A/n: Wow. An Update a couple months after the last one. Extraordinary! Yea will look at how short this damn chapter is. I was unsure whether to wait till I had at least solid plot planned out lol. But nah. This one is for fun for fun. Not just for fun.

Important: If you are still confused, the fic is going back inforth in the time line. Present: One year after Impeldown/Whitebeard War. Flashbacks: One month after Impeldown/ WB War, Nakama is still lost.

Also, you'll start to notice the mood change, and that's how I want it to feel. This is the Luffy I wanted to portray.

xXx

The one thing Monkey D. Luffy regretted was not being fast enough to grab her hand. At least then… one of them would be here to support him.

XxX--------------Present--------------XxX

Luffy turned away from Sunny Go's rails to look at the tall Orange trees that had been brought to enjoy the rare peaceful weather. The sea was being kind to him and his fleet, at least… for now. He unconsciously dug this bear feet into the deck's grassy lawn, feeling the evening dew which had started to collect. The night was cooler than normal, but not too cold to bite into his bear skin.

Breathing in the ocean air again, he watched the leaves sway under a gentle breeze. His straw hat shifted a little, and he brought up a hand to reposition it.

Ace's death had clouded his judgment back then. 'The plan had been near suicidal. But apparently, no one else had been close to clear minded as to seriously oppose it. Or, those that were level headed enough to realize the danger, were ready to die anyway. That was how desperate the state the fleet had been in. The fatigue of constant fighting and the threat of utter destruction had chipped at their senses. And without the ability to think of another option, everyone agreed to the plan with little hesitation.' He winced a little. 'It was almost as if I had blindly signed off their lives.'

And it almost was, had not been for their ridiculous strength and determination to live; which made up the balance perfectly.

xXx-------Continuing the Flash Back-------xXx

Responding to the eminent threat, Luffy had called the major players of his alliance to explain the plan of action to save their asses. But the problem was that the shit he'd made Jinbei spew from his mouth was as life threatening as the Marines...

Ex-Shichibukai Jinbei stood looking over the slackjawed mass of pirates infront of him. He had just laid out the bulk of Strawhat's plan to escape from their dire situation. An accumulation of over a hundred battleships, warships, top ranking galleons, and a monstrous Ship of the Line had surrounded the pirate alliance into one of the Sabaody archipelago bays, trapping them in like caged rats.

He, himself, still could not believe he was staying with the rookie pirates. '…They look hopeless…' He watched as Bonbon and Mr.3 hug each other and make a fountain of tears. 'If it wasn't for Whitebeards request and my debt to Luffy, I would've been long gone…'

'Watch over the next Generation' Was his last words to Jinbei.

The giant Fishman sighed. 'Only if Strawhat had agreed to leave with him.'

"Look, this is our only chance of escaping with your 'precious' ships. Because, had you all not been as attached to them, Like Miss Boa here, we would have just opted out on escaping into archipelago and escaping from the other side. And we cannot risk dividing up due to the blockade; we need everyone one way or the other." He put his hand on Luffy shoulder.

"Strawhat and I has gone over it for many hours , though most of the plan is his idea, I fully stand behind it. We need everyone's full cooperation, any one that decides not wish to abide by it; you are fully welcomed to leave. But I encourage you not to because you will die tomorrow." He gave the shoulder a squeeze, signaling the boy's turn to speak.

xXx

Luffy leaned back into his chair from his position of resting his chin on both sets of knuckles. For the past few minutes, he'd been silently watching the reactions of the individuals that sat before him as Jinbei spoke. They were all Pirates, not soldiers. They were not used to taking orders, nor were they used to fighting in the way they had. It wouldn't have surprised him to see a couple of them just up and leave before the Fishman finished speaking. Yet none did. This was what he hoped for. 'Everyone has to work together for everyone to live.'

The rubber man regarded the group in a tired manner. "At least none of you left yet." He saw Eustass about to give a retort, but continued before the walking magnet could give one. "Good, because Jinbei is right, because the plan calls for all or nothing. And the nothing means we all die."

"I'll summarize it again, hopefully the stupid looks on your faces are gone now, and point out a few things he didn't mention. Also, this is an easier version to understand." He gave a cruel grin and pointed at the crudely drawn map that was laid out on the table. It was the bay, with small paper boats, courtesy of Inazuma, depicting their and the marine ships. It was an almost accurate representation, to the point where size and shape of the ships were proportioned to the size of the bay. Needless to say, the map was fairly large.

"As you all know, we are completely trapped into the bay with the marine ships blocking our only way out into the sea. There is only one opening. But it is a pretty large opening. This is probably why so many marine ships were called in."

He then waved over the marine ship. "To completely cover the opening, they broke their usual formation and panned out all their ships. This way they accomplish two things. One, to break our moral and unstill doom into our minds. Two, to destroy all thoughts of escaping by sea." He emphasized the how thinned out the marine ships were. "This is their mistake, or unless they knew about it, the risk they took, hoping we'd be too panic-ridden to notice."

He paused to make sure everyone understood the weakness, "So this is the fact that the entire plan was based upon. A long wall a ship, that may be easily broken."

Luffy rearranged the paper boats that represented the alliance fleet until he was satisfied. He had made an ordinary triangle from them. "To put it simply, we will escape by forming a wedge and hammering our way out to freedom.

The room was still in shock. Even after hearing the plan the second time, the simplicity and shear outrageousness of it still made their jaws drop. Yet, no one seemed to oppose as the boy continued talking.

"This is how I want the formation to go." He pointed out the ships that made of the front two sides of the wedge. "Because Hancock (she blushed a little) has noted that she doesn't care whether or not her ships make it out of here, they will make up the Outer V."

The snake Princess announced to the mass, "Twelve of my ships' original purpose was only for mass transportation and cargo, so they are much bulkier than any of your ships. This is also why we decided to put them on the outside, to absorb most of the damage the marines throw at us."

Luffy continued, "But that does not mean, we'll only be using them as shields. Since their decks are massive, that is where most of you and your crews will be positioned, alongside the Amazon army."

"Then who'll be protecting our ships?!" Cried out Bonney, finally breaking the silence among Luffy's audience.

"That's why I want all of you on the outside, repelling most if not all of the enemy's attack. Put only a couple of your crew on your ships to keep it sailing in the formation, and have everyone else with you. That way, we are all protecting our ships together." His face turned grim, "So it would be wise to do your best to keep Hancock's ships floating, because they are the ones between your ships, and the marine cannons."

"Also, speaking of cannons, I want all of your crew members that aren't going to be controlling your ships, and aren't strong enough to block cannon balls to be assigned to Buggy."

"EHHHhhhhh!?!" The red nosed man shouted in pure horror. Then started to sweat bullets, as all the other captains eyed him, doubting whether or not stawhat had gone insane, having them entrust their crews onto the weak pirate.

Seeing their doubts, he further explained, "Buggy, will be in charge of all the preparation and firing of our own cannons. The weaker half of impel down inmates and parts of your crews will be returning fire. But, I don't want any old random shots at the enemy ships," he said, exasperatedly. "I want the cannons timed and aimed at the enemies' masts. I want to disable their ships. Or, even their sails, just to slow them down. Remember, we are escaping, not really fighting them head on."

The Capone, seeing the opportunity to add his voice, "Mr. Strawhat, seeing as how there is no other way to sway your decision, allow me and my men to assist Mr. Nose. I've noticed many of your ships are… ill equipped with cannons. My ship doubling the number of the second most equipped ship in our improvised fleet." He looked over the other captains, some of them sour with his insult, and said, "With your permissions, allow me and my crew to build the cannons needed for this operation."

Luffy looked surprised and doubly concerned, "That would help a lot Bege. But, this is a lot of cannons we are talking about. And there isn't much time before dawn."

"Do not worry about my crew's ability to create cannons Mr. Strawhat. Though, I do understand your concern about time. Normally, the sheer size of this order would take many days for my crew to gather the resources alone. But with the abundance of manual labor available within the Alliance, and with some assistance from Mr. Kid, I can guarantee a couple dozen high quality cannons in only a few hours."

Luffy's eyes widened and Eustass turned to the man in the expensive suit, "What do ya need me for huh? I don't know anything bout them stinking cannons."

"I'm well aware of that Mr. Kid, seeing as how you have the least amount of cannons amongst us. Oh, I would love to lecture you of the importance of a well equipped ship. But that is for another time. I have another use… I mean, I ask your assistance in another way. That is, your devil fruit abilities. Cannon making requires large amounts of metal. Our stock piles are low on that resource. But we've been fighting for many weeks now, and the ocean floor around us is littered with iron scraps from sunk ships and weapons…"

The flame haired pirate probably already knew the question, but to stay polite Capone formally inquired, "Will you help us collect the scrap metals?" To keep the Pirate from flat our refusing, he added, "The more cannons we build, the better chance of all of us surviving…"

xXx

"Of course." The Kid said sarcastically. This wasn't much of a hard choice to make, but his independent nature still had him itching in irritation about being told what to do. And he didn't take kindly to the mobster/pirate.

But… he wasn't a complete fool; he deeply respected Strawhat, someone who was as crazy and strong as himself. Just look at the map in front of him. 'He may even be stronger…' There were times in the past weeks were he'd witness Strawhat perform feats he'd thought impossible… 'That boy had so much potential.' He groaned inwardly. 'More so than what the next Pirate King needs…'

There wasn't much he could do. Fate had thrown everything at the Strawhat. And once he has gotten enough time to straighten all his shit out, and get over his brother's death, he would come back and completely blast away everyone that gets in his way.

So, as he saw it now, he could either stand back and watch Strawhat pummel his way to the sought after title… or… he could fight alongside him, and grab as much of the left over glory as he could. He sighed. It was at that moment, Eustass Kid resigned himself from his goal for one piece, and decided to fully follow the Infamous Monkey D. Luffy.

But he would be damned if he said so, "Fine, I'll do it. It'll give me the chance to show off my power to you weaklings!" He eyed Strawhat, "And I'll also go with your crazy ass plan! Just thinking off all the noise this is going to make has gotten me shaking with excitement!"

xXx

Watching, Eustass gloat, Luffy sat back relieved with the cooperation he is receiving. He understood what the man was saying, and he also understood the silent threat he had seen in his eyes. 'Don't make me regret this decision Strawhat.'

"Good." He continued, "Capone, try to crank out as many cannons as you can. And make sure you refer to Buggy on making a few that can handle Buggy Bombs."

The gangster looked confused, "BuggyBombs, sir?"

Luffy nodded, he looked at Buggy again and asked, "Red nose, do ya think you can still make a few of those bombs of yours? The big ones that used in the town we first met at." He got the reaction he was looking for as he watched Buggy's eye twitch.

The clown, sweating again as the attention was brought to him, "Yes… I think I can make up a few. But… I'm going to need some help. Mixing the powder takes a lot of work."

"Then get some people from your 'new' crew to help out. They practically worship you Mr. Hero." The comment brought out a few snickers, lightening the mood around the table. "You might have not yet realized it yet, but your true strength, Buggy, comes from the explosion you create. If Ussop was here, he'd be having a field day with your explosive inventions. Those bombs will play a key factor in our escape. And I'm hoping for a least a few."

A little put off with Strawhat acknowledging his inventions, Buggy the Clown simply nodded.

Next, Luffy talked about the unique aspects to his triangle formation. The needle tip point. "At the very tip of the formation will be the Sunny Go. Why? Because, One, I want most of the marine fire to concentrate on her. Two, it contains our back up, should the Buggy bombs fail."

"Why would you do that Luffy-Chan?" Ivankov asked softly, "From what I understand, you practically consider Sunny your nakama…"

"That's right. I do. That's why I want Law standing right on top of it." Luffy responded.

On the other side of the table, a bored looking Trafalgar Law suddenly perked up with interest.

xXx

"Lastly, I wall all of you to send over your navigators, cartographers, and who ever deals with your log pose. I'm sure you all very aware how dangerous this plan is. We may lose some ships and we may be separated in the escape. Both are very likely… So, the only solution I can come up with is Water 7. That will be our rallying point of our grand escape." Luffy looked over the mass of people. A few seem to recognize the name, but most looked lost.

X. Drake's head clicked, "Ah, I think I remember hearing about that Island from my informants. Yes… that was the last reported sighting of you and that old dog Garp."

The rubber man lifted an interested eyebrow, "You sound like you know my grandfather."

The ex-Marin smiled slightly, the first time anyone in the room had seen him do that, even including his blushing first-mate. "Yes we knew your grandfather Luffy-San," said the woman standing next to drake. She had torn her eyes away from her captain. "Our division had many training exercises under that command of your Grandfather. He is a very ferocious man. But also goodhearted and kind… sometimes. That is why we take these measure to keep track of him, so we don't 'accidently' run into his jaws. We like him too much, you could say. If we can avoid it, will we not fight him."

"I'm glad, I don't ever want to fight him... again." Luffy smiled back.

"Ah Luffy-san, I believe I understand what your plans are." Spoke up, Scratchmen Apo, for the first time this evening. "Water 7 is famous for having the best carpenter companies on the Grandline. Excluding the marine's personal Ironforce, certainly. But… a near 2 dozen wanted pirate ships will not be simply welcomed into their ports. Even so for business."

Luffy grinned. "Oh we don't have to worry about that. I'm friends with who you can call the town mayor. He will gladly help us."

"You sure Strawhat?" Crocodile scoffed. "When the Dj said wanted, he really did mean wanted. Or did ya forget the people surrounding you right now are the most feared criminals on this side of the grandline. We are dubed as thieves, killers, kidnappers and rapists! I don't believe anyone is willing to-"

"Blah blah" Luffy narrowed his eyes "I already know about your past Crocodile. Why are you making this harder than it should. It'll be fine, they like me over there. We just have to be willing to blow Beli for a big enough party… Anyway," this time there was a glint in the rubber man's eye, "you should be more worried about our second stop. Alabasta.

xXx--------------Present--------------xXx

Luffy felt a surge in the wind. The skies had become darker, reaching its apex this time of the year. Not a problem due to the thousands of freshly lit lamps over the entire armada. But the small fires didn't help against the crispy air that was starting to bite deeply into his skin. He reached around and wrapped his cloak tighter to his body. It was definitely chilly now, and add that to his chaotic memories, all of which were not helping his increasingly sour mood. 'Damn the cold…'

He thought of going to his cabin to start a fire, a big fire, and head on into sleep, but another option to find warmth wormed into his mind. His scowl turned into a frown, "It has been a few days… I've been busy with the captains with all the damn preparations. With all my damned officers, I should be concentrating on training. But no, there was always a fucking mistake or another god damn request… "I need a fucking breather."

He turned swiftly and hoped onto the rails. The muscles in his thighs coiled for a jump. Wanting to give them a small warm up for use in a little while; his mind was already set on what he'd be doing the rest of the night. But before he could leap across to another ship a voice stopped him. "So, where are you off to on this fine evening, Admiral?"

'grr…' There were only a handful of people that addressed without formalities. But there were even fewer that could mock him. Though, they were the ones he tolerated the most, even if he wouldn't admit it.

The rubber pirate half growled out, "Well Zoro… I was about to start my sentry runs. What do you want?"

The green haired swordsman and 1st Commander of the Strawhat fleet blured into sight behind Luffy. "You never patrol… you don't even have sentry duty. That's what the Guards are for. So where are you really going in such a hurry?"

They both knew that Zorro knew full well where he was going, with the direction he was facing… Still, without that, the other tall tell signs practically radiated off of him. The thoughts of a woman or women, whoever was not in use, quivering underneath him had let lose a couple days worth of hormones. Haki drenched pheromones were coming off of him in waves. His eyes had glossed over into an almost hungry look. Even the area around his jeans had begun to tighten…

'What a fucking sight…' thought Zoro. "Why not go someone you don't have to pay. Someone willing."

"They are all willing." Luffy said, now going into full blown growl; very irritated with is commander butting into his business.

The swordsman sighed, very aggravated. "You know damn well what I'm talking about." Now he was feeling sorry for whomever the man chose to relieve his frustrations with. "Look, why not talk with them, you know-"

"Zoro…" Luffy cut in, his words now sharper than any blade his nakama ever owned. "No… I have NO idea who… or what you are talking about. Do you understand?"

He received a slow nod.

"Good. Now if you would excuse me." Zoro could only watch as his long time friend bent down, then rocket himself toward the path of self destruction.

xXx

A/n: Well if you hadn't notice it before. You should have now. My Luffy is very OOC. But there are reasons. A few were already pointed out. Anyway, expect the battle scene in the next chapter with more insight on what his fleet.