave anyone behind. He couldn't.

Ace had to watch, shackled in his place, with utter helplessness as death and destruction plagued his brothers and sisters, his crew, his family.

Too much death, too much destruction, too many lives lost, too many people he loved were no more. And all he could think then was "One life given for a hopeless cause is one too many."

He would admit that maybe he was not hopeless cause anymore, but each life lost here was still one too many.

He didn't want to feel this helplessness again, never again.

The regret of leaving anyone behind, of backing down, and of doing nothing when he was finally free from his shackles would drag him to the deep black ocean floor.

"Beat me!" The Admiral snarled, and then suddenly his body relaxed, yet hot molten lava was still appearing instead of some of his limbs.

"Cowards like you," his voice took on the tone of calm conversation that was in weird juxtaposition with his looks.

Ace shivered, chilled by the sudden change in his demeanor, and he wasn't alone.

"As soon as you were rescued you run away. Honestly, what did I expect! After all, you belong to cowardly crew lead by a washed-up captain."

With every word, his lava was being 'reabsorbed' into his body and his human shape was getting more prominent as if the more words he uttered his true nature was better masked.

"He is trying to get you riled up. Don't listen to him Ace," Jinbe warned loudly, the frown on his face showing his own irritation and anger at the words.

Ace knew that. He knew! The words were directed specifically at him, but how dare this piece of scum, how dare he.. about pops, about the man that gave him home...

"We will attack him together .. and at the first chance you three see get out of here," Jinbe said repeatedly ignoring Luffy's loud protest.

"Ve Von't fall into this obvious trap," the purple afro-man yelled with hands on his hips, making the small colorful group rally behind him in agreement.

"Ace.." He heard Lina murmur close to his ears, she was clearly worried and upset. She was still whispering to the Den Den Mushi occasionally, but it was too quiet for him to hear.

Ace squeezed gently her legs that he was securely holding in his hands. Unable to trust his voice.

"Don't fall for it Ace .. " he heard Lina murmur urgently to him, her arms coming to hug his neck.

He only nodded, trying to ignore the boiling anger inside of him, especially because he couldn't express it as actual flames dancing on his body.

Luffy and Lina were more important right now, he needed to get them to safety, he repeated this mantra again and again in his head like desperate prayer. Trying to keep himself focused.

"That old man, some captain he is .. it's not your fault that Whitebeard is a washed up failure." The Admiral spoke in a calm reasonable tone as if explaining to children how the simple things in the world functioned.

Ace narrowed his eyes, letting his fury tighten his features.

Memories flashed in an out of sequence of the new life he had as Whitebeard pirate. The sense of belonging that he had craved so much, the one he had failed to find elsewhere, not even as the captain of his own crew. It had been offered to him freely and earnestly by every one of them, his pops, brothers, and sisters. The Whitebeard pirates.

The turbulent emotions he was trying desperately to keep under wraps, burst open.

"No one gets away with mocking pops. Take it back or else..."

He heard his name being called, but the voices seemed far off.

"Take it back? It isn't an insult. It is the truth." Akainu said in a matter of fact tone.

Ace didn't get a chance to retort, however, because the piece of shit Admiral eagerly continued.

"Let me tell you a story about your father. Your true father conquered the grand line. Something no other pirate had ever accomplished, after that he opened the door to the great pirate era by sacrificing his own life. I hate to say it, being a Navy Admiral and all, but he was the King of the Pirates no questions asked .. keeping all of that in mind Whitebeard has failed.. miserably."

Ace's jaw clenched as he gritted his teeth.

He dared compare between the piece of shit and his Pops. They couldn't, shouldn't be compared, that low life piece of shit was an.. Ace let a breath out. They should never be mentioned in the same breath. Pops was the sun that filled his life with joy, laughter and wild freedom, saving him from the darkness that plunged him since before his birth, cast by the shadow of the shitty scum king of pirates.

"Ace.." a loud voice rung right beside his ear, but Ace ignored it.

His teeth were still clenched so hard that his jaw throbbed.

This was much more than an insult, it was a challenge.

"No. He never even tried, because Whitebeard didn't want the world to see him fail."

This scum was challenging any Whitebeard pirate to prove him wrong. Even more, he was insinuating that none of them would accept the challenge because his words were the truth that couldn't be rebutted.

If Ace were to back down, it would mean that everything this asshole said was true. That pops was.. Ace inhaled and exhaled, fighting the impulse to clench his hands in fury.

"He lacks ambition and he will never be the king of anything but you simple minded crony." The Dogshit Yahoo continued.

"Once he brainwashed enough of you into doing his dirty work, he got lazy .. every now and then you will find someone painting him as peacekeeper .. 'start trouble here and Whitebeard will come running they say.'" Akainu laughed mockingly.

"Empty words to keep idiots like you fearful."

Akainu took a step forward, the others around him took step backward, but Ace refused to back down, his hands let go of what they were holding.

"Ace.." several voices yelled his name, his mind not bothering to distinguish between them, it was busy plotting, scheming, imagining, trying to decide how best to snap the neck of this lousy d**khead piece of shitty crap.

His fingers curled into his palms and he clenched his hands into fists, trying to hold himself perfectly still as if trying to hold his anger in.

"You call him hero .. when he is nothing but a coward..," the Admiral took another step forward that Ace mirrored with his own instinctively, letting go of any reservation, his hands becoming fists of fire.

"When Gold Roger was around Whitebeard was a second tier but even after Roger's death he couldn't become a King."

The proud, self-satisfied smile on the Admiral's face almost taking Ace even more over the edge.

"So there, that is the tale of your father, the whipping boy, the great failure, Whitebeard." Concluded the Admiral with a flourish but he was not finished yet.

"Soon enough he will be dead and no one would remember him, not even his own dear sons."

The mention of his possible death was infuriating, but the idea that he would be forgotten was absurd. No son or daughter could forget their father. There real father.

Whitebeard was the father that Ace never knew he wanted. No, needed. He couldn't even imagine a life where Whitebeard wasn't his father.

"I can't help but feel sorry for the man and all you punks. It's ridiculous that call him your pops. Did you make this big family to humor him or are you just as deluded as the poor old man."

"Shut up." Ace barked, his flames heeding to their master's anger, becoming even more bright.

The family that Whitebeard offered each one of them, was the epitome of acceptance, freedom, and belonging.

"Have you ever heard of more pathetic life."

Ace had had enough, enough of staying quiet while the man he chose to follow, the life he chose to lead, was mocked, ridiculed and blatant lies were being thrown at it. That was unacceptable.

Ace would not back down, not when his chosen father's honor was being dragged into the shittest mud by this asshole scum.

No true son of Whitebeard ever would.

"The old man gave us a place where we belonged, what do you know about his greatness." He shouted, feeling that words fell short to explain how Pops touched each of their lives, giving them something that they didn't know they needed. They fell short to describe the impact of his mere presence on how bright each day turned to be.

"Punks like you who do not live justly do not deserve to live!"

"Stop it," Ace shouted, furious, his voice quavered under the weight of his raw anger.

"Whitebeard will die as a loser, it's fitting death for a little fish in a big barrel!"

"Whitebeard is the greatest pirate who shaped this era."

Memories of his various conversation with pops, his known gentle eyes, and unwavering smile kept popping in Ace's mind.

"Don't make fun of the man that saved me."

"Don't do it Ace .. " he heard shouts, they sounded very far away.

They wanted him to back down, to run, to prove this sleazy bag right.

He wouldn't. He couldn't.

He would not turn his back to this asshole. The back that had his father's jolly roger emblazoned on it.

This piece of scum that hurt his family would not lay an eye on his pride and joy, the his symbol of belonging, his chosen life.

"Ace.."

"The name of this era should be ..." Ace choked.

A swift and crushing pressure were suddenly applied on his neck. As Panic swarmed over him he fought back the impulse to light his body on fire, to burn, a part of his brain remembered his sister's presence on his back.

"SHUT UP!"

Ace was trying to breathe from both his nose and mouth. The fire on his fisted hands disappearing as his hands went around his own neck, trying to stop the pressure.

"Yeah, I am speaking to you. The creature in the baboon butt red suit."

That voice was familiar and sounded close, right beside his ear close.

"You only know how to babble and yammer, twisting reality to fit your twisted evil vision."

Lina had both her hands and legs around him in a deadly grip, Ace realized. He didn't remember her frail limbs having this much power. She was purposely applying pressure on his throat, stopping him in his tracks.

What was she trying to do?

He was about to...

"Well guess what. I can do it too!"

"Lina .. can't breath.." Ace tried to get her attention.

Lina let her arms a bit loose, enough for him to breath easily, but not an inch more.

What was she trying to do now? Honestly!

He sucked in a lungful of air, held his breath and then released it, trying to calm his beating heart.

"You are clearly jealous."

"What are you talking about, you devil spawn." The Admiral growled.

"Lina.." Ace tried to… he was not sure what to say or do, stop her, warn her, demand an explanation for her behavior… but he didn't get the chance, the squeezing pressure was back before he finished saying her name.

"It is really obvious. Pirates this... Whitebeard that, you even admire the king of the pirates who is so despised that even his own son hates him."

Ace get the message. He kept his mouth shut. His hands falling by his side, telling her 'to have it her way'.

He was unhappy (understatement) with his sister, but he would never hurt her.

He knew it. She knew it and was using it for whatever the hell her purpose was.

She eased the pressure and Ace took a deep breath, trying to get control of all the rampaging emotions inside of him. To clear his mind.

"Don't twist my words, you .." Akainu had lost his footing in this conversation.

"You are the one that said that. 'I hate to say, it being a Navy admiral and all, but he was the king of the pirates no question'."

Ace involuntary snorted at the high pitched, dreamy tone that Lina quoted the admiral's own words back to him in.

The words themselves lost their meaning when presented like this.

"I heard you say it!" Luffy shouted, nodding in agreement with his sister. The mocking voice his sister used did not register in his brain Ace mused.

The purple afro-man was trying to keep Luffy quiet, without much success, and was shooting worried glances to their direction but was keeping quiet.

Jinbe had a thoughtful look on his face but his body was still in his fighting stance.

His siblings were one terrifyingly weird in sync duo, and he thinks that it in the most loving and adoring way possible.

"If that isn't pure love and admiration I don't know what is." Wow, Lina was on a roll.

The admiral seemed to be the one getting riled up now.

"If you think such words are going to rile me up, you are a naive little child."

"Yet you are trying to kill me! A little naive child like me! Where is justice in that?"

"You shouldn't have been born, to begin with! The existence of your bloodline is a sin."

"And I guess you are the hero who will annihilate it."

The mocking quality in her voice couldn't be mistaken for anything else (not even by Luffy, he was almost sure!).

"Cleaning up the garbage for a clean JUST world is quite troublesome, but someone has to do it."

"How vigilant and virtuous of you. Is that why you tried to trick Squard to attack Whitebeard, because it was troublesome for you to do it yourself or because you are coward, wanting others to do your dirty work for you …if Whitebeard is loser, what does that make you, a cowardly loser, a disgrace, filthy failure ..."

What? What the hell? This asshole tried to use Squard to hurt Pops. That could never happen, Squard would never waver in his loyl.. Oh.

Oh...his damn cursed blood.

The blood that flowed in his veins only brought disaster to those he cherished the most.

An insistent low voice in his mind reminded him that it didn't work, that Pops was safe.

Ace turned his gaze to search for him, the calm steady beat of his heart not so steady anymore, doubts were consuming his mind once again.

His searching eyes finally landed on him, his Pops was standing steady and strong, exchanging blows with Fleet Admiral, his self-assured smile still in place.

He would have to face Squard, hurting their Pops in any shape was not acceptable, and definitely not because of him, Ace swallowed the lump of uncertainty that was forming in his throat.

"Justice is absolute! To achieve it nothing and no one are sacred, and why should I get my hands dirty when the trash, are so eager to do the dirty work instead. It only needed few words to almost cut the family bond you are so proud of. Justice rules supreme." He barked (like a dog, admiral woof-woof).

"Excuses, excuses." Lina intoned in turn.

"You are a coward and hypocrite, all of you. You damn sheep marines, especially you in the baboon butt suit. You are the worst of the worst. Justice, HUH. Don't make me laugh."

"Don't make me repeat myself. Those who do not live justly, do not deserve to live!" The admiral snarled, the steaming lava flowing anew.

"You are trying to murder someone because of their father's sins, do not be coy about it. It didn't matter what kind of life he lived, any of us lived. The fact that Ace is a pirate just made it more convenient for you. Oh, grandpa, you were so naïve." Lina said the last bit much quieter than the rest as if addressing the phantom of their Grandpa in front of her eyes.

Ace had put some thought into that before. If he had never left the island, never became a pirate or if he had actually fulfilled Garp's wish and became a Marine would that have changed his fate? Or would his cursed blood have followed him no matter what path he took in life.

In the end, he couldn't have chosen something he didn't believe in, he had promised to live freely and without regrets. His brother and sister, piracy and joining the Whitebeard pirates were the only things he would never regret. Somehow they were all connected.

"You speak of justice but you are the cruelest to those who need it the most."

"Worry not! I would release you from your miserable sinful existence shortly. It will be a lovely funeral painted in red!" The Admiral promised.

"This absolute justice you yammer on about so much should be for everyone equally at least. What about the Celestial Dragons, it's okay if they murder innocent children. No need for justice there?"

Sabo.

Ace felt the unceasing ache in his heart widen, just by the unspoken mention of his name. He resisted the urge to touch his tattoo where the S was crossed.

They had learned young that this world was not fair. That justice was an empty word.

If you wanted something you needed to fight tooth and nail for it (and it wasn't guaranteed that you would succeed). Nothing came free in this life, not even freedom itself.

No answer was forthcoming to her accusations. Neither of them had expected one.

The cruel ones never needed excuses to inflict pain on anyone they desired to feel their wrath.

"What about slaves, where are the justice there? By your own rules, slavery was abolished yet it still exists by your own helping hand. You are the tool that catches those escaped slaves and brings them back to their cruel monsters of masters."

"They ran away! They defied justice, bringing back what was stolen to its original master is justice."

"Slaves are human beings, they have right to live freely, your justice should assure it."

"What the Celestial Dragons do is no business of mine," Akainu told her flatly.

It sounded like the matter was no skin off his nose, Ace felt his anger rise again.

He knew words were empty and what mattered were one's actions but it wasn't right! It wasn't ..

"How convenient for you. My friend's island was stuck with asshole pirates that terrorized them for years. They had marines stationed two hours away, and what do the marines heroes do? Justice, protecting the week... Nothing of the kind. Oh no, that's not exactly true. They actually had a working relationship with those filthy pirates, pay me a bribe and we see no evil, hear no evil. What's your excuse now, Mr. Justice seeker?"

"I am to take the word of filthy criminal like you as a fact when your purpose is clearly to taint the name of justice, your words are the devil lies."

"You say justice whenever it suits your purpose. Justice is a just word like baboon butt is a just word, and ..oh come on just admit it, you would feel better afterward. You are only a dog, No. You're way less, a leashed toothless dog. You only follow orders without thought, like a lamb to the slaughter."

"What a sad desperate try to twist what justices stand.."

"Just *uck off, seriously, no one wants to hear you spouting nonsense about your phony justice, be honest about it. You are a murderous maniac with a horrible sense of fashion, using justice as an excuse to satisfy your own sense of superiority."

"Did you finish your little torment about the excuse of a shitty life you had."

"Oh honey-chuck, I didn't even scratch the surface, but my breath is wasted on you. Hoping you grow a pair is wishful thinking."

Did Lina just...

"A pair of what?" Luffy asked, ignoring the 'hush' motions of the people surrounding him, not bothering to keep quiet. Ace had founded it surprising that Luffy was listening and even paying enough attention to have catch that word.

"You knov.. Balls?" someone whispered to him.

"Huh? Balls of what Iva-chan?"

The afro-man gestured discreetly at Luffy's own testicular area.

Luffy had a frown on his face, trying to make the connection.

"Oh ... The family jewels!"

"Jewels?"

"Family?"

Luffy shouted loudly.

"Lina it isn't balls. It is jewels. He should grow jewels .. " he paused and then turned to the Admiral.

"Is it because you don't have jewels that you are so grumpy?"

Then he turned back to Lina with a deep frown.

"I thought grandpa gave me and you the family jewels! But they grow on trees? So cool!"

"Luffy, Girls don't have jewels!" Lina spluttered, sounding horrified.

Ace was wavering between banging his head and laughing hysterically. Only Luffy could come with such things.

"Lina you don't have family jewels," Luffy looked dismayed by the idea.

"..Why? Did your tree not grow? Maybe you didn't water it enough!"

"Luffy.." Lina looked and sounded dejected.

As he said his brother and sister were just something else (what else he wasn't entirely sure).

"You dare mock justice, I will burn your bloodlines with my magma and make an example out of you. For the world must see the consequences of not living justly and mocking justice."

How surprising! Justice had no sense of humor.

The Admiral took several steps forward, his fists glowing with lava and instantly every one of them leaped backwards, making more space between them and the Admiral, for them to be able to dodge any of his long-ranged attacks (Luffy was dragged backwards by Jinbe. Ace sighed, he owed Jinbe several drinks, by the end of this day he would have accumulated quite a debt that he would need at least five lifetimes to pay).

Ace's body tensed up, ready to spring into action in a millisecond against the slightest move on the Admiral's part. He had his sister to protect.

Akainu changed his stance suddenly and quickly lunged forward, both his arms were dripping magma, racing to Luffy's direction, bulldozing his way through.

"Luffy..." Ace called in a panic, echoed by Lina's alarmed voice.

Ace quickly placed both hands on the ground and a fire pillar burst from his body and shot upward and forward. Standing as a wall in front of the attacking Admiral.

Hoping to slow him even for a second.

Luffy was already in his fighting stance, both Jinbe, and Ivankov in front of him ready to protect him.

"Galaxy Wink," Ivankov shouted while leaping into the air and enlarging his own head, unleashing a barrage of forward-traveling shockwaves to the ground by winking furiously.

"Arabesque Brick Fist," Jinbe in his classic karate stance unleashed a punch, sending shock-waves into the Admiral direction.

The Admiral swerved suddenly, dodging the attacks, he seemed to have anticipated them and was swiftly moving in their direction.

"Lina," Ace barked.

His sister used both her hands and legs to push herself, using his back as launching pad just in time for him to be enveloped by his flames and receive the full impact of two fists of magma with his own blaze of fire.

"Fire Fist." He yelled barely a second before the impact.

The impact was pushing him backward.

Ace used all his might, anger, hate to push back. All of his will.

But it wasn't enough.

His flames were being smothered.

Slowly and steadily, his flames were being extinguished.

Heat had never been able to hurt him after he had eaten the Mera Mera No Mi.

Until now that was.

He felt hot. Too hot.

His hands were being devoured by fire.

It wasn't a good feeling.

He tried to flare his flames again, using his bare unprotected hands to push back.

But it was too much.

The impact of the lava explosion sent his body hurtling away.

Spasms of pain assaulted his nerves before he even landed.

His hands were on fire, for once not in the literal form.

His body, especially hands, was convulsing with burning, nonstopping agony.

In his foggy unfocused state, his mind was barely able to register his name being called as the mocking words of the Admiral.

"Are you careless because you ate a logia type fruit?"

"Ace… Ace .."

"You are fire, but my magma can even burn fire. My power's stronger than yours."

Ace felt someone touching him, he tried to turn away from the pain, it hurt, dammit!

But hands grabbed him by his shoulders and started dragging him away. Ignoring his uncomprehending protest and his spasms. He was at the mercy of whoever it was, unable to put a fight. He was weak. Dammit, why?

He heard the sounds of arguing, but his hazy mind was not able to decipher the words or recognize the voices..

He forced his eyes open, not able to pinpoint when he had closed them.

He glimpsed a hat … straw hat ...

Luffy?

No.

Lina.

His sister worried face looking down at him, clutching something in her arm.

At least she was alright.

He tried to focus on her voice, to help him stay conscious.

"...Now."

He felt the ground erupt.

Time after time.

The ground was shaking non-stop as ear-piercing sounds of explosion continued.

Ace suddenly realized in his haze of pain, that those explosions were the unmistakable sound of cannons and heavy artillery being fired near him.

He tried to concentrate on the loud conversation his sister was having with the Den Den Mushi, she was basically yelling. He was able to recognize few scattered words, barely, the noise of explosions and gunshots acting as a cover to her conversation.

" … t stop… care ….. As much ti … hurry… Jinbe wo.. horm..."

He felt the urgent touch return all over his body, and Ace resisted the impulse to lit himself on fire and attack.

He was turned around gently.

It was the purple afro-man, Iva.. something.

He wasn't sure what he was doing.

Until he felt several somethings prick not gently into his thighs.

He resisted the impulse to scream, by biting his lips until they bled.

What the F**cking hell was he tryi...

OH!

The burning pain vanished as if it was never there.

Ace felt power surge through his veins.

"The pain will be much worse later," the afro-man cautioned loudly, his voice higher than the sounds of battle.

"Hurry up," Lina yelled.

Ace stood up with a frown on his face eyeing his burned hands, calling his fire forward, feeling relief when it heeded his call and he felt its gentle presence caressing him.

Was it him, or the sounds of explosions were lessening.

Ace turned to Lina, intending on carrying h...

She was frozen, unmoving.

"Li..."

"You will be the first to die by magma."

Ace instantly grabbed her and shoved her behind him. She was protesting, trying to fight his iron grip on her hand, while his other arm turned flames.

"Galaxy .."

Ivankov leaped into the air while enlarging his own head from behind Akainu, but the admiral spun around swiftly sending the Revolutionary Commander flying with his burning magma fist.

Ace took several steps backward, dragging Lina with each one, ignoring her protests.

The Admiral turned back to face them, his target. He lifted his right arm of dripping magma in front of him as if showing them the weapon that would be taken their lives.

Taunting them one last time.

"It doesn't matter, really. After all, you all are going to die here today."

His hand was ready to launch the molten sizzling punch.

Luffy suddenly bounced in front of them, he could clearly hear his laugh but not his words, his hands fisted to receive the coming punch instead of Ace.

"Luffy," Ace choked, his hand letting go of Lina's, his body moving forward.

YOU MORON, he wanted to scream but couldn't open his mouth.

It was as everything had slowed down.

His eyes narrowed only on the punch moving slowly and steadily to his brother direction.

He heard Lina yell his and Luffy's names and the impact of her fall as she lost her balance.

Faster!

His body bursting forward to protect his brother. His heart was pounding loudly, Ace could hear each beat, it was furiously pumping blood to his legs.

Not enough.

Fire flaring on his body with every step he took trying to reach him.

Pegging his body to move faster before the punch descended.

Before it reached his brother.

His little brother.

Before it was too late.

All Ace could see in front of him was red.

He heard Lina's loud gasp echo his own.

..

.

XXXXX

.

..

"You bastard! What did you do?"

Doflamingo shouted, enraged, for the nth time.

Crocodile wasn't counting.

Doflamingo aimed his index finger to fire a barrage of string projectiles at him, again. Crocodile used his sand as shield obscuring his attacker's vision while he leaped out of harm's way, again.

The effect of the poison was finally beginning to be clearly evident. Doflamingo wasn't able to move around freely and swiftly as he ought to (wished he could) and didn't seem to be in his best, mentally.

Doflamingo had finally noticed, too little too late. Very careless of him.

It had been a golden opportunity presented by the Phoenix that he had used to inject his poison from his hook into the bloodstream of Doflamingo. He had barely scratched him. But apparently, it was enough.

Mr.1 suddenly appeared behind Doflamingo and turned his forearms into drills and thrust them at his back.

Doflamingo used his strings, attaching them to the high clouds and soared through the air dodging the attack. He turned to face his attacker while blades made of strings shot out from both his hands and raked the ground, aiming for Mr.1.

Crocodile slammed his hand onto the ground, summoning a tornado of sand that slowly traveled forward to where they fought.

"I'll finish it shortly, Mr.0," Mr.1 shouted his promise before the tornado swallowed them both.

Crocodile shifted his gaze while narrowing his eyes trying to concentrate on the peculiar scene.

It was hard to read lips from this far.

He was curious to hear what the female monkey was shouting at the Admiral embroiled in full fury and wrath.

He hadn't known her long but he still hadn't thought that she would be as easily worked up as she seemed to be right now.

She had always had a carefully blank face, a carefully crafted facade when facing the world.

Was her 'work up' and shouting a ploy? Was she trying to rile the Admiral up ? for what purpose? Or had he riled her up instead? And how?

Lina D. Monkey's actions had had him change his opinion in her in these few minutes from one to end to the other end of the spectrum then back again, several times (it was getting rather annoying).

When the fleet Admiral announced the immediate execution of Ace, he saw her running desperately, her brilliant scheming brain abandoning her, revealing her as a frail, small girl. A flick of his hand would have surrounded her with sand, taking her permanently out of the game.

He considered interfering. No, he was about to use his sand to knock the executioners out of the way.

It was too tempting opportunity to ignore, by saving Ace he would be holding a debt over her head, having the Whitebeard pirates flustered because they needed his help and an appropriate payback for the Marines, foiling their plans.

He was already imagining the flustered furious looks that would be shot his way from each side, but...

As usual, the boy foiled his grandiose plans, Crocodile mocked himself.

What a fearsome power Strawhat wielded. No, he was yet to master it which made it all the more frightening.

Crocodile wasn't as surprised as he ought to be that Strawhat had such power.

But what had truly surprised him was the fact that Strawhat was able to manifest his power, unaware of it existence when he needed it the most. If Strawhat knew about it, he would have surely used it before.

As if her brother's scream filled with surging power was a wake up call (maybe it was) the girl stood up, and without any ounce of hesitation had shouted loudly, demanding they kill the Admiral. She deliberately made it seem like a consequence of the Fleet Admiral's own declaration, an eye for an eye.

For few seconds, he had believed that 'killing the admiral' was her objective and that she had fooled him again. Proving his bet on where the admiral was kept wrong he should have bet on the clown.

But he had realized fast that it wasn't her real objective. Her true objective had always remained the same: rescuing her big brother.

It did make him realize how vicious and ruthless she could be. No, not because of the kill order, even thought that was a quite telling proof.

But the sheer resolve and persistence she had in following through to her one true objective, sending a whole group of her 'allies' to face imminent death unprepared as a distraction (not even for the main show), and then smile sweetly at them and ask them to give her more.

He had no doubt that she would treat him the same (worse, much worse, she was not practically fond of him!), no, she would treat everyone that way.

It was hard to swallow but he was but a pawn in her eyes, in the large scheme of things.

Here came his predicament, in one hand he was looking forward to what the two would do here and in the world after they left this place. The chaos they would bring on a large scale would be marvelous. The marine would be surely after them trying to restore their lost honor. Leaving him free to disappear quietly and formulate his plans with some peace, but on the other hand, those two were dangerous.

The boy had that power of the King, but thankfully he yet to learn how to use it. An ominous shiver run down his back when he considered how their fight would have been if he was able to wield it then.

With others training and guiding him, Strawhat's power would be too dangerous, and he had no shortage of future teachers by how Whitebeard eyed him. His sister had just shown that she had no red lines, no limits to how far she was willing to go for what she wanted.

He had already known that If they were left alive, they would become a threat to any of his future plans. He had not known the magnitude of the threat they could present.

This temporary alliance if he would stretch and call it so would end the second they left this place. The two would not hesitate to come after him if he were to stand in their way in any form or shape.

It would be the rational choice to nip the potential threats in the bud (when they were weak and vulnerable), to eliminate the unpredictable chaos they would surely bring in their wake and not to let it all slide into unknown territory.

Maybe he should crash the other party and see what all the ruckus was about and make his decision then, assuming the Admiral didn't do the deed and killed them first, he seemed angry enough.

After all, the party in front of him seemed to be coming to an end...

Even though, Mr.1 didn't seem enough to handle Doflamingo even in his weakened state.

"You piece of shit Crocodile, what did you to my body?"

Maybe the effect of the poison was not limited to rotting the body but also the brain.

Crocodile debated how much should he reveal if at all, his experience with Strawhat taught him to be more careful with information. Even with a dead person walking.

"I poisoned you of course." He answered nonchalantly, taking a fresh cigarette out of his coat.

"That's impossible! I know all about the scorpion poison you use. I took precautions, it shouldn't.."

He began coughing, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

How the Almighty had fallen.

How unfortunate for him! It was a scorpion poison but not only that.

He had very carefully dipped his inner poisonous hook into the liquid poison from the dissolved three-headed dragon, the favorite weapon of the chief warden of Impel Down, Magellan.

Hydra.

He really was curious about the effect of the two poisons together.

His own powerful scorpion venom, which was strong enough to melt through rock and kill anyone with the effect of a single slash, and Magellan's poison that caused lethal nerve paralysis and melted the victims at the same time.

Would they work together, amplify each other lethal qualities, clash together, or weaken each other's effects.

He would soon enough see.

He did wonder why the effects were not more immediate, if maybe his hook didn't deliver the poison to the slashed neck, or if the two poisons had destroyed each other. But it seemed that Doflamingo had been prepared to the possibility of poisoning, but apparently not that kind of poison or that thoroughly.

Crocodile put a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it, savoring his nearing win.

"What kind of poison?"

Doflamingo hadn't given up, he was changing his tone, fishing for information. It was tempting to tell him, to see the look on his face when he heard the poison's source.

He gestured with his head for Mr.1 to retreat, who then masterfully disappeared in seconds, working in the assassin business had its advantages.

He should finish this quickly or he would miss the main show and his chance to crash it.

Crocodile released his inner hook carefully, it wouldn't do to poison himself when he had no antidote and turned into his sand form and glided gracefully along the ground in big circles, circling around Doflamingo.

With each circle, the area inside got smaller and smaller.

Smaller.

Smaller.

..

.

XXXXX

.

..

...

Lina stared with unseeing eyes.

Her eyes were wide open, unblinking long enough that she had begun seeing blurry spots in her vision, and tears were forming at the corners of her eyes.

She tried to wrap her head around what just happened in front of her eyes.

She took a deep breath through her nose, not daring to make any sound.

She was tired, every part of her body ached, some more than others.

Right now, her brain throbbed the most.

Standing up never crossed her mind.

Her aching and tired mind was trying to make sense of it all.

It had all begun with a red baboon trying to rile Ace up using Ace's sensitive insecurities as his weapon, and Ace, the dumb, stupid moron AGEHHHHHHHH that he was fell for it.

Words were not getting through the idiotic, headstrong dopey jar he called a brain, so she used force (she had no other choice! hem). After that, she had utilized the admiral's own weapon against him. Words. Words to poke holes in his beliefs and world. Not that it worked (it did make her feel better yelling at that maniac fanatic) but it bought the time for the others to prepare their long-ranged attack on the Admiral. Not that it worked, they didn't have enough ammunition to kept going longer, got attacked by Marines yadda yadda... To top it all, her dumb twin brother come out of nowhere when he was supposed to be running away with Jinbe (she was going to have words with sumo fish brain Jinbe, she told him to physically drag Luffy away) and a boiling magma was few inches from him. Luffy you rubber brained moron! Dammit!

Lina let a long shaky breath out.

Her brain was painting a vivid portrait of the effects of such an attack on her brother.

She could see his face. Luffy was true D, he would die with a smile on his face. But he would still be dea..

She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

Her brother was alive.

Well, she thought so.

Believed so.

Another breath.

Hoped so.

She really didn't know.

She had no idea what and how it happened.

What in the F**king hell had happened?

Lina closed her eyes, trying to stimulate her brain into functioning for change.

Her brain was refusing to work, the image of her smiling brother in her head refusing to change.

Smiling face with dead eyes.

Her brother was alive, she stubbornly repeated to her even more stubborn mind.

Because instead of him...

She took a deep breath in and opened her eyes.

Instead of Luffy, where Luffy was standing,... was supposed to be .. stood now Shanks.

She had not yet eliminated the possibility of illusion, dream, and her, herself being stone cold dead.

Shanks, she repeated.

Even of that, she wasn't completely sure, regardless if it was a reality or dream.

His back was facing her.

She could see the strands of red hair flying as he used his sword and single-handedly (literally!) stopped the Admiral's killing rampage on its track.

His hair was so unique that the epithet 'Red-Haired Shanks' was derived from it as well as his crew's name.

When her crew had read the unimpressive title, she was given on her wanted poster 'Black-Hair Lina', Luffy and the crew were either making fun of her or trying to console her, she had calmly pointed out Shanks's epithet to have them all quiet down. It was another connection to have with him. Luffy has his Strawhat and his promise, she had this.

His broad back covered with his cloak (she could hear him shouting it was a cape dammit!), as it flew out behind him like a great black wing.

His back, solid and reassuring, seemed larger right now than when she saw it last time, ten years ago. Shouldn't it look smaller now? She wasn't seven years old anymore when everything in the world looked and felt so much bigger and stronger than her.

"That is enough!"

His voice resounded loud, clear and steely cold.

The commanding quality of his voice was unmistakable, she had easily recognized it. The same quality was echoed in Luffy's voice when shit hit the fan.

It was truly Shanks.

"What is another Yonko doing here?" Akainu snarled.

Shanks's answer was to send him flying.

She had no idea how it happened.

Her eyes had never left them. She was sure she hadn't blinked.

But really she didn't care.

Shanks was here.

He sheathed his sword and turned to face them.

He was older, but it was Shanks.

He patted Ace on the shoulder, whispering a few words to him.

Ace seemed to relax, and shake his head then nodded and shook it again.

Lina took a breath in as she saw him shift his gaze to look at her.

His eyes scanned her body, stopping at each injury and scar, made even more visible thanks to her ripped clothes. The look in his eyes was unreadable to her, but she couldn't find the warmth and laughter she was accustomed too in them.

Lina didn't shift her eyes, didn't try to hide her scars, she had nothing to be ashamed of, they were proof of her resolve, of her strength, she told herself that repeatedly, but then why were their tears forming in her eyes?

Shanks patted Ace one more time before moving to her direction.

Lina opened her mouth, unsure how to greet him, felt herself choke, and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"You're late."

She said in a quavering voice.

She was acting like a spoiled entitled brat, but she didn't care.

Shanks was right in front of here.

Shanks looked taken back by her words but then he laughed and with a sheepish smile he apologized.

"Sorry, unexpected beast delayed us."

He moved closer and then crouched down to her eyes level.

Lina titled her head downward using the shadow of the hat (was it his hat or Luffy's hat? Maybe right now it was her hat?) to hide her face. Wiping the tears from her eyes quickly with the back of her hand, she failed to suppress a sob.

Now wasn't the time for tears, there were things to be done, Ace was still in danger and she didn't know where Luffy was...

She was startled by soft touch in her back.

She looked up to see the face of smiling Shanks so close to her, he was smiling warmly in his familiar, almost goofy way.

She blinked.

His hand was awkwardly trying to drape the cloak (Cape! She heard Shanks' correcting) around her.

She was startled again by a sudden, loud commotion, voices shouting the same word over and over, but she couldn't muster the will to concentrate on the discombobulated words.

She lifted her hands slowly, unsure at first, and helped him adjust it around her shoulders.

Shanks had a bemused look on his face, eyed their work and give a curt nod with a smile on his face, then he huffed.

"Lina. You are right! My cape and hat can make anyone look cool. What to do now? I guess I will have to be lame for a while."

Lina clutched the ends of the cloak in her hands.

"Stupid Shanks, I am ..."

Shanks stood up and rubbed her covered head, cutting off whatever she hadn't wanted to say.

"Everything is going to be fine." He murmured reassuringly.

"Shanks, Luffy .."

"Luffy is safe on the Red force. Ace take Lina and get out of here now."

"But.."

Shanks glared at him.

"Know when to pick your fights. No one can retreat if you are still here, you want to protect them … then escape."

Ace swallowed and nodded, moving hurriedly and crouching down in the same place that Shanks was just standing in.

"Lina, I am sorry .."

Lina shook her head, not trusting her voice, right now. Tacking the cloak tighter around her.

Ace closed his mouth, nodding, now wasn't the time. He turned around so he could carry her once again on his back and as she obediently climbed on his back, she heard it clearly.

"If anyone still wants to fight then come... We will be your opponents."

Looking from above Ace's shoulder, she saw him with his sword in hand pointing to the sky.

The challenge, the promise, and the undeniable threat were all so clear in just a few words.

A loud voice boomed, waking her from her daze.

"You have some gall Red Hair-brat. You come, crash my party uninvited and now want to hoard all the fun."

A loud joyful laugh.

"Well, maybe if I was invited from the start I wouldn't need to hoard anything, old man."

The two were bantering with each other. In a damn F**king war. And they were...

They had clearly lost their damn minds.

"What joyous day. Justice will have not only one emperor's head but two."

A really joyous day would be when that bastard finally died and stayed dead, forever.

..

.

XXXXX

.

..

...

Garp had felt this haki before and he knew to whom it belonged.

"Red hair … the man who put Luffy and Lina on the path to become a pirates." He said from behind gritted teeth.

The sharp edge in his words carried a promise of violence.

His fist was clenched painfully.

This fist he longed to plant on his smiling face. Several times. In the hope of making his face as red as his hair.

The Phoenix descended on him again with its claws outstretched, really this scoundrel never learned. Garp took a step back, using his observation haki to dodge the claws, and with his clenched fist, he sent the squawking chicken into the ground once more (He should work on his landing).

Three more walls crumbled.

That goddammit asshole son of bi… Akainu. He would remember this. He hurt Lina and was about to ki….

His clenched fist throbbed.

Red Hair had saved his grandson once again.

Garp unclenched his fist.

Garp owed him nothing. He was a good marine and like any good marine, he would follow the orders given to him.

Sengoku had ordered him to take care of the Phoenix, there was no mention of Red Hair.

Oh and he still remembered someone prohibiting him from finding a yonko and picking a fight with him.

..

.

XXXXX

.

..

...

Hawkeyes sheathed his sword and turned to leave.

His observation haki had already told him what his eyes were confirming, Red-Hair was here.

"Hawkeyes, where are you going?"

Someone called to him, demanding an answer.

He was some marine that he couldn't bother to recognize.

"I agreed to fight Whitebeard," he spelled it out for them politely.

"Fighting Red Hair was never part of the agreement. "

He turned his back and moved forward. This war was nearing its end. At least it should be, but a game-changing twist might still occur with how things were going today, honestly, it wouldn't be a surprise!

"I am leaving," he declared just to fill the stunned silence.

No, he wasn't. He was leaving the fight not the place.

He had lost interest in the fight, he wasn't able to pick a fight with Whitebeard like he wanted. His commanders were interesting opponents at least.

He was going to find a good spot to observe from.

This war was very enlightening, he finally understood Shanks's obsession with two D children. Luffy and Lina D Monkey.

He had finally met the elusive Lina that the drunken Red Hair wouldn't stop badgering him about, he understood his interest (more like obsession) and his worry. The weapon she had chosen to utilize was a fearsome one but it didn't change the fact that she was still naive, small things that should have been obvious were not.

He had already had quite the lasting impression of the boy that declared fearlessly that he would become the pirate king, facing a swordsman (the strongest swordsman in the world) barehanded for his crewmates' sake.

He had yet to decide who was more dangerous of the two.

The one that planned and schemed using everyone around her, with or without their approval or willingness as pawns in her plans.

Or the person that was able one by one, without tricks or words, to turn the people around him into his allies.

Hawkeyes shook his head amused at himself.

He had forgotten one important thing.

Lina was a Strawhat. She had already chosen the person she would follow to the end of the world.

Her plans as grandiose as they were, their purpose was only to make it easier for Strawhat to do what he intended to do from the beginning.

More than anyone sailing the sea the man possessed the most terrifying powers.

Hawkeyes shifted his gaze trying to find a good spot, preferably somewhere high to observe the going on's of the war.

On a whim, Hawkeyes used his observation haki to assess the field.

Hawkeye stopped in his stride.

His eyes glowed in anticipation.

Maybe he had sheathed his sword a bit early, it seemed that there was an opponent he could enjoy facing.

..

.

XXXXX

.

..

...

Several relieved sighs were clearly heard upon the Red Force.

"Everything worked out as they had planned."

"Thank the gods captain made it."

"Captain is awesome."

The crewmates of Surgeon of Death were cheering and celebrating the success of the plan AKA keeping their lives intact.

Really, the effects of an enraged Shanks on people around him were quite amazing.

Just remembering the aura and the look on Shanks' face, not only him, all of them when this naive rookie blurted out his reason for being here. Really it made his imagination spiral downward to very, very unpleasant territory.

Benn almost bit the cigarette in half to stop himself from laughing out loud at the faces they were all making.

It was a good thing that he was keeping track of the new rookies and their abilities.

Trafalgar Law had eaten the Ope Ope no Mi, which allowed him to create some kind of special territory with a light blue aura. And in it, he had almost an absolute control. For example, if both Luffy and Shanks were to be in the same spherical territory it was very easy to switch them.

His ability was certainly useful for their predicament and lady luck seemed to have smiled upon them at the right moment.

The sudden barrage of explosions made it easy for Law and Shanks to sneak into the battle and for Law to use his power with none of the others being the wiser.

"Benny, is it okay to do that to Luffy?"

Lucky Roo had been fretting and worrying since they had finalized the plan. It was evident by the missing chunk of meat in his hand.

They all had been worried. Things could have easily gone horribly wrong.

"It is the best option. He will be here in few minutes and you could check on him you..."

He had yet to finish his words when several voices yelled.

"They are here."

"I see them."

Rockstar was running to the ship, on his shoulder he could see what he guessed was Luffy's unconscious body. His right hand was securely keeping it in its place.

That what was worrying Lucky Roo. They had agreed that it would be for the best to knock Luffy's out, not only to keep the promise, but because they had assumed that he would be in a bad shape, and knowing Luffy he would still want to fight. Luffy and Shanks were too similar in their stubbornness for Benny's sanity.

But they seemed to have been way off, he looked in a terrible shape.

Benn narrowed his eyes on Rockstar's other hand, he was dragging their guest captain by the scruff of the neck while the latter was shouting and holding his hat and sword in each hand.

Had the idiot, after all their explicit warnings, really tried to go after Lina.

He seemed smart guy, at least smart enough not to dig his grave with his own hands.

He seemed to be shouting repeatedly at Rockstar, who was ignoring him as they moved forward to where their ship was certainly concealed.

Lucky Roo jumped from the ship, meeting Rockstar and gently taking Luffy from him while Rockstar threw the rookie onto the ship's deck. Their guest landed ungracefully on his butt, somehow still clutching his sword and hat.

"Captain," was yelled by his frightened crew, while their captain was busy cursing and complaining.

Benn tossed the finished cigarette into the water and took out another cigarette, lit it, sucked up the smoke while he purposely moved to their direction.

He needed not say anything, as soon as the naive rookie glimpsed him, he shouted.

"Dammit. I wasn't going after Lina. I was going after Doflamingo."

Doflamingo, the Shichibukai. The pinky feathered King of Dressrosa. One of the most dangerous pirates with a vast web of connections in the underworld. Some said he was the spider weaving the web, others said he was the puppet master controlling the spider.

It really didn't matter which one it was, he was a very dangerous opponent to have.

"What kind of business you have with him?"

Law's face contorted in pure rage telling Benn all about his business without using a single word.

Vendetta, seeking revenge of some sort. The pure hate in his eyes could only mean that.

"Because of the moron there, I missed my chance to take him out."

Said moron had just arrived in the deck, with Lucky Roo in tow.

Benny arched an eyebrow, stating clearly his dubiousness in the ability of the new rookie to take out the strongest of the Shichibukai.

"He was on the ground coughing blood!" Law elaborated angry, putting his hat on his head with angry huff.

How interesting, someone was able to take out, or almost take out Doflamingo, he wondered who it was? And how he did it?

Benn took mental tone to find out, this could mean new dangerous player in the seas.

Law had clearly longed to give him a final blow. Yet, he was clearly having a conflicting feeling seeing his goal writhing in pain was satisfying but not being the reason for said writhing was very aggravating.

Benn wondered what path would this young pirate chose now that maybe his long-sought goal was snatched from him. Would he tumble farther down into the depression unable to gather the strength to move on or would he pick himself up and pull himself out of this deep well, finding himself a better goal.

Whoever took out Doflamingo may have saved this young man from imminent death or sent him on a path much worse than death itself.

But in the long run, whatever this youngling fell or rose mattered none to the Red Hair pirates.

But now...

Well, what the young pirate wanted didn't matter. He was a doctor (by his reputation a good one) and his expertise was necessary as their own doctors would be much needed here.

Benn turned and looked at Luffy's body, leaving the youngling to stew with his deep seated anger and bitter disappointment for a bit longer.

"What is Luffy's condition?"

The creases of worry on Lucky Roo's face had deepened with every passing moment while gently holding Luffy's body, who was certainly snoring, drooling and murmuring something about a meat or maybe popsicle... Whatever it was. It was huge, according to his flailing hands and murmurs of more.. More..bigger, Sanji.

"He doesn't look good, there so many scars and injuries.." Lucky Roo trailed off.

"Surgeon of Death, I was speaking to you. You are a doctor aren't you?" Benn snapped.

Law cursed loudly and sighed, muttering under his breath. He stood up reluctantly, his limbs had no 'life' as he headed slowly to where Luck Roo was.

He stared, cursed, put his sword on the deck and took out a pair of gloves from his jeans, and begin gently prodding and poking Luffy's body. He seemed to be in his element. The dark cloud of gloom dissipating as something else caught his attention.

"What is your prognosis?"

"He is in terrible shape. I have no idea how was he able to stand like this, forget fighting."

Law was still using his fingers to probe Luffy's chest.

"He needs surgery right away."

"You sound too eager." Remarked Benn casually, earning a glare from the young doctor.

"You are the one that asked me for my opinion as a doctor, and I didn't say I would be the one performing the surgery, only that he needed one."

Benn puffed smoke out into the Doctor's direction, who made an irritated face as result.

"Are you saying that it is beyond your ability."

He couldn't have Luffy stay on the ship for long for various reasons, the obvious ones the promise and the fact that their doctors were going to be shortly busy, maybe even very busy.

"Oh, I see you are the Surgeon of Death, not life."

"I didn't say that." The boy spluttered.

"Oh?"

"You trust me to operate on him?"

Smart, trying to change tactics when he felt overwhelmed.

"No," Benn answered curtly.

"If anything were to happen him or to Lina. I wouldn't be stopping my captain next time."

He huffed another smoke in his direction, making eye contact.

"No. I would be joining him."

The boy swallowed but didn't break eye contact with him.

No mistake, this youngling was smart enough to understand the heavy weight of this threat. The fact that it wasn't one. It was a simple fact.

"So, if you have the tiniest doubt in your ability you better speak up now."

The doctor seemed to contemplate things deeply.

He turned to look at Luffy's unmoving body, suddenly a loud snort erupted from him. Law called for his crewmates, shouting orders before they arrived by his side.

"Shachi, Penguin and Bepo go and prepare the operation room, now." He hefted his sword throwing it to the bear who caught it instinctively.

The two humans exchanged looks and saluted their captain simultaneously and with shouts of "aye aye captain," they jumped from the railing onto their submarine.

The bear was staring, seemingly in a daze.

"Bepo," snapped Law.

"Sorry captain, sorry."

He too hurriedly tried to jump back into their submarine. Tried! As his leg tangled with railing and he fell.

"Is he okay?" murmured Lucky Roo.

"I am okay, sorry," a loud yell from the submarine direction was heard.

"Jean Bart, take Strawhat to the operation room and prepare the submarine for departure."

The large man that had kept quiet the whole time, raised his hands to take Luffy from Lucky Roo's arms.

But Lucky Roo was not letting go. He was eyeing the large man with suspicious eyes.

Benn was about to call to him when Lucky Roo turned to face Law.

"You promise that Luffy will be okay?"

The doctor was taken back, he hadn't expected such sincere question.

He nodded, "I can't guarantee anything, but I will do my best. The rest depends on his will to live."

Lucky Roo sighed, his knowing smile returning to his face.

"Then there's nothing to worry about, there is no one with a stronger will to live."

Lucky Roo then gently transferred Luffy to the waiting hands of Jean Bart.

Benn took out a small Den Den Mushi and threw it in the direction of the rookie captain before he jumped to his submarine.

"Lina will call you on this."

The captain clutched the Den Den Mushi hard.

"Remember," cautioned Benn in low voice.

The Rookie gave a small nod of acknowledgement and jumped.

And within few seconds all of them were gone into their submarine.

Benn hoped he made the right choice as he watched as the submarine submerge.

"Was that a good idea?" Yasopp asked him quietly.

"Luffy can't stay here, if we are going to war, he would be vulnerable here and so would we." Benn murmured just as quietly while loudly he asked.

"Is everyone ready?"

He get nods and aye's as his answer.

He motioned for their navigator to begin moving the ship steadily to the island.

"You are sure we don't need to wear socks on our heads?" asked one of his crewmates, earning snickers and snorts from the crowd and some very creative swears, curses, and protests.

Benny shook his head amused.

The memory seemed quite distant but in reality, was only a few minutes old. It came swimming in the front of his mind.

..

They were in the midst of a heated argument about how best for Shanks to join the war without breaking his promise. Ideas, ridiculous ideas, and interpretations of the promise were starting to be thrown around, no, before that, they needed to explain to the members of the crew about the promise itself, the whole context.

The discussion was being held on the ship deck, they were sitting in a circle, some had even brought chairs to the deck, while others were standing and others were slumped by the ship's railing.

Benn was sitting by Shanks, helping him with the explanation as best as he could.

"Captain, you said you will meet at sea, right?"

Shanks hummed, nodding, deep in thought.

"Well, technically it isn't a sea. I mean it is an island, right?"

"Yeah," others muttered their agreement.

"It is his brother? I mean if you are helping to save his brother then I don't think it would matter. His brother is important. I wouldn't care!"

"Of course, you wouldn't care! You're an only child!"

"It is a hypothetical situation, you moron."

Shanks nodded, he wasn't convinced, but he seemed ready to accept the unpleasant, grim reality, that he might not have any other choice but break his promise.

"Are you sure he is there? You are .. ouch," one of the new recruits asked (at least tried to).

Yasopp had stopped him using the barrel of his rifle while shaking his head at the new recruit antics.

"Listen up rookies, the first rule on a Yonko's ship is do not speak in matters you know nothing about."

The rookie rubbing his aching head but nodded keeping his mouth shut.

"I thought the first rule was not touching any of your rifles," someone else murmured.

"Wasn't it not touch the sake?"

"No, you morons, it was, not to touch any of my stuff, sake is one of my things. Got that?" Yasopp ordered.

There were scattered nods and snorts all around.

Lucky Roo's smile widened as he kept eating.

It was the unspoken rule on the ship that Yasopp was the one to teach the rules to the new rookies. It was as frustrating as it amusing seeing the new recruits stumble around trying to follow his ridiculous rules while the crew watched the free entertainment.

"How about a mask?"

"Luffy is stupid enough we might be able to pull it off." Yasopp approved laughing.

"You would need a new name too," added Lucky Roo between bites.

"Wait, does that mean all of us need masks?"

"What about others?" one of the crew sitting near them asked, interrupting hesitantly.

"Huh?"

"Do we need to trick everyone else, Marines, the Whitebeard pirates…" he trailed off.

"No, it is enough to trick him."

"Wow, he is that stupid?"

"Yup." Lucky Roo intoned with a grin.

"What about his sister?"

"Lina!" Lucky Roo shouted with his mouth full of food, spitting some on an unlucky few.

"The one that called the captain lame, right?"

"Yup, the one and only!" Yasopp answered with a laugh.

Benn cut in before things took an unwanted turn.

"We don't need to worry about Lina.."

"Is she also that stupid?"

Benn ignored the question and the laughter and continued.

"... we wouldn't be able to trick her whatever we do. But she knows about the promise so she will understand what we are trying to do and keep quiet."

There were some scattered nods of understanding.

"So, masks will work?"

"I have papers and colored pens."

"Me too!"

How surprising, on a pirate ship they had coloring books. Really, sometimes he wasn't sure if he was the first mate of a fearsome crew or a seasoned babysitter with a bunch of toddlers to take care of.

"What?"

"Why the hell do you have that?"

"Please tell me you don't have coloring books too!" someone groaned.

"Why not? It sounds fun."

"You call yourself a pirate?"

"Ummm, I may have some."

"Of course, you do!"

"Sora!"

"Huh?"

"What did you say?"

"The hell?"

"You know! Sora." Thomas cheerily repeated, he was a new recruit, he had joined them five months ago, with ginger hair and ginger personality to match it AKA passionate about stupid things, and smile always stuck on his face, he was almost as bad as Lucky Roo.

"What the hell is Sora?"

"Rockstar you didn't punch him in the head by a mistake again." Demanded Yasopp.

Rockstar shrugged and returned to his drinking.

"What do you mean by Sora?" asked Benn, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Sora, Warrior of the Sea."

Was this supposed to mean something to them?

Benn arched his eyebrow, showing how unimpressed he was with the explanation.

Thomas still smiling explained.

"It is comics about a Marine hero named Sora who battles against the evil armies of Germa 66."

"HUH!"

"There is something like that..."

"I forget you were once a Marine recruit.."

"It is what the children read growing up where I used to live," Thomas added to defend himself.

"It is really a cool story," He seemed desperately trying to convince them.

"Brainwashing children. Why I am not surprised that the Marines would do something like that."

"Train them young," murmured another.

"I actually joined because captain reminded me of Sora," Thomas said ignoring the snide remarks.

"Captain reminded you of a Hero of Justice?!" yelled someone as the chuckles, sniggers, snickers, chortles, hoots, and hollers spread all over the ship. Even Shanks seemed to get out of his self-imposed gloom and was listening with interest.

Lucky Roo stopped eating to give a deep, heartfelt chuckle that bubbled into a loud belly laugh.

"It is true!" Thomas stood up and dashed inside of the ship, shouting.

"Just wait a minute it. I will show you!"

The ruckus of laughter was still going on for much longer than was at all comfortable by how many were clutching different parts of their bodies.

"I don't know what more disturbing, that he called you a hero or that he has, on a pirate ship, comics spreading marine propaganda," Benn remarked nonchalantly.

Laughing Shanks answered him, "at least he didn't join because of my hair as you first thought."

"This doesn't make it better," insisted Benn.

"We are not going to throw him out of the crew."

Shanks said and while it was a cheery comment, the underlying order was clear to Benn's ears.

Benn sighed. He knew a losing battle when he saw it. When his captain got stubborn about something there was no changing his mind.

"Hmmm … you just want to look at your hero counterpart," murmured Benn under his breath, but it wasn't low enough.

"True," Shanks didn't bother denying.

"Here it is." A boisterous yell was heard before Thomas emerged into the deck.

He was back. It was also disturbing how fast he had found them.

He had several books in his hands, they scattered on the floor as he stumbled in his haste to sit. He wasted no time gesturing at the hero.

"Look, you have the same cool cloak!"

"Cape!" Shanks corrected irritably as he eyed the cover with unconcealed interest.

Benn took out a cigarette and lit it. He would need all the help he could get for the incoming massive headache.

"I will give you that, his cape is almost as cool as mine." Shanks picked up the comic book to look at the cover from different angles.

"Right!" cheered Thomas, thrilled to be finally understood.

Shanks suddenly stood up with the book still in his hand, striking the same pose as Sora.

He let the book fall and fisted his hand letting it dangle by his side.

"What do you think Benny? Don't I make a better-looking hero.."

The wind blew as he finished his words, his cape billowed out around him, making him look like a fearsome hero.

The effect was destroyed a second after as the wind howled dragging the cape and its owner with its power. Their esteemed captain was almost choked by his precious cape.

"No, captain! you should have your hand up?"

Shanks had just finished adjusting his cape as to not choke him to death.

He pumped his fisted hand to the sky. (*jingle of superman playing in the background*)

Benn couldn't help emitting a snort at how ridiculous his captain looked.

"Captain you look like you are about to fly!" Lucky Roo intoned, his face shining with mirth as always.

"Faster than the wind!" another called.

Benny added to himself, 'the wind that almost choked you'.

"Does Sora fly?

"No, but he can walk on water." Thomas enthusiastically answered.

"That sounds so convenient, I want power like that." Lucky Roo said thoughtfully, taking out another big chunk of meat from his endless supplies.

"No, Cap. I meant with your sword."

"Oh, like this."

Shanks unsheathed his sword and did the same pose again.

Benn shook his head and murmured loudly around the cigarette in his mouth.

"Please don't use any of this poses in any of our fights. It will make our reputation plummet even more into the ridiculous territory."

"Good idea Benny! I am going to use one of the poses when we arrive at Marineford."

He should have kept his mouth shut. He knew better.

Shanks laughed and turned to answer his crew that was demanding he try some other poses but he stopped and turned to Benn's direction once again.

His smile stretched across his face, forcing his thin cheeks to wrinkle toward his eyes as he said.

"We are pirates, who care about reputation. My once best friend is the epitome of ridiculousness."

Did he mean the 'famous' Buggy, that he heard so much about? Benn shook his head, bemused.

Several of the crew had already opened several of the books and were grouped together reading it with terrifying interest, accompanied in some cases with thunderous laughter, nonstopping cackles, and hysterical giggles.

Benn took detailed mental notes of the ones that did neither, and those that actually giggled.

'You are going to be the first mate of one of the mighty Yonko's crews, they said', Benn mocked himself mentally.

"Captain look .. try to do this pose and say the words." A group insistently shouted, the group members bursting in laughter between each word.

Shanks intrigued, hurried to the group and from behind them, read the comic strip silently.

An alarming smile stretched his mouth and the glint in his eyes was even more alarming.

Shanks schooled his face, looking the ever serious and proper gentleman (total lie!). He moved his feet, so there was a gap between them, his hand staying on the handle of his sword. He cleared his throat getting everyone's attention, who quieted down to see what their captain had to say. They were all in high spirits, still snickering and quietly chuckling.

With a sideway shake of his head, and as the slightly windy air ruffled his hair. Shanks narrowed his eyes, his glaring gaze settled on each one that had a bright smile on his face or was still laughing.

The smiles disappeared quickly and faces turned confused. Benn merely raised his eyebrow slightly, awaiting the climax.

With threatening deep voice their captain declared.

"You misguided scoundrels are going to feel what justice means deep in your bones."

The watching masses were seized with uncontrollable laughter and renewed cheer, while Benn blinked, his mind replaying the scene in his head as his cigarette dangled precariously from his slightly open lips.

The sounds of falling chairs with their occupants still in them saved his cigarette from the fate of falling as did the laughing screams and yells of those trying to save themselves from Lucky Roo's massive body rolling from side to side in hearty, contagious laughter.

Shanks was able to keep the pose for another two seconds before he burst in lively laughter, joining his crew.

A few minutes later and the laughter was still going on strong until some faces turned into a horrible shade of purple and people were clutching their backs and sides, complaining (still laughing) that they ached.

"Captain this one!"

Another group called and Shanks cheerily accepted their demand.

The smiling crew hooted and whistled in anticipation for the show. Benn sighed, shrugging to himself. He decided to enjoy the show for few minutes before things turned serious again.

Their captain's new pose had him put his right foot ahead, his hand coming to his heart. His face showing heartfelt sincerity as he pledged.

" I, Shanks, am a hero of justice will stand strong and tall against you filthy pirates, for justice will prevail."

Laughter, chuckles, and even more hoots and whistles bloomed around the ship, Benn found himself joining in the light-hearted mirth.

"You need another ten centimeters to be able to pull that off."

Shanks smile fell and his face showed annoyance and irritation instead as he demanded.

"Are you insinuating that your captain is short ?"

"It wasn't insinuating. You are short," answered Yasopp, between gulps of some type of alcohol and laughter.

"You mean a half meter. This Sora is really tall," someone else corrected.

"Are you ganging up on your captain?" Shanks demanded, unsheathing his sword amidst a gale of catcalls, snickers, all-out wild guffaws, whoops and hollers.

A rowdy bunch was never enough to describe their crew.

Benn turned feeling a gaze pickling into him.

Lucky Roo was standing behind him, with a chunk of uneaten meat in his hand, looking hesitant despite his smile. (He had somehow stopped rolling around and stood up).

Benn gestured to him sit, others scattered around to make a place to the big-boned man to sit.

"What is on your mind, Roo?"

Lucky Roo took a big bite of the meat while he sat. Swallowing, he said.

"I don't think any of it will work… I mean Luffy knows us and not only Shanks."

"He is stupid but not that stupid." Benn agreed.

Lucky Roo took another bite.

"Saving Luffy and Lina's brother is important but... So is the promise."

Benn inhaled the smoke, savoring the bitter burned taste in his mouth, and blow it out slowly.

"That is true, but we may not have the choice here but to choose."

Lucky Roo stopped eating and dejectedly nodded.

"What are my transforming robot and pet seagull are conspiring about without me?" Shanks's voice rung as he stared at them in glee, clearly waiting for their reaction.

Benn obliged by raising his eyebrow.

Lucky Roo let out a high laugh, "Seagull and Robot?"

"My most important sidekicks," announced Shanks, showing them a picture where Sora was standing and behind him what looked like a large sophisticated robot and there was a seagull flying over his shoulder.

"Do you wanna guess who is which?"

Benn didn't bother to answer while Lucky Roo's laughter took to a new level in loudness, instead Benn said.

"His faithful sidekicks were conspiring about how to prevent the hero from breaking his promise."

The smile vanished from Shanks' face as it did to anyone in earshot.

Benn crushed the guilty feeling rising in him when presented with the dejected looking Shanks, shoulders slumped, face filled with sorrow.

They needed to find a solution, and time was running out.

Benn presented the issue brought by Lucky Roo.

"Luffy knows a large number of the crew, not only you but us. If he saw any of us he would expect to see you here, the mask would have no meaning then."

Heavy silent fell on the crew, a lot of them had thoughtful looks on their faces.

"We can use our socks, and put them over our heads!" someone exclaimed.

"Oiiii, noooo.. your socks smell nasty without putting them on your head, spare us, please."

"No, because your socks smell heavenly!"

"Actually socks would work better than masks, you can hide your hair!" Yasopp said pointing at Shanks.

"We don't have time to prepare cool masks in few minutes anyway," another agreed.

"It would trick Luffy for sure."

"From now on, Captain will go by the name of Sora."

"Warrior of the Sea," an alarmingly large number of the crew instantly yelled with smiles on their faces.

"It may work!"

"The Marines would be so confused!"

"But what about our flag .."

"To take down our flag... that's just..."

"And the sails ..."

"We are a Yonko's crew ..."

"Yeah, but it is so our captain can keep his promise.."

"What would the marine think …."

"Who cares.."

"And the ship ..."

A loud commotion erupted, everyone, speaking over each other, arguing hotly. Shanks looked really troubled.

Benn stood up, looking at the sea. They were almost there.

Whatever they choose, they had to make the choice now.

One of the crew by the railing was waving wildly at him trying to catch his attention, gesturing at something below them, in the sea.

Benn with raised eyebrow moved hurriedly to the railing and looked at the sea.

A sinister smile blossoming on his face.

..

.

They hadn't convinced the young captain to help as much as they threatened him, but it all worked out for the best.

Shanks was right, the sea worked in mysterious ways.

"F**cking shit, Captain just sent the dipshit Akainu flying."

"Go Captain."

"No one messes with the Red Hair pirates."

All of them looked in anticipation for the moment Shanks ordered them to join the fight.

"What is the captain doing?"

"His taking his cloak off."

"Cape!" someone shrieked, earning loud guffaws and chuckles.

"Why?"

"He is showing off, doesn't need his superpower to beat some shitty marines."

"That Lina," called Lucky Roo, stopping in his eating to look more closely.

"Wait, is that the girl that called Captain lame?"

"Sure did!" Yasopp answered.

"Can we meet her?"

"Hey, you moron, you don't remember what almost happened to the rookie captain when he showed interest in her."

"Yeah, but still!"

"Look, he's putting his cape around her."

"Our captain can be so adorable."

"How sweet."

"No, not sweet, it's lame."

The word was picked up swiftly by the crew.

"Lame!"

"Lame!"

"Lame!"

Other crews and groups shouted 'long live', 'Captain', 'victory', 'Justice' in their captain's name or their crew's name but this crew howled, as one, ' lame'.

Benn mused to himself, they were one dysfunctional family that showed their affection in the weirdest of ways.

Benn gestured to Yasopp, who whistled sharply getting everyone to quiet down and pay attention.

Benn threw his cigarette to the sea, standing in front of his crew, waiting for his captain words, his signal.

His order.

"If anyone still wants to fight then come... We will be your opponents."

Unbelievable! He really struck the damn pose!

Benn felt like palming his face, instead, he took out his own rifle and aimed it at the sky, his voice as loud as his crewmates, announcing their arrival to all.

.

The Red Hair Pirates had entered the war.

..

.

XXXXX

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..

...

As journalists, a war was an opportunity of a lifetime. He was waiting on Archeology Sabaody watching the huge screens the marines prepared, with his fellow journalists from almost every country and island to report to the world on every little detail about the war. He waited with baited breath to report who would win, the Marines, justice, or the Strongest Man in the World, Whitebeard.

He thought this would be breathtaking, exciting, an experience from another world.

It had been, he frowned, not sure how long since the war began, it felt like a century. Maybe day or two. He looked at his watch, only a few hours. HUH, strange maybe his watch was broken.

What he was mostly feeling now was pure stunned, dumbfounded confusion.

Was war supposed to this chaotic? Was he as naive as his colleagues accused him of being for showing his excitement for this war?

He really, really didn't understand what was going on. Yet he kept watching with attentive attention, unable to peel his eyes from the sea train wreck in front of him.

He and many others had stopped calling their sponsors because they had no freaking idea what the heck to tell them. The marines and pirates are playing some kind of tag? Flying ships? God's fury in the shape of lightning and thunder?

The only thing of note he was able to report was the arrival of another Yonko (F**king shit in dress, were more on the way? God or whatever was out there help us all), the clash between the Fleet Admiral and Whitebeard (the shit just got freaking serious, Buddha and Santa Claus were fighting for dominance, his mind shrieked at him hysterically) and Admiral Kizaru's capture by some unknown girl (someone later identified her as a Straw Hat, Black Hair Lina, now being called the Goddess of Chaos, but basically, they knew nothing about her, nothing and she took down a freaking Admiral! Breath mind breath!). But now he wasn't even sure if the Admiral was really captured.

Yes, he had arrived to the stage where he couldn't believe his own eyes.

Some still tried to do their job and report to the world, and the answers (screams) they received for their efforts were usually are you f**ckin kidding me (he received the same reply for the less strange phenomena).

The watching masses began to whisper and murmur again.

What had he missed now? He only shifted his gaze for a second.

Someone shouted, in stunned daze, telling him all about it.

"Did the Red Hair crew just call their captain LAME?"

Nope, no way in hell. He wasn't going to call in anymore. Why bother!

.

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Does anyone want to share his thoughts? Anyone? Feelings? Hello? Are you there?

:D

I have been waiting for a whole year to write this chapter AKA since the beginning of this story. Share your thoughts about everything.

I had to resist the impulse of finishing the chapter after Ace's POV. Aren't I the best person, for not letting my evil side win ;)

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Don't forget to read the Marine!Lina below. GO READ IT!

Also, check my Shanks's Choice story, I had updated and would love to hear your thoughts and any ideas that you have.

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Please be patient with me this is going to be long.

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Chapter notes:

1. Akainu's words were taken from the OP actual series when he confronted Ace. I changed and tinkered things to fit what had happened in this story. I hope you appreciate this, cause I had to watch the scene on a loop for a while and it WASN'T FUN!

2. If you are up to date with the manga, you should know that the "Sora, Warrior of the Sea" is mentioned in OP. It is an actual comic in the series. Here from wiki: 'Sora, Warrior of the Sea is a popular comic strip published in the World Economic Journal'. The brilliant idea for Shanks to disguises himself as Sora come for the one and only King Black' Victor Cachat (go check his amazing stories. I have the pleasure of helping him sometimes). We all bow to your heavenly insight. From him come the idea to do a REACT for what the Red Hair pirates' reaction would be to this kind of comic. I hope you all enjoyed (especially, his Highness), and can't wait to hear your reaction to their reaction. ;)

3. The war is nearing its end, yes. But it isn't over, so be tuned for more. Luffy, for now, is out of the "game", but Lina and Ace are still there. We still have several chapters to go.

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MY important personal notes:

1. I want to congratulate myself and you, my loyal readers. In the fourth of this month (4.6) this story had turned one. I begin writing and posting my first fic more than a year now. It was a fun journey, and are yet to end. It was fun because I had others to share it with. That were generous enough to share their feeling, thoughts, and views. Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this wild ride with me and would continue to do so.

2. A while back I shared with you, my thoughts about the future of this fic, if I should continue it as a full story, or just finish it after the war, or after the war and the aftermath to do 'one shots' about a variety of scenes. Thank you all for sharing your opinions and your love to the story. I had decided to go with one shots option. With my other stories and my chaotic life, it is my best choice.

3. I have a list, a very long list, an awesome list of ideas for different scenes or AU's were Lina chose differently (like the MarineAU below), meeting with different people, crack and etc. If you want your ideas to be in my awesome list, then share it with me and give me details. Details inspire me. Inspiration equal writing :D

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Leave a review and cheer me up! I need all the cheerfulness after seeing Akainu's face, too many times for anyone sanity (especially mine).

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Omake 3: Third Time's (Not) the Charm

"Oi Lina-chan" she turned, distracted by the voice. It was Jango speed walking his way over. "Why are you down here, Hina-chan needs you" he said as he walked by, "we need to get going."

"Right" Lina said, "Who's the prisoner?" she asked curious as to his? name and species (one could never have too much knowledge).

"Oh he's an octopus fishman, pretty cool right?" Jango said as he grabbed her arm and starting to almost pull her along.

"Yeeeaahh" Lina said trailing off as they walked away, she looked back hoping he saw the message in her eyes, she would be back.

XXXXX

There it was in the distance, Lina watched as it got closer and then she felt her heart sink in dismay. Its peak fading back into the sky as they sailed along.

She had known that they would not be crossing the mountain but going through the calm belt, it still sucked. She had heard that Reverse Mountain was like a giant dangerous roller coaster and she had wanted too.. On no! This now and soon she would be a Luffy that would be Not. Good. (First one might want to have a little fun, ignoring the risks, next they would be running around demanding meat and finally lose all of their sanity) and she would bet that Luffy had chosen that way, no she wasn't jealous of her dorky brother, having some fun wasn't her turning into a Luffy. She hoped.

"What next" Lina asked saluting from her position hanging upside down in the rigging (no, not like a monkey, shut up Fullbody) by her knees.

"It's your turn to feed the prisoner" he called back up to her.

"Right" she called down and let herself drop, rolling before sticking the landing right in front of Fullbody, "I'll just head to the kit..mess to pick up his food" she said and hoped he didn't notice her flub with the names (stupid names!).

XXXXX

Food in hand she walked back down the passage that she had only been down once before. She had meant to go talk to the fishman again but just hadn't had the time with learning the names and the ranks and the routes (it was almost enough to make her turn pirate, Luffy wouldn't care about proper salutes, on the other hand here she was granted lots of food with no fight and nobody had caught her grabbing yet).

She was at the cell, she hesitated but turned the light on, if she wanted to talk to the fishman then she could at least make sure it wasn't dark.

Opening the door she got her first real view of the fishman (she needed to find out his name, calling him fishman was annoying her if someone had name they should be addressed by it not Luffy's sister, Ace's little sister, the small brat, the quiet one, sad twin...).

"Oh," she heard him say as he squinted at her, "you're so young."

Again with age thing, age was number, it wasn't like with age came more wisdom or knowledge.. Take her ex-captain for example he was a classic thirty something douchebag. Seriously did everyone need to mention how young she looked, even prisoners.

"So" Lina felt her temper rising, even if she wasn't an old man like Gramps it didn't mean that she was a nice little kid honestly (she was raised by bandits! Nice wasn't word they used. ). "What's your name" she asked, quickly, keeping her face blank, trying to tamp down on her temper by distracting herself from her thoughts..

"Hatchan" he said, throwing it forward like an offering.

"I brought food Hatchan" Lina said holding up the dry unappetizing bread as an offering before slipping it through the bars.

Lina watched him eating the unappetizing food, and decided to get rid of the uneasy feeling she was having since..,well, since she decided that being a Marine was the best choice. Recently she had begin to doubt the wisdom of her decision, there were too many rules and restrictions, stupid things to remember.. Well, their captain was nice, and she had made some nice friends, but still, she wondered what her life on Luffy's ship would have been like… she would probably be starving for anything edible, going on stupid adventures one after the other..

Lina shook herself from her thoughts, she had chosen and that was that, and asked the dreaded question.

"Sorry, it may sound weird. But by any chance have you met a boy named Luffy, he has black hair and has a strawhat on his head. If you haven't meet him then don…."

OH.

Lina paused eyeing the stunned fishman's face, his partly chewed food a pulp in his opened mouth (it wasn't view she wanted to see ever again, people should take better care of their teeth).

Oh boy, who was the moron that said the sea was a vast, vast place.

"Swallow then answer" Lina said not wanting to see any more partly eaten food.

Hatchan closed his mouth, swallowed then said, "Yes, I met him, a small boy and with swordman of his. Did you meet him too? Had he attacked you too? He seemed quite excited.

Did everyone know Luffy? Seriously first gramp's new students then Jango and Fullbody and now the Hatchan, why couldn't she just meet people who had never heard of Gramps or Luffy. Was she cursed to always be stuck in his footsteps? There were who knew how many people in the East Blue alone and why did she keep having to run into the ones who knew Luffy, was this some cosmic joke or...

Unaware of Lina's mental rant Hatchan kept talking to her, " and my old crew got into a fight with his crew and now we are here ..".

"Hmm old?"

"After strawhat boy crew beat us, the residents shackled us and when the marines finally arrived and were transferring us to the ship, I escaped."

She could hear the dig clearly in his voice. Crew, swordsman? How many people had already joined Luffy? From what she got out from Fullbody and Jango, there were only two maybe three members. Luffy was getting on in the world, she wondered what kind of people his crew was made off? Probably weirdos like him!

"How did that work for you?" she couldn't resist saying.

"Unfortunately, I got caught again!"

The both of them shared a look and burst laughing.

"How do you know him and his crew?"

"I don't" Lina said forcefully.

"Come on, I told you my story. " he was clearly bored and wheedling for entertainment.

"I don't know his crew."

"You know him then? Strawhat boy?"

"A far way relative" Lina started standing up and stretching, arching her back. She heard a call for her reverberating through the hallways.

"If you come back I can tell you more" Hatchan offered.

"Okay" Lina said, She could always fish (hey a pun, sort of. Were octopi fish?) for what had happened later, she knew Luffy was fine (and hopefully not meeting more people before her, ugh). She looked back at him watching him, having finished his bread. Right. That was all he had to eat. Lina stood still in an internal debate for a second before pulling a bar of chocolate she had swiped earlier out of her pocket and tossing it through the bars. Not looking back, she ran out and onto the deck.

XXXX

This was a Grand Line storm. Lina could feel it in her bones as thunder boomed and lightning crashed, illuminating the sky, almost solid with water as waves bashed against the hull of the ship, flooding onto the deck. Lina fought with the ropes, trying to tie down the last sail but her fingers kept slipping on the soaked, saturated rope as the rain was blown into her eyes by the strongest winds that she had ever felt.

Just as she had managed to get the last sail dragged down, distracted by her triumph she was blown over board like a leaf in the wind. Lina grabbed at her rope desperately but saw the end had frayed from constant rubbing.

She felt the crash, the momentary blackness as she hit the water before she got her body to move pumping her legs trying force herself to the surface. She felt herself getting weaker, the air in her lungs had been knocked out by the fall.

She felt something grab her legs and somehow throw her, she hurtled through the air, this time aided by the conflicting winds which buffeted her onto the ship.

Suddenly it was over.

As quick as the storm came it was gone, the sun beat down on them drying the soaked deck.

XXX

It was a few hours before anyone went down to check on Hatchan, "The prisoner has escaped" Lina heard Jango call, "he must have slipped his chains and jumped overboard during the storm, stupid octopus body"

XXX

The hours after that were a blur, teams were sent out to look but no one found anything. As they were standing on the deck being lectured by Captain Hina it occurred to Lina that nobody expected to find anything, once Hatchan got to the water there was no real way they could have caught him (she ignored the part of her that was glad he escaped, marines shouldn't be friends with imprisoned pirates).

Hina had stopped talking while she had been lost in her thoughts, listening to the other sailors quiet chatter it sounded like they were being reassigned.

She tried not to fidget as they stood there, waiting to get new orders.

"Hina is disappointed in everyone, everyone's failure is Hina's failure as a captain. Hina hopes that next time the crew will live up to the name of Iron Cage Hina", she took a breath before continuing to talk, "The crew's new orders are to continue on the log poses path to Alabasta"

"Yes sir" they shouted as one, saluting (except Jango and Fullbody, they danced). Hopefully Luffy had taken a different path, it was one in seven, right?

(Who was she kidding)

XXX

Marco walked over, seeing Thatch and Ace hiding behind Pops' chair. He had heard Vista's shouts earlier and it looked like they were hiding from his wrath now, it really wasn't Marco's problem though. His problem was the envelope in his hand, it had been dropped off with the morning news.

"Ace, you get some mail, yoi, arrived with news paper."

Ace took it from Marco with a frown, muttering about who it could be. Marco was curious too, in the past two years he had never seen Ace get a letter. Besides this one was patterned in the white and blue of the marines.

Ace opened the letter without much of the ceremony and threw it to the deck furiously right after.

"F**king shit. Pops I need a long vacation for personal reasons, now."

"Everything okay my son?" their father asked with raised eyebrow, his voice showing slight worry.

"No everything isn't, I am going to make sure those damn marines do nothing to my sister."

HUH since when had Ace had a sister? Wasn't it a brother?

Marco took the letter that Ace had thrown to the floor.

One sentence was written on it in a (very messy) scrawl (and what type of stains were those? Marco didn't want to know about the crumbs either). Seriously though, who wrote laughter?!.

"Lina joined the Marines. Bwahahahaha "

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Waiting to hear your thoughts and idea, Roseanne and Gerbilfriend.

Fun fact: This chapter was 62 pages in google doc and took more than three hours to beta (few times), longer to write. It is over 19000 words long.