Author notes:
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I don't own one piece!
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This chapter was beta'd by the Wonderful Black' Victor Cachat and Amazing Gerbilfriend. Thanks for all their patience, love and encouragement. I am naming my firstborn after one of those pen names (Or am I? Shishishish).
Please check out Gerbilfriend Marine!Lina below, and her own stories! Send lots of love!
A real heartful and special thanks goes to Black' Victor Cachat for his help with planning this chapter and the next ones. All hail the one true king. Check his stories if you're looking for a good read, especially save Ace stories.
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Warnings:
English is my fourth language. The story will include cursing and spoilers to the latest chapters in manga.
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Reviews answers.
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rowlan
Thank you for your review! Come on time to read once more ;)
Love you too! Don't go into depression (five to go, including this one). You are welcome to check my other stories and leave me ideas to what u wanna see here.
I am really proud of this chapter, what do you think?
Hope you enjoy the new chapter. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...: D
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scl04
Thank you for your review!
Happy to hear you are enjoying it, even if it isn't your cup of tea.
It was challenge to try to write Morgans,I was planning a scene later on (will let you know when I post it), for it to work I needed to introduce Morgans now, and make him fit, I did a good job I think.
Now, I am wondering what you think about Buggy here… and all the twists and plans that are revealed.
Hope you enjoy the new chapter. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...: D
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K.C.96
Thank you for your review!
OHHHHHH, hope I am making your week with this one.
Hope you enjoy the new chapter. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...: D
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acetwolf94
Thank you for your review!
Glad to hear ;) here some more!
Hope you enjoy the new chapter. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...: D
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Black' Victor Cachat
The one and True King of Justice and had that ruled them all!
We bow in front of your greatness.
Thank you for your review and all your support and care!
Lol, not in the last chapter, it's in this new chapter. Benny's having a good day of stress relief. Deserve it for all that is coming. ;)
Diet out of the window! Send in urgency.
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Girl-luvs-manga
Thank you for your review!
Oh, yeah I have lots of reactions planned! LOL
Hope you enjoy the new chapter. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...: D
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Skyla579
Thank you for your review!
Even if it is late, congratulations on your graduation. All the best!
"ut how Kizaru and Lina are in a relationship "
LOL, that will be funny! And I am not going to spoil it to you. You will find soon I hope.
What do you think about Lina now? :D
Hope you enjoy the new chapter. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...: D
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Nougat-XP
Thank you for your review!
Well, it was meant to be half a chapter, I hope this chapter more than make up for it. Let me know! :D
Hope you enjoy the new chapter. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...: D
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I recommend reading the first scenes in chapter 15 again.
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Read notes at the end (and Marine!Lina).
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"Hey! Hey! …Oars? Can you hear me?"
The injured, ancient giant stirred back to consciousness.
Even in his dazed and gasping state, the massive being still remembered what he was trying to reach.
Ace.
Except now he was lying facedown on the ice with no strength left in his outstretched fingers.
"Don't try to move."
Oars tried to move his head to search for Ace. He's supposed to be right in front of him.
With all the strength he tilted his head back, blinking his eyes, and tried to focus his gaze. It took him a while.
The execution platform was empty. Where was Ace?
He tried to move his hands. They were boneless and limp.
"... No, please don't move. Stay still Oars... Can you hear me? ״
Oars remembered falling after losing his balance. He never felt so helpless. So powerless.
Unable to move forward. Restrained. So close, but unable to touch.
He had almost touched Ace. Almost!
His hat. The Hat that Ace had made for him. No sun or rain or even birds could disrupt him now. Where
was it? He needed to keep it safe. To keep Ace safe. Where was Ace?
"Listen! OARS!"
Oars finally noted that there was a voice shouting by his ear, he could see a figure from the corner of his eyes.
The figure was shaking, moving. Ace?
He blinked his blurry eyes and focused on it. It was one of Pops' allies. One of the Decalvan Brothers. He was waving. Where was the other one? Those two brothers were always together.
Oars tried to ignore the ache in his body and the sounds of the war.
"You need to continue acting dead as you have been, don't speak and don't move, ok?"
The giant opened his mouth.
"Ace is fine. I swear. He is out of here, he is safe. But if you want to help Ace, help everyone. Help Pops. you need to do as I say. Don't move.
"Emmmm... Blink three times if you agree?"
Oars struggled to do it, but he blinked thrice. He was afraid if he closed his eyes for a second longer he wouldn't be able to open them again.
"How are you feeling? Is the pain too much?"
Now that he thought about it, why wasn't he feeling a very excruciating pain? He remembered the bullets and cannons' wounds, the body blows, the slashes from blades.
"For NO blink twice, YES three times."
He blinked twice.
"Okay, okay. That's good. Really good. The Doflamingo bastard cut your leg. You remember?"
Oars did remember, but he didn't bother blinking.
"We stitched your leg back on. It's only a temporary solution until we get you out of here, and the doctors will take good care of you. If not for your regenerative powers, it wouldn't even have worked. Do you feel all those people on you?"
He blinked twice. Maybe he was too numb from the pain to pinpoint where, and how many people were on different parts of his body?
"Don't worry about it, it's mostly your crew. They are taking care of your other wounds. Trying to stop the bleeding, and such and giving some injections for the pain. It seems to be working if you are not in that much pain. We were not sure how much to give you cause you are.. ehh..big. For now, save your strength. Yeah."
Oars didn't think that it was a question he needed to answer, so he continued to stare.
"Listen Oars, I know it's hard, but it's almost over and when I tell you. I need you to stand up. It would help us. It's what Pops wants. Can you… emmm… I need an answer, blinking three times for yes. "
Oars stared.
With eyes wide open, he imagined making a supreme effort of will, to push himself up from the ground. He would dig his hands and arms with their quivering muscles on the ground, and would raise his torso up with his hands, pushing his body upwards until he was standing up. One leg or two didn't matter.
The Giant, Oars jr., Whitebeard's son blinked once, twice, and then blinked one final time.
"Good, good. He can," said Decalvan.
It took him time to see that the little man was holding a Den Den Mushi in his tiny hands, and was speaking quietly into it. Oars wanted to frown and ask questions, but he remembered what they asked, and anyway it was too hard.
"Oars, you are still with me? Okay, we are going to give you lots of injections for the pain before I tell you to stand up, and some adrenaline and other stuff an ally of ours gave us. It will help you stand up! yeah….."
The little man was still babbling, but Oars tuned him out. He was busy saving his strength.
He would be ready to stand whenever the order came. Pops needed him.
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Captain Buggy was in heaven.
He was able to pull it off. He was safe! Amen to that! Even though they were not able to find Mr. 3 before they left. A real pity!
But there was no time to search, the Flee plan needed to proceed. He was sure that Mr.3 would understand. God rest his soul. Buggy would drink in his memory later.
Buggy would miss him! He was a true friend.
In the meantime, he felt forced to make a great sacrifice by dumping the Admiral's body into the sea.
This wasn't an easy decision to make.
It's a real pity. The Admiral had been a very comfortable place to be standing erect on.
It took a while to convince his followers that it was all part of Plan F.
Some of his followers ran with the Admiral, while he and the main force acted as shield for a while, but at his signal they let the marines through and hurriedly took over a marine battleship. The pirates with the Admiral then chucked the hostage into the sea, and ran after them, while the marines were too busy trying to dive into the water to save their superior. Hah! Good luck with that, chumps! If the asphyxiation didn't get you, the hypothermia would!
It was a pity, but the Moby Dick was still stuck in ice, and the copies of it were too far from them.
He had let fire under the asses of his admirers by suggesting they take over the Moby Dick and Flee with it, but they did not seem too disappointed they had to make do with 'just' a battleship.
The Whitebeard Pirates in the area were suspiciously quiet. Probably in awe of his greatness.
With the sheer number of followers and some small assistance from the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies, they took over the battleship in a really short time.
By the time they were sailing it out of Marineford, they could see the marines jumping into the freezing water after the sinking Admiral.
One of his followers had suggested they weigh Kizaru down.
They were even a few courageous souls who volunteered to act as decoys. Buggy had given each one of them a hug and pat on the shoulder.
He wasn't sure why.
But there were a lot of teary eyes, and a few sobbed outright.
Then his stroke of genius bloomed. Instead of Fleeing from Marineford as expected from them, he had ordered them to go the other direction, to sail behind Marineford. This would let them slip by whatever ships the Navy had set up to catch fleeing pirates, and they could use the Red Line to guide them a while until he figured out where exactly they were headed.
No one would think to search for them there.
Hah! No one would care to search for them, period. The marines were all busy with other things.
They had a marine battleship, which was the perfect disguise.
He will have some of his men dressed as marines as part of the F plan, and if anyone gets too close, just claim they are chasing 'dastardly pirates.' And that will be that.
He lived, he will live. Captain Buggy for the win, take that Shanks!
"Hey it's the Moby Dick!"
Sure enough, the massive ship was clearly visible. Only Buggy could also tell it was one of the copies, not the original. Except where had it come from?
"What?"
"No way!"
"Ohh—"
"Is Whitebeard here?"
"What? No way, He was just fighting the Fleet Admiral."
"Yeah!"
"B—but—"
"Wow, Captain Buggy was right again!"
"Yeah, go Captain Buggy!"
He was?
"Of course he was. It's Captain Buggy."
Of course, he is.
"You should already know the greatness of our Captain Buggy."
"I will follow him to the end of time!"
"Yeah, he never steered us wrong."
"And never will!"
"Aye!"
"Hey isn't that Jinbe!"
"And Queen Ivankov!"
"Is it queen or king? I never understood it."
"Who cares, she is kicking ass!"
"His head is so big!"
"Love the tiara!" someone swooned.
Buggy would agree the tiara was pretty, although it might look better on his head. Wait? What was going on here? This wasn't the plan.
The place was supposed to be safe. Instead, it was another part of the war zone, with some of the heaviest hitters the pirates had!
It was Lina's fault. He was sure. What to do!? They need to get out of here. He had a bad feeling about this. A quick and experienced glance at the current and wind confirmed turning around in time was not an option either.
Damn those Strawhats!
"Hey, isn't that Mr. 3?"
"Yeah, look at his hair, it's 3!"
"Captain Buggy was searching for him!"
"It was another diversion!"
"Captain Buggy, look—!"
Buggy was looking. Glaring really, through his telescope. The traitor. There he was using his candle wax to bind up a dozen marines at a time.
And Buggy, like a fool, was writing him a eulogy in his head.
From this distance, the traitor looked like he was even having fun.
"What are they doing?"
"They're fighting, you moron!"
"Oh, Fighting!"
"OH! I see!"
"What?"
"F stands for Fight!"
"Plan F! Fight!"
"Damn."
"It all makes sense!"
"So the F plan wasn't Flee but Fight! While making the Navy think we were retreating!"
"Brilliant! They're totally off-guard!"
"Yeah, I thought it was weird when Captain Buggy had said to Flee!"
"Yeah, no way!"
"Captain Buggy's no coward!"
Suddenly all eyes were on him. He was surrounded, and for the first time Buggy felt a bit frightened.
"You tricked us again Captain Buggy."
"Again!"
"Damn!"
"You are so mean, Captain Buggy!"
"So mean!"
"Come on, Captain Buggy!"
"You can trust us!"
Captain Buggy let out a nervous laugh. While their words might sound accusing, their faces were beaming.
He was safe, still adored and loved.
Unfortunately, his relief blinded him for a critical moment before a dawning horror and comprehension came over him.
"Wait!" Buggy shouted, seeing the inevitable coming but unable to stop it.
"No need to play coy with us."
One of the crew jumped on the edge of the ship, clearly ready to leap aboard the massive copy-ship they were coming right up beside. "Men, you know what to do!"
"MOBY DICK!"
"IS!"
"CAPTAIN BUGGY'S SHIP!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!"
His voice was lost with cries of the battle, as he was dragged (against his will) into the battle, again.
WHY? GOD WHY?
Such was his distraction, Buggy completely missed how strangely deserted the whole ship was.
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Was this hell or heaven? Law pondered amusedly.
As it always was, the answer was in the eyes of the beholder.
To the marines, it was hell. Or was it? Some of them had stone hearts in their eyes. So maybe they had gone a bit to heaven before the unforgiving descent to death. To a stoney death that is.
Law had welcomed the distraction in front of him, instead of him stewing in anger, thinking about the beaten figure of one Donquixote Doflamingo. The person he had sworn to kill, even if it meant his life.
The Surgeon of Death unclutched his hands. The hands he tattooed his promise upon. They seemed to painfully clutch whenever he thought of the bastard, he noted absently.
Law didn't know if Doflamingo would survive or not. He wasn't sure if he wanted him to survive or not, if only to survive so he could kill him himself.
He was trying to accept that for now he had no say in the matter. Law was trying. It was fucking hard. He had waited years for this.
For now though, the Captain of the Heart Pirates will have to wait and see what happens, and will decide accordingly. He unclenched his hands again, just before his nails drew blood.
Letting out a breath, he forced his focus back to what was happening in front of him.
They had left Marineford behind, sailing to safety. However, due to the Red Hair Pirates not trusting them, and their 'bodyguard,' they were not allowed to travel underwater. Not that this was going to be a problem.
Currently, his crew was looking transfixed at the Pirate Empress, the only female Warlord, as she danced between the marine ships, shouting her attack, a serpent with skull head following her, leaving destruction in her wake. Or more accurately, he morbidly thought to himself, broken-hearted stones.
While he would never admit it aloud, even he thought that the way his Devil Fruit power let him 'borrow' the literal heart—any organ, really—from any person, while he threatened them to do his bidding, was an abhorrent monstrosity. His epitaph was the Surgeon of Death for reason.
But using the very feelings that you forced on them to kill them was a new level of morbidity and ruthlessness. To say nothing of the fact that she seemed to be enjoying herself. No, enjoying wasn't the right word. Content. She seemed as if she was doing the world a favor; which somehow made it all the more worse.
The fact that Boa Hancock wasn't his enemy was a relief.
The young Captain had anticipated marines following them from Marineford, trying to hunt down anyone escaping from the war. Especially if they found out about the guest that was waiting for him in the operation room.
The guest and his absent sister seemed to have a lot of friends, very dangerous friends, judging by the serenity of the scene in front of him, and the threat he had received from the Empress.
She had made it clear that she was helping his crew —scoundrels beasts— because they were helping Straw Hat Luffy—a.k.a. her dearly beloved. Which left the unsaid words loudly clear. If anything were to happen to him, well…
It seemed like the threats that he received from Red Hair and his crew weren't enough as an incentive, he snorted loudly.
The gesture startled his crew, they turned to stare at him uncomprehendingly. He ignored them.
It was involuntary, whenever he thought of her name, the reason he was in this mess to begin with, he shivered.
Red Hair's eyes flashing in his mind. He wasn't sure what the relationship between the two was exactly (except that he shouldn't mess with her in any form or kind), and he really didn't want to know. What he wanted was answers to his questions.
He just hadn't considered that the Marines that they would meet would not be coming from Marineford, but going there. Judging by the angle of the few ships that still had not sunk, they had been coming from Sabaody Archipelago.
It seemed like he wasn't the only one that had left Sabaody, trying to reach Marineford.
It's just that those poor bastards would never reach it.
He sighed and ordered his still staring crew back to the operation room. The Warlord clearly didn't need their help, or even want it.
He had to try a few times until he got their attention.
They had a D. to save, and a call to make.
"Ehhh, Captain!" Bepo called, unsure. Law turned around, intending to drag them inside by the scarf if need be.
Penguin and Shachi were standing on the rails.
The Warlord suddenly and gracefully returned to join them. All of them were staring back at the place they had just left.
Law turned his gaze and joined them, wondering what was going on now...
"What the hell? Are those fireworks?" Penguin and Shachi shouted simultaneously.
What the hell indeed.
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Benny stood over Blackbeard's body.
Well, former body. And as he had promised, it was missing two hands. Well, arms if you wanted to be technical about it.
The pirate refused to tell him which one he used to hurt Shanks's handsome face, so Benn had no choice really. It was the man's own fault.
It was also missing a head. It was somehow in the sea. He wasn't sure. It just flew off that way when Lucky Roo accidentally hit him with his chunk of meat.
Lucky Roo had been upset that his meat had left with the head. So upset that he cried and raged, which never ended well. Especially since there weren't many enemies left nearby for him to vent on.
Truth be told, it wasn't much of a fight, as Teach still hadn't mastered his Devil Fruit, and his Haki was sub-par. Twenty years of holding back had caught up to the man, Benn theorized. Teach's need to hide his strength had clearly hampered his growth.
Actions had consequences, and Blackbeard had been caught with his pants down.
He doesn't want to be this kind of person, like most of his crew, but he was almost disappointed. Where was the excitement? The close and deadly fight… he snorted inwardly. He was channeling Shanks.
Blackbeard, as he dubbed himself, had almost made a comeback, especially when some of his mismatched crew tried to mount a counter-attack against them.
Except Benn was a pirate, he didn't play fair, and neither did he want to.
Was it his fault that the man used his Devil Fruit power, some kind of back hole thing, and Benn used his rifle that just so happened to be loaded with seastone bullets?
Seastone bullets that he may or may have not had specially made for said dead pirate? His name engraved on it and all?
Well, he didn't have the time to change the engraving to 'Blackbeard'. He felt sorry about that. It wasn't like the man used this epitaph for a long time, so it should be okay. He still felt a bit apologetic.
Should he apologize? He wasn't sure if the dead body would appreciate his apology as it should.
Anyways, the point was, there was no way any of this was truly Benn's fault.
Benn stopped staring at the body beneath his feet, and let his gaze wander to check how the others were faring.
Everything seemed to be under control and coming to a close.
"Finished already?" Benn asked, as he took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it.
"He was a worthy opponent," the Warlord swordsman answered stoically. To Benn's ears it sounded like 'Boring.'
Worthy of Death, maybe.
The swordsman's gaze trailed over him, taking the whole scene with a glance. His eyes didn't even linger an extra second on the body beneath Benn's feet. The unflappable man didn't even show any camaraderie towards his fellow Warlord. "Let Shanks know that I had met Lina."
"Oh?"
Even with the clear invitation in his voice, the Warlord added nothing.
Benn couldn't help himself. "So what did you think?"
The man turned and looked at him, and with a thoughtful look, he opened his mouth.
A sudden eruption made them both turn their heads to stare at the sky.
He heard Yasopp shout, "Is that coming from where I think it is coming?" before cursing colorfully in appreciation. He was strolling leisurely in their direction, his rifle resting on his shoulder as he stared at the sky.
Lucky Roo stood beside him "Behind Marineford, isn't that where…?" he trailed off.
"Interesting!"
Benn Beckman turned his head to stare at the one that suddenly spoke.
Dracule "Hawkeyes" Mihawk, the Strongest Swordsman in the World, had an intense look in his eyes. Almost Hungry.
"Luffy and Lina D. Monkey are interesting." The Warlord hadn't once stopped staring at the sky.
"Very interesting!"
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Benn considered just for a second not telling Shanks Hawkeye's words.
Seeing Shanks' reaction was not worth the incoming headache.
He can already hear Shanks' screams.
"They are mine!", "I met them first!", "I gave them my hat and cape, what did the lazy-ass-eyes give them?" (While in the background, one of the crew was shouting that the hat wasn't yours).
Meanwhile, Rockstar and Yasopp are in the background, encouraging and preparing for battle.
What battle?
Well it was clear, wasn't it?
Custody battles.
The crew loved to joke that he and Shanks were like an old married couple that loved bickering.
If it came to this, he would just have to sign the divorce papers.
Hawkeyes can take the role of the step-father any day.
(Shanks was born to fill the role of a mother hen, he had perfected it over the years.)
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Whitebeard felt the vibrating of the Den Den Mushi in his pants pocket, but he was too busy to answer.
The Fleet Admiral wasn't an opponent one can let out of his sight even for a second. Especially right now, when despite fully utilizing his Devil Fruit, he was more like a cornered tiger than a serene Buddha.
The Yonko wasn't sure which version he preferred.
To his side, the Red Hair brat was busy with Garp. Ace's grandfather. And of course, the two cheeky brats.
There was a lot of shouting from the 'hero' of the marines about paying his debt that he didn't owe any pirate, and for daring to corrupt his precious innocent grandchildren. The death threats were repeated with every fist he threw, along with new and colorful descriptions of the gruesome death that awaited the bloody Red Haired brat.
The other Yonko seemed to take it all with grace. He seemed amused, which was making the Vice-Admiral angrier.
They were both showing off their mastery of Haki.
Marco was on air support for pirates. In this fight, he was the least powerful or experienced, and was more interested in keeping others from interfering; preferably by bludgeoning them to death. One would think people were not that stupid to get involved or at least had better surviving instincts. Yet…it seemed that people were somehow attracted to danger. The more dangerous the situation was, the more drawn they were.
The Den Den Mushi kept on vibrating. He narrowed his eyes, his focus still on the Fleet Admiral, trying to pick up on every little twitch of muscle, lift of an eyebrow, a gleam in an eye, all the subtle body movements. He knew that Sengoku was doing the same. Both of them are waiting for the other to slip up. For that one tiny opening.
Lina should be handling all the calls. His Den Den Mushi had largely been quiet since he had let Lina take control of the command. What could be so important?
As it abruptly started ringing the Den Den Mushi stopped.
He engulfed his bisento Murakumogiri's tip with a quake bubble, and coating it with Conqueror's Haki as it hit Sengoku. In his full gigantic Buddha form and using his own Conqueror's Haki, the Fleet Admiral held his own. Yet the impact of the blow sent him sliding a few feet back, the ice beneath them cracking even more.
Marco suddenly appeared by his side in his hybrid form. He hovered near, waiting for permission.
Whitebeard gave an almost unseen nod, his eyes and senses remaining on the enemy.
Sengoku was watching them still.
Marco landed on his shoulder without saying anything, Whitebeard patiently waited.
"Fleet Admiral, can you hear me—"
Both he and the said Fleet Admiral were startled.
Whitebeard looked from the corner of his eyes at Marco. He was lazily holding a Den Den Mushi in his hand, holding up the speaker so everyone could hear. But Whitebeard could read his son easily, he was extremely uncomfortable.
It seemed like the Fleet Admiral wasn't about to answer.
"LINNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Garp shouted as he gave startled Shanks a punch, although Red Hair was able to negate the worst of it.
"He can," Whitebeard answered her, having a hard time keeping his face blank.
"It seems I don't need to introduce myself. But oh well, Hi I am Lina D. Monkey."
The slight stress on the letter D, didn't go unnoticed by Sengoku. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
Whitebeard's expression matched him', his stance ready.
"I would say that it is nice to meet you, but that would be a lie. And my grandfather taught me not to lie."
One could almost feel the wince that appeared in Garp's face as he stumbled into a complete stop.
He wasn't sure if Lina's calling out her Grandfather was on purpose, to remind him who he was fighting against, or just to unbalance him. Either way, it certainly seemed to be working. The man stood unsure, his eyes staring unblinkingly at the Den Den Mushi.
He felt Marco shiver. The attention of the Vice-Admiral was clearly unwanted.
Clearly, wherever the girl was, she knew what was going on. Who was near them to hear. Or maybe Marco had told her before he had landed on his shoulder.
The Red Hair brat moved slowly and cautiously toward him. His face was blank, but he was straining his ears, eager to hear.
"I hope you don't mind that I am cutting down on the pleasantries. I heard you're a busy man."
Her tone was casual, conversational, and very polite. Extremely so.
"Long story short, You see, Whitebeard here is quite impressive. He prepared another ship, just as big as any other, and hid her under the bay of Marineford."
Everyone's eyes glanced down toward the ice underneath them, except him and Marco, just for a second.
And for that split second, Whitebeard considered attacking. He had his opening. Only he was very curious and didn't want to delay the reveal.
Sengoku eyed him cautiously, aware that he had given an opening that Whitebeard had chosen not to take. It seemed to have rattled him a tiny bit.
Only someone of Whitebeard's caliber would have even noticed such emotion on the battle-ready Fleet Admiral.
He wasn't sure where she was going on with this. And why was she revealing the plan? They had agreed earlier to fill the ship with explosives and to detonate it right by the main headquarters, and under all the pursuing marines, while they retreated.
Was there another change of plans?
Ah well, he will find out with other listeners for a change. It should be interesting.
"So I thought to myself, Lina, Lina… What should you use a ship full of explosives for...?" Her tone was so casual, so matter-of-fact, as if she was speaking about the most mundane thing possible. Something more suited for, "What was for dinner tonight, dear? Cream puffs? Yum."
"Would you please look up at the sky to your port I think, or is it starboard? …Don't worry, it will be hard to miss."
None of them looked up at first, yet even with all the chaos around them, the sound of a distant explosion was hard to miss. Followed by a series of smaller ones.
Except...they did not sound right. And why so high up?
He expanded the scope of his Observation Haki, and he could feel a lot of people in that direction, and some were familiar. Pretty far away as well. Whatever it was, his crewmates were involved, and despite their presence, appeared to be well. Unfortunately, with this duel he had gotten a bit turned around, and without being able to look elsewhere, he was unsure what exactly was supposed to be over there.
Regardless, he was sure the others had done the same, and arrived at the same conclusion. She wasn't bluffing. The problem was even if they didn't feel any presence there, she still might not be bluffing, as she had shown before that she can block Haki from pinpointing someone's specific location.
The smaller explosions kept on coming, and it was impressive even though he knew it was only a show.
Only now there were flashes of...lights? Green, red, blue, in different sequences, reflecting off anything shiny enough around them.
Garp didn't care about the people present, and craned his neck to look at what was happening. Marco merely whistled. Red Hair's face ranged from unbelieving horror, to sublime fascination.
The Fleet Admiral continued to stubbornly look straight at Whitebeard, but he locked eyes for a millisecond with Garp, who gave a decisive nod, confirming what he already knew. This was the worst nightmare for the marines.
Whitebeard wasn't able to read Garp's face. But he wasn't as upset as he ought to be, or as much as the rigid body of Sengoku seemed to indicate he was.
"Ooooh, don't you love fireworks!?" she announced cheerily when the noise finally ended.
That clicked it together for him. The smaller explosions, or 'fireworks,' must be Navy emergency flares, used to communicate when Den-Den were unavailable or compromised. Each color, and their order, meaning something different. With the first explosion being the only proper one, to guarantee the female Monkey had everyone's attention.
Only, what was the point? Plus, he was pretty sure they were going off much higher than they were designed to.
The Fleet Admiral glared at the Den Den Mushi.
"You," He growled and stopped. Unsure how to continue, or maybe the rage inside of him was robbing him of speech.
He could see Sengoku's mind rapidly switching gears, racing to accommodate this vital unexpected data. But Lina wasn't intending to let him get back on his footing.
"Oh yes, me… We took control of the Red Port! Surprise."
The Red Port was the official, legal way to cross the Red Line, stationed right behind Marineford. It was also a direct line straight to Mary Geoise, the capital of the World Government, and home of the Celestial Dragons.
Her tone was so casual that one wouldn't have imagined it would generate such an electrifying atmosphere.
Oh.
Oh my.
The cheeky brat. Maybe better. The cheekiest of brats.
All of Whitebeard's years of experience almost were not enough to stop him from swiveling his head to stare at where the flares continued to fire up to cover the sky like multicolored stars, wide-eyed like a newbie rookie on his first sail.
Even better, given that height, those flares must be launched from up the Red Line itself, meaning they had already taken over one of the Bondolas.
And seeing the fireworks coming off of the Red Line in a very non-Navy regulation manner would clue in everyone down here for leagues as to what was happening.
Marine morale would plummet as they looked up to the sky and realized what had happened.
Garp had his jaw-dropping, his face blinking between disbelief, horror, and...pride? For her bold declaration.
Shanks's eyes were as big as doughnuts. His head was swiveling to stare at the sky and back at the Den Den Mushi. Headless chicken. The young man still had room to grow.
Marco had seemed to choke on air at one point but swiftly got himself under control. But Whitebeard could feel he was vibrating with energy underneath the calm look on his face.
Whitebeard's ever-present grin seemed to get wider. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.
"You know one of my many hidden talents," she drawled out.
It seemed she had finally decided that subtlety can go fuck itself right about now. If the light show wasn't clear enough.
"I can see the future... And I see two possible versions of the future right now, and they all depend on you." She paused. "Fleet Admiral," leaving no doubt who she meant with her declaration.
"Version number one, you get your Admiral back…alive, I all even wrap him in pink ribbon, and we end the war, and you let us retreat peacefully… What you do later is your problem… I am sure you can somehow spin it around that was all your idea, and somehow demonstrates the glory of Marines..."
She paused; Whitebeard could see Lina was letting this sink in.
"Second version, Admiral Kizaru strolls all the way to Mary Geoise with lots and lots of fireworks…real ones. Obeying your command to protect the precious citizens there, and with the help of lots of loyal marine officers. I am told that the transports up, Bondolas I believe they are called, are very roomy, with lots of space, while you sir would be kept busy with two Yonkos to entertain you. Annnd…"
Whitebeard frowned; it was a good place to end her threat. What more could she possibly say? Sometimes too much detail wasn't a good thing.
The ground shook.
The earth was not supposed to move unless he willed it to, and he hadn't. What could possibly have happened? All eyes were on him, and he let his confusion show to confirm he hadn't used his devil fruit power.
While those in the fight circle hadn't struggled to keep their balance, others far away from them clearly did. Ice was cracking everywhere.
Whitebeard once again expanded the scope of his Observation Haki, and this time he swiveled his head a bit. The Fleet Admiral still stayed the main focus of his gaze.
Oars had stood up. His son was alive and was standing up. Except he had seen his leg get cut off!
"... If that isn't enough, Oars would take care of the rest of your…. subordinates." She paused for a second letting the words sink in.
Whitebeard hadn't missed the subtle narrowing of Sengoku's eyes, the slight clench of his hard jaw.
Whitebeard mirrored the man's expression, and made his stance even more aggressive, while his hand clenched his bisento harder still, and not only because of the cornered tiger that had been fatally injured and may wildly attack in desperation. But also because of his own anger. Deep down he knew Oars was in no condition to fight.
The Yonko was sure he was using all of his strength just to stand up for this bluff, even while the Marines were further demoralized. They all knew they didn't have the Warlords this time to stop the Ancient Giant from rampaging once more.
"Oh, while all communications off this island are compromised." She had more to say, and the air seemed to stand still.
The tiger was becoming more agitated.
"Oh… he picked up a hat. That straw hat looks cool… pretty big. It fits him," the Red Haired brat had turned his back on his opponent, not that his opponent was in the right mindspace to attack him.
Red Hair was staring in fascination at what was happening elsewhere. He was narrating to the others or was murmuring aloud to himself.
The hat that Ace had made for his giant son. Ace had complained to him that he kept burning up his earlier attempts by mistake while he made it. It took him several tries until he got it right.
Oars thought of it as his prize possession. Of course, he would not leave it here. No one had cared about Oars' comfort before. He was always seen as big and strong and could crush his enemies with a flick of a finger. What could he ever need?
But Ace had looked at him, had seen, had asked, and even if he hadn't succeeded at the first time, he had tried again and again, so Oars could not only live, but enjoy the comfort of living.
There was a reason they all loved Ace so much.
"Oh, he is moving, where is he going? Hmmmm… There are no pirates in his path, only…" the younger Yonko trailed off. Only Marines.
They could feel each one of the steps he was taking, as it echoed with the shaking ground. With each step, a bit more ice cracked. It was genuinely possible Oars would make the entire battlefield collapse into the ocean.
This was clearly a coordinated move; part of a plan. It was clearly saying the Navy had been played.
Whitebeard gave a side look to Marco. His son immediately understood his concerns, and gave a small shake of his head. He didn't care if the Fleet Admirals or others noticed, he needed to confirm his massive son Oars wasn't being used for something unnecessary. That he wasn't using the last of his strength for a mere gimmick. Something they could do without.
He had trusted the cheeky brat this far, and she hadn't disappointed, but he trusted Marco's judgment absolutely.
His worries soothed, he focused solely on the Fleet Admiral. Wondering if the young pirate had more to 'offer' the harassed, old tiger.
"Continuing on," Lina cheerfully said, "I have some information to keep in mind. I have someone who can impersonate Kizaru to the tee. One of Impel Down escapees… He's also a big fan of Ivankov the Revolutionary by the way. You may have heard him on the Central Den Den Mushi before as he made a demonstration.
"Of course, some of the people up top might be suspicious of the light show, yet they'll be reassured once they see Admiral Kizaru himself. That is assuming they can even see what is happening from so very high up."
One mystery was solved. He had wondered how it was possible to hear the distinct voice of Kizaru, he was sure she had a hand in it, and it seemed that Sengoku had asked himself the same.
"Oh, if you're thinking about using the Pacifista… well…"
He could see the Fleet Admiral's right hand twitching. Ah, that must have been another surprise he had been planning to use. One which she was obviously implying had already been found and dealt with.
"Oh don't worry …" She trailed off, and added as if an afterthought.
"I know they are very important and very expensive… The crowning gem of the Marine Science Division. It's totally top secret, but I heard they cost as much as a fully equipped marine battleship. Each," she said the last one in a conspiratorial manner.
Marco whistled lowly at that. Very impressed. That was a lot of beli.
"So really. Don't you worry. They are fine just resting in pieces."
Did she just pun the Fleet Admiral? Whitebeard had to use unimaginable force to stop himself from chuckling out loud. The gall of this young pirate.
A D indeed!
"Like a puzzle. It's all tiny pieces that you can put together. Isn't that wonderful."
"Now," her voice turned dead serious.
"Cause I am feeling so generous right now I gave you one full minute to decide. Version one, or two." There was a small pause.
"Gentleman do continue. I will be calling back in 55 seconds"
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Clank.
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XXXXX
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"Are they fireworks?"
"Yeah?"
"It's very colorful!"
"Pretty!"
"It seems more like flares!"
"Huh?"
"You know, the one the Marines use."
"Just a second! Didn't they sail behind Marineford?"
"Yeah, this is showing us the Red Port!"
The reporters on Sabaody Archipelago were discussing the latest development that the Den Den visuals were broadcasting to them. One was showing the Emperors fighting the top heroes of the Navy, one the general battlefield, and the third and final was fixated on the light display going on. The last group appeared to be entirely made up of people in prison uniforms, and one of his assistants was busy noting down which ones were recognized from bounty posters; and yes, apparently all of them so far were supposed to be in Impel Down.
"So is Kizaru dead?"
"Maybe?"
"They did throw him into the sea."
"So? Lots of Marines went after him!"
"Jumped right in!"
"He had tons of weight added on him."
"Yeah, pirates are smart!"
"I wouldn't say smart, more devious."
"We still don't know if that was the real one. There's another two."
"And maybe he isn't even there!"
"Is this what plan F was about?"
The latest developments had them all glued to the screen. Morgans wasn't sure what was going on.
But it was Big.
He wasn't sure how or why, but the pirates led by Buggy were sailing into Red Port, for some unknown purpose.
They kept mentioning Plan F. His fellow reporters mentioned they heard this plan before, and he clearly remembered their discussion. Of course, it was mostly about if Plan F was even really a plan or just a distraction.
Now it seemed as though Plan F was definitely a plan. All they could do was wait to see what kind it was. What a strange name. Plan F. Was the letter just a way to say it was the sixth plan they had, or was it an abbreviation for a word? What? Fight? Flight? Freeze? Food? Female?
And shouldn't the pirates be retreating? Running away? Why did they go to the Red Port? Why would they open another fighting front?
What was the Goddess of Chaos playing at? He was sure she was involved, but he couldn't see the play here.
"Is there some kind of celebration in Mary Geoise?"
"No holiday or anything of the sort that I can think of. Certainly not for today."
"Maybe one of the Celestial Dragons has a birthday?"
"Could be!"
"They love their extravagant parties."
"Watch it."
"Ssshhhhhhh!"
"Keep your voice down."
While that's technically true, he was sure that wasn't the right answer here.
Plan F? He wondered.
"Hey wait, is that the Giant?" someone pointed at the other screen.
"I thought he was dead!"
"He's huge! Is that normal!?"
"He's giant, it isn't normal to begin with!"
"I meant for giants!"
"Why is he limping?"
"Hey, wasn't his leg cut off by Doflamingo?"
"That's right! It was!"
"What the hell's going on!?"
"Hey, does anyone know which screen should I Look at?"
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XXXXX
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A Few Minutes Earlier (right after a call between a Fishman and Monkey -First scene in ch 15)
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"Admiral, uhmmm what are you doing here?"
"Fleet Admiral's orders," the Admiral answered curtly as he briskly jumped ashore at Red Port, followed by several marines.
They were all unfamiliar, which was not surprising, considering that Marines from all over the world were called back into Marineford for this war.
Their scruffy, bloody faces and torn uniforms told of the fierce battles those battle-hardened warriors had faced.
It made him proud to be a marine. He straightened up his spine as he faced them.
In contrast, and to no surprise, the Admiral was as pristine as ever.
The Captain that greeted the Admiral with a sharp salute and stumbling question, noted the ship they arrived in, and frowned.
Why would an Admiral use such a small ship? It was almost a dinghy really. For that matter, why would he need an escort or a boat at all? In the past, the man had preferred to travel here riding a cannonball.
"Sir, why did?—"
The Admiral cut in, "Are you the one in charge here?"
"Yes, sir.'' He was about to introduce himself and his rank as procedure called for, but he was cut off again.
"We've received intelligence that desperate pirates have a last-ditch plan to attack this place."
"What!? That's impossible!" Spluttered the Captain.
Pirates attacking the Red Port? The place was a fortress. No one was stupid enough to try.
Such a travesty had never occurred in the history of the world, and would not happen while he was the Captain.
Except the same had been said of Enies Lobby… And while they weren't receiving regular updates from the ongoing fighting at Navy HQ, they had gotten hints that there had been a breakout from Impel Down, with the prisoners aiding Whitebeard…
Well, for the sake of Justice, that was where the disgrace would end!
The man stood tall and strong.
No sir, no pirate would sit a foot here.
He and his men would die before that happened.
They had some of the most advanced and elite forces here.
This was one of two ports, one on each side of the Red Line, securely stationed behind major Marine strongholds. This one, the Paradise station, was located behind Marineford.
Protecting the path to the Holy Land, and the gods who ruled over this world.
Even knowing that a Yonko would be assaulting Marineford, they had still been assigned here to defend it, drawing from the defenders at Navy HQ. They were all battle-hardened veterans, no less than the ones that escorted the Admiral, and they were alert for anything!
It was impossible to consider even the Strongest Man in the World committing such a risky gamble, diverting his preciously needed crewmen from the main invasion unless he came here himself!
No, such a crime, such heresy, was sheer madness! Hardly worth the trouble of one of the Three Ultimate Powers of the World Government!
He was about to put his thoughts into words, to explain the absurdity of the idea, when he finally noticed the Admiral staring at him with a raised eyebrow. As if telling him, "Are you doubting the orders of the Feet Admiral?"
He wouldn't dare.
"How many marines are stationed here?"
"Five hundred, sir."
"What about above?"
"Almost two thousand men were assigned to Mary Geoise itself.." Of course, this was all a test for the Captain, as obviously his superior already knew the answer to it. So instead he asked, "Should we inform Commander-in-Chief Kong, sir?" While technically it was unseemly for the supreme military leader of the World Government to get involved, this was the Holy Land they were talking about, and the living legend was stationed right there already.
"No," the Admiral said sharply. He paused to glance around, before leaning closer to softly explain so that the others could not overhear, "Unfortunately the lines of communication were compromised, and we can't take the risk."
"Ohhh, yes sir.'' It will explain why the lines from Marineford were cut a few hours ago, and they hadn't received any news. They were ordered before the war not to use any Den Den Mushi that wasn't issued by the Navy, believing the Whitebeard Pirates had already acquired some, so they couldn't risk trying the usual channels.
"Where are the Bondolas being kept?"
"They are at the top of the Red Line. Both of them. Fleet Admiral's orders." Just in case.
"Good thinking. But unfortunately, we will need one, as we can't use the Den Den Mushi, someone will need to personally explain what happened to Kong and the marines above. Have one sent down in a hurry, and choose a few of your men to reinforce my escort as those officers go explain the situation."
"Right away, sir."
The Captain moved quickly, relaying the orders as the Admiral spoke quietly with marines who had come with him.
While he had never met the man in-person before himself, he had heard that this Admiral was laid back, and took everything lightly, no matter the severity of the situation. If he was being this worried, then the situation must be quite serious.
But still, someone attacking this place... It just couldn't be.
When he came back to tell the Admiral that his orders were being followed, he was barraged with questions about every detail and protocol in place for attack, and defense the port had.
It was clear this was no common test.
The officers that arrived with him, most of them with high ranks, including a few rear-admirals that he hadn't recognized scattered around, and joined every part of the defense of this place. The Admiral even sent a few to the Bondolas control office.
As expected of an Admiral, he was very thorough.
One of his junior marines came and saluted them smartly. "Sir, the Bondola has arrived."
The Admiral thanked him, and dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
The Captain does understand now why the Admiral was called laid back, as he doesn't stand too much on ceremony.
And with another wave of his hand, a few of the officers that came with him saluted, and moved to the direction of the Bondola. Their salutes were a bit crooked for the Captain's liking. But the Admiral said nothing, so it wasn't his place to admonish them. Laidback indeed.
They also carried with them several, sealed chests for some reason. Well, it was not his place to ask. Especially not to the commodores doing the heavy lifting.
The lull in conversation made him wonder about the state of the war. Justice would prevail no doubt, but details were welcome.
"Sir, how goes the—"
A sudden loud explosion had made him stumble on his feet. Of course the Admiral did not seem fazed.
They really were under attack!
Jumbled shouts filled the air.
"Moby Dick—"
"Is Whitebeard attacking—"
"That's impossible!"
"Hey, is that Jinbe?"
"Isn't he on our side?"
"What the hell is with the purple afro—"
The Captain snapped into attention, shouting orders. And turned behind him, worried.
But thankfully, the Bondola was already headed back up.
He turned, relieved, to face the Admiral's back. He was quietly assessing the situation. Not moving prematurely without a solid plan.
"It's a good thing that you are here, sir. Those foolish pirat—" those were the last words he said before he knew no more.
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(Unfortunately for him, his prediction 'his men would die before that happened,' had come true. Oops!)
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XXXXX
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NOW
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Captain Buggy was back in heaven.
He was standing on the ships' head. The spot reserved for Whitebeard himself.
It was his rightful place now.
Alone at the bow atop a distinctive whalehead, Captain Buggy struck a dramatic pose, an intimidating figure leading the way into history. Perfect for his official portrait, while as the ship cut the water, and deep blue soulmodring waves gently tabbed the Moby Dick.
Those fools with Den Den Camera had better have already taken a few pictures of him like this.
It's a pity that they hadn't thought to take pictures while the fireworks were still being fired. It would have been a great background for his imposing figure. Ah well, they were probably too high up to catch a proper shot.
He still didn't understand why the pirates were cheering while the marines looked utterly broken when they saw those flares going off. Something important must have occurred, except Buggy was having too much fun to care right now.
He ignored the shiver running down his spine. He was sure it wasn't that important.
Besides, he has a new ship! All his. Out of prison and free. He could do whatever he wanted—and what he wanted was everything. The world was his for the taking!
"Gyahahahahaha!"
And sure, technically it was not the original Moby Dick, but it and the copies back at Marineford were likely doomed either way, goodness knows all that ice couldn't be good for even Adam's Wood hulls. Ergo this was the only remaining version, and that made it the real Moby Dick!
Just one step in creating his own legend!
Meanwhile, being an inspirational figure was getting him bloody cold. He had to stop himself from jumping up and down to get warm. He was shivering up, as the cold wind bit through his wet clothing. He was sure that the shiver was only because of the temperature, and not a bad omen one. He was sure.
Buggy tried to distract himself from the chill by considering a new name.
Now that he was going to have a new portrait, he would make sure this will be his next Wanted Poster! He needed a new name.
Buggy-beard.
He would look good with a beard, better than even those bananas on Whitebeard's face. He could show him how it's done. Captain Roger would be proud. Probably laughing it up in the afterlife.
Maybe, Buggyman. Because he is The MAN.
Or keep it simple. The Great Buggy.
His followers were already calling him that, and it had the ring of truth to it.
"Captain Buggy!" A few voices called his name. He noted the urgency in their voices.
But he didn't want to cut his pose short, it took time to get right. And he wasn't sure he would be able to copy this stance again if he stopped.
It was bloody cold! He needed to be patient for a few more seconds. They were almost near the Red Port.
Now that the others had done all the dirty work and had already taken over the place, he could stroll over there as if he owned the place.
Now that he was looking over at the port. Buggy squinted his eyes, and wondered where his telescope was.
Now that he was looking more closely, there were only a few signs of fighting, and most of the place appeared deserted. Where was everyone? Just a few minutes ago there had still been a full-blown battle going on. What about Mr. 3? Did they all go in search of a red carpet for him? Gyahahahahaha! (How many pirates do you need to roll out the red carpet? Must be a huge one.)
First thing after his victory speech, he was going to find Mr.3 and give him a piece of his mind. Maybe if the traitor apologized profusely, then Buggy would graciously forgive him.
They were almost at the Red Port. The ship was slowing down ready to anchor.
Maybe he should change its name from the Red Port, to Buggy's Red Nose Port!
Oh right, people were yelling for his attention.
"What?" he shouted back.
"It's the Admiral! He's heading this way!"
"Why's he coming here!?"
"Isn't he dead!? I thought he's dead!"
"Nooo…! Not again!"
What? How?
"Kizaru?" he asked, his tone getting high-pitched.
Did the ghost of the dead Admiral come to seek revenge on me!? Dammit! It wasn't my fault! He can't blame me for his—
"No!"
Ah, good! Phew, what a relief.
"It's Akainu!"
Wait, what?
Buggy couldn't help but shriek his outrage and fear.
"Damn!"
"I thought he was dead!"
"Me too!"
"He clearly isn't!"
"Captain Buggy's your orders!"
Orders! What orders!? They needed to get out of here! What was wrong with the mad dog coming over here!? There were perfectly good people to kill back at Marineford!
"Stop him!"
"Don't let him near Captain Buggy!"
"Protect the Captain!"
Buggy looked around desperately for somewhere to escape.
He needed to Flee. But the water was freezing! he whined.
Suddenly the Admiral was already on the Moby, with lava overflowing from every part of his body, even his head was only partly seen. The ship was about to be burnt into ashes in no time.
WHY ME!?
A wall of water appeared, dousing the deck of the ship, and Jinbe stood right in front of him.
"Buggy, are you alright?"
"What? Oh yeah. I'm always fine!"
"We need to abandon ship."
No shit.
A few of his men heard Jinbe's words, and relayed the orders, "Abandoned ship!"
He could see men jumping into the rough waters without a second thought. He was about to follow them. Frozen to death was better than burned to death.
"Not so fast!" the Admiral growled, and fried lava from both hands into Jinbe's direction. Instead of a direct attack though, it created two walls of burning death to hem them in, while the ship started to catch fire.
Damn him!
Instead of helping, the Fishman was dragging Buggy down with him.
"Stop it Akainu! You've already lost! It's over!"
"NEVER! Justice will RULE SUPREME!"
That was when Buggy registered how battered the man appeared. The bleeding cuts on his face despite being a Logia. And his eyes . . .
At one point with Roger, they had come upon an island ruled by a priesthood, and planning to sacrifice a virgin girl, no older than Buggy had been then really, as some sort of 'divine offering.' In true Roger fashion, the Captain had torn that temple down nearly single-handedly, and destroyed everything they worshipped. The look the Head Priest had had then, the sheer empty desperation as he tried to attack Roger, was stuck in his mind for some reason.
No, now wasn't the time to sit around and watch while those two banter with each other. Jinbe was shouting something about Fleet Admiral's orders, and it was only making the lava Admiral act crazier still. But surely he, The Great Captain Buggy, could do something to escape while they were distracted, right? Even if he had to create said distraction.
Yes! I've got one Buggy Ball left. Don't I?
It was a special one he had mixed up even, using materials from the Navy battleship while they were escaping Impel Down. He had gotten so enthusiastic about it, it was too big for one of his concealed guns though. No matter.
Yes, He will charge the Admiral, throw the Buggy Ball at him as a distraction, and run away, while Jinbe and the Admiral duked it out.
Genius.
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"Hey, Look!"
"Guys!"
"It's Captain Buggy!"
"What is he doing?"
"He is charging the Admiral!"
"Captain Buggy!"
"He has no fear!"
Cheers and Hooray filled the air, as their fearless leader hefted up something that looked like a red baseball.
"Is that a Buggy Ball?"
"Yes! He showed it to me."
"Did anyone tell Captain Buggy that the ship is full of explosives?"
"I'm sure someone did!"
"Yeah, Captain Buggy knows everything."
"Yeah!"
"You fools, don't you see!? It's deliberate!"
"Huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Captain Buggy is sacrificing himself for us—!"
"Nooooooooooo—!"
"Stop! Don't follow him!"
"Don't stop me, I promised to follow Captain Buggy even to death!"
"Me too!"
"Aye!"
Several voices shouted their agreement and the noise reached a deafening level. Some tried to swim back ,or row their boats and debris back to the ship where their Great Captain Buggy was making his last stand. This was made more difficult from how the ship had been set for full speed, and without a helmsman, was drifting so it was pointed straight ashore.
"How dare you disrespect his sacrifice like this!"
The mood subsided, and people stopped.
"Now watch!"
"Yeah, we owe him to watch it until the end!"
"His brave sacrifice."
There were no unshed tears as the followers of the once-Great Buggy watched in fascination as the Moby Dick sailed right into the Red Port with the Admiral still aboard, and erupted into a fiery geiser of death.
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On Sabaody Archipelago a fight had erupted, bloody and fierce on who got to write the eulogy of the Great Captain Buggy.
A true display of courage. Proving how even in pirates one could find heart-wrenching nobility, as the man chose to die rather than let the Admiral near his precious followers.
Yes, granted, an Admiral was likely dead, and the destruction to the Red Port might count as heresy. Only . . . seeing that level of heroism, in real-time from the Den-Den Mushi clutched by the pirates in the water as they wept and cried for the man who gave his life for them . . . only a true monster would not be swayed by it.
Morgans ordered Attachan to take pictures of the farce happening before them.
Reporters fighting each other. What the world had come to. Such a shame, truly.
It would work so well, when Morgans added it to the greatest eulogy he would ever write.
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XXXXX
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…
"Lina, about Oars I have a question…"
"You want to speak with him? Wait a second…I think he is asleep, at least that's what his crew says. You want to speak with someone from the crew? I could—"
"No, where are you exactly?"
"Emmm...is it safe to say?"
Whitebeard grunted his assent.
"On his ship of course, what other ship could hold him?"
"Is he okay?"
"The doctors are optimistic. Obviously, his leg was saved if he was able to walk on it. So they're just reinforcing the sutures he strained while doing so. Also fixing it so he hopefully won't have a limp in the future. Oh, and checking for internal damage after what the other two Warlords did.
"Your crew told me about what he tried to do, and Ace had wanted to go back to check on him and help him. If he could, Ace would have carried him out of there himself. You know how he is, he totally would have tried to do it... So I couldn't just leave him there. Ace would be devastated, especially when we found he was alive.
"His crew helped patch him up temporarily, and we used Iva-chan drugs and whatever pain relievers we had, and he walked himself to the ship. I was afraid he wouldn't be able to get aboard, but he easily hauled himself up using one hand," the young pirate was bubbling loudly with her awe and relief. She was breathless as she finished.
"Oh, right! Sorry. You had a question for me, right? What was it?"
"Nothing at all."
It was over.
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Hey all! It's over, but not really. For now, we have at least four chapters to go (I may get inspired by your reviews and write more. Happened before. So now the time to leave a lonnggggg one).
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Really looking forward to your thoughts about all the twists and surprises here. Anyone seen it coming? Be honest! What's your thoughts?
I just had to save our 'gentle' giant Oars. Ace wasn't the only one that deserved better, Oars did too! Right? Right?
Lina's plan came to a fruitful result. To those still confused. In future chapters, she will explain some mysteries.
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Don't forget to read Marine!Lina below.
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Really looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Send love, reviews and M&M's (I give up my diet ;) ).
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Marine!Lina (Almost a family reunion)
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Dreamily, Lina remembered her earlier assumption. The assumption that she had made before the dance contest, back when she was naive. Innocent.
Back when she thought she had had a hope of avoiding people Luffy had met and didn't even worry about running into Luffy.
That had been a nice time.
An easy time.
She wished she could focus on that now.
She had known, at least logically, that joining the marines might mean coming up against some of her less than legally inclined family members.
She had known that. She had just thought it would be very far in the future when she was mature enough to—
Who was she kidding, she never would have been okay with chasing her own family down.
Realizing that really didn't help, not when she had to focus on the fact that her ship (Captain Hina's Ship if you wanted to be technical) was the ship that was chasing her brother down.
There was a duck (or maybe swan, normally Lina might have cared, but right now she just couldn't) ship and a sheep ship-
And of course Luffy's ship was the sheep ship (Meat? She just hoped Luffy didn't try to eat in his sleep. And he had never been as much a fan of birds after nearly choking on their bones the tenth time.) that just happened to have a straw hat flag flying on top.
A straw hat that was exactly like the one Shanks had given Luffy. Luffy who was called the Straw Hat Pirate.
She regretted not taking the Cloak (no, not a cape!) from Shanks (Shanks should have lived with being Lame, it would have been a punishment for all the heartache she had to endure), she could use the cloak now. To strangle herself or Luffy. No, yeah, make it Luffy.
Luffy who right now was on the other side (in more way in one), and Lina knew that if she tried to help, if she tried to bail her brother out—
But how could she not bail her brother out, he was her twin brother. Maybe she hadn't thought this marine thing through?!
Maybe she could free him later, get him off the ship like Hatchan had gotten off the ship except he couldn't swim and—
That wouldn't work.
She needed a new plan. A better plan. Think Lina, Think. She could feel others looking at her from the corner of their eyes. She needed to be really careful. No one could know that it was she that helped free her brother. Or prove it at least, even if they all suspected it. If things got bad she would run with him, and become a wanted person.
No, No. she joined the marines for a reason. She would try to avoid the worst case scenario.
(She needed Luffy to not be there, to never be there, but that wasn't going to happen, so she needed to think of a plan)
(Line had always relied on her brain, why was it now, when she needed it the most that it was going blank.)
(Oh.
That was right.
It was because she already knew the answer)
She braced herself, already glancing aboard the ship to see what she could change, what she could use, what she could do when she noticed Luffy's ship sailing away from the corner of her eye.
It wasn't a Luffy plan.
Luffy's plans involved punching things. Punching lots of things. If he was fancy there might be kicking or biting involved.
This involved subterfuge.
Maybe one of his crewmates? But Luffy would never put his crewmates in danger or use them as a sacrifice so he could get away.
Luffy would be with his crew.
But somebody had to be on the other ship. The one they were chasing. The one that was making as much noise as possible, acting as obvious as possible, just asking to be caught.
And what if—
Later, Captain Hina would congratulate Lina for staying objective even when they thought they were chasing down her brother, the dangerous criminal.
It took everything Lina had not to laugh and laugh.
She had stayed objective. Her objective was just on the other side.
.
.
.
"Are you okay Shanks?"
"I don't know I feel itching in my head, and keep sneezing randomly!"
"Stay away from me if you're sick!" Yasopp shouted, taking a few steps back.
"I'm not sick!"
"When did you last bathe?"
"Last night? I think. And I washed my hair."
"You sure?"
"Of course you did, Mr. Red Hair." Benn muttered under his breath.
"Maybe someone is talking about you?"
"Who?"
"Your darling Lina."
",,,"
"Maybe she is talking shit about you!"
"Lina would never! She loves me!"
"Ohhhh"
"OH!"
XXX
Gerbilfriend: You know, sometimes you just want to write a crack omake. And then it stops being crack and starts being, well, this. Oops.
