Inside the Dragon's Den

by LittleRuky

The news that shook the world had been the catalyst to the biggest movement incited by only one person that was supposedly dead.But Strawhat Luffy has friends and enemies that doubt that to the very core and even without memories he still earns himself allies from every possible social class including the World's Nobles. Now they have to somehow save him without a war breaking out.

6. Chapter 6

RESCUE

---

"The key has been copied successfully, though it took our precious Mr. 3 some time to construct its perfect replica." Ivankov's voice was heard over the Den Den Mushi.

Rayleigh smiled. These people were more capable than he had thought at first. The former pirate was truly impressed.

"I'm happy to hear that. Prepare for the break in."

There was shuffling on the other side of the call. Before long, a younger voice that the grey haired man identified as the revolutionary Chief of Staff asked.

"How are we supposed to meet Koala and the others in there, Rayleigh-san?"

If the blonde could have seen the older man's face, he'd sigh in defeat. Clearing his throat, Rayleigh tried to reason with the temperamental- especially when it came to his brother and friends- man.

"I am not sure. They have not informed us where the prison is, but Dragon did give me a hint. Inform the others of this too. Head north-west no matter what door you're at. You'll just have to somehow meet around there somewhere."

The small snail did not look too convinced but nodded and hung up.

Rayleigh sighed, his fingers typing in another number.

---

"We are breaking in!" Jinbei declared ceremoniously.

Smoker tugged at his black cap and the muddy brown hood over it. He checked his disguise again, doing a once over in case anything that might reveal his identity was still visible. His revenge was risky, but the marine really wanted to fill in his 'superiors' on his thoughts about many things. And what better way to do that than to ally with pirates and help them break into the Holy Capital.

Today is a good day.

Next to him, Law was thinking along those lines, though he was mostly preparing to deal some fucking good damage to some unlucky buildings too. And probably some more people and other politically important buildings.

Did he mention politically influential people? He didn't have a clue who they were, but the pirate won't discriminate. Whatever the case, those Nobles deserved it.

Zoro definitely agreed with Law. But Luffy's rescue came first. After that, Mariejois will be cut in half. No joke.

Buggy watched the three idiots plan their stupid, sadistic plans and he could not help the feeling of being left out. Though that did not last long.

Hopefully, no one will discover his identity and he'd retain his title of Shichibukai. The clown cursed Rayleigh and that red haired bastard for the nth time in the last few minutes. Never again would he allow himself to be manhandled by them.

Or anyone!

---

Perona twirled the wax key in her hands, watching her team absently. They were a door down from Jinbei's, so they'd surely see some action.

Such a bother.

Rebecca smiled at the ghost girl politely. She did not have such a bad character after you got to know her better. Though the princess had been disappointed that she wasn't in a team with her fellow princess, Vivi, the rose haired woman had no reason to protest. Luffy's safety came first. Her hand tightened around her sword reflexively and her eyes lifted to gaze at Brook-san and Chopper. They were two of the three Strawhats she hadn't met and despite their appearances, they were very nice people.

Brook was patiently tuning his violin while Chopper fidgeted around him, trying in vain to stifle his nerves.

Rebecca giggled.

Everyone is anxious to see you again, Luffy.

---

"Super!"

Ideo and Sai watched the cyborg strike his 'warming up' pose, as the man himself had named it, and promptly shook their heads. The guy had the energy of a thousand suns.

Seriously now.

Nami smiled at the trio before her light brown eyes slid towards Hancock. The Empress tapped her foot impatiently on the ground, her glare threatening to melt the third door down from Jinbei's into a puddle of useless metal.

The orange head held back a grimace when she saw the poor key almost broken in half and a crying bespectacled man entered her mind. The image was horrifying from many points of view, and she resolved to make it disappear as fast as possible.

"Hancock-san, would you like me to hold the key?"

"No." Raven locks of hair whipped in the other direction as the Shichibukai turned her head towards her.

Nami sighed, already expecting the answer. Hancock seemed to think the same.

"Why ask such stupid question if you know the answer already?"

For the first time since she's met the Pirate Empress, Nami allowed herself to scowl.

"Because you are breaking it!"

---

"I'm so happy that I'll get to see Luffy-senpai again!" Bartolomeo twirled in place, looking like the fanboy he really was.

Sabo shook his head. After spending so much time with the man- and some certain others- he would never complain about Koala and the other revolutionaries ever again. This was a refreshing start for everyone, not only Luffy.

Speaking of his precious little brother, the fire user was certain he won't be leaving the teen's close proximity for the next couple of weeks- or years. Depends on what would happen after they will kick that door open- only metaphorically of course. The key in Mr. 3's hand was the real key- no pun intended- to the whole operation.

"Don't worry, Sa-boy." Ivankov patted the younger man on the shoulder sympathetically. "I will give Dragon your regards and fabricate a good excuse."

The blonde smiled at his senior. "That'd be really helpful. Thanks."

"There's no problem!" The purple haired man laughed that strange laugh of his. "What do you think of: he is trying to keep his little brother from drowning himself."

"I think that will raise some questions, Ivankov-san..."

---

"Why do I have to be in a team with these idiots?" Crocodile exhaled smoke as his eyes watched the three other people in his team critically.

Usopp, Sanji and Vivi glared at the man heatedly, none of them having forgotten the events in Alabasta.

"That's what I am asking myself right at this moment." The princess replied, her eyes narrowed on the man that had almost destroyed her country. She was trying very hard to contain her anger, but the constant twitching of her hand to grab the nearest sharp object and drive it through his sandy head was becoming too tempting. She had tried to keep her mind occupied ever since she's heard that she'll be in a team with the man, but having Crocodile stand in front of her now awakened her darkest nightmares from long ago, buried deep within her.

"Because," Cavendish drawled, watching the trio try to burn the former convict to ashes with their glares alone. "Rayleigh said it."

The blonde haired pirate wasn't sure what had happened between them in the past, but they'd sure as hell won't be screwing up this mission because of that. He'd make sure of it.

Sanji snorted. As if that'd solve anything. How Luffy managed to make this guy help him back in Impel Down more than two years ago was beyond him.

Usopp shook his head, thinking along those lines too. He couldn't wrap his head around such an impossible feat.

Unlike her companions, Vivi only continued to glare at the sand man.

"Everyone!" Leo's voice broke the tension around the group. "Sabo-land talked to Rayleigh. He said to head north-west."

Cavendish nodded and made to speak but those four were back to their dirty looks war. Eye twitching in irritation, the blonde leader looked down at the key in his hand and counted down the seconds before he'd be free of these idiots.

---

Purupurupuru-katcha

"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki."

"Sir!" A breathless voice sounded from the other side of the line. "I am part of the team sent to monitor the pirates' moves."

Sakazuki perched up at this. He was waiting for this call.

"Well? State your report." He urged. A small gut feeling was telling him that whatever he will hear won't be nice.

"Sir, the Red Haired Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates have been approaching Mariejois for the last few days and are now... unnervingly close to the shore." The soldier on the other line spoke with clear uncertainty in his tone.

The Devil Fruit user considered his words carefully.

"There's also another problem, sir." The man was even more agitated.

Lifting an eyebrow in surprise, the marine gave him permission to continue.

"Actually, there have been reports of suspicious looking people dressed in black cloaks that have been sighted on the outskirts of the Holy City in the last few days. There are people suspected of piracy among them."

I fucking knew it.

The Fleet Admiral had to restrain himself from growling out loud and melting away his desk. The people in charge of cleaning the Headquarters were not going to be happy if he messed up his office again.

Going back to the problem at hand, the Devil Fruit user could give himself a pat on the back for his forethought. He knew they'd do such a thing again. By now, Sakazuki pretty much figured out what Red Haired Shanks was planning, but he was surprised he managed to drag the ever careful captain of the Whitebeard pirates out in the open like that. Not to mention that the upper echelon of the Revolutionary Army was involved. The man would not put it past Dragon, though he was surprised, considering the lack of reaction and appearance from the man himself. It seems the father is keeping his distance and Sakazuki could not be more thankful. The last thing he'd need is Monkey D. Dragon and Strawhat Luffy together in the same room.

That'd be the day humanity will receive a grim reminder.

"Sir?" The man on the other line snapped him out of his thoughts. The lava man had forgotten he was still speaking on the phone. "Your orders?"

Considering possibilities on fast forward, Sakazuki stood up from his chair, preparing to exit the room.

"Keep close to them, but don't attack. I'm coming."

But first, he had to make a quick phone call.

---

"What is it Sakazuki?"

The man's eye twitched at the show of utter impoliteness. That old bastard.

"I want to speak with Captain Coby and Captain-Lieutenant Helmeppo."

There was movement on the other line before Garp spoke again.

"They are currently resting in their quarters. Why do you want to speak with them?"

"That's none of your business, Vice Admiral."

The Fleet Admiral tried... but it didn't work, obviously.

Garp's obnoxious laugh erupted from the small snail. "Fine, then you're not gonna speak to them. I'm the guy in charge here."

Successfully keeping himself from lashing out at the man, Sakazuki continued.

"I've sent them on a mission approximately a month ago. Yesterday was the day they should have left for the Headquarters. I only want to ask how the mission went."

"Is there something wrong happening in Mariejois?" Garp asked with all the feigned innocence someone speaking on the phone, miles away from his interlocutor could muster. It irritated his superior even more, especially when Sakazuki knew that Garp knew he was irritated.

"No, but-"

"Then there's no hurry!" The older man exclaimed good-naturedly from the other side of the line. "I'll tell them you called when they wake up."

With that, the line went dead and the Fleet Admiral stomped away in all his glory.

---

A couple of miles away from Mariejois

Garp exhaled the tension running through him. In all his years of serving under the banner of justice, he'd had to lie to his superiors a lot of times. It didn't matter to him whether he'd lie one more time or not. The problem was that Sakazuki was just too perceptive for his own good. Thankfully, the older man managed to trick him- as much as you could trick that lava bastard- into thinking Coby and Helmeppo were back and everything was normal.

Not quite, Garp thought, eyeing the whale shaped ship and the flying Jolly Roger of the Red Haired Pirates. He had said all those months ago that he'd be damned if he'd let pirates save his precious grandson, but after a couple of useless attempts, he had resigned himself. Garp had felt the world turn without him as he heard of his subordinate's feats and the events in the newspaper.

All kinds of pirates and marines were struggling to get Luffy out of there. Even Dragon was doing something about it.

The Vice Admiral had sighed in defeat at the time and he'd sigh again now. Luffy was a pirate, and he will trust his friends and allow him to be saved by his fellow pirates.

The only thing he could do now was try and help a little bit, even if it meant just spitting out a shitty lie.

---

"It's time." The fishman's words sent a wave of trepidation through Zoro.

The swordsman watched Jinbei put the key in the designated keyhole and twist. With a heavy, rock on rock screech, the obstacle began to move inwards. Surprisingly, instead of the city they were all expecting to see, a stone passage opened up. It did not look to be used often, judging by its ruined state, but that just meant they were in luck. No one will bother them.

Unsheathing his three katana, the green haired man stepped inside after Jinbei and Law, with Smoker guarding the rear.

---

Hancock watched the deserted, spotless street with narrowed eyes. No one seemed to be loitering around and that was even stranger.

Next to her, Nami had the same expression, her light brown eyes searching for any kind of trap, but finding none.

Ideo cracked his knuckles, obviously itching to destroy something already. Next to him, Sai was leaning over the corner, trying to spot Marines, cameras, anything or anyone that the girls overlooked.

The sound of heavy footsteps followed a loudly spoken declaration and the four hiding people froze when they saw Franky in the middle of the street, doing his trademark pose.

The shout of SUPER was doubled by the alarms from the surveillance Den Den Mushi starting.

---

Cavendish looked through the window of the nearest house. His sky blue eyes locked on the green ones of the little boy staring at them from the other side of the window.

Sitting on his black hat, Leo waved at the kid and he waved back, a little smile on his face. He opened the window, whispering loudly at them.

"Who are you? What are you doing there?"

"We want to save our friend." Vivi smiled sweetly at the little boy. He looked so innocent and he was dressed in normal clothes too!

The green eyed boy's mouth made an 'o' shape as he processed her words.

"You should not be walking outside. They say that bad people are going to break in." His concerned tone was even cute and the alabastian princess almost squealed, which in turn, made Sanji's eyes transform into hearts and start to dance like a noodle around her.

"Don't worry, captain Usopp is with them kid." The Strawhats' sniper proudly declared, jabbing a thumb at his chest. "I have over eight thousand followers waiting just behind me."

The kid's jaw was hanging open at the absurdly high number. His wide eyes looked at the six pirates in wonder and excitement.

"Eeehh, really?!"

Usopp grinned, puffing his chest. His companions were all concentrated on the kid, so none of them had any time to react when sand appeared in front of them, forming Crocodile's body. The man snatched the kid from his spot at the window and promptly slammed the glass back closed.

The poor child did not have time to argue as he was flung at the pirates' feet.

"What are you doing?!" The blue haired princess bent down to help the younger stand up.

The others had also ganged up on the former War Lord and the man could only roll his eyes at the display. They were pirates for fucks' sake.

"The hell do you think you're doing Crocodile?" Sanji scowled at the man's casual ways of fucking everything up. "Oi, don't ignore us you bastard!"

"Shut up, we need a hostage for this to work." The black haired man mumbled, clearly not in the mood for being pissed off.

"They are gonna sound the big alarms guys! We have to get moving!" Usopp exclaimed, his fingers tugging at his hair.

Cavendish and Leo watched with ever growing fascination the circus slowly building in front of them. Though the adults were shitting themselves, the little boy- still sitting on the ground- was a figure of calm and he looked almost Zen about it.

Kids these days.

The blonde haired man looked to the window again and saw a horror struck woman with her mouth hanging open watching them. Cavendish supposed she might be having a heart attack, but he was no doctor. Leo waved at her happily. Unfortunately, that was enough to snap the woman out of it and even though the window was closed, her scream was loud enough to wake up the whole neighborhood.

As if awakened by the sound, blaring alarms started all around them.

"Well fuck!"

---

Sabo looked around, his Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army side taking over him for a second. His keen eyes memorized every bit of the conglomerate of concrete and metal as he could, every little shining detail mattered. Maybe Dragon-san will be more lenient that way. The fire user almost snorted at his own stupid thought.

He hurried on stealthily after Mr. 3 and Robin, as the group of five made their way deeper inside the city in the north-west direction, as indicated by his superior. The blonde was not sure how he'd find Luffy or the others, but he hoped that the insane luck they've been having until now would hold up.

"Robin-chan, concentrate and see where we should go. We'll be watching your back." Ivankov ordered, slapping himself to the wall of a building. Mr. 3 and Sabo sweat dropped, obviously finding the choice of hiding place absurd. There were Den Den Mushi everywhere, though it was strange that no alarm was sounded yet. Even with all their ninja techniques, most courtesy of Ivankov himself, they surely haven't been evading all those cameras.

The black haired woman nodded and crossed her arms, concentrating on her task. The search proved only a little fruitful.

"There is a commotion to the north."

The Okama nodded at her words and turned to face the group.

"We will be heading there. Our mission is to find Lu-boy! Don't forget that!" The purple haired Okama declared, fist clenching in a dramatic way.

"Luffy-senpai we are coming!" Bartolomeo shouted alongside Ivankov, hands in the air and running forward, disregarding every thought of stealth and secrecy.

"Wait you idiot, there might be-" The wax man began, but it was too late.

Sabo, Robin and Mr. 3 watched as Bartolomeo and Ivankov continued running ahead of them, flailing their arms for different reasons and making a big commotion in general.

The alarms did not take long to begin blaring and the two remaining men cursed, while Robin laughed. What was so amusing, they weren't sure. But one fact still remained:

They had been some fucking ninjas until that moment.

---

"What is happening?" Rebecca's tone was urgent, her rose eyes wide and searching every side street they passed.

"Yohoho, it seems they discovered us already!" Brook's faceless skull looked amused if anything. The princess could not share the feeling unfortunately.

"There's no time to consider this'un! We have to run!" Heracles huffed as he hurried on after Chopper.

The reindeer had transformed in his Walk Point and was now running ahead of them in search for the place where his captain could be. A prison, anything!

"I think I found him!" Perona shouted above them, descending slowly to the ground.

The quartet stopped, throwing her questioning looks. Somehow, their unmoving forms made her mad.

"What the hell are you standing there for?! We have to hurry, you morons!"

---

"This is like fucking Impel Down all over again! What the fuck is wrong with you people?!" Buggy's shouts filled with despair and something akin to anger were barely heard above the annoying sounds of the snails.

Law could only agree, but he rolled his eyes anyway. It was fun riling up the clown. He looked up at the empty prison building and shook his head. They had discovered it pretty fast, but the guards still remaining had refused to tell them anything more than that Strawhat-ya had been already moved for the execution. Their problems increased tenfold when Smoker and Zoro disappeared without any of them noticing and the doctor still cursed himself for that.

He had known that the swordsman was useless with directions and his handicap was even more of a problem when the guy literally bounced around and left whenever he goddamn wanted. Law growled, hand tightening around the hilt of his sword.

Buggy took a step back when he saw the murderous look but then his attention was drawn to something on a random side street.

At that moment, Jinbei walked out of the prison, arms crossed and sighed.

"No luck. We press onward. If Dragon told us to go north-west then we'll keep north but going towards the east. There's a probability we'll find something there."

Law nodded and made to turn around and start walking already, but just then Buggy gave a shout and started running hurriedly towards them.

Both men raised an eyebrow at the strange display, but before any of them could at least make fun of the clown, two figures burst from around the corner of the alley and were onto the poor clown.

Their black cloaks did not help their case, but Law and Jinbei were trained fighters and immediately jumped into action. Surprisingly, they arrived at a stalemate with the strangers. The two displayed quite some skill and it made the fishman even more aware of the dangers that could hide in this city.

None from the present trio were prepared for what they saw next. One of them pulled the hood back hastily, revealing blonde hair covered by a dark red cap.

Koala's round eyes shined in delight and she squealed as she threw herself on Jinbei's surprised form.

"It's so nice to see you again, Jinbei-san!"

Law faced the blue skinned man and could say only one thing. "What the fuck man?"

Jinbei finally seemed to regain his senses and he hugged the woman back tightly before letting her go.

"I didn't know it would be so easy to find you." The fishman confessed, throwing a still trembling Buggy a praising look.

The clown tried his best to appear unaffected by the earlier scare.

"Ah, so you are Jinbei-san. It's nice to meet you. The others too." The other cloaked figure spoke politely.

The three pirates faced the pink haired man smiling at them. Jinbei smiled back, though his guard was up. If the man's visible uniform part was saying something, he was certainly a Marine. Law's eyes were narrowed on poor Coby while Buggy tried his best to conceal his identity.

Just what he needed! The Marines coming here and reporting him for invading the Holy Capital.

Just fucking great!

Notice the sarcasm.

The pink haired man did not seem to mind the glares and distrustful looks thrown at him. He turned on his heels, motioning with his head towards the alleyway.

"Follow me. The others are there. We were waiting for you."

"There are others?" Buggy chocked.

"Waiting for what?" Law couldn't help but ask.

"To lead you to the execution place, of course." Koala grinned, taking Jinbei's hand and dragging him with surprising force.

---

Zoro watched another line of buildings be reduced to dust while the alarms blasted their infernal music all around them.

Damn, Smoker was really packing some years of misery right there.

"Whop, there goes another one." The swordsman commented mostly to entertain himself as he casually stood on the other side of the street, arms crossed, eye dancing amusedly on the mess the Marine had made.

If they were blamed for this, he'd make sure to make a few defensive arguments, beginning with Smoker and finishing with the disguised man in front of him. Now he knew why Tashigi was always babysitting the man.

"Didn't know my captain means so much to you." Zoro grinned when he saw the other man stiffen for a second before he turned to face him and scoffed.

Smoker exhaled the smoke from his cigars before fully turning to give the pirate behind him a good lashing for his stupid thought.

"Look kid," the white haired man began, gesturing with one of his cigars to him and then to the destroyed city around them, "I don't want you to make any nice ideas about me. Whether I like it or not, I owe Strawhat and your crew a lot."

The swordsman opened his mouth to comment that whatever he did at Impel Down would have been enough, but Smoker did not let him consume any more oxygen.

"Besides, I've got my own reasons for doing this." He turned around to continue his demolition. "Strawhat didn't deserve it, no matter how much those fossils insist on it. People are not objects to be thrown around randomly."

The last part of his statement would have went unheard if not for Zoro's keen hearing. He allowed himself to smirk as he continued to watch the soldier.

Whatever those guys said, the man wasn't as bad as he looked.

"Let's get going. We have to find Luffy."

---

At the same time of the invasion

"Cap'." Ben looked at the man and allowed himself to shake his head. He was too relaxed for his own good sometimes.

Shanks hummed, signaling him to continue.

"Our lookout spotted approaching Marine warships."

The news weren't enough to surprise the Yonko. Heaving a large sigh, he stood up, moving towards the railing of his ship.

"If you still want to stay around and help Luffy, then make sure nothing stops that invasion."

"That old man sure knows how to use words." The red haired man muttered to himself, watching the black spots in the distance grow steadily.

"I'll be counting on you to bring them to the New World. From there on, it's their choice."

A small smirk crossed his face and Shanks yanked the small telescope from Yasopp's hands. His friend threw him a look, but decided to not start a fight this time.

After a couple of minutes, the livid face-on a good day!- of the Fleet Admiral was visible enough for Shanks to make fun of him.

"Prepare for fighting. No one gets past our wonderful ship, boys." The captain's orders were echoed by cheers from his subordinates.

Shanks turned his head towards the whale shaped ship and grinned when he saw Marco's disapproving stare fixed on him.

"Don't look at me like that, Marco. I'm not encouraging violence." The red head lifted his hand in the air in a sign of surrender.

The blonde chuckled. "Everyone to their stations. Don't let them get to Strawhat Luffy."

"Aye!"

---

"Move, Red Hair."

Shanks twitched and he used all the willpower he could muster to abstain from rolling on the floor when he heard the rasped, anger filled tone and saw the man's scrunched up face. The guy looked to be on one of his bad days.

Such a shame.

"Unfortunately, I cannot. We have found a wonderful spot for fishing. I was just about to drop pirating in favor of becoming a fisherman." Shanks grinned when the lava man looked even more aggravated.

Several members of his crew snickered and he saw Ben roll his eyes in his peripheral vision.

"Two of the most powerful pirate crews decided to become fishermen? That sounds too stupid for me to even begin considering."

Marco's snort was audible even from his spot on the other ship.

"We wouldn't want to inconvenience you." The blonde began, clearly not sorry. "But no one gets across this line."

The Fleet Admiral glared at both captains.

"Aw, Marco! Why do you have to destroy every chance of having fun? You and Benny should form a club."

Ben crossed his arms and flashed his captain a teasing grin. "At least I have someone to form a club with, cap'."

Marco's smirk was almost palpable.

Shanks grimaced.

"Touché."

The sound of cannonballs followed his reply.

---

MARIEJOIS

"I don't want to conquer anything. I just think the guy with the most freedom in this whole ocean... is the Pirate King!"

The memories were more livid than ever. Luffy allowed himself to smile as every question he'd ever had these past months finally cleared up inside the haze that was his brain. He never felt more light knowing that he wasn't a stuck up Noble or some Marine. He was a pirate and he'd be damn sure to become the Pirate King.

His mind went to Coby's words and his heart ached. Damn, he missed his friends. Too much time had passed. He made a mental note to repay that bastard AkaInu someday.

"We are here, master Lucy." The guard that was supposedly dragging him to his execution stand was speaking to him quite politely and it seemed strange and funny at the same time to the pirate.

"Why do you still keep calling me 'master'?" The raven head could not help but scrunch up his nose at the word. He surely didn't like it at all.

The guard did not answer. Instead, he tugged at his Kairōseki shackles and pulled him upwards on the set of stone stairs. Arriving at the top of the stand, Luffy took a moment to gaze at the vast plaza that would supposedly hold his execution. There was already a crowd forming, full of white clad, stuck-up nobles, of course.

Luffy has never been good at remembering the way to some place or the other, but something told him that the square was a little ways away from the old man's Dojo. And Ivy's house was somewhere to his left. He's been here once on one of the girl's 'shopping expeditions'. The pirate shivered just remembering that.

His eyes spied the red head's dad and for the first time since he'd met him, Luffy allowed the most scorching glare he had ever mustered up in his life be directed towards him. His efforts were rewarded when the black haired man looked up from his conversation with one of the five bastards that had caught him and shot him a disdainful stare.

The contest did not last long. Luffy felt a pressure on his shoulder and his knees buckled, dropping down on the wooden stand. His eyes watched every head in the square turn and look at him like the spectacle was just about to begin. And it probably did, for the Nobles.

"We will now be commencing the execution of Strawhat Luffy. He is convicted of crimes against the Government, thievery, destruction of public places and governmental islands such as Enies Lobies-"

"That was you and your Buster Call..." The raven head grumbled under his breath, though it was still loud enough for the people near the stand to hear.

An uproar began following his words and Luffy grinned even wider at the angry crowd. These people were so easy to rile up, it was child's play.

Two heavy set of footsteps behind him alerted the teen that his executioners have arrived. His mind flashed back to Marineford and Ace's own execution stand. He saw the freckled man kneel on the platform, staring with a horror struck face at the war unfolding in front of him. The green clad people holding spears behind him getting into position to execute his brother and Luffy's own flashy arrival on the platform and their short lived escape.

Once again, it was AkaInu's fault. Luffy's jaw tightened and his mind returned to reality just in time for another set of sharp spears to be set dangerously close in front of his face. The young man gulped, feeling a short gram of fear enter his chest before everything went away.

Suddenly, Luffy's mouth stretched into the widest grin possible, his eyes shining in the warm sunlight. Whatever was that spark of fear, it was gone, replaced by a familiar feeling of content and in that moment, the pirate knew that even with all this memory loss and so on, he'd die with no regrets, just like his older brother. His thoughts went shortly to Sabo and the teen grimaced slightly, knowing that he'd be leaving him alone and breaking his promises, but such was fate. He had been fighting it since yesterday after he regained his memories, but now he was content with everything like this. A small part of him disagreed- probably Lucy again, the raven head thought- though he couldn't do anything more with those damned Kairōseki stone cuffs on.

"Smiling at your own execution. You surely are something else Strawhat." The blonde guy from the five old men spoke, his tone easily covering the whispering crowds.

Something pulled at his senses and Luffy allowed just a little bit of his Haki aura to flare out. The Gorosei felt it, as well as some certain Nobles, including Ivy's dad, but fortunately they considered it a witty move and only continued onwards with the execution.

The five old men nodded as one and his two executioners instantly straightened their backs and lifted the spears above his head in a display of skill that was meant more for the audience than the prisoner.

"Any last words, Mugiwara?" Buggy shouted from above, sword in hand. In front of his eyes, the crowd gathered in Logue Town was looking on curiously, but most were horrified seeing the unannounced execution. Luffy had smiled back then and shouted out his dream to the world.

Seeing the scene play right before his eyes, the young man decided it won't be a bad choice of last words, just like last time.

"I AM GOING TO BECOME THE PIRATE KING!"

His words shushed the plaza in front of him immediately. Most of the Gorosei had their eyebrows up in surprise at the bold statement, declared on an execution stand, no less.

The sudden boom that followed and the startling shout of the alarms made the Nobles panic and scream. As one, every soul present started running in different directions, trying to save themselves from whatever bombing was currently ongoing.

Luffy looked on with wide eyes as the hordes of people were running about. Even his would be executioners were shocked still, their mouths agape. Black eyes watched a small, dark grey cloud slowly float above the platform.

No one had any way of knowing what it was doing there, but just as it was above them, there was a shout of Thunder Tempo above the ongoing uproar and Luffy felt a sudden tingling and a flash of white assaulted his vision.

---

Nami watched with a proud grin as the stand was engulfed in her artificially created lightning. She strained to keep track of Luffy's falling body, but it was swallowed by the horde of people just as he touched the ground. Grumbling under her breath, she continued on after her teammates.

"Was that really necessary?! You have hurt Luffy-kun!" Hancock shouted as she dealt some pretty sadistic blows to a couple of citizens.

The orange haired woman opened her mouth to protest that it was the only way for him not to get killed in the next five minutes, but Ideo blowing the building next to her cut her off.

"We don't have time for this. They are coming."

Both women looked at him in confusion.

"Who's coming?"

The black haired pirate looked to the grey debris cloud behind them pointedly. Just then, Franky and Sai burst through it, running at top speed. They didn't even stop to greet their teammates.

Looking back into the hole they made, the remaining trio yelped collectively when they saw the oncoming army of Marines.

Cursing, they followed after the two as fast as they could.

---

"Barrier!" Bartolomeo shouted, dodging another round of bullets. "Do you really have to stay behind me?!"

Mr. 3 pushed his glasses up on his nose and spoke casually. "Of course. We have to use our available abilities at a maximum."

Robin smiled as she cleared their path along with a frantic Sabo. They have seen the earlier bolt of lightning and the implication that Nami and her team was there too. Their only remaining problem was the horde of Marines that have been following them since their apparent discovery.

"Death Wink! Sa-boy, we need to hurry. The Gorosei are here too!" Ivankov shouted, looking in the direction they should be going.

The revolutionary nodded and with another shout of Fire Fist, he easily broke through the crowds.

---

"Sanji, Vivi, there!" Usopp pointed towards the end of the row of houses. Shouts, explosions and bullets could be heard and seen flying around from the direction of the square. Not to mention the wave of people that almost hit them.

"Usopp, can you see Luffy-san?" The blue haired girl asked.

The sniper shook his head, a determined expression on his face.

"I'm gonna enter the square and try to cover more area from above. You guys go on ahead."

Sanji nodded, kicking a few people that got in his way. "Then you go. Vivi-chwan should go with him. Your eyes might be helpful up there, too."

The princess nodded in agreement, knowing that there wasn't much she could do on the ground and followed Usopp towards the line of houses at the east of the plaza.

"It's not advisable to split up, Black Leg." Cavendish said as he slashed a few unsuspecting civilians along with the marine soldiers.

"I'm sure Uso-land and Vivi-land will be fine, Cabbage-land. You should trust them more." Leo commented, appearing on his hat. Around them, the soldiers that made to attack them directly collapsed in pools of their own blood.

Sky blue eyes met dark ones and the two blonds scowled at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah, though there's someone I don't trust at all." Cavendish looked at the sandstorm approaching.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Cabbage man." Sanji agreed, kicking yet another civilian. His narrowed eyes were on Crocodile as well.

As if summoned by their stares, said man floated towards the ground slowly. When he reformed, his face was dark and scowling fiercely.

"Why the fuck am I stuck with him!" The ferocious pirate looked at the little kid hanging on his back with narrowed eyes. The black haired boy did not seem to mind his glare as he looked around at the crazy citizens in wonder.

"'Cause it's your fault we got stuck with the brat in the first place." Sanji bit back, still launching powerful hits randomly.

"And when we tried to leave him back somewhere, he kept following us. So you get stuck with him." Cavendish continued, launching himself in the air and shouting Biken Swan Lake.

"So deal with it, Croco-land." Leo finished, using his super speed to take out another round of soldiers.

The sand man tsched and went back to destroying things... along with the squealing kid on his back.

He better come in handy or I'mma kill him the first chance I get.

---

"Rebecca-san, when this is over, would you do me the honor... of letting me see your panties?"

A foot in the skeleton's face was his answer. Though the limb belonged to Perona, Rebecca was more shocked than embarrassed.

The ghost girl glared at the fuming Book slouched on the pavement and silently cursed him good before returning her attention to the others.

"We are saving Strawhat Luffy. Heracles and Chopper go for it. Me and the pervert skeleton will cover you. Princess brings up the rear. Clear?"

"Got it. Let's go!" The reindeer transformed into his Walk Point again and started running with Heracles close on his heels.

"Chopper'un wait up, I am not made to run like this for so long!"

---

Law watched the ongoing circus with wide eyes. He was thoroughly confused and concerned, but they didn't have time to dwindle around.

"Perona's team is already on its way to save Luffy-kun. We are taking care of the Gorosei." Jinbei ordered, already starting towards the officials' stands.

"We are going to try and deal with the Nobles and help whoever we can." Coby yelled after him, already turning around to go back in the direction they came from. "We'll be waiting for you here."

Helmeppo nodded from besides him and the two marines were off, dragging a squirming Kiiro behind them.

"Where are you going girl?" The fishman asked, crossing his arms.

Ivy turned to look at Luffy's friends and put on her most determined face. "I'm going to search for Luffy."

She was off before any of them could stop her.

Jinbei sighed and continued on. Buggy released a sound close to a whimper, but trotted dejectedly after him. The doctor allowed himself to shake his head and moved too, slashing and kicking ass in general.

"I guess I'm gonna find Sabo and stuff..." Koala scratched her head.

A quick look at the baffling commotion around her made her decision simple, though. "Jinbei-san! Please wait!"

---

Two buildings crumbled in Zoro's wake as he made his way deeper towards the source of the different sounds. Behind him, Smoker was doing the exact same thing.

"Oi, idiot, I think it's this way!"

The green haired man turned towards his companion with a scowl. "Are you sure?"

The marine shrugged. "Probably."

"Don't give me probably!" Zoro shouted, slashing a couple of random marines. "Look, I think it's definitely coming from that direction," he pointed with his sword the other way Smoker had pointed earlier, "so let's go that way."

"Are you one hundred percent sure, Roronoa?" Smoker exhaled, glaring at the man.

Zoro nodded, a determined look in his eyes. The marine nodded reluctantly.

What could go wrong?

And so, the two continued walking onwards, led by a disabled-with-directions Zoro, not realizing they were walking right back towards the entrance.

---

"I think I see him!" Perona's voice snapped all of them from their stupor.

Brook's lullaby had rendered the immediate area to sleeping bodies, and Chopper almost flew in the direction the ghost girl was pointing to.

The doctor's eyes searched desperately along with Heracles, but they couldn't spot Luffy anywhere.

Rebecca tripped another soldier that got in her way, leaving the skeleton behind her to finish the job. The rose haired princess was walking a few feet away from Chopper and the beetle man.

The group was surrounding the fallen execution platform, carefully filing the bodies and burning debris on the ground.

"Perona-san, where did you say-" Her mouth snapped closed when her foot collided with another body a little too hard and said person released a groan.

"Somewhere around here. Search faster you idiots!" The pink haired girl did not seem to mind the sudden cut in speech.

Lifting up a slightly fuming piece of wood from said body, Rebecca's eyes widened when the person grinned widely and spoke.

"Nice to see you again too, 'Beca."

"Luffy!"

---

Usopp snapped his goggles over his eyes and lifted Kabuto up at the ready.

"You see them Vivi?"

The alabastian princess nodded as she watched the ongoing hubbub and their friends right in the middle of it.

"Rebecca and her team are near the platform. I think they are searching for Luffy-san."

Usopp nodded, signaling he was listening, though his eyes were fixed on the place where the Five Stars were still standing. Around them, Marines and black dressed bodyguards were gathered in a tight circle. Some of them were looking like they were trying to convince the old men to move from the scene.

No, let them stay there. It'll be easier for me.

His hand gripped the ammunition he had prepared earlier tightly, itching to place it in its destined place to be launched.

"Nami-san and the others are also near the platform, though they are trying to keep the marines from getting closer to Luffy-san." Her brown eyes shifted in the direction the sniper was looking.

"Are those Sabo-san and the others?"

"I think so..." Usopp muttered absently. "What are they doing?"

"Going to the platform too. But the marines are increasing their numbers and attacking them. I don't thi-"

"What else do you see, Vivi?"

His words took her partly by surprise. The long nosed sniper looked to be concentrated on the Gorosei and nothing else, but if he was asking her, then he must have a plan.

Making a quick sweep of the battlefield below, the blue haired girl continued. "Sanji-san and the rest of our team are also battling Marines. They are going in the direction of the Gorosei. The same with Jinbei-san and his team. I don't see Zoro-san and Smoker."

Usopp snorted. "Probably lost." He shook his head. "I will need you to keep an eye on the Gorosei for me. Tell me if there's any movement. Even a shift in a chair."

Vivi's eyebrows were up in surprise, but she nodded anyway and made herself more comfortable on the stone rooftop they were sitting on.

The Strawhats' sniper watched the soldiers swarming about and his jaw tightened. He knew what was to be done. Shifting Kabuto in a better position, he stretched the ammunition and let it fly into the crowd.

It exploded next to Sabo's head, causing a huge explosion and a fire to extend in the surrounding area. Bartolomeo had his barrier up and was sporting a dark glower on his face. His eyes looked up to see the bastard that dared to attack them and was forced to reconsider his earlier feelings when his gaze locked with Usopp's. The green haired man whooped and waved frantically.

The sniper cringed, inwardly praying that their cover won't be blown by the crazed fanboy.

Sabo looked back in the direction of their 'attacker' as well after he reformed from the explosion, a few choice words almost escaping his lips before he looked around at the sea of fire. Wide eyes looked up towards the roof where Usopp was continuously launching new attacks for their enemies and the blonde grinned.

Not bad.

Taking advantage of the element of his Devil Fruit, the fire user launched an all out scorching tornado himself, causing Mr. 3 a good scare and a small burn.

Sabo scratched his head sheepishly through the curses thrown at him.

---

Ivy avoided another round of desperate citizens running for cover and kicked a few marines where they deserved as she stumbled through the circus inside the plaza. Her white gaze searched for Luffy's form frantically, but she couldn't spot him anywhere. She was close to the fallen platform and still had no lead where he could be. A small part of her hoped he'd been found by now, but another part knew that he might as well be very injured, considering he couldn't access his Devil Fruit abilities.

Absently, she took off the damned white costume she was wearing, leaving her in a normal T-shirt and jeans. Those were easier to move in and blend with people- normal people. Ivy didn't know when she had started to consider the commoners as the normal ones, but she didn't complain. It had been shown to her over and over again that the Celestial Dragons were the real beasts.

Mouth pressed in a tight line, the red haired girl continued onwards. There was still a big amount of people that were running for their lives. It was truly surprising that the square still hasn't been emptied of unarmed citizens, but she supposed the armies of marine soldiers that were attempting to enter the plaza somehow made it harder to exit it.

A sudden commotion in front of her brought her skidding to a halt. Her white gaze searched through the fight and saw a rose haired girl with a reindeer and another floating girl some meters away. Another strange, black clad man and a tall skeleton were trying to move some rocks from the ground and lift someone.

Heart beating wildly, she took off in their direction.

They look like Soul King Brook and Candy Lover Chopper. But who're the others?

"Are you that red haired girl that was with Luffy-land in the photo?"

A high voice spoke next to her ear. Ivy managed not to stumble and looked on her right shoulder. She blinked in surprise when she saw a small human standing there, smiling at her.

"Who're you?" The red head managed to ask, still looking at the appearance, astounded.

"I'm Leo. A pirate captain in Luffy-land's fleet." The dwarf answered happily. Ivy blinked again.

"Nice to meet you...?" She wasn't sure what to say anymore.

"We have to get to Luffy-land quickly. You help too!" Leo's face was set in a determined mask as he tugged at her hair.

The motion snapped her out of her stupor and she resumed running.

As they neared the group, a sudden shout was heard from the ground.

"Brook, that hurt! Don't tug that leg!"

"Luffy!" The shout escaped her before she could think about it.

Five heads snapped up to gaze with uncertain and distrustful eyes in her direction.

Leo waved from her shoulder. "Luffy-land, I'm glad you're fine!"

The dwarf jumped from her shoulder on the ground next to the raven head.

Luffy grinned. "Shishishi, nice to see you too, Leo!"

Rebecca paused in bandaging a particularly nasty looking bruise and opened her mouth to speak, but the Tontatta cut her off.

"3-land gave me this." He lifted a white key that he kept on his back.

Perona's eyes widened. "That bespectacled idiot really did it!" She exclaimed, looking surprised and impressed.

The pink haired girl landed on the ground and snatched the key from the dwarf. "Let's get him out of those."

Ivy watched as the skeleton, the black clad man and the reindeer-now transformed in a more muscular form-lifted a particularly large piece of wood from Luffy's body, all the while the teen complaining in the background. After his body was finally free, Perona kicked him hard enough to roll his body over-earning quite a few complaints, Ivy included, for her efforts-and unlocked the metal shackles, dropping them on the ground with a loud thump.

Luffy jumped up, making Chopper and Rebecca yelp and shout after him, but their protests went unheard. The raven head pulled each of his crewmates in a tight hug and flashed the others his trademark wide grins before he turned to Ivy.

The red head tried to offer him a smile, but it came out shakier than she was comfortable with so she dropped it.

"Yo, Ivy! How did'ya get here?" Luffy scratched his head, looking on curiously, as if they weren't in the middle of an all out war and there weren't any marines with guns trying to kill them.

Ivy almost hit him over the head, but a look at his injuries and she shook her head. This wouldn't be a good idea, considering the looks behind him.

"Coby-san and the others helped me get here."

"Eh? Where're they?" The pirate looked around inquisitively and he seemed to only now realize that they were in the middle of a mush of people and blood.

"Luffy you have to stay down and let me treat you!" Chopper exclaimed, his wide eyes looking at his captain in concern. The bleeding foot and scrapped skin all over his body from his fall did not help the doctor be at ease at all.

The raven head was about to answer, but an explosion near them sprung the group into action.

---

Usopp startled from his concentration, scaring the princess next to him.

"What happened?" The blue haired girl asked, her eyes never straying from the Gorosei. The old men were still in their places, looking thoroughly unconcerned. It made Vivi feel unsettled.

"Somebody shot something at Luffy and the others!" The sniper gritted his teeth. After the initial happiness at seeing his best friend alive and good, he had allowed himself to relax a little and this happened!

Gripping Kabuto tightly, Usopp's sharp eyes searched for the other, hidden sniper. His eyes darted everywhere possible, but his search came up empty.

Maybe from inside one of the buildings?

"Usopp!" Vivi's half shout made him yelp back in surprise and her next hurried statement caused his blood to run cold. "They have dispersed their troops and are going towards Luffy-san and the others!"

Snapping his eyes on the five old men, Usopp concluded that her words were true. The Gorosei, in spite of the protests of their bodyguards and the other marines, were currently walking in a tight group in the general direction where his best friend was.

His captain and the others were still invisible because of the smoke from the explosion, so they surely didn't know they were being targeted.

Praying to all gods they had managed to get away in time, the sniper took out an emergency special and some bamboo shots to be used for ammunition and steeled himself for the upcoming run.

"Vivi, get down on the ground and run. We are making a break for it across the plaza. You go first."

The alabastian princess studied him with eyes full of refusal and she opened her mouth to retaliate.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna fire these and catch up with you." Usopp tried to offer her some self-assurance and a smile, but he only got so far before Sabo's shout of anger was heard across the square.

Two heads snapped in the direction it came from and saw the revolutionary in a tight face off with the Five Stars. A disguised Hancock and Jinbei were just behind him, looking ready to take them on.

Cursing his luck, the sniper looked back at Vivi. "Go."

The blue haired girl did not have to be told twice. "Promise me you won't do something stupid."

"Heh, you don't have to worry about that."

She nodded and in a matter of seconds she was out sight.

With a grim smile, Usopp fired a couple of warning shots with as much subtlety as he could, hoping that his friends would get the message. He saw Law's head lift up in his direction and his heart eased a little at the small nod and the not-so-subtle shout for everyone to move away from the Gorosei.

Not wasting another moment, Usopp fired the special ammunition, taking particular care to avoid the others-minus Sabo, the guy was made of fire anyway. The bomb exploded, causing a crater in the ground where the Gorosei had been, though the men were not visible through the thick smoke. His bamboo shots went next, long, green lances descending from the heavens at an impossible speed.

Usopp paused to watch the green arrows for a couple of seconds before he made a run for it just as a bomb sent from the mystery sniper exploded where he'd been sitting.

Sighing in relief, the pirate made a mad dash, hurrying to catch up with his friends, all the while his mind conjuring up an answer to Vivi's earlier plea.

"I'm still not brave enough to do stupid things."

---

Sabo's eye twitched when the explosion came, but then he allowed himself to scowl just as the large bamboo shots went right through his fire body. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that the Strawhats' sniper had something with him.

But as it was, his-thankfully-Logia type body was able to withstand it and Usopp knew it well. The sniper was even nice enough to add some extra fire detonators that spread it more effectively when exploding inside his shots.

Keen eyes watched the smoke slowly dissipate from the recent explosion. He felt the Empress and Jinbei step forward again now that the danger of falling projectiles was gone. Law kept his distance, arms crossed over his chest and an unreadable spark dancing in his eyes.

"You ignorant fools!" The booming voice made them all freeze and their muscles tensed involuntarily.

One of the five men, wearing a black hat and sporting grey dreadlocks, stepped forward, his cold, empty eyes gazing at them with raw and unrestrained anger.

"You dare disgrace the Holy City and its citizens with your common filth, but do not worry! You will be fully paying for your stupid actions."

"Let's see them try." Jinbei's words were lost on his comrades.

Everyone's attention was fully on the man in front of them. He lifted his hand and pointed at the sky, moving the clouds in a better position to strike. "I've seen that you like lightning and thunders. I hope these will satisfy you."

A sudden lightning bold descended from above them, shattering the concrete and just like a chain reaction, several bolts of electricity descended after the first, all going towards them.

Sabo's eyes were wide, his form frozen. The fire user wasn't sure if he should move or not, considering his Mera Mera no Mi power. A wave of powerful Haki made him reconsider, but it was almost too late. He continued to watch the lightning get unnervingly close to him, his mind watching it in slow motion. A sudden weight pressed against him and two bodies were sent sprawling on the ground, leaving the electricity to struck empty ground.

"The hell are you standing around like an idiot for?!"

The Chief of Staff looked up and was surprised-and relieved- to see Koala trying to sit up, all the while glaring at him. His eyes took in her Marine uniform and cloak and he shook his head just as a sudden grin assaulted his features.

"I see you decided to join the Marines after all."

The blonde woman rolled her eyes, but her reply was equally as teasing. "Considering the idiot I have to babysit most of the time, I'm surprised I didn't crack earlier."

Before Sabo could retort, Jinbei's voice attracted their attention back to reality.

"Be careful, he has Devil Fruit abilities!"

The blonde man rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the info."

"We have to make sure they are occupied." Law spoke for the first time since the attack. His eyes narrowed as he unsheathed his sword.

Sabo nodded and stood up as well along with Koala. They had to make sure Luffy got out of there fine.

---

Nami's jaw hung open as she watched the lightning bolts descend-without her command!- from her black clouds.

"Those bastards!" The orange head whispered to herself, not quite believing it.

Behind her, Cavendish cut some more marines into oblivion, all the while cursing the daylights out of the governors.

"This is not the time to swear at the clouds, sis!" Franky said as he launched a few rockets from his shoulders. Sai cut down another dozen soldiers next to him.

"Where's Strawhat?" Crocodile asked as he summoned another sand tornado. The kid on his back squealed excitedly and hit him on the shoulders. The pirate flinched, but abstained from dealing injuries, if only because he might have been wary of the Strawhats' Navigator. That woman almost snapped his neck because he dared take a child prisoner.

Robin shook her head and decided to not ask anything. The sight, as amusing as it could be, was enough. She summoned another round of hands and successfully fended her part of the circle and watched her companions that were striving to do the same. Unknowingly, they have organized themselves like this because it was the easiest option out there to fight in such large group. Considering none of them were killed by the enemy, their backs were covered.

"Looks like we'll have to make a break for it." Ideo muttered from her other side, his eyes fixed on the exit towering above them.

Robin nodded, though her gaze was fixed on the place where Perona's group had been moments ago. The smoke finally cleared and her blue eyes filled with relief.

"They escaped. Let's do the same!"

Her companions nodded and everyone started towards freedom, hoping to catch up with Luffy and the others.

Crocodile grumbled, but followed after being urged on in the kid's original way.

---

The continuous lightning bolts falling from the sky did nothing but hinder him, and Sanji cursed them. He had been so close to kicking those old farts' asses but somehow, they had decided to leave their designated seats.

Just his fucking luck.

The blonde inhaled greedily from his smoke as he made his way towards the exit of the square, his 'Nami-swan and Robin-chwan senses' directing him expediently faster.

"Die pira-"

"Mouton Shot!"

The poor guy didn't have any chance to even touch the cook.

"Tsk, I swear the Marines are getting stupider and stupider." Sanji exhaled, letting the grey haze settle around him as he made a dash for it. Unfortunately, the smoke caused him to collide with somebody.

Cursing his ruined cool image and some other things, the blonde jumped back up, preparing for another round of well earned kicks when his eyes settled on Usopp rubbing his head.

"What the hell Sanji?!" The sniper scowled. "Now you're blind or something?"

Sanji let the sarcastic question slide this once since it was-probably-his fault, but that didn't matter in these moments of frenzy.

"What were you doing?" The cook flicked his cigarette and kicked an approaching marine.

"Trying to call you!" The sniper bit back as an answer. "I was running after Vivi when I saw you."

Sanji's eyes were instantly heart shaped. "Did you say Vivi-chwan is here?"

Usopp sighed. "Yeah, let's go." Reflexively, his eyes lifted to the buildings looming all around them and his eyes narrowed.

Something did not quite feel right.

---

Mr. 3 deflected another lightning bolt that fell from the sky. Surprisingly, his wax was quite effective if it maintained its metal qualities. Rebecca yelped next to him and increased her speed concordantly with their precarious situation.

After the first bomb or lightning, whatever it was, had exploded unnervingly close to them, Perona had deemed it dangerous enough to get their asses out of there. Something that had been harder than expected actually. Luffy's sudden scatterbrained-ness had taken them all by surprise, but they somehow managed to drag him after them.

Turning her head around, she watched the raven head running, half dragged by a frantic Brook, sporting a confused expression on his face. He looked like he didn't have any clue what was happening nor why they were running.

It was like that explosion had broken him off into a disorienting state of ignorance. And it only served to unnerve all of them.

"Hey." Brook turned his skull around to gaze at his captain. The teen was looking up at him with an inquiring gaze that did not quite match with their current situation. "You are that skeleton from the newspaper. How come you can move?"

The musician almost tripped over his own feet. If he'd have had a face in that moment, it would be contorted in a mask of horror. But he didn't have one, so Chopper and Rebecca's faces were enough to do him justice.

"Luffy, what are you talking about!" The doctor's eyes shifted frantically over his form, but aside from his body injuries, he did not find any visible concussions.

Seeing as he wouldn't receive and answer, Luffy turned his attention to Ivy.

"Hey Ivy, when's dinner?"

The red head faltered for a moment in her steps at the seemingly random question, but her eyes hardened marginally when she saw the sincere look Luffy was throwing her.

"In a while. First we have to get out of the city so we have to hurry Luffy, go-"

"Again with that name!" The raven head groaned. This time all the people surrounding them stopped to look back at him.

"What's happening, Chopper?"

Rebecca heard Brook whisper to his friend. The reindeer looked on lost, not sure what diagnosis could be placed on this.

"It's like his memories are all over the place." Chopper whispered. In all his years of medical expertise, he had never encountered such a situation. Granted, he never had to deal with more than physical wounds.

"It might be because of the serum." Ivy spoke, her eyes never leaving Luffy's.

"I told you," Luffy drawled, a pout on his face. "My name's Lucy."

Rebecca gulped, this was not good. As if encouraged by their situation, the bolts of electricity falling in their vicinity doubled in number.

"We have to go!"

"Come on." Ivy grabbed his hand and continued to drag him. They were almost to the exit of the square, it won't be long until the western exit came into view.

"Oi, Ivy!" The pirate stumbled after her, trying to regain his balance. "At least tell me what we're running from! Wait, where's Kiiro?!"

"After all this, and only now he thinks to display a horrified expression?" Perona huffed, barely dodging the lightning that descended next to them.

"He's in front of us." Leo patted Luffy's black hair assuredly, silently urging him onwards.

Luffy seemed to accept this answer and he continued to run. His eyes looked up at the intricate arcades above them when they passed the exit and the city's large streets opened up in front of them.

A big group of people was standing there, each one of them holding something in their hands. He heard the pink haired flying girl and a few others swear quietly and was even more confused. Weren't those guys the ones that should be protecting them?

So why were they pointing all those guns in their direction?

The barrage of bullets was engulfed by sand and Luffy actually had to blink. What was sand doing there?

"Are you okay Luffy?" A breathless voice behind them asked and the sound of footsteps followed.

The young man in question raised his eyes to look at them and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Hey, Nami, everyone!" He waved wildly, making the newly arrivals smile.

"You look like shit, Strawhat Luffy." Crocodile descended from above, his posture casual, though the man was seriously considering getting rid of the kid on his back by now.

"Thanks, you too." Luffy replied automatically before his eyes widened when he studied the scowling man closer. "Who're you again?"

The newcomers stopped, their eyes going wide. Robin grimaced when she saw that her captain was really serious with that question. In that moment she knew her darkest fears were coming true.

"Let's move, we don't have time for this." Cavendish spoke through his gritted teeth. His tense jaw was enough of a hint that he was obviously disturbed by Luffy's behavior.

Nods all around him were the signal to continue running.

---

Hancock sent another dozen of arrows flying towards the wall of soldiers surrounding them. Most of the men became stone, but there were some that had managed to get away just in time. Mouth pressed in a tight line, her eyes shifted to gaze at the exit and saw a couple of retreating backs in the distance. The Empress finally allowed herself to sigh in relief, but not for long.

The Gorosei were back full force and were currently giving them a hard time just trying to hold them back to let the others escape. Those old men packed quite the entourage of Devil Fruit abilities. After the initial surprise of seeing the Cloud Fruit in action, she, Jinbei and Law devised a counterattack that might have worked, had they been fighting only against one of them. As it was, the continuous waves of marines, the other four governors, and not to mention the hidden sniper that launched bombs all over the place, were not helping their situation.

Sabo had been in a throw down against the governor that possessed the Water Fruit. A literal opposite of the Mera Mera no Mi and a dangerous one at that.

Koala had been fighting alongside Jinbei for the last few minutes and she felt like the continuous insistence of the soldiers was getting ridiculous. She had to find a way for all of them to get out of there. A sudden idea entered her mind and she turned to face Law.

The doctor felt her gaze on him and inclined his head slightly, showing that he was listening.

"Can you use your powers to get us out of here?"

Law considered this for a few moments before he shook his head. "I could try, but we won't get too far."

His answer seemed to deflate the girl.

Sabo's scream made them all look in the direction of the face-off. The revolutionary was with his back against the wall, his flames barely flickering on his wet body.

"You are too naive young man. Your power is still a hundred years too early to confront me. I am saddened to see Portgas D. Ace's ability used by someone so inexperienced with its true strength." The tall man with long hair spoke in a monotone voice. His cold eyes were watching the blonde with mocking pity and detachment. His hand moved, and along with it, a wall of water that slowly took the form of a dragon.

Sabo watched the water creature release a sound close to a roar and start its attack. The blonde closed his eyes, bracing himself for the fall of the water wall.

It never came.

---

Buggy cursed the world, the Government and his fate in general.

Did he mention Strawhat Luffy as well?

After he had been dragged throughout Mariejois by Jinbei and the other idiots, the clown had finally found an opportunity of getting out of there alive and without being cut into pieces, his damned Devil Fruit not entering the equation in this situation.

Unfortunately for the poor pirate, he had once again been caught trying to get away by the insufferable green head that he swore never to get near since Impel Down.

Bartolomeo had snatched him by the hand- literally- and dragged him throughout the square, all the while fighting people and thus Buggy was forced to do the same.

It did not take long to reunite with the Strawhats' cyborg that had been striking poses and dropping bombs that decimated the Marine's ranks effectively.

With these said, the trio had made it their mission to back up everyone while they escaped. Unfortunately, the fight that broke out against the Gorosei was not taken into consideration.

"But never fear, your bro Franky has a super plan!"

Buggy rolled his eyes, but honestly gave his interest in hearing it. What the shipwright has been planning was pure suicide and the clown took it upon himself to improve it, if even to give them-or more importantly, him- the chance to escape.

They had kept their distance at first, but after Sabo's utter defeat, Franky had stepped forward and the plan was in action.

The sudden explosion shook the entire plaza. A Muggy Ball and the most powerful missile Franky had ever invented were put into action and the result was enlightening, to say the least.

Their shouts snapped the others into action and everyone started running in the direction of freedom, with Bartolomeo keeping up a large barrier behind them just in case.

Buggy watched the arcades get ever closer and allowed himself a smirk. He'd show that bastard Shanks and the old man that he was a dangerous and powerful guy. And then they wouldn't dare mess with him anymore!

A job well done.

Not for long unfortunately.

The sudden wave of water and the sound of glass breaking were heard behind them and Buggy cursed along with Bartolomeo. The group hurriedly pressed on, but the two Devil Fruit abilities were catching up with them rapidly.

When the water had gotten unnervingly close, in Buggy's humble opinion, the clown almost took to the skies when a shout of Death Wink from above their heads stopped him mid-step.

Ivankov landed with a large boom and his oversized head grinned back at them.

"I was waiting for you. Mugiwara-boy is already far ahead. I'll stall them a little. Now go!" The purple haired man exclaimed dramatically.

Buggy did not wait to be told twice. Ignoring Sabo and Koala's protests, he continued to run, not minding if the others were going to follow him or not.

If Ivankov so insisted, he'd take what he could.

---

"Are you sure this is going to work, Usopp-san?"

Vivi's question was echoed by Sanji's own exclamation.

"Did you hit your head or something?! No way in hell this is gonna work."

Usopp glared at the blonde a little before he huffed and turned around, clearly signaling he wasn't going to argue with them anymore. He shifted his hold on Kabuto and crouched down.

"Yeah I'm sure. Now stop losing time and let's do this!"

The blue haired princess nodded, equally determined. Sanji only snorted and reached for another cigarette.

The Strawhats' sniper eyed the building next to the one he was standing on, which he considered to be the hideout of their mystery sniper and tried to stop the irritating tremors running through his body. Throwing his friends a shaken grin, he pointed a thumb at himself and said.

"Don't worry, the mighty Captain Usopp is gonna take care of that guy. Vivi, I'm counting on you to motivate my launcher."

The alabastian giggled.

Sanji's eyebrow shot up, and he sighed knowing that he'd have to aim this good.

Vivi turned to the blonde cook and winked in his direction, throwing a blow kiss for good measure.

"Do your best, Sanji-kun!"

Sanji's eyes went immediately into heart mode and the cook's body began to twist like a noodle.

"Let's go!" With that, Usopp put his ammo in his mouth and jumped towards the ground, praying to all gods that Sanji will snap out of it and not let him fall like an idiot. Numerous painful wounds were recounted inside his mind in those few seconds of uncertainty.

Thankfully, Sanji jumped just in time to catch the sniper, his left foot becoming a prop for Usopp's own feet. With a roaring battle cry, the cook launched Usopp towards the building in front of them.

Being in the air, Usopp quickly concluded, was not fun and he'd like to not do it again, if possible. Praying that Sanji's kick would be powerful enough to keep him in the air for a few seconds longer, the sniper placed, rather shakingly, the exploding star in its place and waited for a few more seconds. When he felt that gravity was taking its rights over his body again, Kabuto's sling snapped, and a shot the size of a small ball went directly through the window.

Usopp's yells of horror distracted Sanji from his 'chat' with Vivi long enough to actually make him realize that his crewmate was probably falling to his death. Sighing in exasperation, the blonde cook took a few steps backwards to make way for his fall.

Usopp attributed Sanji a few choice words inside his mind as he reached for Kabuto again and shot a Pop Green to cushion his fall.

"Are we done here, Usopp?" Sanji's question was doubled in the background by the explosion of the house where the mystery sniper had supposedly been hanging around.

The long nosed sniper offered a grin and a thumbs up.

"Hell yeah!"

Vivi smiled and was about to congratulate Usopp on his feat when her brown eyes looked past the two in the distance. Eyes wide, she threw herself over them with a yelp, successfully getting the two on the ground with her just as a large glass shard passed over their heads and lodged itself in the concrete wall behind them, thoroughly cracking it.

Vivi eyed the sharp, transparent piece warily before she jumped to her feet, along with an angry Sanji and a still stupefied Usopp.

"They are coming. We've gotta go." Sanji flicked his cigarette to the ground, stomping it as his eyes never strayed from the blonde haired Gorosei's form.

Mouth pressed in a tight line, he kicked the ground hard enough to cause a wall of dust and debris to cover their escape.

He won't be risking his neck to fight that guy for now.

It did not take long to reach the exit of the square and what they saw made them pause a little.

Ivankov was currently in a stalemate with one of the Gorosei that seemed to control water. The other old men were nowhere in sight, but that was something the three could care less about in that moment.

The purple haired transvestite perked up when he saw them coming. Breathing hard, hands on his knees, the Okama spoke.

"You are the last ones to come! Go fast, the others are already on their way to the entrance."

"We will not let any of you escape from here." The long haired Gorosei intoned, his eyes narrowing when the Okama in front of him grinned wildly.

"I beg to differ!" The exclamation was followed by a pirouette. "You have been subjected to my newest creation! How does it feel?"

The old man was about to interrupt his stupid declaration when he felt his muscles tighten, his whole body going rigid. Eyes wide, he realized that was the only thing he could move of his body in that moment.

Ivankov continued to grin that obnoxious grin of his as he started to wriggle his pointed fingers. "The Paralysis Hormone is quite useful, neh?"

Laughing wildly, he jumped down from the arcade and proceeded to follow the others.

"What the hell are you doing?! After them!" The Gorosei barked at the stone-like marines just standing around him.

The army snapped out of their stupor one by one and with a mighty battle cry, they burst out of there and into the city.

---

Zoro growled as he continued to slam marines and nobles left and right, not caring for anything other than the fact that they weren't his friends. His narrowed eye took in the carnage before him and he had to give himself a pat on the back for the good job they did in keeping the exit clear- metaphorically, of course.

After almost half an hour of walking in the direction Zoro had pointed to, the two men arrived back to the passage that they had just entered from. A heated argument ensued, but the appearance of the Marine force was enough to distract them and, eventually, they both agreed that it would benefit everyone if they kept the path clear for them.

Smoker had been grudgingly convinced to stay as well, Zoro's arguments proving enough for the marine. Though he continued his destruction, it was all well and good that he did that and then some more to the citizens.

It did not take long for the explosions to begin in the distance. The bombing was doubled by some other suspicious looking Devil Fruit powers. It took every ounce of willpower for the two men not to start running in that direction. Granted, Zoro would have probably gotten lost on the way.

"I swear to God, your sense of direction is so fucked up, it doesn't even follow any kind of logic!" Smoker had yelled, fists clenched and mouth scowling. He was clearly abstaining from punching the Strawhats' swordsman.

"Shut up! You're clearly an idiot for not realizing we were going in the wrong direction!" Zoro had bitten back, a warning hand on the hilt of his sword.

The timely arrival of Coby and Helmeppo had saved the town from even more disaster. The pink haired man had been mortified to say the least when he saw Vice Admiral Smoker glaring at Zoro and vice versa. He was almost ready to start resorting to drastic measures because they were discovered, but his blonde friend managed to calm him down just in time for Smoker to state his reasons for being there. Coby had sighed in relief, looking like he had just avoided death- which was probably true.

The surprising appearance had been from a blonde haired kid that smiled up at Zoro and asked if he was one of Lucy's friends. The green haired man wanted to respond with a biting remark and an I don't know who the hell Lucy is, but the kid looked really honest so the swordsman had reluctantly answered that he was Luffy's friend. The kid dubbed as Kiiro had nodded, clearly not minding the correction to the name.

Returning to the present time, Zoro turned back just in time to avoid a downward slash and countered with one of his own, slicing the guy in two cleanly. He looked up to the sound of an exploding building far away where the square probably was.

No more than five minutes passed before hurried footsteps were heard down the road. The swordsman sighed in relief when he saw no marines in sight, only his friends.

The rather large group was hurriedly running towards them. Most of them were looking behind, at a commotion that was currently tugging Brook's bony hand.

Zoro's heart almost stopped and his eye widened considerably when he saw him. Luffy, definitely Luffy, looking the same, only with the addition of another scar on his neck. And there was no joke nor mirage this time. It was really his breathing, living captain.

In that moment all the rage and resentment the swordsman had ever felt at himself and the world washed away like the waves on Sunny's hull, leaving inside him only a rare feeling of relief and uncertainty. That man, however unchanged he might look on the outside, was surely another story on the inside. After more than four months living with the Celestial Dragons, he was sure that Luffy wasn't the same. Couldn't be.

That's what Zoro was most afraid of. That those bloody bastards had changed Luffy, beginning with his name and ending with his mind.

Mouth pressed in a tight line, he stepped forward and yelled, attracting everyone's attention around him.

"LUFFY!"

Said captain turned his head around and grinned that lost, wide grin of his and Zoro knew that it must be a dream.

"Yo, Zoro!"

He even remembered his name. A small spark of hope lighted in Zoro's chest. Could it be that their captain was so strong as to resist their torturing?

The group neared the four men and one kid, all of them with various degrees of glad, happy and doubtful expressions. No one spoke for a few seconds, only uncertain faces greeting them that made an alarm sound in the swordsman's mind, when Luffy opened his mouth.

"Eh, what are you doing here?" His tone was clearly confused, like he had just remembered something he forgot. "Weren't you training with Mihawk for two years?"

The green haired man froze, his jaw going slack for a few, ridiculous moments. He saw his crewmates and Rebecca flinch. Sai, Ideo and Cavendish turned their heads away, faces unreadable. Leo hung his head defeated. Mr. 3 and Crocodile remained impassive through this.

Luffy's honest face almost hurt to look at. Zoro eyed the others with an inquiring look, though none of them made a move to explain the reason behind Luffy's behavior. Finally, Perona cracked, her face set in a predetermined scowl and a furrow of her brows that signaled Zoro's trained skills of reading her, that nothing good was coming.

"He's been like this since we found him. It's like he has two freaking personalities!" Her shout echoed in Zoro's ears.

He truly didn't know how to deal with this situation. Turns out, he wouldn't have to.

"Ivy, Lucy!" Kiiro's shout of joy made all heads turn to the stranger.

"Kiiro, there you were!" Luffy exclaimed, looking pleased to see his friend.

The boy grinned, but Ivy interrupted before they could launch a chat.

"We've gotta get out of here now. The Gorosei are coming."

Several gasps were heard.

"How do you know that?" Zoro growled.

"Easy now." Smoker's words did nothing but aggravate the green haired man.

"Ivy-san, where are Koala and the others?" Coby spoke for the first time since the newcomers arrived. There were a couple of joyful greetings at seeing the pink haired marine along with his friend.

"Behind us. They'll be coming shortly." The red head answered, clearly itching to resume running.

"Yosh! Let's go back. I'm hungry." Luffy thrust his hands up in the air, already turning on his heels towards the city.

Nami snapped first out of her stupor. "Y-You can't Luffy. We have to get out of here!"

"Again with that name..." The raven head groaned for the second time that day. "What do you mean get out of here? Ivy's house is that way." He pointed in a random direction.

Ignoring the clearly wrong way, Ivy tried again. "We are leaving the city for the moment, Lucy. Now come on, we can't stay here anymore."

Luffy's eyes were livid when he locked them with hers. "No." He said in all seriousness.

Ivy opened her mouth again, but her friend was not done.

"They said that Celestial Dragons can't walk alongside common people."

The pirates and marines present flinched at the accentuated word. His crewmates had never heard him spit a word with so much hate before. Something dawned on the red head's face in that moment of raw shock.

"What does that have to do with anything, Strawhat?" Crocodile exhaled the smoke from his cigar, trying hard to ignore the kid strangling him. The boy on his back seemed to get along well with Kiiro.

"I'm a Celestial Dragon too. So too bad, can't come." The raven head commented, his index finger picking his nose.

"What!"

The substantial group did not dare turn around in fear of breaking their own necks. That's how frozen in place they were at hearing those words.

Sabo's face looked closer to lava than the fire his Devil Fruit was famous for. His eyes burned with the same anger that Zoro felt in the deep recesses of his soul, but didn't dare let out in fear of hurting Luffy or his friends. There'll be a time for everything.

The blonde haired man stepped forward, breathing hard from all the running, leaving his group behind.

Koala's eyes locked with Coby's questioningly, but the pink haired man could only shake his head slightly, clearly too disturbed by what was happening to form a coherent answer.

For once in his life, Buggy decided to restrain himself from any comments regarding anything happening at the moment. He'd like to get out of there alive, thank you very much.

"What are you talking about Luffy?" The revolutionary questioned in a calmer voice.

Luffy locked eyes with him steadily. "I said I'm not gonna come 'cause I can't. You guys go ahead without me."

The resounding silence was broken by Ivy's resigned sigh. "So they really managed to do that to him."

Every pair of eyes- or eye, in Zoro's case- was on her in a split second.

"What are you talking about? Answer me right now girl!" Hancock looked as livid as Sabo was.

The red head did not need further push to elaborate on her statement.

"They've been extracting information from him. Nothing too major found as far as I know. The problem is that they applied a method of implementing him the notion that he is a Celestial Dragon. I'm sure it was for this exact reason." White eyes narrowed, glowering at the tall wall. "To make him unable to leave this city."

"You are thoroughly right, Saint Ivory." A deep spoke from behind them.

"Law!" Nami shouted, her light brown eyes watching in horror as the doctor was being strangled slowly by the man that spoke.

Jinbei slipped into an attack position and Franky's shoulders opened, revealing the dozens of bombs inside.

The bespectacled, bald man remained impassive however. His sharp eyes studied the group with a scrutinizing glare, before they stopped on Luffy's form. The raven head glared.

"You're one of the old men that captured me." His pointed finger made the Gorosei snort. His friends gasped.

"What do you want?" Ivy's voice gathered his attention and his stare locked on hers.

In that moment, a little of Robin's respect went to her. It wasn't easy to have a stare down with the World Governors.

"As polite as always." The man's tone was mocking, yet his face did not display any of that emotion. "You have always been a controversial subject on our table."

"I'm sure glad to hear that." The red head replied, making the man's eyes narrow.

"Speaking like a true pirate now, huh. It seems like there is no more saving you."

"Ivy what's happening?" Luffy's harsh whisper was ignored by the young woman. His jet black eyes were watching the stare contest worriedly, along with the others.

"You do not have to bother yourself with such mundane things, Strawhat Luffy." Glasses man, as Luffy had dubbed him, closed his eyes, clearly looking bored with the whole situation.

Mr. 3 fixed his glasses up on his nose and squinted his eyes to get a better look at the man. Something seemed strange about him and the trembling Buggy stranding next to him did not help his examination. A stray sunray made everything clear in a moment and his eyes widened.

"Are-are those scales?!" His half shout, half whisper broke the group in two.

One, the people that slipped into attack stances, ready for any move the Zoan type might make. And two, the people that were ready to bolt out of there, should a fight break out. The importance in getting out of the city has been pointed out more than once throughout the invasion.

"You can try to kill me." Ivy's eyes were as hard as steel. "I'd like to see you succeed." She lifted her arms up, black Haki coating them in obvious warning.

"Ivy, let's get out of here." Luffy stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We can make it back home-"

The red head jerked to look in his direction. "You have to get out of this city. Now Lucy!"

Zoro tied his black bandana to his head tightly, swords already drawn. Cavendish had his sword out as well, while Sai shifted the hold on his lance, preparing for the upcoming battle. Law tried to unsheathe his own sword as gingerly as he could, all the while hoping that the man was too preoccupied with the suicidal red head to notice him.

Luffy seemed to deflate a little and Rebecca took the opportunity to grip his arm and try and drag him out of there. Unfortunately, the raven head had other plans.

Instead of listening to his friend, he took a step forward, eyes full of anger. "What are you saying at a time like th-"

The sound of a gun being set off snapped his mouth shut.

"Ivy!" Coby, Helmeppo and Koala yelled collectively.

Luffy followed their horrified gazes and chocked.

"O-Oi, Ivy. You're bleeding!" His shout made the red head cringe, but she didn't step away from her place in front of him.

"No shit... idiot."

Her collapse on the pavement was the signal that made everyone move.

The swordsmen attacked all at once, aiming for the Gorosei's neck. Law had successfully used his Room to escape from the man's grasp and followed Zoro's lead.

The old man in front of them gave a sharp laugh at the slouched form on the ground before his eyes became a shocking yellow and his skin was covered with purple shaded scales that allowed him to morph into a full out dragon. The ancient Zoan type was enormous, its wings fluttering dangerously against its attackers and creating a powerful wind that threw most of them backwards.

Arms sprouted on its form, courtesy of Robin, but they were rendered useless by the powerful creature.

"I'm going to try and stall him. You attack." The black haired woman nodded to Koala, Sabo and Jinbei. They nodded and launched a Fishman Karate attack combined with fire and dragon named techniques.

Hancock was onto the creature as well, attacking from any direction possible. Next to her, Ideo was launching exploding fists and Sai was caught between exploding along with them and attacking the dragon himself.

Perona and Leo had split up, each of them trying to find any weakness in the Zoan's armor, while Crocodile attacked along with the others, laughing like a maniac and thoroughly enjoying the fight, now that the insufferable kid had deemed to get off his back for a change. Smoker eyed the guy, taking a moment to disperse the madman image he had for a moment before his eyes. Shaking his head in disbelief, he opted to continue attacking along with Coby and Helmeppo.

Franky and Brook were trying a teamwork strategy, with Rebecca backing them up.

"Luffy-senpai..." Bartolomeo whispered as he watched the raven head fall to his knees next to the red haired girl that's been shot. His eyes slid to Mr. 3's wax covered form and he understood the wordless message. Lifting up his barrier, the green haired man bit his lip to abstain from going to his idol's side and comfort him. He hadn't known the girl for long, but from what he'd understood, she was partly at fault for all of this, and partly because of her that his senpai was saved. The man wasn't sure if he should be thankful to her or not.

---

"Farewell, Ivy."

Luffy's gaze snapped up to the side of the battlefield and the sight made his blood boil. The bastard, Ivy's dad, was standing there, grinning, with a gun in his hand. It was clear to Luffy what had happened.

"You..." He growled, something that made the man smile's widen.

"You are next." His mouthed words were as worthless to Luffy as anything in that moment. Eyes burning with unrestrained anger, he stood up so quickly, he made Bartolomeo and Mr. 3 jump in surprise. They didn't have time to stop him nor his flying fist.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Everyone paused for a second to gaze at the one who had shouted the attack's name and its effects. With a bone crunching sound, the black haired Noble was deeply indented into the sturdy wall, his face and body bloodied and unrecognizable.

The dragon's face looked almost pleased for a moment before it roared, snapping everyone out of their trances and resuming the fight.

Luffy dropped back down to his knees, looking exhausted at the world. His hand gripped Ivy's shoulder and he turned her face up. The sight of the bleeding wound in the middle of her chest made him cringe and swallow back tears.

"Don't look like a crybaby now of all times."

Her whispered words did nothing more than make the need to sob harder to ignore.

"You're gonna be okay." Not even Luffy himself believed it. But he tried to convince himself that it'd be true.

His black gaze lifted and hope filled him when small hooves entered his field of vision. Chopper's face was grim and his lower lip trembled.

Luffy felt his stomach drop.

"Thanks for showing me this freedom I've heard so much about." Her smile was pained, but sincere.

Luffy chocked and tried to laugh. "You still haven't seen half of it."

Ivy's lips turned downwards and she reached a trembling hand to her hair, loosening it. Her hand gripped the purple fabric tightly, bringing it close to his face.

"Then see it for me, too, Lucy... Luffy."

He felt like her silver eyes were searching his very soul. Something inside of him twisted painfully at hearing the two names.

"So I'm Luffy." The resigned tone made her giggle and cough some blood.

"Strawhat Luffy." The red head corrected. "The man who'll become the King of the Pirates." Her fist touched his forehead lightly.

Luffy closed his eyes, feeling her words were true. He was Strawhat Luffy and his dream was to be the freest man on the sea. That's why he came to the Grand Line in the first place. That's why he left East Blue.

"But you're Lucy too." The next sentence made his eyes snap open and see her giving him a bloodied smile. "An idiot that can't watch himself and gets in trouble for punching Nobles in the face."

He almost grinned.

Her eyes softened suddenly and Luffy's heart felt like it could burst out of his chest.

"Forgetting is like a wound, Luffy." Ivy's voice was no more than a whisper. That single sentence seemed to deprive her of everything. With a last shallow breath, she closed her eyes to the sight of his tear struck face.

Luffy watched her die and wasn't sure how he felt. Only one thought went through his head at that moment in time.

"The wound may heal but it has already left a scar... right?"

Kiiro's yells and cries were not registered inside his mind. The pirate tried to sob but he couldn't. He was seeing only the dead bodies of the rest of his friends if they didn't leave in that exact moment.

Gripping the purple material tightly, he jumped up, lifting Ivy's lifeless body with him. Inhaling deeply, he shouted his lungs out.

"WE ARE LEAVING NOW!"

Heads turned at the sudden scream and the pirates scrambled after him. The dragon gave a roar behind them and lifted a large claw to attack, before a large explosion unbalanced him.

Luffy looked up above their heads to see Sanji using Sky Walk to run above them, carrying Vivi and Usopp with him. Ivankov landed on the ground in front of the dragon with a large thud.

The blonde haired cook swiped the battlefield, his eyes stopping on the red haired beauty that was lying unmoving in his captain's arms and he understood. But that didn't make him feel any less miserable.

Usopp couldn't help the grimace that made its way on his face at the sight and neither could Vivi. The blue haired girl's hands were covering her mouth and unbidden tears came in her eyes.

Luffy tried offer the newly arrived a shaky smile, but he dropped it as soon as it came. Instead, his eyes refocused on his unmoving friends and asked himself why wasn't anyone fucking moving?!

"LET'S GO!"

The second scream finally snapped them out of it. Everyone went into motion at the same time the Zoan governor regained his balance and wits.

Luffy went first into the stone tunnel. He did not look back, but the raven head knew that Chopper and Rebecca were just behind him, followed by everyone else. The feeling of oil and his feet slipping made him stumble a bit, but he thankfully regained his balance just in time.

Jaw clenched, the pirate continued on, unbidden. That was the least he could do to repay Ivy and alleviate the utter stupidity of her death because of him and his idiocy.

Shut up Lucy. We don't have time for this now.

Ignoring the fact that he was talking to himself, Luffy continued onwards, watching the light of the outside world grow steadier in both power and size.

The feeling of being outside those walls was like a long lost friend.

---

Back near the tall, emergency exit door, a disfigured head morphed out of the ground. The man had a grey moustache along with large birthmark spots in the middle of his forehead. His bald head still had a few chunks of earth on it.

The man looked through narrowed eyes at the retreating backs of the pirates, zeroing in on the furthermost one of a black haired teen carrying that woman's dead body. As if corresponding with his feelings, the plant life around him started to wither.

"The will of D is strong in this child. He is the most dangerous kind of criminal there is. D is God's enemy!"

"Stop reciting those things."

The man in the ground turned his head to gaze at the blonde seated on a nearby boulder. The man's eyes were also on the group, though his gaze held nothing but resignation.

"Whatever the Will of D is, Strawhat Luffy's will is stronger. We should stop worrying about such ancient thing and start worrying about the man in front of us and his army of pirates. He's not gonna need the power of D to bring this world upside down, that's for sure."

The moustached man huffed, melting into the earth once again. In his place, a grey flower bloomed.

The remaining Gorosei remained impassive, still watching the disappearing dots on the horizon.

---

A/N: Merry Christmas! :D

...yass, I did it. Between family and food, I found some internet to post this xD

This is the longest chapter yet(i think) xD and I had real fun writing it!

It was kind of a sad chapter( if you liked Ivy anyway, if not, oh well). I'm still not sure if I'm sad or not about it ._.

Anyway, please tell me what you think about it, because I really want to know how I did in dealing with a large scale invasion xD And I want to know how I did with Luffy too. Please tell me it's at least believable owo

Also, I will get around to posting the epilogue later (I hope)

Reviews and Feedback are loved! :D