A/N: Hello! Sorry for the delay! I am incredibly grateful to all my readers and reviewers, you motivate me every day to write and so I thank you. I want to dedicate this next chapter to my day 1 crew: Blacky77,Nami556,Todou Mirai Sumeragi, ZKARYX, ruizgonzalo248, & tasnem1973. Thank you for taking a chance on my story and sticking with it thus far. Hopefully, I haven't disappointed :) Special shout out goes to Freetimesunshine for their kind words, you're a gem :)

On Harlan's Ship

"Uhh, Captain?" a pirate said hesitantly.

"Can't you see I'm busy here, what the hell do you want?" asked Captain Harlan as he assorted his jewels on the table which he counted daily. The man loved his wealth and would bathe in beli if he could.

"Well, Uh," the pirate continued

"For Enel's sake, spit it out, oh Enel, what did I do to be surrounded by fools?," exclaimed the captain, dismayed.

"The Whitebeard Pirates have been spotted, Sir,what would you like us to do" the pirate replied coolly. 'Tch, I'm the fool?,' thought the crewmember to himself, 'My idiot captain just kidnapped Whitebeard's 1st mate and someone with connections to Mihawk, and I'm the fool?" he savagely thought, 'Jeez, I'm gonna have to look through the News Coo again for a different job because this guy clearly lost it,' the pirate concluded.

"Hahahaha, is the look-out drunk? Move out the way, you fool, hahahaha, Whitebeard? There's no way that fool is still chasing us, it's been over a week," the captain said.

Below Deck

"Heh. Well, look who lost-yoi," said Marco amusingly, staring straight into Perona's eyes

"Excuse me? Did you say something, or was that just a fly I heard buzzing around," Perona replied

"Oh, yes, this fly on the wall just spotted the Moby Dick and wanted to inform you that MY POPS made it here first like I said," Marco sarcastically replied.

"Oh really and how did the fly even see this ship, since we're currently below deck?" Perona asked

"Ah. Well perhaps 'saw' isn't right, more like heard with my hearing. My crew was spotted so I say this is our chance to escape. That foolish captain will probably come down here soon to gloat or something equally idiotic and when he least expects it, who ever is closer will attack him. So what do you say, truce, Ghost Princess? " concluded Marco.

Perona took the olive branch for what it was and responded, "You're on Phoenix. I'll probably knock out more guys than you when I leave," she added. She usually wasn't competitive but Marco ticked her off something good, she couldn't explain why, but he could easily get under her skin.

"Heh. I'd like to see you try, I'll take out the most" Marco said. He usually didn't engage in such childishness but Perona really knew how to irritate him so he was simply getting even by beating her at her own game.

On the Moby Dick

Everyone moved to the deck where Oyaji had long ago marked as his special spot on the ship. It was from Whitebeard that Lucky would learn about the special Captain spot on a ship. When Lucky would go out to sea in the future, he too would claim a special seat on his ship, the figurehead, the most dangerous spot to be in, but no one said he was cautious.

There, Edward Newgate, The Strongest Man in the World, sat in all of his glory, holding the naginata that had slaughtered thousands of his enemies. It was almost vibrating in excitement, it could feel the oncoming battle approaching. The Murakumogiri, as the naginata was called, was one of the 12 Supreme Grade Swords, ironically named,since it was the only one of the twelve not actually a sword. It had been in Newgate's possession for over 30 years and he carried it like it was an extension of himself.

Luffy stood off to the side with Shanks, entranced by The Murakumogiri , for once he was silent as he took in the masterpiece just a few feet away now that he had the time to do so. He could sense its power and blood lust building. Standing so close to it, he could hazard a guess why it had received the name Gathering- Clouds Cutter , for it was as tall as its user and felt just as powerful. He wondered if he could actually cut the sky. Luffy's admiration of the weapon did not go unnoticed.

Whitebeard had been a pirate for many decades, he could tell just from a glance if someone was worthy of his attention or not and Lucky D. Hawk had certainly captured his. He was strong for his age, his ability with the sword-prodigious. For someone of his age to have mastered his swordsmanship so completely that he only cuts what he wanted, impressed even Whitebeard and he wasn't easily impressed. The brat seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, a little blood thirsty but so was Ace. Only time would tell if he was strong enough to sail these waters or if the sea would spit him back out like the rest of the Grandline rejects. But, Old Man Whitebeard smirked, knowing full well what side of the coin Lucky's would land on. What surprised him the most was actually the fact that Dracule Mihawk had adopted him, even giving the boy usage of his surname even if he had shortened it to Hawk, the cheeky brat. He had met the man only once, and he gave the impression of a cold, ruthless man however honorable he was. The man he met then, would never take a child in. Hmm, he always did like a mystery, he thought, as he watched his children settle and await his orders.

"My children," intoned Oyaji, "today we will get back your brother and show these scum what happens when you mess with one of my sons. Ace,Sabo and Haruta I know your hearts are heavy with guilt despite my words to desist in that thinking. To lighten this burden, you will join us in taking back your brother. As the other injured party, the Red-Hair brat and the Hawk brat will also join us on this the battle stations! Full Speed Ahead!"

Meanwhile on Harlan's Ship

"Th-th-that Bastard, why can I see Whitebeard's ship?" asked Captain Harlan.

"Uh. I believe he must be here to get his first mate back," answered a crewmate

"Excuse me? I said why can I see Whitebeard's ship!? Not why he was here? You fools, go prepare the cannons! Why hasn't that ship been blown sky-high? I serve the Celestial Dragons, hahahah, I'm untouchable, you go get the transponder snail," he said pointing to a member that was seriously considering jumping overboard.

As if anyone on the Moby Dick would let her get injured, she was made of Adam wood to boot, so whatever damage Captan Harlan thought he could do, well, he'd know soon enough.

"Uhh, right away, Sir " he said before running away to get the snail. 'Oh for Enel's sake, why me? I should have listened to my mom and joined that other merchant ship,the pay wasn't quite as high but at least they included benefits not like this cheap bastard,' the crewmember lamented.

Below Deck

"Damn, that guy must truly have a death wish, oi Ghost Girl," Marco began and suddenly stopped at the sudden pressure he was feeling.

"Never. Call me Ghost Girl again," Perona said looking slightly unhinged

"Duly Noted" Marco immediately answered

"Eh, Perona," he said, clearing his throat, "Listen, the captain of this ship has a serious death wish. He plans on attacking Oyaji head on and mentioned something about Celestial Dragons. I doubt those ugly bubble nobles are gonna do anything to help out one guy, but regardless it looks like the fight is coming soon. Hopefully someone comes quickly so we can get out of here"

"Horo-horo-horo, 'ugly bubble nobles' is right, I think they won't be a problem, last I heard he messed up big time courtesy of Mihawk, he lost them a whole shipment of 'merchandise'" Perona added

Loud yells could be heard above and then the sounds of footsteps coming down.

"You," came Harlan, pointing at Marco, "you're gonna fix this, you're gonna call off your damn 'Pops', tch, those damn nobles betrayed me. They're gonna pay as well. And you," he said turning to Perona, "you're coming too. The ship isn't gonna hold and you'll make good money at the auction along with the Phoenix. Bringing in such powerful devil fruit users will help raise my reputation and help me gain some clients. My men are preparing an escape boat as I speak" Harlan finished.

30 minutes earlier

"Dial the number you fool, hah that Old Man Whitebeard isn't gonna know what hit him once I get the nobles to go after him" Harlan smirked

'Puru-Puru- The number you have dialed is not in service' "You fool, you dialed the wrong number, For Enel's sake, if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself, tch, good help is so hard to come by," Harlan yelled

This time time Harlan dialed, ''Puru-The number you have dialed is not in service'

"Arghhh those treacherous nobles, how dare they abandon me!?" Harlan yelled, slapping the poor transponder snail from the table.

Present time

One of Harlan's crew came down with him to assist and went to open the girl's cage as requested. He was slightly apprehensive but she was wearing seastone cuffs, so it's not like she could attack me, he thought.

Perona and Marco had stayed silent during the Captain's ramblings but as the crew member prepared to open her cage, their eyes met, a slight tilt of the head and the game was afoot. They lucked out, those fools were doing most of the work for them.

Perona backed up as far as she could against the cage and as soon as she heard the cage door click, she went in for the attack. Despite still being cuffed in seastone, she lunged at him, both hands clasped to create a fist and suckered punched him on chin and using the momentum she pivoted on her feet and promptly followed up with a roundhouse kick sending him flying. She then turned to the Captain and quickly raised both hands, clasping them again and swung down hard at an angle, clocking the captain in the face, which brought him to his knees. She then kicked him in the face, dislocating his jaw, the bastard she thought. She was breathing hard, she thanked Enel that Mihawk was such a taskmaster and insisted she trained with seastone. The crewmember she sent flying was silently lamenting not jumping overboard when he had the chance, he kept his eyes closed, hoping he stayed ignored.

Marco was very impressed. She didn't look like much but he didn't have any other options at the time. When they discussed their abilities earlier he was doubtful she would be able to deliver. When the Captain decided to get her first he silently cursed in his head, he had been hoping they opened his cage first but he just had to roll with it. She was fast and deadly, he concluded after watching that takedown. He thought he would have to create distraction so he was watching carefully as the idiot captain rambled on about revenge. He blinked a few times and the fight was over. He watched her breathing heavily, the seastone affecting her but clearly not so much, she picked up the keys off the ground and smirked heading his way.

"So, birdbrain, you better not hold me back, horo-horo-horo, and don't underestimate me again,'' she said, turning the key to the cage. She passed him the key to the cuffs which he silently took.

"Hmpf, Not bad, Ghost Princess, not bad at all but they were still small fries" not making the mistake of calling her Ghost Girl especially after seeing her in action.But that didn't mean he wasn't going to tease her.

"Eh, whatever bastard, I can't believe we were BOTH captured by them" she responded. They were massaging their wrists after being cuffed so long, Marco especially, being there longer when they felt the ship swaying dangerously.

Marco smirked, "That's probably Pops, c'mon let's go!" he said

On the deck was mayhem and three little boys seemed to be in the center of the storm.

"Lucky! Oh my Enel... Take that birdbreath, my rescue is here too," Perona shouted.

Ace and Sabo turned at the shout and brightened seeing Marco for the first time in over a week.

"Marco!" "Perona!" shouted three different voices.

Ace and Sabo came running over to Marco and he almost fell over from the force, still a bit weakened after being locked up with minimum food and water. He opened his arms and hugged his brothers tightly. It looked like a scene right out of a movie as the other pirates watched the heartwarming scene against the backdrop of a slowly burning ship. It was a total contrast to the two demons they saw earlier.

Lucky also ran towards Perona and jumped up to hug her. "Ro-ro, I'm so glad you're safe."

"Oi, I don't want to break this up but we really should get going," Shanks said, coming up to Lu and Perona.

"Ehh, Red-Hair?" shouted Perona, surprised. "Dhahaha, yeah I tagged along, you see I made a promise to a friend," looking at Lu, " but we really should get going," he responded as the rest of the mast broke off.

"Ah Marco it seems like you didn't need our help after all," Haurta interjected.

"Well, I had some help," Marco replied, smirking at Perona. Perona just huffed.

The group hopped onto a smaller vessel they used to row over to Harlan's ship.

Once they got further away, Haruta gave Oyaji the signal and with a swipe of his arm employing the mighty, The Murakumogiri, Whitebeard cut the large galleon in half. As they rowed back to the Moby Dick, Ace sent a great flaming fist towards the slavers ship finishing it off. Marco just turned to look at him fondly and Lucky had stars in his eyes. Sabo sighed at the dramatics.

On the Moby Dick

"Welcome back, my sons, Lucky I'm glad you rescued your sister, feel free to go to the infirmary if necessary" rumbled Whitebeard. Marco partially transformed and landed on Oyaji's knee giving him a hug. Lucky and Perona quickly gave their gratitude.

"Go visit the medical bay and checked out by the nurses," Whitebeard told Marco since he was imprisoned for over a week.

Marco groaned, "Oyaji, I am a doctor, you know, I'm fine,"

"Regardless, give your Oyaji some peace of mind, eh?" "Yeah, Marco, listen to Pops, you Always give US a check up even if we tell you, we're fine," teasingly said Sabo. "Yeah, Marco, no fair," added Ace.

"I guess you two should call Mihawk and let him know what happened," Shanks told Lu and Perona, giving the Whitebeard Pirates some privacy.

"Hmm, Perona, you should definitely call, you're the oldest," turned Lu to face Perona, puppy eyes on 100% mode since he knew Hawky wouldn't be too pleased.

"Oh so now you want to defer to me since I'm the oldest," Perona responded but internally she squealed, Lucky could be so cute sometimes.

"Just this once," she said but Lucky laughed knowing she said that all the time.

"Here, use my personal transponder snail, it's a special one, so your call won't be tapped," Shanks said handing the snail over to Perona

"Puru~puru~puru~puru~puru~" the snail continued ringing.

"Ah, that might be my fault, your dad doesn't always like picking up my calls, dhahahaha, I'm telling you that dad of yours is so uptight, so what if I drunk dialed him a few times," Shanks sheepishly said. "Go on, try again, he eventually picks up" Shanks added.

Perona nearly gave up but Mihawk finally picked up on the 5th attempt, " Red-Hair, if I do not answer, it is because I am unavailable or maybe I JUST don't want to engage you in conversation. Desist in calling or the next time I see you, I will drive Yoru through your chest and into your heart and then I will cut you into small,tiny pieces and I will courier your body parts to your crew, that is-if I don't also kill them as well, whahahaha," he intoned chuckling darkly and abruptly stopped. I am expecting a phone call and you are jamming the line!" he angrily finished.

Everyone on the Moby Dick felt a chill run up their spines, even Whitebeard stiffened. By this point, everyone had turned to the group of 3 at the shout and the blood lust that seemed to emanate from the snail which is impossible

" M-mihawk, it's actually me P-P-Perona" she stuttered nervously.

At this Mihawk straightened immediately and looked at the snail in shock.

"Hiya Hawky, miss us, shishishishi?" piped up Lucky not particularly affected by the killer intent, after all the stress of the kidnapping, it was actually quite comforting.

"Perona and Lucky...health status," Perona took a second too long to reply , "Now, young lady," intoned Mihawk,

Perona squeaked and responded,"We're both safe. I am suffering from prolonged exposure to sea stone, so I am feeling slightly weakened but I can still kill anyone who threatens Lucky or I. As for Lucky, well, um, we're actually just catching up right now," she gulped.

"Put Shanks on the snail, Perona." She passed the snail over to Shanks, not looking at him and instead looking at Lucky petrified. Lucky was a little confused, he thought Perona and Shanks were overreacting a bit.

"Hey Mi-" before Shanks could go any further Mihawk bellowed, "You fool, how dare you drag my charges into whatever idiocy you got yourself in, 'prolonged exposure to seastone,' Shanks, give me your coordinates immediately, and do not move!"...Shanks quickly answers. "Perona and Lucky I am making my way there shortly,Lucky based on your laugh I am going to infer you are well?"Lucky replied in the affirmative, "Good..Perona if Shanks attempts to escape, castrate him." Clank.

"What's castrate mean?"asked Lucky after several minutes went by, everyone on the ship heard Mihawk, how could you not, it felt as if he were piercing you with Yoru herself, but that was impossible because he was miles away and speaking on a transponder snail, for Enel's sake. Shanks fainted but would forever deny it if ever brought up, which was always when he visited Old Man Whitebeard after the incident. Perona told Lucky he would tell him later, hoping he would forget to ask.

"Guararara, he's a lively one isn't he? laughed White Beard, everyone but Lucky who was laughing too, looked at him incredulously.

Perona replied, "That's putting it mildly," she deadpanned. Then she realized who she was talking to and slightly paled but then stood up straight because she was representing Mihawk too. She cleared her throat and bowed while making Lu bow too, "Thank you for permitting us passage on your ship White Beard, I hope it won't inconvenience you to wait while our guardian arrives to pick us up," Perona said looking directly at him.

"Gurarara, you're an interesting one too," he chuckled. "Who am I to get between a Father and his children, there is no inconvenience, actually I'm looking forward to meeting him," he finished a little too bloodthirsty and laughed again.

"Ro-Ro, the Old Man is cool, and I've been playing with his sons, who are my new best friends, they're amazing and so strong," Lucky exclaimed excitedly, he really was happy to make more friends around his age. Ace and Sabo both blushed at the compliments, still not used to hearing them from others and stepped out to greet Perona. They both bowed and said, "Hello it's nice to meet you Lucky's sister, we're impressed with Lucky's skills and hope to spar with you too one day' Ace had taken lessons in manners from a kind bar maid he made friends with before leaving in one of the towns on the island he came from. While Sabo still knew a little from the before when he didn't have Ace, something he didn't really like thinking about.

Perona smiled, glad that Lucky was socializing as he could be a bit shy when around kids his age. "Thank you for keeping Lucky company, I know he can be a handful, horo-horo-horo." Poor Shanks was still passed out on the floor and it was as if the three little boys were on the same wavelength for they all looked at Shanks and then looked at each other, smirking , and looked back at Shanks with markers suddenly appearing in their hands. When he woke up a few minutes later, he didn't understand why everyone kept looking at him and shrugged. White Beard, always enjoying a good prank and wanting the little ones to have their fun, conversed with Shanks as if there was nothing drawn on his face,though he broke into a smirk every now and then confusing Shanks somewhat.

Several hours later

When the Moby Dick came into sight, Mihawk knew then, Shanks was going to die a slow and painful death. Also he'll need to remind Perona and Lucky what is relevant information, the fact that they were on White Beard's ship, one of the Emperors, oh Enel, he didn't need any white hairs, he quite liked his dark locks. For Mihawk was always meticulous in his appearance,though that didn't mean he cared what others thought, no, he just had standards unlike the rest of the population.

Mihawk skipped the part where you usually asked the captain of the ship permission to board because, firstly, he was getting on that ship so why ask and they failed to mention whose ship they were on so he skipped formalities.

When Mihawk's ship was spotted, it hit her like a 1000 bricks, they forgot to mention on just whose ship they were on.'Oh shit', she thought.

As Mihawk jumped on board, he was heading straight for the buffon. When Shanks turned to see what the commotion was, he paused as he locked eyes with Mihawk whose sudden blood lust suddenly evaporated.

"I was going to kill you, I always took you for the fool, but this is too much. I will seek you out when you are less of an embarrassment. " Mihawk said disgusted.

"Oi, what the hell, bastard, what's with all the animosity, " yelled Shanks.

"Whitebeard. As my charges seem to be fine, and relatively at ease in your company, I will not challenge you today. I assume Shanks is to blame for your presence. I will take my leave, come along Lucky and Perona" Mihawk spoke to White Beard after dismissing Shanks.

"Ehh," started Lucky but stopped and followed Mihawk when he turned to look at him. He knew what that look meant.

"Seeya Ace and Sabo, I had lots of fun today, we should play again. Thanks again Shanks, you're awesome even if you have tomato hair, " Lu finished laughing. "Oi" yelled Shanks. "Bye Big Ossan , your blade is cool, Thatchy thanks for the snacks. Bye everyone. Thanks for everything!" Lu shouted before jumping off. Mihawk looked on impassively but was slightly curious, actually he was burning to know just what the hell happened but he remained patient. The children looked healthy if not tired and a bit roughed up but nothing too unexpected after seeing the scenes at Kuragaina.

"We should spar sometime, Bluebird, I'll even teach you how to pick a lock," smirked Perona, laughing towards Marco who was ticked off at the nickname but responded "Anytime Pinkie, just let me know when you feel like losing" Marco said. She flicked him the middle finger and hopped off, nodding at the Whitebeards. The Old Man laughed at their exchange and then turned serious eyes towards Mihawk.

"Tch, Rude brat, I usually kill people for less but I will let it go as I am father as well. Give us a call in the future when you can be polite, Lucky was a pleasure to have onboard, my boys Ace and Sabo loved sparring him " the shipwrights glared at him and towards Lucky, for all three boys wreaked havoc earlier, "now get the Hell off my ship," White Beard shouted at the end. Mihawk responded by releasing his haki, "I leave of my own accord. Fate smiles upon you today White Beard." "Oi, what about me," yelled Shanks, he was ignored. The trio sped away in a small ship built for speed.

"Oi, What the hell was Mihawk on, calling me an embarrassment," Shanks asked White Beard.

White Beard turned to look at Shanks giving him a long look and bursted out laughing, "Gurarararara, beats me brat," he laughed for a long time leaving Shanks perplexed.

It wasn't until his own crew came that he finally realized what the hell Mihawk was talking about.

"Oi Captain, what's with the new look?'' his first mate asked after taking one look at him and laughing. "What look?" he whined "what's going on," he asked as the crew laughed. Someone brought over a mirror, he gasped, "ahhhh, those fuckers!" "turn the ship around, " "Sorry, Cap but you'll have to get your revenge some other time, marines are gonna be swarming soon after that meeting," answered Benn

"Argggh" whined Shanks, "Oh I'll definitely have my revenge on whoever did this, ahhh no wonder everyone was laughing at me, even the Old Man didn't say anything, the bastard" he muttered angrily. Somewhere along the Grandline three boys sneezed.

A/N: Ahh, this brings us to the end of this story arc! How did you like it? This was kind of a hard chapter for me to write, I hope I did this adventure justice..Also no straw hat for luf! Yes, i know said it was gonna happen but as I was writing, it just didn't make sense at this time. This is Shanks' treasured memento from his cap, so while he likes Lu , it's def not enough to give it away yet. and Mihawk acting a dick lol. I also went back to OP and was reminded he spent a Whole year in Foosha..so rest assured this isn't the last we see of Shanks!

So I wanted to do this big thing regarding Mihawk meeting WB and Shanks but i changed it last minute. it just made more sense to me for the 1st meeting to go this way. But don't worry they will become friends.

Next chaps, as requested, I'll be writing about the growing friendship between ASL with some Marco & Perona older sibling rivalry thrown in lol (their dynamic brings me so much amusement, I have a lot fun writing their scenes). I think Big Mom might even make an appearance, I've mentioned Pudding a couple times now… I also plan to update my other stories tomorrow or monday, fingers crossed. Thanks for all the love, I appreciate you all immensely and hope you all are taking care of yourselves. Stay safe :)