Hi guys Azza here!
Sorry for the delay, work has been brutal lately so I haven't had the time to write much! I'm not dead!
Reviews
FieryIceStickie – Thanks for the praise! I'm glad to know I've done a good job at making the Volumes approachable and understandable for people not used to the series being done, that was one of my biggest worries when I got into it that people might not be interested or understand it so I'm glad I did a good job there!
So to answer your question attack names usually follow some kind of rule. So for example the Corpus Cealesti Magiavolentes Stella Magna is in Latin. Basically I often pick a language that I feel best suits the situation so for example if I'm dealing with a concept like let's say a Japanese themed concept I'd use that and incorporate that into the attack name. As for the Black Arts, quite often that's literally just me writing the attack in reverse so if you simply spell the attack back from end to beginning you'd actually get it in English.
As for the Neutral Arts, that actually is a language however it is one literally no one would know unless I told them specifically because of how obscure it is but it is from a place Natsu will go in a future Volume.
As for what I name the spells I more just try to avoid making them sound bad. As far as I can tell I've only ever been told once that a spell or attack name sucks and that was during Volume I's Grand Magic Games Arc with Erza's new Requip Armor and I'll freely admit I should've just called it Darklight Armor not Darklight Templar Armor.
And I guess about 20% of the process is me purely and spontaneously coming up with a name on the fly. That's where attacks such as Natsu's Nova Series Punch attacks and his sword attack names came from.
So yeah, hope that at least gave you some idea!
Thomas MCF – Yeah I will agree that I probably could've lengthened the mech dragon fight a little but I kind of just wanted to use it to show that Natsu wasn't playing around anymore and he basically was meant to just bulldoze right through it to get to Marineford for shock value.
And yeah, quite a few fights will be more like brief clashes or skirmishes though there will be quite a few deaths though I'll not spoil more than that. There will be fights that are slightly larger in scale though again it is a war arc with hundreds of thousands of people all fighting on an island and its surrounding sea so it'll be more focused on emphasising that.
I'll leave the rest of you comment because quite a bit of that would be spoiler territory but thanks for the praise I'm glad that I've made the Fate stuff easier to understand since its as complex as the Kingdom Hearts series at this point!
For real though thanks for sticking around this long!
Alright onto the story!
I do not own Fairy Tail, One Piece or the Nasuverse.
The Government's Sinister Plan
/Marineford/
"So, what now," Natsu asked slowly as the battle seemed to resume with the World Government forces opening fire upon the Allied Forces in an attempt to catch them off guard.
"We will need to approach this battle carefully," the King Of Conquerors replied grimly as he looked over toward Grand Avenger who seemed to not be focusing on anything in particular. "That man is extraordinarily powerful, but ALL Servants have a key weakness."
"We just have to figure it out," Natsu sighed as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "At least most of the Allied Forces don't have a clue as to his true identity, so we need to keep it together and push on for their sakes. We lose them through loss of morale, we lose the war."
"Agreed."
"And what about this Tiberius," Ritsuka asked shakily as the two quickly remembered there were others present in the conversation. "What do we do about him?"
"He'll likely come for me," Natsu replied with a scowl as he looked over at the Demon who was still jumping around like an idiot. "Piece of shit!"
"Master Ritsuka, I'm afraid keeping you and Lady Mash out of the direct line of fire is now more imperative than ever," Tristan cut in as both Master and Demi Servant looked at the red-haired Archer in shock.
"WHAT-!?"
"He's right, you'll get destroyed by some of the Servants up there," Mordred nodded in agreement. "Even discounting … Tiberius Squad, the Admirals would obliterate the both of you quickly."
"And we can't risk the last Human like that," Iskandar finished as he placed a hand on Ritsuka's shoulder. "I know hiding is not like you, and I can understand the anger and frustration you feel by what we are telling you, but Tiberius has single handedly torn our plan to shreds with the appearance of himself and his Servants."
"But-!"
"There are times where one must know when to fight, and to flee," the King Of Conquerors said firmly as he looked toward Tristan. "Keep them safe, Archer."
"Fear not King Of Conquerors, I shall ensure Master shall not fall here this day," Tristan replied firmly as he drew his sword and held the flat of the blade against his own chest. "On my honour as a Knight Of The Round I shall slay any and all threats to our Master's life, even if it costs me my own!"
"AAAAAAACCCEEEEEEEE!"
"Crap," Natsu sighed as he turned around to see Luffy charging headfirst into the battle, tearing through a group of Marines with ease. "I've got to join in, keep them safe Tristan!"
"Before you go, speak with Whitebeard," Iskandar said quickly, swiftly grabbing his arm before Natsu could shoot off toward the battle. "He is technically the one running the show after all."
"Fine. Mordred, stick nearby and I'll join you in a minute."
"Will do," was the immediate reply as Mordred vanished and moved to join Luffy's side, slaying several fodder tier forces before blitzing past him to rip a hole right through the enemy flank.
Natsu sighed and popped right next to Whitebeard who didn't even bat so much as an eye at his sudden appearance. If anything, the man actually held a small smirk as he arched his head slightly to look down at him.
"So, you've been dragged into this mess too?"
"Yep. Luffy and Ace are Brothers and I promised Luffy I'd help save him so you've got me at your disposal, old man."
"Gurararararara! Good to know Dragneel, good to know! You brought quite the line-up with you in that grandiose entrance so don't go letting me down now, especially not after how much Red Hair hyped you up!"
"Unlike you, I can't succumb to old age," Natsu sniffed as many of the World Government and Allied Forces ceased fighting, looking at Natsu like he'd just physically assaulted the man. "Try not to break any bones getting down onto the battlefield, eh?"
Whitebeard looked down at Natsu, slowly raising his naginata before placing the blade mere inches away from his throat. Natsu didn't even so much as flinch, even as the blade came down with enough pressure to fire a small blast of wind into his face.
"Wow, nice weapon. I'm surprised you can still hold it with those feeble arms of yours?"
"…"
"As amusing as this is, the two of you should really find a better way to banter," Caster cut in as he lazily walked over and pushed Whitebeard's naginata away from Natsu's throat. "I know when I met up with friends back home, I always offered them some of my very special Jasmine Tea!"
Both Natsu and Whitebeard looked at Caster who was standing there holding two cups of freshly made tea. The pair looked down at the tea before looking back at each other, their bodies beginning to shake slightly before the pair started roaring with laughter.
"GURARARARARA! CASTER, I'M GLAD YOU'RE MY SERVANT! GURARARARARA!"
"Oh, well thank you my friend," Caster grinned before walking over to Natsu and offering him the tea. "And for you, my friend, a cup to commemorate our first official meeting! Well, to be more specific, from your point of view, anyway."
Natsu went to grab the tea but both were shocked as a bullet struck the cup, shattering it as the contents spilled out over both their hands. Natsu's eyes were simply wide in shock however upon looking up at Caster he actually took a step back.
"My tea …"
"Hey, Caster … Are you alright?"
"They really shouldn't have done that," Whitebeard sighed as he knelt down and placed a hand on Caster's back. "Be glad the shot didn't hit either of you Caster, that would've been a far worse way for you to make a good first impression, wouldn't it?"
The aged Caster sighed and nodded, still seemingly upset by the loss of the tea as he watched it slowly run down the deck. The man looked back up to Whitebeard and smiled before shrugging off the man's large hand and taking several steps toward Natsu.
"My apologies, I was hoping to share a cup with you before we get drawn further into this violent conflict. I have often found that sharing a drink with a friend before a battle leads one to enter it with a clearer state of mind."
"Its ok Caster, I don't mind," Natsu replied with a wave of his hand. "Clearly you and I must know each other in the future on good terms, no harm done. Though surely you didn't expect us not to get shot at, right?"
"Oh, I know we're prime targets," Caster replied with his grin quickly returning. "I just assumed that the World Government forces weren't suicidal enough to directly attack some of the strongest combatants in the war with basic firearms!"
"This is a war remember," Natsu chuckled lightly in reply before turning to look back out over the battle at large. "Speaking of the war though, I should probably get stuck into it and help out."
"I'm interested to see just what you can do," Whitebeard commented as Natsu cracked his knuckles whilst shooting a sadistic smirk down onto the battlefield below. "Let's see if Shanks' words were true."
"Heh, just you watch," Natsu grinned as he vanished and reappeared alongside Luffy, blocking several sword strikes aimed directly at his friend from behind in the process.
"Oi, Natsu," Luffy called out as he knocked out several soldiers with a barrage of fists. "What was that crap that stopped you from reaching Ace!?"
"Well," Natsu began, performing a roundhouse kick that sent dozens of enemy combatants around him flying. "That was a complex Magic Seal Array designed to only allow certain people past its confines, hence why I wasn't able to punch through."
"So, what do we do about it!?"
"Let me handle that," was the short reply as Natsu pulled Luffy back toward him using his Gravity Magic whilst raising his right arm to block a beam of yellow light that had moved to take out Luffy's head.
"Oh dear … I really thought I had him there," the voice of Kizaru whined as the beam of light solidified, Kizaru's right leg now locked with Natsu's right arm. "How unfortunate."
"Kizaru," was Natsu's reply as he pushed Luffy over toward Jimbei's position with the Fishman instantly catching him with an understanding nod. "A real shame to see you again, to be sure. Tell me though, how's Saber?"
"You'll be paying for that loss, don't worry about that," Kizaru replied, not loosing his cool though the narrowing of his eyes beneath his shades was all the sign Natsu needed to know the Admiral was annoyed. "Saber was a great asset to the World Government and his destruction will be recouped one way … or another."
Natsu vanished as Kizaru fired two beams of light from his eyes, setting off a sizeable explosion which shook the entire area. All eyes nearby that possessed Haki immediately looked up into the air to see Kizaru already moving to attack Natsu, neither seemingly harmed in the slightest.
"You've become faster?"
"All it takes is one encounter with a foe for me to better understand how to combat them, moving at the speed of light doesn't give you the advantage against me," Natsu explained as Kizaru's legs seemingly vanished.
"Really? How truly frightening!"
"I'll admit, that is rather impressive," Whitebeard noted as he easily tracked what Kizaru and Natsu were doing. "To the naked eye or even a basic Observational Haki user, Kizaru and Natsu are simply hovering there. But to someone more experienced …"
"Natsu is dodging countless kicks from Admiral Kizaru's feet whilst barely moving at all," Caster concluded as the crossed his arms. "Kizaru might be able to move at light speed, but such an advantage is mitigated by Natsu's ability to react to their speed combined with the fact that he has fought the man before, knowing the way in which Kizaru moves whilst performing said kicks."
"On a whole, rather impressive."
Eventually, Natsu vanished and Kizaru was suddenly turned into a bright yellow light and sent flying back across Marineford. His light-based body missed the execution platform by mere metres and crashed through dozens of buildings before coming to a stop at the Headquarters building.
Reappearing back on the ground right in the middle of a significant portion of the enemy troops, Natsu released a potent burst of his killing intent which drew their attention toward him.
"It's Dragneel!"
"Open fire!"
"Really? You'd shoot little old me!?"
Many of the troops around him opened fire however, to their horror, he simply vanished again as the soldiers started gunning each other down instead. Reappearing back on the front line with the Allied Forces, Natsu cackled with glee at such a basic idea working as many of the enemy front line troops set their sights upon him.
"Come on then, just try and take me!"
"I've just about got an estimation of how many enemy combatants that are down on the ice Natsu," Ahnk chimed in as Natsu sprinted toward the charging horde of World Government troops. "Behind the rampart walls appears to be a considerable bulk of the forces, leading me to believe that they likely plan on somehow getting rid of the ice to thin out the allied ranks."
"I thought so too," he hummed in reply as he appeared before the first soldier, a man wielding a flimsy sword. "I'll still refrain from using any kind of flammable attack just in case though."
The sword didn't even get a chance to come down as Natsu blitzed the man, two fingers puncturing his neck which sent an extremely powerful shockwave out through the back that pierced the skulls of hundreds of soldiers behind him. Retracting the fingers, he gracefully spun around whilst activating his Hybrid's Eyes which made tracking each and every last movement a pathetically simple task.
Pulling his two fingers back, he spun around and redirected another sword with them whilst raising his right leg to kick a Marine in the chest which sent him flying back into the troops behind him. Reaching upward with his other hand, Natsu grabbed the sword of the first Marine he'd killed which had been sent airborne the moment the man lost his grip and grabbed onto the hilt of it.
Two nearby soldiers fired several rounds toward him however Natsu had long since seen what they had planned on doing and used the sword to slice the bullets with enough precision that the now halved round struck several soldiers behind him, causing them to drop in the process.
A man with a spear tried to jab at him from behind several of his allied however Natsu angled his body so that the attack missed and caught the flat of the blade between his arm and side. Twisting the blade, he applied Lightning Magic to it and stabbed a man behind him through the lower jaw with the blade coming out through the top of his head.
The blade then started to release red sparks as it shot out a solid bolt of lightning into the sky that split off into several dozen smaller sparks. The sparks quickly latched onto any metallic weapons held by the troops, thousands of volts tearing through their feeble bodies and frying them on the spot.
As he did this attack, he also used his superior strength and body weight to yank the spear out of it's wielders grasp, prompting a man to be dragged out into the open without a weapon. Letting the wooden base of the spear fall slightly, he kneed it which knocked it airborne. As he did this, he quickly spun around and pulled one of the fried bodies toward him.
Grabbing the body with his right hand, he spun around and launched it into what at first seemed to be a random direction. This however was the trajectory of a cannon blast which was halted by the body as bits and pieces of gore rained down onto the now horrified troops below.
Some of them seemed to want to flee however Natsu was barely even started. The spear had started to come down and as Natsu extended his left hand to reach for it, his right once again extended two fingers and fired a bolt of red lightning directly at a larger man who appeared to be wielding a shoulder mounted mortar.
The lightning struck the man between the eyes, killing him instantly, however as he fell his body jerked from the lightning which caused him to fired the weapon back into the crowd of troops around him.
As dozens more died, Natsu grabbed the spear and immediately started spinning it in an anti-clockwise motion, slicing the various blades, spears and lances that were being swung in his general direction. As he spun the weapon, he changed hands with it and used one foot to pivot on the spot before stomping in place.
The stomp shook the entire frozen bay which staggered just about everyone as a massive chunk of ice was separated and hurled upward right in front of him. Spinning the spear to slice apart some more gunfire, he suddenly made several powerful aerial slash attacks to slice the giant chunk into slightly smaller ones before spinning around to slice the stomachs open of two Captains who had moved up to try and help.
"Let's see how you all deal with this!"
Spinning back around again, Natsu leapt forward, spinning the spear out in front of him whilst moving, turning anyone caught in its path into paste. Leaping into the air, he quickly reached the centre of the falling blocks of ice as red sparks started to escape from his body, halting the blocks of ice in place.
The blocks of ice quickly gained a reddish hue as he seemingly infused them with his red coloured lightning. The blocks started orbiting his position as he looked down on the sea of foes before him, his on the fly plan quickly being put into place.
Using the spear, he pointed at sections of the sea of troops and started hurling the electrically charged blocks of ice at them. Many tried to flee but due to the densely packed bay they had little chance of doing anything which meant they were caught up in the attacks.
The first block of ice struck the rear flank, setting off a massive explosion that released a torrent of scattered lightning out within a wide area. This was deliberately done to ensure that it got anyone who survived the initial impact and explosion.
After hurling the rest and severely crippling the flanks, he spun the spear several times before charging it with lightning and hurled it directly at one of the gun emplacements on the rampart walls. The men on that section of the wall had no time to react as the spear struck, setting off a large explosion and blasting apart the top section that held the gun emplacement, putting it out of commission as it fell down onto either side of the wall below.
Landing back onto the battlefield, Natsu sighed and shook his head. He could feel the fear in the soldiers before him and knew full well not all of them wanted to even be there, yet he had no choice but to cut them down and move on.
That was the way of this world.
Preparing to move and attack again, he was about to charge forward only to find himself raising both arms to block a solid beam of light which sent him skidding backward a considerable distance. The attack was powerful enough to where it set off several explosions on Natsu's position as he deflected it, his feet slowly getting deeper and deeper into the ice as the force bore down upon him.
Once he came to a stop, he vanished and reappeared several metres from where he'd once stood only to see Kizaru had stabbed the location with one of his legs from high in the sky. The man had several light scratches on his face and appeared to be slightly less laid back than usual but other than that he still seemed the same as always.
"Decided to get serious, Kizaru?"
"I'm afraid I can't have you massacring any more of our troops Dragneel," the Admiral replied as he appeared several metres in front of him, now standing on the icy battlefield.
"Unfortunately for you, I don't have plans to mess about in a fight today Kizaru. I don't need to test you since we've fought before which means I'll be blowing past you now!"
"Is that so," the Admiral hummed as his entire body started to glow with a bright golden light. "Then let us see how you deal with this!"
Kizaru was about to warp but suddenly lurched forward as Natsu landed a solid kick to his gut. The Admiral showed the first genuine sign of shock before being turned into light and blasted back through his own troops and into the rampart walls.
"Like I said," Natsu huffed before clasping his palms together as his own body became coated in a bright golden glow. "I don't have the time to mess around! Hybrid's Aura: True Heavenly Body Magic – Procyon!"
Natsu's body became surrounded in a sphere of golden light as he slowly lifted up off of the ground. Powerful blasts of wind pushed back ally and enemy alike as the entire area around him started to collapse in on itself, leaving a giant crater in its wake.
Still in a stance with his palms clasped together, he raised his right one and made a chopping motion toward the World Government forces. From the golden sphere hundreds of light tendrils shot out and started piercing through their ranks, as the horrified forces all cried out in panic.
"Be forever blinded by the sight of the Sacred Stars, Hybrid's Aura: True Heavenly Body Magic – Procyon Defteri Lampsi!"
Turning his other hand so that the palm face upward, he pushed it up above his head as the sphere above him started to fire out a second set of light tendrils which arched over the troops on the icy bay. It took Haki users mere seconds to realize who the intended targets were but by that point it was too late as the tendrils smashed into the gun emplacements all along the rampart walls.
Natsu was about to continue the attack but he was forced to use the sphere of light to block a barrage of light-based attacks as Kizaru rained down his signature Yasakani No Magatama. Gritting his teeth, he was about to retaliate when he suddenly found the temperature around him dropped drastically.
"Ice Ice: Ice Ball!"
His eyes snapped to Admiral Aokiji who had arrived on the scene, his hands extended outward and a look of deep concentration on his face.
"He's trying to freeze the water in the air around us to trap us in a block of ice," Ahnk noted as Natsu contemplated his next course of action. "We wouldn't die even if we got frozen but it leaves us somewhat vulnerable. My advice would be to dispel our current attack, it did serious damage to its intended targets anyway."
"True," Natsu agreed as he skipped over the final stage of the attack and brought his palms back together. Aokiji frowned as he felt the ice struggling to form due to the immense pressure around Natsu's position and was subsequently forced to dodge as the golden sphere of light around him started to collapse in on itself before being fired out as a solid energy blast directly at him.
"Phew …"
Looking up, Natsu could see Kizaru with a frown on his face before vanishing and reappearing somewhere else on the battlefield. Natsu could still feel the temperature change Aokiji had performed in the area though he was glad to note that the attack itself had been interrupted.
"You really are an annoying one, aren't you," the Admiral sighed tiredly as he slowly moved toward Natsu's position. "Do you even have any idea how many you just killed in the last ten minutes?"
"Not really, I wasn't actively counting them," Natsu replied honestly which only caused the laid-back Admiral to shake his head.
"Honestly …"
Meanwhile, the rest of the battle continued to rage around them with the majority having recovered from Natsu's earlier actions. It was clear now that the Allied Forces held the advantage since Natsu himself had all but decimated several flanks and crippled the mounted guns all along the rampart walls leading to the Execution Plaza itself.
Luffy continued to sprint along, beating down any low tier soldiers he came across with ease as Jimbei flanked his right. The two alone were more than the combined forces could handle and so they easily tore another hole through the rapidly collapsing flank with many of the Allied Forces eagerly charging in right alongside them.
Back on the Execution Platform itself, Sengoku and Rider watched the battle with neutral gazes. Both knew that Natsu was easily going to be as troublesome to deal with as Whitebeard however Tiberius had assured them that he could deal with him.
"Man, seems like I've missed quite a bit of action!"
"Archer, welcome back," Rider nodded slightly as the Air Marshall took his place up alongside his counterparts.
"Sorry about Dragneel getting here so quickly …"
"Do not worry about it Archer, it appears Dragneel's strength is far above what the reports had stated. In fact, it appears he has grown significantly stronger since his fight with Saber on Sabaody."
"Plus, the prototype Doctor Vegapunk developed was just that, a prototype," Sengoku chimed in. "We knew full well it wouldn't hold someone like him back for long."
"Even so …"
"There is little point in beating yourself up over it now Archer," Rider sighed as he motioned down toward Tiberius who seemed to be smirking at the entire battle down below. "We have Tiberius and his team as well as all our other forces at hand here, this is where the battle was always going to be decided."
"Besides, one of our plans are already in motion," Sengoku added as he motioned over toward the Moby Dick and Whitebeard. "It is only a matter of time now."
"I see."
"However, I think we might want to shore up defences just in case so I shall be requesting for Akainu to prepare for his part earlier than initially planned as well," Rider added quickly as Sengoku hummed in thought.
"Yes, perhaps that would be for the best …"
A sudden explosion on one of the rampart walls drew the attention of all three leaders as they watched dozens of Marines and Soldiers be sent flying back off onto the stone floor of the plaza behind them.
"This is Major Vanville of the Fifty First! We've got the King Class Servant Leonidas single handedly mounting an offensive on the plaza! He appears to be enraged!"
"Interesting," Rider mused as the smoke cleared to reveal Leonidas, who's helmet was now completely on fire along with his sword and shield. The man was roaring loudly as he viciously tore through the troops that had tried to stop him. "Of course, that makes perfect sense …"
"What does," Sengoku asked as a bright light flashed below them, one of Tiberius Squad vanishing and reappearing atop the ramparts on the other side of the hole Little Oars Junior had made.
"YOU!"
"How amusing, to think that you and I would be destined to meet on another battlefield like this?"
"RAARGH!"
"If you don't mind Tiberius, I think I shall dispose of this one now before he becomes a problem for us later down the line."
"No problem Ruler," Tiberius smirked as Ruler's entire body began to glow a bright golden colour. "Crush him like the worthless bug that he is!"
"Indeed," Ruler replied as Leonidas roared and charged toward Ruler's position, shrugging off gunfire and cannon blasts effortlessly as he picked up speed.
"RAARGH!"
Ruler entered a defensive stance as Leonidas reached the edge of his side of the rampart and leapt across it in mere moments, sword raised high above his head as he prepared to come down upon Ruler himself.
"Fool. You'll never stand a chance against me, for I am a God!"
Leonidas' blade clashed with Ruler's arm, a golden gauntlet absorbing the blow as black sparks were fired out in all directions. Leonidas roared in fury, his now Crimson Red eyes meeting the calm Galaxy Blue ones of Ruler as a wave of power washed over everyone present.
Almost as soon as this wave washed over the troops, many of them instantly dropped to the ground unconscious. Those who weren't knocked out were either shocked, confused or with the rare few, intrigued.
"So that's what it looks like," Rider muttered to himself as he watched the strange phenomenon before him. "A clash between those who would be King?"
"Yes," Sengoku muttered darkly as the part of the wall the two were clashing on shattered beneath Ruler's feet. "A clash of two Conquerors …"
Ruler was unfazed as the platform below shattered, content to just over and absorb the attack from his old enemy as the space around them twisted and distorted due to the strange phenomenon that occurred when Kings, or would be Kings, clashed against one another.
Eventually however, he grew bored, and sent Leonidas flying backward with the man flipping in the air and skidding to a stop on the section of the wall that he'd jumped from. Ruler looked at Leonidas and couldn't help but laugh which seemed to only anger the man further, the flames on his person exploding to match his roars of anger.
"Come then, let us see if you are capable of defying your own legend … KING OF SPARTA!"
Leonidas simply roared again and charged Ruler who also likewise charged toward the Spartan King.
/Marineford Bay – Several Minutes Later/
"It seems Leonidas found his match," Whitebeard mused as he watched the Spartan King fight against the strange man. "I wonder why he lost his composure though?"
"I can think of one reason," Caster chimed in as he too watched the back-and-forth scrap between the pair. "It is obvious that Ruler and Leonidas share a linked past, a past that caused Leonidas great pain. It is likely that Ruler was on the winning end of their engagement …"
"Old man!"
"Squard? Where have you been," Whitebeard asked as one of his allied Captains walked out to join him on the deck. "No one has been able to get into contact with you since the battle started?"
"The rear guard was hit pretty hard once the fighting got serious," Squard replied tiredly prompting Whitebeard to place a hand on the man's shoulder in understanding.
"That is grave news … I'll be joining this battle shortly Squard, Caster and I are just about ready to go."
"I see, that is definitely good to hear old man," Squard grinned as the old man walked over toward his naginata and grabbed onto it. "I owe a great debt to you all so I'm looking forward to doing my part to help the family …"
"That's good Squard, I'm grateful that you came to help us all save Ace," Whitebeard nodded before looking over at where Ace was still chained up. "It'll likely take everything we've got, but I'm confident that-!"
Whitebeard froze as he felt a slight cramp in-between his chest and stomach. Moving a hand downward, he thought one of his old wounds was acting up, but upon reaching the spot he felt something sharp up against his fingers. It was then that he noticed everything had gone deathly silent, all sounds of battle having ceased entirely.
Slowly lowering his head, his eyes widened in shock to see Squard plunging his several metre long dai katana right into his abdomen. Blood quickly began to escape the wound as he heard the sounds of his allies crying out his name and saw Caster tear Squard off of him with strength the man had no chance of matching.
"What have you done," Caster hissed as he pinned Squard to the ground with his hand firmly around the man's neck. "SPEAK! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO WHITEBEARD, SQUARD!?"
"Why," the man ground out as he grabbed onto Caster's wrist with one of his hands. "Because … the old man … sold us out!"
"What …"
"There's no way," Marco snapped, landing on the deck and stalking over toward Squard with a furious glare. "There's no way our old man would ever do that!"
"But he did," Squard gasped as he felt the grip from the enraged Servant tighten. "He made a deal with the World Government … If he handed all of us over … they'd spare both himself … and Ace!"
"And you just believed that," Marco snapped as he moved to strike Squard, only for Whitebeard to place a hand on Marco's shoulder, halting him in place.
Pulling Marco back, he took several steps toward Squard, the blade still stuck firmly into his abdomen. Once he was towering over Squard, he spoke.
"Caster, let him up."
Without a word, Caster released Squard who quickly got to his feet though he was prepared to die for what he'd done. Whitebeard locked eyes with the man and continued to speak.
"Squard … I cannot even begin to believe that you said such a thing, that I'd sell out my own children to the World Government! Why would you ever believe such a terrible lie!?"
"Isn't it obvious," Squard snapped in response. "We all know the truth old man, about who Ace is related to! Its only natural that you'd pick him over the rest of us, sell us out so that he'd get a chance to live! Just look at the battle, they've barely even gone after you at all and are just going for the Allied Forces! And then on top of that the ice is preventing any of us from leaving this place, it was a trap set up by you and the World Government to round us all up and execute us!"
"Squard …"
"I don't regret what I did because it was for all of us," Squard cried as he held his arms outward. "Kill me if you want, but they deserve to know the truth!"
"Squard, you foolish Son," Whitebeard growled as he got down on one knee and reached out toward the man who closed his eyes in preparation for the end.
What he wasn't prepared for however, was for Whitebeard to grab him and pull him in for a tight hug.
"Wha …?"
"You are a foolish Son, but no matter how foolish you are … I'll always still love you, regardless."
"What?"
"Tell me, Squard, who told you such vicious tales? Who said this to you, my Son?"
"It w-was Akainu," Squard stuttered as he slowly started to realize he may have been misled.
"I see," Whitebeard muttered as he released Squard and rose to his feet, yanking the sword out of himself and dropping it next to Squard in the process. "Do not judge Ace harshly on his parentage Squard, none of us can choose our birth parents … but we can choose our family. We all met each other on the wide-open seas by chance Squard … but we became family by choice. You and Ace have gone through countless hardships together alongside the others, as your Brother. Do not hate Ace, Squard, but love him like a real Brother would. I do not love any of my children more than the other, because you're all special to me in your own ways!"
Squard dropped to his knees, realizing the severity of what he'd just done as the old man grabbed his naginata and walked toward the edge of his ship once more.
"I have to admit," Whitebeard muttered as he reached the edge and locked eyes with Sengoku who seemed rather unfazed by the whole event. "I'm surprised you'd stoop this low, Sengoku. It appears your mind is as sharp as ever, coming up with a strategy to try and shake us up like that."
Looking out at the shocked armies before him, Whitebeard couldn't help but sigh before stabbing his naginata into the deck and clenching his fists. Punching either side of himself, the frozen ice around the Allied ships was shattered, allowing them to escape should they so desire.
"You think you can just trick my own children against me and get away with it, Sengoku!"
Many of the Allied Forces under Whitebeard began to roar in agreement as the World Government Forces braced themselves for a continued fight. Ripping his naginata out of the ground he looked back to Caster.
"Are you ready?"
"Of course I am my friend," Caster grinned as he stepped over toward the Emperor. "Whenever you are, of course!"
"They may call me a Devil or a Monster … but at the end of the day I'm just a mortal man with but one heart," Whitebeard muttered as he pressed a hand against the stab wound to his abdomen. "I can't be 'The World's Strongest' forever, so with the little time I've got left I need to make a difference here Caster …"
"Oh?"
"If I can use my power to save this one young man's life from his unjust Fate, I can retire from the world happily knowing I've done all I could with my life …"
Sighing, he looked down at his wound before clenching his now bloody fist and rising to his full height. Gripping his naginata he took a deep breath.
"THOSE OF YOU WHO'LL STILL FOLLOW ME INTO THE DEPTHS OF HELL, LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE ON IT!"
The Allied Forces all roared in approval with many raising their blades into the air or firing their guns upward as a show of absolute approval at the old man's words. Whitebeard grinned and with speed far eclipsing just about everyone there, he twirled his naginata instantly behind him and sprinted toward the edge of his ship before jumping off the edge and down toward the battle below, Caster close behind.
Sengoku meanwhile was sweating bullets as he watched Whitebeard single handedly undo their whole plan with but a few words. Not only that, but he was now charging into battle himself!
"BE READY! HE'S GONNA RUN WILD," Sengoku roared out across the battlefield. "HE'S THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN!"
As Sengoku roared to rally his own forces, Whitebeard made a forward motion with his naginata whilst dropping to the ground below.
"ALL OF YOU, ATTACK," Whitebeard roared as he hit the ground and charged toward the battle, the thunderous roars of his allies drowning out the chaos of the battle itself as one of the Four Emperors of the Sea made his move.
Hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!