Restructer Revolution
I want this on the Tv Tropes Crowning Moment of Awesome page for fanfics and the Fanfic Recs... the person to manage that will have the upcoming sequel, Huge Revolution, dedicated to them!
Enjoy!
XXI: Miracle's Wake
Previously:
Can I do this? He thought, eyes upon the scene. Can I violate the natural order of death and life, to restore life into a single person at my whim? I am not a god, and will never be... but, but... this pain... if I can't save anyone, then, I cannot let someone suffer right before my eyes.
No matter what, his words echoed back at him. Portgas D. Ace is going to live!
"AAAAAAAAAAACCE!" Luffy let out an anguished wail. "You're my only brother! If I can't save you... I'd rather die!"
Just as the paper crumbled into black ashes at last, Yusei did the only thing he could then.
The world whited out, as like a phoenix, from the ashes, a glimpse of white began to build.
"A miracle..."
Thanks to the activation of a lone surveillance DenDen Mushi, the entire world saw Portgas D. Ace stand up after a fatal hit from the Red Admiral.
Eustass 'Captain' Kidd stood there, jaw dropping as he blinked. "Wha... Impossible...!"
"Revived from... the dead..." Drake murmured in disbelief.
"A star of hope..." Bonney cried. "A fallen star!"
"Impossible," each of the Supernovae stared at the screens, the now silent crowd forgotten. "That man... is siding with Strawhat... all along..."
Hubbub broke out amongst the crowd in Sabaody. "Fire Fist Ace... revived... from the dead..."
"He shouldn't be alive..."
"A sin...?"
"Or a miracle...?"
"Kiseki no Zansho!"
The entire world stopped.
Complete and utter silence hung in the air, Marine and pirate alike hardly daring to breathe as they watched. Jaws hung, eyes bugged out, tongues flew, just that complete silence echoed the last of the shouts as every eye watched, never daring to look away.
There was a huge burn in the chest, seen right through, yet bright white light, greater than even a flare, burning like a miniature star, shone through the fatal injury. Even the man himself, Portgas D. Ace, stood, stunned, hardly daring to breathe. As for the inflicter, Akainu had frozen, cradling his fist, as if hoping for everything to be a bad dream and to wake up.
Starlight began to wane, leaving bare skin behind, every Marine and pirate still watching in complete and utter silence as the skin repaired itself, slowly, smoothly, finally going out with an orange tongue of flame.
"The paper..." Luffy grabbed onto the steadily growing paper that was growing from the ashes, as if it were a precious jewel itself. "The paper's growing... Ace...Ace...!" Tears leaked from his eyes to dot the cobblestones.
Ace then remembered to sock Akainu across the face, sending the Red Admiral flying across the plaza. "And that's for Pops," He added for good measure.
No one dared speak. It would mean admitting one of two things; one that the blood of Roger was immortal, which no one wanted to admit, or that someone capable of reviving the dead was right beside Strawhat Luffy at the moment, which seemed to be a worse evil. Every eye was on either Ace or Yusei, the latter thankfully wearing a helmet to hide his face.
"Hahahaha!" Luffy began to laugh, still collapsed on the floor and crying. "Ace! Ace!AAAAAAAAAACCE! ACE!"
"Luffy..." the older D. realised as he began to run to the younger D. "Luffy... Luffy...! Luffy!"
"He's...!" A Marine found the voice to speak.
"How! The Admiral cut straight through! Is that guy immortal?"
"That's not the time to talk about that! Is this a miracle...? Are the gods on the side of the Straw Hats?"
"Is this the time for a brotherly reunion!" Aki barked, already skidding towards them. "Idiot captain, hurry up!"
"Ace...! Brat...! You...!" Tears were running in great rivulets down Whitebeard's cheeks. "My wish... I know now!" Tremors shook around the emperor of the seas as the old man cried, openly and unabashedly.
"You!" The massive bisento was pointed at the silent Yusei. "That handyman! What is your name! Shout it to the heavens! I allow you to! As Whitebeard...! As one of the Four Emperors...! I recognise you! What. Is. Your. Name?"
Silence reigned once more before Yusei lifted his head, his expression unclear, face hidden by the helmet. "I... told you... I'll create... a miracle... as a Straw Hat... I am Fudo Yusei... handyman... of the Straw Hat Pirates..."
"Fudo Yusei! Handyman of the Straw Hat Pirates!" a Whitebeard Pirate screamed.
"Fudo Yusei!"
"The man who stormed Marineford!"
"The man who can perform miracles!"
"The wandering star! Fudo Yusei!"
"Thank you, Kami Sama...!" Garp was howling to the skies like, well, a wounded dog. "I'll worship you forever!"
Whitebeard nodded, dropping to one knee to bow before the Yusei Go in gratitude. "Men! Protect them! And... Fudo Yusei Dono! For showing me this miracle...! No! For saving my idiot son! Thank you! A fallen star has graced us!"
He stood back up, grinning. "Now, I have to deal with a brat who tried to kill my son!"
"You won't escape!" Akainu was back, flying across the ruined plaza towards them, a molten fist aimed straight for Yusei.
"Yusei!" Luffy screamed as the Go toppled over and the rider fell out, prone and open. "STOP!"
The entire world seemed to shade over, as people began to collapse, foaming at the mouth save for a few, the will behind the command strong enough to stop Akainu in his tracks.
"Don't..." Akainu found his way blocked by a whole wall of thorns. "Even think about it! Rosaria! Wall of Thorns!"
The Admiral's blood decorated the plaza as the Black Rose Witch sent him flying straight back into the ruins of the Marineford Navy Headquarters.
"Ha- Haoushoku Haki!"
"NO WAY!"
"You too... Luffy...!" Ace whispered.
Aki then turned her sharp, terrifying gaze to a fearful Luffy and Ace.
"If you endanger Yusei again," she hissed. "I will turn you into compost. I have Fire Type plants who would just love to eat your brother for breakfast, captain. I have just only managed to accept you, don't make me feed you to my plants, understand, captain?"
"Y- Yes!" Luffy quickly saluted, or made a game attempt to. "Aki...!"
Yusei?" Aki wearily turned to the unresponsive Duellist beside her. "Yusei?"
Knees thudded and the pirates watched in mounting horror as the one who produced a miracle groaned. "Cold..."
"Yusei!" Luffy tried to reach over, before collapsing as well. "Yusei! Yusei! Wake up, Yusei! Yusei! Please, wake up! Yusei!"
"Can't... move..." the mechanic's murmurs could be barely heard. "Hurry up... escape...!"
"I have no idea what exactly happened just now, but that does not matter!" Jimbe made his way to them, easily picking up the mechanic to sling over one shoulder and the captain over the other. "I will place my life on the line to get all of you out safely! Ace San, I can't believe you're alive!"
"Me neither..." the fire-user shook his head. "Damn, I wanted to punch Blackbeard in the kisser at least once... ne, Luffy, could you lend him to me for some time? I promise I'll return him intact after I finish Blackbeard."
"Is this the time!" Aki raged, a shower of rose petals floating around her. "This-! Rosaria!"
Stately wings of black and red petals, a shower of them in the winds, and the Red Admiral was off and flying once more.
"I can't hold them off forever!" Aki hollered at Jimbe, dismounting from the Bloody Kiss. "Get to a ship! Any ship! Ace San, you take the Go! Luffy, you're with me, Rosaria and the Bloody Kiss. Hurry up!"
"Like hell," Akainu, the stubborn sod he was, stood before them, still bleeding while magma leaked off him.
Aki imperiously glared at him, drawing her frame up. "Rosaria. Sapping Judgement."
A storm of rose petals whipped around the Red Admiral, the magma turning back to flesh where the petals touched or brushed.
"S- She's turning him human!"
"She can do that?"
"As a magma man, you hurt my Yusei," Aki glared. "Carve this into your very body and soul, the results of your justice. Bloom of Judgement! Thorn Punishment!"
Cuts and slashes dug into the now human body, the Red Admiral staggering despite his mastery in Haki and the Six Arts as he bled red from numerous cuts and bruises.
"Thorn of Malice!" Aki commanded, the angel cracking the whip to send the Admiral back a foot.
"Again!" Crack, the leg split open.
"Again!" his chest opened.
"And the last..." her beautiful features were laced with utter malice and anger. "Hate Rose Punishment!"
Finally, the bloody Admiral fell like a stone in the face of the thorns and roses, still attempting to stand.
The pirates stared in growing horror. "Is he a monster...?"
"That was not Haki..." he growled. "What... is this...? My strength is sapping... what did you do to me? Demon woman!"
"Fire!" the pirates opened fire upon him.
"Fools! I am magma!" Akainu bellowed.
"Actually... you're still human," Aki corrected, her voice cold. "And you're weakened. To you, who hoists such fabricated righteousness, feel the cold flames of sorrow upon your very soul."
"Tekkai!" the Red Admiral growled as someone actually fired a rocket at him.
"Not bad..." Aokiji growled, blocking a hit from Whitebeard. "Sakazuki hasn't needed to resort to Rokushiki for years..."
"The match is over," Aki closed her eyes as the protective angel hovered overhead and the place where the Red Admiral stood became a smoking crater. "Let's go, Jimbe San."
"Ah," the Fishman growled.
They had barely taken five steps when the growl sounded again. "How optimistic..."
"You are in no form to battle, and yet you still continue," Aki commented, her back to the smoking Akainu who still stood despite the shots and bullets. "I applaud your tenacity, if nothing else."
"It seems that your trick is only temporary," Akainu held up a fist of magma. "In that case, I will take you down with me, even if I die. Inugami-!"
The clash of two things against the magma blast had every witness stunned as the impact had the broadcasting DenDen Mushi deactivated again. All eyes upon the battle were more shocked than anything else.
Whitebeard growled. "What have you to strike your own... light-brat?"
Kizaru remained silent, his face completely blank and expressionless.
"Borsalino...!" Aokiji hissed. "What are you doing! Borsalino!"
"Old man!" Sentomaru's voice broke in as the large engineer himself was stumbling over. "What are you doing! Siding with these pirates...!"
Aki squinted. "I see. Jimbe San, let's go."
"Ah," Jimbe followed her quickly. "Why has Kizaru sided with us?"
"It was not his choice," Aki replied quietly, mounting onto Bloody Kiss. "It seems that there is more than one Duellist here, and they used a very forbidden Spell on him..."
"Spell?" Jimbe questioned.
"Change of Heart," Aki growled. "Right now, the Admiral Kizaru is utterly controlled by someone else."
"Cold..." Yusei hissed.
"Ow..." Luffy groaned.
"Protect that man with your lives!" Marco and Vista charged forward. "Ace, you cover their escape! The Whitebeard Pirates seriously owe that man! Charge!"
"He needs treatment," Jimbe relayed. "Luffy Kun..."
Ace looked down to see the drops of blood outlining their path. "Luffy... I'm sorry, Luffy... Just for me, you did all that crazy stuff...!"
"Ace..." Luffy was murmuring, almost sleepily. "Someone... save Ace..."
"Strawhat-boy..." Iva was running beside them.
"Ace! Are you alright!" a man in a top hat with a doctor's bag ran up.
"I'm not the concern here, Luffy is!" Ace hollered, considering the Go. "How do you operate the damned thing...!"
The Go started up normally, and soon Iva and Jimbe were running, their stamina such that both D-Wheels needed to run at normal speeds to keep up.
"Cold..."
"Ace..."
"Hang in there, Luffy," the Mera Mera user growled. "You're my little brother..."
"Stubborn bastard!" Whitebeard's roar echoed as more explosions sounded and the Yellow Admiral slumped in defeat.
"I'll get you this time!" Akainu was making his way at them as a torrent of magma. "There won't be a second miracle!"
"I'm not gonna let you kill him!" a blaze of turquoise flames in the form of Marco the Phoenix blocked the magma. "Jimbe! Ace! Get them out of here!"
"Hotarubi! Hirudama!" Ace threw a volley of fireballs out at the Marines pursuing them.
"Smoker San, should we...?" Ensign Tashigi turned to the Commodore, who was still nursing a bloodied nose.
"I'd take my chances when I'm sure a damned miracle isn't going to be thrown at me," Smoker growled, tilting his head to stem the blood flow. "They were right... Strawhat's got a mean right hook."
"We will protect them at all costs!" Marco declared,still blocking the magma assault. "If we let any of them die... it'll be the Whitebeard Pirates' greatest shame!"
"Well said!" Whitebeard himself swung his bisento to send Akainu staggering back.
"Yeah!" the Whitebeard Pirates cheered.
Luffy's eyes rolled back in his head as he opened his mouth and screamed. "AAAACCCCEEE!"
"What?" Jimbe growled.
"Luffy!" Ace growled. "What the-?"
"Infection-induced hallucination?" Aki considered. "Internal injuries, maybe..."
"Yusei Kun is trembling violently," Jimbe relayed. "And he feels cold to the touch."
"Hypothermia?" Aki muttered. "We've got to hurry, both cases can't be treated on a battlefield... in Luffy's case, he could easily lose his mind to a high fever..."
"Luffy Kun, don't lose yourself!" Jimbe growled.
"Hang in there...!" Ace muttered.
Whitebeard bore the visage of a demon as he bore down with all his strength against the Red Admiral then.
"Don't look back!" Aki scolded Ace as she gunned the Bloody Kiss onwards. "Our usual escape plan didn't account for anyone else, that's why...!"
"Escape plan?" Jimbe rumbled.
"Both motorcycles are outfitted with a permanent coating that can be packed away," Aki explained. "Preparations for everything... except for more people, that is. And the D-Wheels each have a weight limit and capacity."
"Strawhat-boy!" Iva began to cry, running beside them.
"If you have nothing to contribute to our escape or their eventual treatment, I suggest you find an alternative means of escape," Aki growled at the okama.
"A feisty one, eh...?" Iva scoffed. "What can you do that I can't...?"
"Ha?" Aki stared, Rosaria hovering threateningly overhead.
"...never mind," the okama queen groused. "Just know that I injected Strawhat-boy with my super hormones, so..."
"I see," Aki nodded. "As a doctor, I will try."
"You heard the old man! Protect that man with your lives!"
"Make sure they escape!"
"That miracle-worker! Get him out of here!"
"Hang in there..." Jimbe growled. "You must survive... Luffy Kun... on to tomorrow, and the day after... you must definitely survive!"
"Hang in there..." th words of a concerned brother growled.
"Luffy... San..." Yusei groaned.
"Pacifista, aim at Strawhat!"
"Change of Heart is over," Aki glanced at the sleeping DenDen Mushi. "Ace San! The DenDen Mushi on the dashboard!"
"Yeah, it's here!" Ace pointed.
"Push the big button!" Aki called.
"Eh?" he pushed.
"Executing quick-play Spell, Enemy Controller!" Aki quickly leaned over to grab the terrified gastropod. "Explode!"
The nearest intact Pacifistas received the command from a programmed source, immediately charging up beams to explode.
"Perfume Femur!"
"So cool..." Ace murmured as the circuitry of the attachments blew up. "Eh...? How...?"
"Ask Yusei later," Aki retorted. "The cards on the dashboard, are there any left?"
"Yeah, two," Ace nodded. "This... the dragon?"
On cue, the Stardust Dragon soared overhead, roaring at the Marines as it flew.
"I'll take that," Aki leaned over to swipe both cards. "Stardust! Return!"
The dragon growled, but unwillingly returned, fading into thin air.
"Jimbe, come here!" a call came from a nearby warship.
"Ah!" they changed directions as the bay froze over.
"It's Admiral Aokiji!"
"Hold Aokiji back!"
"We have no choice!" Jimbe growled. "Another ship!"
The ground itself heated up as a magma eruption occurred in front of the Fishman who had been running ahead of both D-Wheels, which were less able to turn.
"I said I wouldn't let him escape," Akainu stepped out of the blaze. "Why don't you just give up on life already, you imbeciles? Hand the son of Dragon and that brat with the dragons over to me! Jimbe!"
"I can't obey that order!" Jimbe growled. "I have already decided to protect these men, even if it costs me my life!"
"Luffy!" Ace ran, discarding the Go behind him.
"Then, I will not ask again!"
"Tailor of the Fickle..." Yusei whispered, heard by Jimbe. "Tell... Ace San... attack Akainu... I'll take care of the magma..."
"Ace San!" Jimbe bellowed. "Attack! A miracle's going to happen!"
"Yeah!" Ace burned as he charged.
"Protect that man!"
"That was an order from the old man!"
"Protect the man who brought about a miracle!"
Iva jumped into the air as a man with hair in two colours cut the pavement into shields. "We will not let you lay one hand on Strawhat-boy and Yusei-boy!" The okama queen lisped.
Ace skidded over the shields. "Hiiken!" The attack turned magma into air and, as the flaming fist came into contact with Akainu, flesh that broiled and burned as it impacted, Ace quickly jumping back.
"Damn," Ace muttered, glancing at his fist then at the helmeted Yusei slung over Jimbe's shoulder. "That's some miracle..."
"I will, without fail, kill the son of Dragon!" Akainu bellowed as he staggered up again.
"Hell Wink!"
"He's long past any human limits!" Aki had Luffy laid out, checking him feverishly. "We need to get him to some medical facilities!"
"If anything else were to happen to Strawhat-boy while I'm here..." Iva lisped. "We will never be able to show my face to my comrade, Dragon, again!"
"Yusei, if you continue, you're going to die!" Aki held back tears as she checked him. "Stop already! I can still fight!"
"No... Aki... you're our best chance..." Yusei whispered. "I'm sorry, Aki..."
"I have no time to deal with the likes of you!" Akainu growled. "Both of you, get out of my way!"
"Bring it on!" Iva growled. "Right now, we are burning far, far hotter than you are!"
"Our best bet is the ocean..." Aki growled. "And I don't have the energy to provide Rosaria for another Sapping Judgement, not to mention that we'll be at a disadvantage too..."
"Why?" Jimbe growled.
"Sapping Judgement does not differentiate," Aki replied. "Even Ace San and the okama will be affected."
"Now's your chance!" Iva bellowed. "Get Strawhat-boy and Yusei-boy to safety!"
"Forgive me!" Jimbe ran in another direction.
"Got it!" Ace and Aki launched off at once.
"Rosaria, the Go!" Aki commanded the large monster, who easily lifted the Yusei Go as its mistress took the Bloody Kiss.
"Stop right there, Jimbe!" Akainu bellowed.
"You insufferable man!" Iva returned.
"Once I'm in the ocean, we'll be in my field!" Jimbe yelled. "We can still escape!"
"The Go and the Bloody Kiss can dive underwater..." Aki considered. "However... Yusei and Luffy would probably die from the shock..."
They leapt as Akainu began to gain on them after he had defeated Iva. "Oh, no!" Jimbe yelled. "It's frozen! Aokiji! So you've come...!"
"Ivy Shackles!" Aki ordered as tendrils of green cracked through the concrete to tackle Akainu. "Fragrance Storm!"
Akainu sped faster as the petals gained onto him towards Jimbe. "Looks like you've lost your escape route!"
"Luffy! Jimbe!" Ace hollered.
"Yusei!" Aki screamed.
"Strawhat Luffy!" Akainu bellowed as he raised a magma fist. "You're mine!"
A magma flare razed the skies as the fist cut through the Fishman and hit one of the intended targets.
"He pierced straight through Jimbe and hit Ace's brother!"
"Luffy!" Ace yelled. "GET AWAY FROM LUFFY!"
"Him too?" The Marines yelled.
"This is getting out of hand," Aokiji muttered. "Two people with Haoushoku Haki..."
A right forearm covered in a long glove burst into red light, the outline of a single head of a dragon stencilled upon it.
"Don't hurt my captain," he growled, making a fist.
"That light-!"
"That man!"
"Akainu's falling!"
"So is Jimbe!"
"He can't take much more..." Jimbe mumbled as he turned. The Fishman's eyes snapped open as he felt movement. "Oi... I weigh well over a hundred kilos-!"
They smashed into the ice-covered ground, bouncing before they skidded to a stop, the straw hat floating off.
"Luffy!" Ace and Aki landed beside the fallen trio, panting. "Jimbe!"
"Yusei!" Aki snapped a card out as she ran towards the trio. "This man-! Rosaria! Hate Rose Punishment!"
"Forgive me... Luffy Kun...I let you receive another injury..." Jimbe moaned. "Yusei Kun... why...?"
"Get off!" Aki moved Jimbe off the unconscious mechanic. "Yusei-!"
"That guy... Fudo Yusei... he moved so that Jimbe would land onto him and protect Strawhat-!"
"This is no time to be worrying about others, scum!" Akainu slowly advanced upon them. Magma dripped upon the frozen water as he did so. "My aim was a little off because you interfered... are you still trying to protect him, with that hole in your chest?"
Ace burst into flames, standing protectively before them. "Oi, woman! You do something about them!"
"No good," Aki's hands glowed with purple light. "I can either help you fight him or heal him, but then I'll be unable to fight back. Luffy-! That burn-!"
"Even if I die myself...!" Jimbe swore. "I will not let Luffy Kun die!"
"What an absurd claim," Akainu mumbled as he readied the killing blow. That was, until a blade of sand cut through his middle and toppled him.
"Crocodile!" Jimbe groaned.
"Crocodile...!" Ace hissed.
"Sables!" A tornado of sand picked Jimbe, Luffy, Yusei, Aki, Ace as well as both D-Wheels to be tossed into the skies. "Someone catch them, and get them on a ship already!"
"Crocodile!" Jimbe groaned.
"If you want to protect something, then you should do it right!" the pirate bellowed back. "Don't let these guys keep doing whatever they want!" That was before he tossed them all into the skies.
"Black Rose Dragon, summon!" Aki caught the dragon's wing, holding on as Ace landed beside her. "Stardust Dragon, summon!"
The white dragon grabbed all three, crying as it cradled them in its clawed hands.
"Thank you, dragon of the stars..." Jimbe groaned. "Still, I let Luffy Kun get another grave injury... and Yusei Kun as well... that right hand... still, I remember crushing it..." he looked up. "You have a good master, dragon of the stars... we must treat them immediately!"
"I can't maintain them long enough to escape!" Aki hollered as both dragons flew lower. "Where do we go?"
"Lady, we're currently caught between two warring fronts!" Jimbe rumbled in answer despite being cowed by the Black Rose Witch, who must be a clear foot shorter than he was, and that he was on a different dragon. "Where can we go?"
On the ground, Akainu was being surrounded by the Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates. "All of the pests have gathered together..." he commented. "Do you all wish to die for that Strawhat's sake?"
"We've all seen his bottomless tenacity and power."
"He's the man Ace protected, and the Old Man respected him!"
"It is our duty to send him on to the new era!"
"That man also created a miracle for us!"
"He protected the dignity of the Old Man until the end!"
"Every last one of you are fools!" Akainu bellowed. "Whitebeard Pirates!"
"Akainu," Marco commented, blue flames blazing. "The great danger you see in that boy you're trying to kill right now... and the great potential we see in the one we're attempting to rescue... aren't they the same thing?"
"Whether he's alive or dead, it's like he's in hell anyway," Crocodile commented. "So let's just leave him alive and let him suffer!"
"I guess nothing I say will stop you at this point," Akainu rumbled. "Do your worst."
The resulting blast could be heard, seen and felt far away.
"Where do we go...?" Aki mumbled, lost. "Yusei... Stardust...!"
"Crying..." Jimbe looked up at the crystal tears that kept falling. "You're crying... Stardust..."
"Oi, Jimbe!" Ace hollered. "Everyone okay? I'll blast over there-!"
"Don't you dare," Aki snapped at him.
The waters of Marineford crashed as a yellow submersible rose through, sending water in all directions.
"A submarine?" Aki puzzled.
"Whose ship is that?"
"Bring Strawhat-ya over here!" a voice hollered at them.
"Who the hell is he...?" Ace glanced over.
"Trafalgar Law..." Aki vaguely recognised. "Why?"
Trafalgar Law gave a huge grin, Jean Bart beside him. "Strawhat-ya and I will probably end up as enemies, but I have nothing against him." Law smirked. "It'd be no fun to have him die here. So I'm gonna take him away from this place!"
"Why would I?" Aki growled back.
"I'm also... repaying a favour to a fallen star," Law grumbled. "That mechanic guy rescued one of my crew. I'm here to return the favour twice over with interest! Let me take over!"
"Very well," Aki nodded. "Because..."
"I'm a doctor!" Both finished.
"Zehahaha!" Marshall D. Teach, a.k.a Blackbeard, laughed as he looked down at the old man, Edward Newgate. "Long time no see! I'm glad that I'm in time for your death! Pops!"
"Teach...!" the old man growled seriously.
"For a pirate, an enemy of the Government, breaking into Impel Down would have been impossible since the Gates of Justice would never open." Blackbeard was blabbering. "That's why I increased my reputation and became one of the Shichibukai! But now, I don't need that rank anymore!"
"So your goal was to free those guys?" Sengoku, not Buddha-fied, growled.
"Zehahaha! Indeed! That was my plan all along!" he boasted. "That was my plan all along! Now do you get it?"
"Hahahaha!" Whitebeard burst out in laughter. "None of that matters! Teach!" He sent a shock-wave at the other pirate. "Let's settle the score!"
Whitebeard kept laughing, despite the appearance of his former subordinate, despite the appearance of Blackbeard with new help from Impel Down's infamous Level Six, despite getting pummelled by the Blackbeard Pirates, despite everything.
"Why...?" Blackbeard growled. "You monster, you should be dead already...! Why are you laughing...? You're not a D! Why? Get him, you guys!"
"A shooting star came and granted my wish," Whitebeard grinned. "I have no regrets... even if I die here... because, you see... I know... miracles exist..."
He laughed again. "Teach! There was someone else here! He destroyed the Navy Headquarters, he showed down Sengoku with a single blow, and he performed a miracle! Ace is still alive, Teach! There are things outside this world that you don't even know! Hahahaha!"
The Whitebeard Pirates remaining could only watch in horror as the old man took the brunt of the gunfire volley, bullet after bullet emptied.
"It's not you..." he growled.
"Y- You're still alive...?" Blackbeard started.
"The man Roger is waiting for..." Whitebeard drew a quiet breath. "At the very least, Teach... It's definitely not you!"
Blackbeard drew a nervous breath.
"Just like there are those who carry on Roger's will... there are those who will carry on my will," Whitebeard smiled. "Ace is still alive, Teach. Death couldn't put him down. If you get out alive... the spectre will chase you, Teach... for the sin of killing family... No matter how you try, even if you extinguish his bloodline... there's no way that their flame will ever burn out. It has been passed down since ancient times... and in the future... someday... someone will appear, carrying the history of all those decades on his back, and challenge this whole world to a fight. Sengoku. You guys in the World Government... all fear that immense battle engulfing the whole world that will eventually come. I don't care myself... but as soon as someone finds that great treasure... the entire world will be turned upside down. And someone will find it. That day will definitely come sooner or later."
He took a deep breath. "One Piece... does exist!"
To his death, Whitebeard smiled at the ignorance of his traitorous subordinate, even as the man of darkness gained the power of earthquakes to shake the world.
Whitebeard... is dead. Even in death, his body did not fall. His figure, taking down enemies while covered in wounds... was truly monstrous. The total number of sword wounds he received in this battle... was 267. he was shot by 152 bullets. And was hit by 46 cannonballs. And despite all this... his proud back... over the course of his entire life as a pirate... never received a single scar from running away!
"So... he's dead?"
"So far, everything gone according to plan," the navigator of the Blackbeard Pirates commented. "Well then, captain..."
"Zehahaha!" Blackbeard laughed. "Well, it's time to beg-!"
Stomp.
A giant, scaly foot, glittering in the gloom, stomped down on the captain as a white blast aimed at Whitebeard's corpse.
"When did...?"
Marco stopped to look back. "That... dragon..."
"The miracle dragon!"
"The old man-!"
The body!" Teach roared. "What the hell...?"
"The sky!"
"A dragon?" the Blackbeard Pirates looked up to see large, sail-like wings and the dragon taking off to fade into starlight and air.
"Whitebeard's body..." Laffitte growled. "Gone..."
"That dragon totalled it!" Blackbeard seethed, truly incensed. "Wha the hell was that? The power of earthquakes that destroys everything... is now out of our reach! DAMMIT!"
"The dignity of our captain...!" Marco fell to his knees. "That dragon... that starry dragon...!"
"Why don't you fear me...?" Blackbeard growled even as the ruins of Navy HQ became even more wrecked with his Yami Yami power and Sengoku appeared, now Buddha-fied. "I hold the power of darkness that reduces all to nothingness! Even Devil Fruit powers bow before me! Why, you idiot Marines?"
"Because miracles are possible!" the Marines yelled as they took up arms with renewed vigour. "A pirate proved that, now it's our turn!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
The helmeted head tilted slightly at the piece was removed.
"Yusei..." Aki panted. "Are you...?"
"Stop already! All this fighting, just end it!"
"It's... continuing...? Stardust..."
The glowing dragon roared to the heavens.
"We're throwing people's lives away! Even though every single soldier has a family waiting for them to return! Even though we've already accomplished our goal! We keep chasing pirates who don;t want to fight, drawing out a battle that should already be over...and abandoning soldiers who could be saved if we treat their wounds now! And still, we're sacrificing more people! What about the soldiers who will fall after this? "
"So we did it..." a small smile formed. "Save him..."
"Yusei!" Aki barked. "You-!"
"We're making them look like idiots!"
A white blast impacted not far from Sakazuki as he prepared to fry a pink-haired Petty Officer.
"That's..."
"The white dragon..."
"The dragon of salvation...!"
"So that's the thing," Holding a sword to block Akainu's magma fist, Red-Haired Shanks whistled as he looked up. "Damn, that's a beautiful sight. Thank you, Dragon San. You can go back to Luffy and the rest now."
The white dragon growled, taking to the skies as it faded into stardust the glittered as it fell over the battlefield, a straw hat floating in the winds towards the yellow submersible that was caught in one gloved hand, marked with the Head of the Crimson Dragon.
"You did well, young Marine," the infamous pirate praised. "You risked your life to create a brief moment of courage... For better or worse, that has greatly changed the fate of the world."
"Ow!"
"Shut up!" Aki plonked the tray of edibles in front of Ace. "Malnutrition cases get soup and iodine! Now if you don't mind, I have patients to attend to."
"You're a doctor who fought, and yet you're not taking a rest?" Ace mumbled after he downed the soup in a gulp, frowning.
"I didn't summon a dragon of miracles to completely bend reality up to three times, on top of not having enough sleep for five days straight after modifying the attachments of ten DenDen Mushi on top of finishing a D-Wheel, not to mention planning the entire escape plan, so I'm still moving," Aki retorted. "I only need a break to eat and recharge... I think."
"How's Yusei?" Ace mumbled, no longer eating.
It was a while before Aki replied. "Cold. And delirious. A dangerous combination. I've sent for heating packs, but he's not waking up..."
"And Luffy?"
"Doctor Trafalgar's operating on him," Aki replied. "My specialities lie in pharmaceuticals, not surgery. We can only wait for the fate of our captain to live."
Ace frowned. "You're... not very sad..."
"Luffy, I doubt that he would die, since I've seen his will to live," Aki replied. "And Yusei... I know he'll pull through somehow. I know it."
"What... are you doing?" Ace questioned as she raised both her hands.
"Triggering the last trap..." Fingers snapped. "Scrubbed Raid."
The Admirals Kizaru and Aokiji winced as their combined assault on the seas faltered even before it hit the waters.
"Ah, again..." Kizaru groaned.
"Another one..." Akainu groaned.
"Does he bend reality to some weird game we don't know the rules to...?" Kuzan's lips thinned. "That Fudo Yusei..."
"That dragon cheated me...!" Blackbeard seethed on the ground level. "Pull back! I got part of what I wanted, at least! It's still too soon to fight them! Let's go, men! Zehahaha!"
"Whitebeard..." Shanks said. "Please leave the burial to us. Don't exploit his death any further!"
Sengoku gritted his teeth. "...there's no body."
"Fleet Admiral!"
"I'm fine entrusting them to you, Red-Hair," Sengoku growled. "There's no body. That dragon totalled it. There's nothing left of Whitebeard except a burn on the concrete."
"But-!"
Shanks twitched as he walked off. "No... body...?"
"I will take the blame for it." Sengoku ordered. "Tend to the wounds of the fallen! This war... is over!"
"Today, Marineford lost," Tsuru growled, limping slightly as she moved towards the Fleet Admiral in the wake of the Battle of Marineford. "Those two... those dragons... that... miracle... and in the end, what truly stopped it was the arrival of Red-Haired Shanks-!"
"A man who can create miracles finished us," Sengoku hung his head. "We... forgot... that those Straw Hat Pirates... could screw up our plans...! Whitebeard might be dead, but the blood of Roger lives on! This... this...! This travesty will make us the laughingstock of the world!"
Angrily, he lashed out at the rubble that remained of the Oris Plaza save for the Ox Bell. "That man...! Fudo Yusei...! Without a single defining characteristic, he managed what the Revolutionaries would kill for-! He made a fool out of the Marines!"
"Fudo Yusei, eh...?" Shanks murmured as the Red-Hair Pirates left. "It'll be nice to meet that man... that man who can produce this miracle...!"
He was wandering in the hallways of a castle.
Glittering crystal shards lit his way, the place beautiful in a cold, eerie and remote way, glittering like so many stars in a constant night. Beside him walked the mistress of the castle, she must be, for there was no other beauty who resembled this castle so much like her, cold and remote and glittering with the jewels at her throat and bodice and on the hems of the aquamarine long gown and in long blue wavy tresses that seemed... familiar...
Light glittered around him, cold and alien and familiar in a way he had never seen.
"The stars call for the wandering one," she smiled, her voice soothing, welcoming like a child's toy, like summer nights huddled warm, like the hope a star brought in the dark of night. "Yusei... master Yusei... come with us? No more pain... no more sorrow... no more worry..."
Come, the light echoed. Come, the stars echoed. No longer the lone wandering star, come join us... come join your brethren as you should have long ago... come, illuminate the night skies with us...
He was about to take a step forth when it came.
"Yusei!" a distant voice echoed...
"He's so cold..." Aki whispered, pressing her fingers deep into a shivering gloved hand. "So cold..."
""Bart, I know that that man saved you, but see yourself out." Law ordered. "We need to stabilise him."
"So cold..." she whispered, wrapping the heated blankets tight around him. "Why...? That card... why? Yusei...! Why?" She demanded, half-yawning. "Why..."
"Strawhat-ya is stabilised," Law informed her. "Glaring at me won't solve this, Fire Fist-ya. Ms Izayoi..."
"Save him," Ace hollowly echoed, the bags under his eyes becoming more prominent. "I can't lose anyone else... Sabo...Old man... I'm the only one uninjured... I can't lose Luffy! Please! Take it that I'm begging you! Save Luffy!"
"Of course," Law smirked as the yellow submarine continued to swim underwater. "I'm a doctor. Anyway, Ms Izayoi-"
"I'm a certified doctor, and you can't treat Yusei," Aki retorted, yawning politely with the occasional hiccup. "It's exhaustion. We just need to wait for him. A saline drip would also be good."
"Bepo, get a saline drip." Law murmured to the bear. "Forgive me, Ms Izayoi... but... what did he do to Fire Fist-ya? No matter how I see it, it's a medical impossibility."
"So, that's the reason why a bloodthirsty pirate like you saved us?" Aki questioned, her eyes still on the sleeping Yusei. "Curiosity?"
"Among other things," Law shrugged. "This is a low-priority curiosity. I'm not the only curious one aren't I... Fire Fist-ya?"
She dragged a chair to plant herself beside him, gripping onto the gloved hand like a lifeline. The straw hat it had held had been returned to the captain, who was now snoozing and -hopefully- not in danger. "Ace San, do you remember those cards?"
"The dragon?" Ace nodded. "Ah."
"Yusei and I can use those cards to summon monsters, to cast spells... basically, to impose the rules of the game upon reality," Aki whispered. "At the moment when Admiral Sakazuki struck, Yusei activated a card. Kiseki no Zansho... the afterglow of a miracle... Miracle's Wake. At the moment of destruction, the chosen target is revived from the dead..."
Law stared at her, then at the unconscious man, then at Ace, and then back to her. "You jest."
"You're joking." Ace wholeheartedly agreed.
"Fire Fist Ace revived from the dead," Aki sighed. "And Yusei is paying the price. We need only wait for him."
Come...
The music of the spheres faded from his ears, and he shook his head. "My nakama... I have people who still need me... my apologies..."
She smiled, as a mother would to a child. "I live long, master Yusei. I will wait for you at the end of your mortal years, as I fought for you in the past, as I do in the present, and as I will in the future. Call my name, master, and I will come."
Yusei blinked alert blue eyes. "I don't know you... do I?"
"You have never seen me like this, hence you do not know this side," the lady replied, regal and enchanting as she bowed. "I am, ever your faithful servant, your legacy, the star that fights with you."
"Star... Stardust?" Yusei blinked, the light ever growing in intensity. "Stardust Dragon?"
A laugh like tinkling crystals echoed, before the light grew too much for his eyes, and the false darkness was replaced by the true dark.
"The danger represented by these two formerly unknown members of the Straw Hat crew can no longer be overlooked," Sengoku the Buddha, no longer Buddha-fied, began at the post-battle briefing held in Mariejois. "This is a disgrace! The Marine forces, no, the entire force of the Navy, has become the world's laughingstock! Whitebeard may be killed, but the blood of Roger lives on! Furthermore, the navy is is disgrace! And all because of the people under your grandson, Garp!"
"That young man has great tactical ability," the elderly Vice Admiral known as the Great Tactician Tsuru observed, holding up the newly-developed photograph of a man wearing a red helmet, the tinted visor pulled low over his face to hide the eyes of piercing intensity the veteran Marine knew existed. "Perhaps even greater than my own... and he developed in a few days a plan to counter months of work! Such genius one rarely sees..."
"He destroyed Marineford with a single command!" a nameless Vice Admiral argued.
Another took up the argument. "But he's taking orders from Strawhat Luffy! Why?"
"Both of them had no bounties before this? How did such a threat become overlooked?" Newly promoted Vice Admiral Smoker growled.
"For the girl... Kurobara Maju 'Black Rose Witch' Izayoi Aki, one hundred and ninety million Beli!" Sengoku decided. "And, for the boy... Two hundred and ten million Beli! Nagareboshi 'Shooting Star' Fudo Yusei!"
This declaration caused an uproar amongst the attending Vice Admirals.
"But, Fleet Admiral! To have a rookie immediately gain a bounty of over one hundred million Beli, that'll make him more infamous!"
"This will mean that we have two new Supernovae to contend with!"
"Forget about that! This means that the Straw Hat Pirates would have four Supernovae, and Strawhat Luffy ends up being a major threat on the high seas!"
"Then," Sengoku sarcastically rebutted, "Can anyone think of a better bounty for a man who not only proves skilled in tactics to outwit our Great Tactician, but also in engineering to stop the weakness in all Pacifistas, not to mention assisted his captain in attacking Marineford with only one other support and not only succeed, but live to tell the tale?"
His bellows were increasing rapidly in volume. "Let us not forget that this, too, is a man apparently capable of negating Devil Fruit powers at a distance and of summoning monsters with destructive power beyond our imaginations! Is there any bounty below the hundred million line that would completely summarise how much we feel him a threat on the side of the pirates, and by the Straw Hats at that? Having known all that, I would have given him a higher bounty myself! No, having known all that, I would personally submit him to the Shichibukai myself! Those monsters, and that strange ability... justice desperately needs that!"
"Like a shooting star, he fell from the skies, and granted a single wish to the own who wished upon the falling star," Garp whimsically murmured, laughing. "Truly, a shooting star that grants wishes to those who needs it. Luffy, my boy... you've found yourself a truly reliable one this time... as expected of my grandson! Bwahaha!"
"Shut up, Garp!"
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