Edited 6.1.19

Drip.

Marineford fell silent, the sound of blood dripping onto the ice faintly echoing through the stagnant air.

"Don't you dare touch them, Admiral."

Sound returned, the veil of silence broken by a cold, biting voice which sent chills down even the strongest men's spine.

In front of a dumbfounded Ace, a figure cloaked in black stood defensively, twin daggers held at the ready. One of the daggers was streaked with red, crimson rivers running along the edge of the blade before falling to the ground below.

Hunched over the ice, Akainu gripped his left arm which had been severed from the elbow down, glaring at the figure with the intensity of a thousand volcanoes.

"Who are you, woman." He snarled.

The figure –woman—flicked her wrist sharply, ridding the blade in her right hand of any remaining blood. The daggers were nothing special, just a regular pair that could be found in any decent weapon's shop, but in her hands with the light of the afternoon sun reflecting off them, they seemed a lot more ominous.

Blood splattered onto the frozen ground and the marines spread out along the perimeter flinched as the droplets hit the ice, the crimson stains proof of the shocking twist of events before them.

"I see no reason to answer you." The woman bit back vitriolically and straightened, allowing the Admiral to glimpse the black mask that covered the bottom half of her face to her neck. A distinct mark stitched with blue thread decorated the mask below her right eye. If it hadn't been for their proximity, the mark would have been easily overlooked due to its dark colour.

Akainu had seen the mark, and with the slight widening of his eyes, had also recognized it.

"You!" Fleetingly, the Admiral was surprised, but it immediately devolved into unadulterated hostility and rage. "What is an assassin from Noite doing here, Black Queen Rainha?"

His revelation surprised many. Noite was a name well-known on the seas – It was an organization founded and headed by Carin -a master assassin and a powerful figure not unlike Whitebeard, Gol D. Roger and others from their era—which made its name through assassination and mercenary work.

And amongst the many assassins and mercenaries that had gathered under its mark, Black Queen Rainha was one of the more prominent members and rumoured to be one of the higher-ranking members.

"That is none of your concern." She replied, somehow managing to sound harsh and polite at the same time. Then, she turned a bit to look at the young pirate behind her while keeping her focus trained on the marine in front of her. "GO." She hissed.

Ace didn't argue and quickly scrambled to his feet, throwing a wary look in Akainu's direction before running towards the other cloaked person who had saved Luffy earlier.

With Ace out of harm's way, Rainha's attention returned to the marine Admiral who was now glowering at her. Obviously, the man hadn't appreciated her intervention which had cost him one of his arms and foiled his murder attempt on both Roger and Dragon's children, though she couldn't care less.

Lucky for Akainu, his devil fruit had cauterized the wound, so he was in no danger of losing too much blood, yet it did not stop the sheen of cold sweat that had broken out across his skin.

Dark eyes filled with hate bore into her. "Does Noite intend to side with pirates?" He spat out, as if just saying the words themselves disgusted him. Clearly, he was teetering on the brink of irrationality already if he had asked that question, when Noite had long ago made itself clear that it remained neutral in the war between pirates and marines. Although, she supposed, her actions today would have hinted otherwise.

"Again, none of your concern." She replied.

In her peripheral vision, Rainha could see her companion had been joined by Ace and several others, including Jinbe, Ivankov and Inazuma. There were others that she didn't recognize but were most likely Ivankov's followers, if their choice of clothing were any indication. The little ragtag group appeared to be conversing about something or another, but there was a time and place for everything, and right now, they should be running. Running fast and hard!

In the privacy of her mind, Rainha couldn't help but sigh. What are those idiots doing…?

"Don't get in my way." Akainu growled, his wounded arm morphing into magma that dripped onto the ice and sizzled. "Their evil bloodlines must be purged!"

The assassin's senses spiked, and she moved on instinct, leaping out of the way of a sizzling glob of molten rock. Taking advantage of her minute distraction, Akainu charged towards Ace and Luffy.

Oh no you don't. She reacted instantly, jumping in front of the admiral again, a dagger brought up to block the attack. The admiral clicked his tongue in annoyance, and struck again, only to be matched each time by Rainha.

Behind her, the assassin heard her companion urging his group into motion, finally remembering their current predicament. However, they were too close, and she didn't think she would be able to hold Akainu back long enough for them to get away.

Well, she probably could if she used her powers, but she didn't want to throw that card away just yet.

If she timed it right…

Akainu attacked again, and this time, instead of pushing back, Rainha used the force behind the blow to propel herself backwards, landing just a few feet away from the group of pirates and okamas.

Not one to waste time, she whipped out a small, silver whistle from under her cloak and blew on it. The whistle's sharp tune echoed on the battlefield, doubled only by the shrill cry of a huge white bird that swooped out of nowhere and landed beside the assassin.

"Boys. Ship. Now." She instructed, and the bird trilled in reply, taking flight again before swooping down in a steep arc to grab the second cloaked person with the two D. brothers and Jinbe in tow.

"So, Noite intends to stand against the marines, is that it?" Akainu growled as he threw an attack at the retreating forms in the sky, which was blocked again by Rainha, who cut down his attacks with surprising ease. His next attack, his directed at the assassin who hindered him continuously. "That means I will have to get rid of you too."

Rainha scoffed. "I'd like to see you try."

Akainu had a manic glint in his eyes as he brought down his magma-covered fist on her. She made no move to dodge the attack.

"Watch out!" All around, pirates cried out in warning while the marines watched horrified as one of their leaders made to murder the assassin.

They waited with bated breath for the attack to make contact.

It never did.

No one saw how she moved, or if she even did.

All they saw was that one moment, Akainu was about to kill her, and the next, he had disappeared and there was a resounding splash from somewhere that couldn't be named.

"Oh my, looks like he went for a swim." The assassin commented offhandedly. "And I would halt where I am if I were you, Admirals."

On the other side of the frozen bay, Aokiji and Kizaru simultaneously stopped in their tracks as a cold pressure pressed against their throat.

Her arms were raised, two blades held in a position that left no doubt that the pressure they were feeling were from that pair of daggers.

"Wise choice."

Pirates and marines alike broke out in cold sweat as they watched the exchange in horror. How had the assassin managed to not only hold off two marine admirals at the same time, but also put the third and strongest one out of the fight?! The Admirals hadn't gained their positions by being pretty; they possessed strength that far surpassed most others, and only a handful of people could match them – people who made monsters seem like a joke.

It was an unthinkable feat, yet she had pulled it off.

And there was the fact that both admirals weren't even resisting for some unknown reason.

…

"What are you doing here, Rainha?" Aokiji asked as he shifted, stuffing his hands down his front pockets. His posture seemed relaxed, but he was still wary of the blade that was pressing down ever so slightly. From far away, the daggers hadn't seemed like much; he had had his suspicions when Rainha amputated Akainu's left forearm, but being in direct contact with it, Aokiji knew that it wasn't just Haki that had been responsible for it.

It sapped him of his powers, weakening him, but not quite rendering him incapacitated.

Those daggers were seastone weapons.

"Surprising you should ask." Rainha spoke after a small moment of silence. "You should know better than anyone, Admiral Aokiji."

"Captain! Marineford is in sight!"

"That so? Get ready then."

"Aye!"

Aboard a large ship with a dragon figurehead, a red-haired man looked up from where he was seated, dark eyes glinting under the daylight. He rose to his feet shortly after, moving to stand at the prow of the ship, his right hand coming to rest on his sword's hilt.

Luffy… Ace…

Luffy had absolutely no idea what was going on.

If memory served him right, at this moment he was supposed to be dead. Or on the brink of it, at least.

Because for all his bullheadedness, Luffy knew there was no way he would have survived the blow that he'd seen at the last second.

So why was he now looking up at a masked man while being carried in said man's arms, completely unharmed save for what he'd accumulated previously?

"Are you okay?" The man asked, his voice somewhat muffled by the mask he wore. Luffy dumbly nodded. He was fine… probably. "You have no idea, do you?"

Luffy shook his head.

"I figured as much." The man mumbled. He sighed, and adjusted Luffy so that they were in a more comfortable position. "And why is he still sitting there?"

The man sounded annoyed.

From his position, Luffy could see what was happening on the battlefield if he just craned his neck a bit...and his eyes naturally zeroed in on the figure that was making their way towards the two of them.

"Ace!" He yelled, but it came out only a little above a whisper.

Suddenly, Luffy became a lot more aware of the state of his body; his was extremely tired, barely able to feel himself, and his eyelids felt heavier every passing second. Maybe he could sneak a few seconds of shut-eye… but Ace was here, and he was being carried by someone he didn't know… wait, what?

His eyes, just one step away from closing completely, snapped open instantly. At the same time, it drew the attention of the man carrying him away from Ace.

"Is something wrong—" He stated, abruptly cut off by an unexpectedly wary Luffy.

"Who are you?" The Straw Hat captain asked in a low voice. Had his crew been present, they'd have recognized the tone their captain used as one that he generally reserved for kicking ass. Unfortunately, they weren't, though the man seemed to get the undertone of his question well enough.

In response, the man snorted. "I'm a government agent sent to kill you."

His answer easily caught Luffy off guard. Although, to be fair, he wasn't the only one.

Ace and Jinbe, who had both entered hearing distance were equally surprised to the extent that the fire-logia had very nearly lost his footing on the ice which had almost caused the fishman to collide with him.

"Really?" Luffy asked, eyes blown wide.

"Ya think?"

All three looked at him with similar 'Are you being serious' expressions. Luffy blinked, and promptly replied that he didn't believe the man.

"I was being sarcastic." He said to no one. "Now come on, we need to get out of here—"

At that precise moment, a large man with an even larger purple afro came running, followed by a man who looked like a half-done paint job. Behind them, several others were running to keep up with the two ahead.

"Straw Hat boy!"

"Iva-san?" Luffy heard the man mutter, sounding surprised.

Does this guy know Iva-chan? He wondered.

Before he had a chance to ask, his attention was stolen by the Okama Queen who was yelling at him for his recklessness.

"Vyou're too reckless! Vyou're just like vyour father!" Ivankov scolded. Apparently, Dragon was just as reckless as his son, though he was smarter about it. The Okama Queen would have continued his berating if it weren't for a sudden action that jarred them back to reality; they'd been too relieved that they had forgotten they were on a battlefield during a war.

Akainu had lunged towards them to get to the D. brothers but was repeatedly obstructed by the Black Queen.

"We have to go NOW!" The masked man sounded more frantic than before, and Luffy could tell he was so close to yelling in frustration because of all the dilly-dallying.

Their little group had started to run when the assassin landed next to them. A sharp sound emanated from a small silver whistle in Rainha's hand, followed by a shrill bird cry.

Luffy didn't catch what the assassin had said, but he did hear the curse that spewed from the masked man's mouth.

"Shit." Was all the man could say before a pair of talons dug into his shoulders. "Guys, hold on tight. And whatever you do, DON'T SCREAM."

Ace tried to protest but Jinbe grabbed him and latched onto the man. Ivankov tried to grab ahold of him too, but before he could…

The feeling of air rushing by filled their senses.

Ace screamed. Luffy would too, but he was too tired.

The man would've face palmed had he not have his hands full with Luffy.

"I just said…oh never mind."

Hundreds of eyes followed the bird's flight path, watching as it gracefully descended next to the Whitebeard captain and dropped its passengers into a heaping pile a couple foot from the ground –except for Jinbe, who managed to land on his feet—before landing next to them.

No one would mention it, but more than a few had jumped when the large bird landed on the ice. They had known the bird would be large, but no one had imagined it to be almost as big as one of the slightly larger than average commanders – the eighth and fourteenth division commanders, for example.

The cloaked man, who was at the top of the pile groaned and carelessly rolled down onto the ground.

"Damn it, Oru…" He cursed as he sat up and rubbed his shoulders, all the while glaring daggers at the bird. The material near the shoulders were torn, hints of blue showing through the tears, and even those seemed ready to break apart at the slightest movement.

"This was my favourite coat!"

The bird didn't respond, its sharp eyes trained solely on its mistress in the middle of the battlefield.

The man who was aware as well that the bird –Oru—wasn't paying attention to him, redirected his focus to the two pirates who were still plastered to the ground and sighed.

Despite the dire situation, the Whitebeard Pirates could not help gawking at the situation before them. When they came to war, they had expected to welcome Ace back in all his fiery glory. They had not expected their brother to come back to them by way of bird, clinging onto some stranger for dear life in the air and thrown on the ground in a pile.

They had not expected the sudden splash that came from behind them, nor how their brother's saviour had somehow managed to deter Aokiji and Kizaru either.

The two Admirals had been in hot pursuit of the two 'demon children' and one unexpected ally, both men racing across the ice to reach their targets before they reached their allies.

The effort, however was proven futile when the Black Queen stopped them without even moving from her position.

Even from the other side of the bay, her voice resonated with clarity. There was a comment about someone going for a swim –which was likely the source of that splash—before she addressed the admirals. "And I would halt where I am if I were you, Admirals." She said coolly.

Both her arms were raised, ready to strike. As one, Aokiji and Kizaru stopped in their tracks and sent wary looks towards the assassin.

The Whitebeard Pirate's twelfth division commander, a young man dressed in a green shirt coupled with white pants by name of Haruta, was whistling in awe. "How does she do that?" He muttered, a look of wonder crossing his features.

"She's awesome." A few others voiced their agreements.

Someone nudged the commander teasingly. "You really like her, don't you?"

Haruta laughed sheepishly at the comment. It was well known amongst the crew that he was a big fan of the Black Queen. The assassin's name appeared every now and then in the papers, generally accompanied with news of an assassination somewhere. Otherwise, there was very little information on her. So far, all the newspapers had gotten was a picture of her mark, a customized version of Noite's own symbol.

However, if one had the right connections, they'd find that the assassin was most often involved with the destruction of slave markets and trader ships anywhere and everywhere.

That had been what had piqued the commander's interest in the first place, and after a few questions along the grapevine, he'd decided that Black Queen Rainha was awesome and worthy enough to earn a place on his personal pedestal.

It was a pity they had never met the assassin herself. For some reason or another, the members of Noite seemed to avoid any contact with the Whitebeard Pirates, though they didn't know if the same could be said for the other Yonko. Some had joked once that the assassins took their position of neutrality way too seriously.

"Oi! You guys aren't much better, y'know!" Haruta retorted when some of the crew started calling him 'fanboy'. "Besides, how many people do you think could pull that off?" He pointed at the scene which had captured most everyone's attention.

"Not many." A geisha-like man interrupted, pistols grasped tightly in both hands. "However, we should perhaps hold off this discussion for a later time, preferably when we're NOT AT WAR."

While the pirates had been distracted, they hadn't missed the exchange between Aokiji and Rainha for all that it didn't make sense to anyone.

The same couldn't be said for the masked man who was nudging the D. brothers with his foot.

"Don't tell me they passed out…" They heard him mutter to himself.

The Whitebeard's first division commander – Marco, crouched down next to the heap of brothers, poking at the tangle of limbs that were supposed to be their second division commander and his rookie brother.

"Oi Ace, Straw Hat, are you two still with us yoi?"

Marco's incessant poking successfully roused the two, and a muffled voice was heard that sounded distinctly like swearing – the overly colourful kind that could only have come from one fire-logia.

"Looks like you are," The blond man said, standing up. "Come on, you two. We have to get going."

The Whitebeard Pirates, who had been amid retreating before they were side-tracked, resumed their progress. The wounded were helped aboard the Moby Dick, while the rest brought up the rear, taking as many of their fallen comrades as they could.

The commanders stood on guard, senses focused in case of an ambush –however unlikely—as they watched the confrontation between the admirals and the assassin from Noite.

Weary eyes glanced towards the two raven haired pirates who were disentangling themselves from each other with a little help from Jinbe who was hovering nearby before one cursed and shakily stood up. The other was gathered into the arms of the large fishman, his eyes closed and seemingly dead to the world.

"Ace." Whitebeard spoke, calling out to his youngest son. "Are you alright?" The worry was evident in the old captain's voice. Shaking his head a few times to clear it, Ace looked up to meet his captain's eyes. Their previous conversation flashed through his mind, and he shrugged. The gesture apparently translated to something akin to "I'm fine" and Whitebeard felt his heart lighten a little.

His son looked worse for wear, but all things considered, it could've been a lot worse. He returned his attention to the battlefield, his resolution hardened.

"Marco!" He called, and the blond commander immediately turned to look at his captain. The large man grinned dangerously, his grip on his bisento tightening. "Take care of our family. And that brat over there—" The cloaked man looked up at him. "—look out for my children."

The pirates were all staring at their captain, eyes brimming with tears whereas some were openly sobbing. They were aware of the possibility that their captain would not return from this battle, but most didn't want to believe in it. Their captain…no, their father was the strongest man in the world; surely, he would be strong enough to get out of this together with them.

But he was saying goodbye.

With both his earlier declaration and his order to Marco, Whitebeard had solidified the fact that he wouldn't be returning with his crew. Today would be the last they saw of that huge figure that gave them a home and a family once they left the waters of Marineford.

They would never again hear that booming laugh of their father nor bask in the warmth of his smile as he watched over his children. They would watch and be able to do nothing as he took a stand and protected them one last time.

The Whitebeard Pirates felt like their very souls were being torn out – how else could they describe that gut-wrenching pain that wrecked them at the thought of losing their father? The tightening of their chests that made it feel impossible to breathe?

What would become of them, without their captain?

…

"I refuse."

A smooth voice cut through the anguish that had overcame the pirates, and all eyes turned onto the only unknown amongst them, who was smoothing out invisible creases in his cloak like he hadn't just refused a request from Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate.

"Like you said, they are your children. I do not see why I should look out for them when it isn't my responsibility whatsoever."

He lifted his head, the mask completely hiding him from the Yonko's hard glare. He didn't even flinch, whereas many others would've fainted from the sheer intensity emitting from Whitebeard.

"Also, as I believe I have told you earlier, I have a mission."

"Brat…" Whitebeard grunted, obviously exasperated. The Whitebeards watched the exchange curiously, feeling like they were missing a most crucial piece of the puzzle, because honestly, no one could make heads or tails of what the two were talking about.

"And I have absolutely no intention of failing because the result would be very painful for me," He paused, and added. "And your crew and allies probably."

"Things happen, brat. You can't fight the unexpected."

"Wrong." The man moved to stand by Oru. "Things will happen, that's for sure. Just not the way you planned. Besides, Rainha's already out there stalling the admirals so you can escape –even Sengoku is busy with Garp—so there's really not much standing between you and open sea."

The man's voice lowered suddenly, danger lacing his words. "I suggest you take this opportunity and get out now. The Admirals will not be held off for long."

"How long do we have yoi?" Marco asked, brows furrowed in concern.

"Five minutes, give or take."

Fuck.

…

"EVERYONE MOVE, NOW!"

The war was locked in a stalemate.

On one hand, the marines wanted to pursue the Pirate King's son and his adopted brother. ON the other, there was nothing they could do against the might of the Whitebeard Pirates when their top fighters were all otherwise occupied.

Not to mention Garp was making things hard for Sengoku, to the point that the Fleet Admiral had to put most of his attention on the marine hero to prevent him from wreaking havoc on their own territory against one of their own, wherever the man maybe now.

Unexpectedly –or perhaps not so unexpected since it was Garp—the vice-admiral hadn't taken kindly to Akainu trying to kill his grandsons and almost succeeding. Currently, he was throwing out death threats directed towards the magma-logia like a fountain spewed water.

"Sengoku! Let me go! I'm going to rip that upstart Sakazuki a new one and more! How dare he try to kill my brats!"

Looking down resignedly at his long-time friend whom he was sitting on, Sengoku couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Curse Garp and his damn family of felons. Forget headaches, I'll be lucky if I don't come out of this with something even more severe.

"Your grandsons are safe, you idiot. Stop yelling
and see for yourself."

"How am I supposed to 'see for myself' with your
huge-ass sitting on me!"

Fair point, he thought, and moved off him.

Garp got up, and looked towards Akainu…well, where he thought Akainu was supposed to be. "Where's that idiot?"

Sengoku sighed again and gestured towards the bay. "Somewhere near the ocean. Black Queen did something –what, I'm not sure—and sent him into the water." He explained and pointed out the black-clad woman on the ice.

Garp's eyes widened when he saw the assassin, and a weird glint crept into them which did not go unnoticed by Sengoku. The Fleet Admiral raised a brow at the walking headache suspiciously.

"You wouldn't happen to know why Black Queen Rainha decided to save Fire Fist and Straw Hat, would you?" Call it intuition, or paranoia, whichever, but Sengoku had a gut feeling that Garp knew what was going on. Unfortunately, the answer he received was one that he fully expected.

"Nope!" The vice-admiral laughed, his anger gone without a trace.

"We both know that's a lie." Sengoku drawled dryly.

"So what?"

"…nothing."

Garp laughed again.

"You're enjoying this too much, Garp." I really hate him sometimes.

All eyes were on the Black Queen and the Admirals.

With Akainu temporarily out of the picture, Aokiji and Kizaru had taken a neutral approach to the situation. Granted, they still had a dagger to the throat each, but it's wasn't really a big deal. That could get out of their predicament easily if they wanted to, and they knew that Rainha was well aware of that fact.

Be that as it may, the assassin had piqued their interest, and both men decided that it wouldn't hurt to find out the motives behind her actions.

Whatever answer they had been expecting, they surely had not foreseen what Rainha had said.

Aokiji held her gaze for a long pause. He couldn't see her eyes with the hood on, but he could certainly feel the steely gaze trained on him.

"I suppose I do." The ice-logia admitted, his expression giving nothing away. "But this and that are two separate matters entirely."

"They're only as different as you want them to be." The assassin countered. "In the end, their nature is the same."

"And your reason for intervening?"

"I imagine it's similar to yours back then." Rainha responded. "If things come down to what I think it may, where will you stand?"

"…that's a tough question."

"Isn't it?"

Aokiji shrugged.

"Wherever justice is, I'd think."

Rainha was silent for a moment, appearing to mull over his words, and then he felt the pressure on his throat disappear. A quick glance at Kizaru told him that the other admiral had also been freed of the assassin's seastone weapons.

"You are letting us go, just like that?" Aokiji was dubious about her actions, wondering what she had hidden up her metaphoric sleeve.

"Would you rather I slit your throat?" Rainha replied with her own question, followed up by a baffling answer. "You won't be here for long, though the same can't be said for your two colleagues."

If Aokiji had a slight inkling of what the assassin had meant, he wasn't sharing. Kizaru, however, seemed to catch on, one brow raising lazily.

At that moment, Rainha jumped backwards unexpectedly, sliding a little on the ice as a wide crack appeared where she had been previously standing.

Marines shouted in shock as they noticed a huge, humanoid shadow behind their headquarters. Slowly, the shadow came to light as the mist around the buildings cleared.

"Ah, they saw me." The shadow said. Another marine shouted, drawing attention to the fallen scaffold where eight figures stood amidst the settling dust.

Tension escalated to greater heights as the figures were identified.

"How did you get here?" Sengoku growled. Besides the original four, the Blackbeard Pirates had gained a few new members, and the marine fleet admiral was none too happy when he recognised them. They were all criminals whose existences had been erased from the records due to their extreme villainy—prisoners of Impel Down's sixth level.

"The Giant Battleship, Sanjuan Wolf!"

"The Corrupt King, Avalo Pizarro!"

"The Great Drinker Vasco Shot!"

"The Crescent Moon Hunter, Catarina Devon!"

"And the head jailer of Impel Down, Shiliew of the Rain!"

At the head of the unsavoury group was Blackbeard himself, laughing as he greeted his former captain.

"Teach." Whitebeard answered, his voice low and dangerous. Anyone who knew about what had gone down between the two captains instinctively shied away from Whitebeard who was literally radiating danger. The pirate crews were in a similar state, bristling with anger at the traitor, of which the Whitebeard crew's killing intents were strongest.

"Blackbeard." Rainha hissed as she held her daggers up.

The man whom that name belonged to turned towards the assassin, and his grin grew even wider, showcasing dirty yellow teeth that appeared to have never seen a toothbrush.

They would think they had imagined it later, but as of now, the marines closest to the assassin would've sworn that the woman had gone 'Eww.' at that display.

"Ah…Black Queen Rainha…did you receive my proposal?"

"I did." Rainha shifted, moving into a battle-ready stance.

The large pirate laughed. "And your answer?"

"I fed it to fire." She replied and drew out a rifle from somewhere underneath her cloak. "Paper makes for excellent kindling."

In simpler words, she refused.

Without much aiming, she cocked the rifle and sent a bullet his way, only for it to be intercepted by another bullet.

"Impressive, as always." The assassin commented dryly. "I see you haven't gone rusty, Van Augur."

"Rainha." The marksman lowered his rifle and adjusted his monocle, his tone just as flat.

Shiliew, who was standing next to him, asked, a cigar hanging between his lips. "Someone you know?"

"A former colleague." Augur replied.

"Former indeed." She countered and pulled the trigger again. "I assume you are aware of your status."

The bullet was once again, destroyed by another.

"Zehahahaha! Rainha, as I thought, you should join me! Your skills are truly befitting of the future Pirate King!" Blackbeard offered once again, though he never got an answer this time as a large ship with a dragon figurehead appeared through the mist, attracting everyone's attention.

Large sails bore a skull with three red lines going across its left eye and two swords crossed behind it. Above the crow's nest, a black flag with the same symbol fluttered in the wind.

"So, you've come…" Blackbeard grinned maliciously, an evil glint surfacing in his eyes.

Men lined the railing of the ship, yet the one key figure was nowhere in sight.

"It's the Red-Haired Pirates!"

"Why is another of the Yonko from the New World here?!"

A slapping sound resounded across the battlefield, oddly loud despite the noise that had arisen due to the crew's sudden appearance.

A red-haired man came into sight as the marines made way for him, subconsciously shying away from his overwhelming aura.

"I'm here to end this war." His hand rested on the hilt of the sword hanging by his side, an unspoken announcement of his willingness to draw it. "If anyone still wants to fight, then come!"

His eyes flashed dangerously.

"We will be your opponents."

Red Haired Shanks declared as his men flanked him, each standing tall and proud as they stared down the marines and dared them to fight.