I've kept you all waiting for this, and I apologize, but between fluctuations in inspiration and taking in the canon facts, it took a little while for me to manage this. But, here we are, the beginning of Luffy's intervention. Once again, spoilers up to the Dressrosa arc.
The light faded as quickly as it had come, and the Straw Hats' senses slowly returned to them. It was immediately clear that they were no longer on Rusukaina Island, but the first thing that they noticed was a more personal change.
"What the heck am I wearing? Wait, what the heck are we wearing?" Usopp asked.
All ten of the Straw Hat Pirates were wearing black overcoats, covering their entire bodies from neck to foot, with matching boots and even gloves. Only their faces remained unconcealed, and there were hoods on the backs of the coats with thin veils that were clearly meant to remedy that when needed.
"Part of the time travel, I guess; maybe it's to keep us from showing ourselves to who we don't want to," Zoro said, already securing his hood over his face.
"Or maybe the stress on the human body is too much for time travel normally, so we have to wear these to prevent ourselves from crumbling into ash," Robin said, smiling sweetly.
"Damn it, Robin, why do you always have to say things like that?! And what are we going to do if that's actually true? Some of the places we're going aren't exactly safe!" Nami screeched.
"Speaking of which, where have we ended up first?" Sanji asked.
It was then that they took a good look at their surroundings. Above them was a dark and cloudy sky, and beneath them was a mass of ice, a cliff in one direction and a sharp slope in the other. Luffy stood at the edge of the cliff, his hood secure already as he stared down. The others approached him, and as they did, they noted the din of war coming from nearby. Looking over the cliff erased any doubts as to where they were as they saw a scene of horrible carnage.
"Th-this is…" Usopp began. It was clearly Luffy's turn first: they had arrived at the place where their captain had entered alone, that had haunted his nightmares and those of the rest of the crew for the bulk of their two-year hiatus when they learned of the death of Luffy's brother, Ace. Even now, none of the crew ever spoke of the event or the place unless Luffy brought it up first.
"Marineford," Luffy finished softly. Absentmindedly, a hand rose to touch his chest, where Akainu's scar was still on his flesh.
"Well, I guess we're saving Ace first. Guys?" Luffy asked, turning back to them. His hood obscured his face, but when he spoke, the rest of the crew could practically hear his evil grin.
"Last time I was here, I gave it everything I had, and it wasn't enough. What do you think would happen if I went all out this time?"
"Well, I'd think that the entire force of the Marines and Warlords put together would still be too much for you to handle alone," Zoro stated. "But you're not alone this time."
"And against all ten of us? I'd say it's a safe bet that this war is going to have different results this time," Sanji grinned.
"So, what's the plan, captain?" Nami asked.
"We save Ace and the old man...and Akainu and Blackbeard die," Luffy replied coldly. "And if old man Seagull doesn't call off this war, we sink the island."
"I like that plan," Franky grinned menacingly.
A blue whale-like ship came to a sudden halt in the middle of the battlefield, stopped by the strongest man in the world. Luffy nodded to himself.
"Guys, put on your hoods. If they even think that the Straw Hat Pirates were involved in this, it could mean a lot of trouble for our past selves."
The crew's incredulity at how much their captain had thought this through lasted for less than a second when they remembered what was on the line; Luffy's insight was no surprise considering their current situation.
"OK! Let's go!" Luffy ordered, and promptly vanished.
"Right!" the rest of the crew said in unison, vanishing in the same way.
"THIS IS MY FINAL CAPTAIN'S ORDER!" Whitebeard bellowed.
All of Marineford turned their attention to the Emperor. Then much of his crew began speaking out.
"What? Final—old man, don't say things like that!"
"We don't want to hear that from you!"
"We're going back to the New World together, aren't we?!"
"Pops!" Ace cried out.
"THIS IS WHERE WE PART WAYS! ALL OF YOU, STAY ALIVE AT ALL COSTS, AND RETURN TO THE NEW WORLD IN ONE PIECE!"
In horror, the pirates watched as he wound up a punch.
"O-Old man? You're planning on dying here?!"
"I'm a remnant of my era. There's no ship that's going to carry me to the new one. NOW GO!" he said, lashing out with a tremor-infused punch, aiming at Marineford's main building. It became clear that Whitebeard was endeavoring to bring down the whole island, using himself as a sacrifice to do it.
Many of the Whitebeard Pirates cried out in protest, while many of the Marines aimed straight for him in an attempt to stop him and end his life. Reluctantly, much of the crew turned away and began to retreat. Ace, however, remained standing in stunned shock as he took in what had been said. The man who had taken him in as his son…was going to die here, for him. He was oblivious to the war happening around him for several moments, even as Marines neared him, his eyes unable to move away from the Emperor.
"ACE! Let's get out of here, or the old man's resolve will be wasted!" Luffy yelled, finally snapping Ace out of it.
"…I know. I won't let it go to waste. GET LOST, ALL OF YOU!" he added, blowing away the Marines with a burst of fire. But he wasn't going to leave without thanking that man. As the flames parted, he bowed before Whitebeard.
"No need to speak, Ace. Just answer me one thing: was I a good father?" he asked quietly.
"Of course!" Ace cried fervently. The old man laughed, and with reluctance, Ace began to run away after his brother, who was alongside Jinbe. But carnage followed behind him as the admiral with the Magma-Magma Fruit, Akainu, plowed through anyone in his way and approached them. Then he spoke.
"Running away the moment Ace was saved? The Whitebeard Pirates are a bunch of cowards. The captain, too…but it can't be helped. After all, Whitebeard is just a failure from the previous era."
Ace skidded to a stop as those words sunk in, despite the cries of protest all around him, and turned back to face the admiral.
"TAKE THAT BACK!" he snarled.
"He was stopped from becoming Pirate King by your real father, Roger, and even now, he can't become a king. He's always been a failure; how can you think otherwise?" the admiral continued ruthlessly.
"Called a father by a bunch of scum, roaming the seas like a poor excuse for a family—"
"SHUT UP!"
"Roaming around for decades without doing anything, and in the end, he got stabbed by an idiot who he called a son, and is giving his life to protect a bunch of worthless pirates! Isn't that just the emptiest life ever?"
The furious words that Ace had to respond with and the frantic warnings from all of the Whitebeard Pirates were cut short as an explosion of power burst from nearby; even he and the admiral froze up.
And the result for the rest of Marineford was cataclysmic: like a field of wheat before a gale, Marines as far as the eye could see fell on the ground, out cold. The army amassed to ensure that he met his death lost all substance in a matter of seconds; the only ones who remained conscious were the Warlords, Vice Admirals, Admirals, and Fleet Admiral. But looking around, Ace saw that although the rest of the commanders and Whitebeard had all stiffened, none of their allies had so much as knelt.
That was Conqueror's Haki; it had to have been, Ace thought. But who—?
His question was answered a moment later as an enigmatic figure appeared between him and Akainu, a black cloak with matching gloves, boots, and hood obscuring its every feature. Seconds later, nine more figures in identical garments joined him, varying in shapes and sizes. Everyone on the battlefield still conscious stared at the small group, certain that they were responsible. Then the first figure spoke, a male tone that Ace almost recognized, but it was stained with venom.
"The only thing empty here is your head, Akainu. What gives you the right to criticize someone like Whitebeard, when you worship monsters like the World Nobles?"
Akainu grimaced.
"They are descendants of the fathers of this world's Justice, and I will—"
"Stop talking crap. They're no more righteous than that reject, Doflamingo," a second figure spat quietly, tapping his foot against the ice beneath him…and cracking it.
Akainu's eyes widened; there were precious few who knew of the Donquixote legacy.
"Who are you?!" he demanded.
"All you need to know is that we're allies of the Whitebeard Pirates. More specifically, allies of Portgas D. Ace and his brother. Sorry, but you won't be killing either of them," said another figure that held two swords blackened with Haki, in a voice that both brothers almost recognized. Akainu's grimace grew, and he pulled back a fist of magma.
"If you dare to stand in my way, then you'll share their fate! One way or the other, Dragon's son and Roger's son WILL DIE TODAY!" he roared, the punch lunging forward. The figure that had blocked the first blow held out a single hand in an almost lazy movement. Akainu's punch struck the hand…and the admiral stared in renewed fury, unable to make the man so much as budge. The cloaked figure raised his other hand and threw it forward, and Akainu was barely able to block it before he went sliding backward.
"OLD MAN! TAKE YOUR SONS AND FALL BACK! THIS IS OUR WAR NOW!" the figure shouted. On cue, the man leaped towards Akainu, the other eight spread out to attack, and the last one, a rather large figure, grabbed both Ace and Luffy and began running back towards the Emperor, who was glowering at the figure.
"Ordering me to run away from battle? Cheeky brat…who the hell are you?" he asked, directing his question to the large figure, who threw the two brothers up on to the whale ship before looking around. His eyes found a whale shark fishman, and he beckoned him over.
Akainu was positively livid as he stared at the hooded stranger. He took pride in his strength as an Admiral; nobody fighting against the Marines in this war except for Whitebeard himself would be capable of doing more than slowing him down if he set his mind to a target. And that was what he was doing: the sons of Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Dragon had too much potential against the World Government; their fathers had been bad enough. Their lineages had to end there, and then the Government would be one step closer to annihilating the Will of D that had been allowed to endure over the past few centuries.
But all of that thought only served to make him more furious at the stranger, who had blocked and countered his attack with no effort. And now that the stranger had gained his full attention, he wasn't even bothering to block, just dodging out of the way of his blows. He moved with all of the speed he had, striking as hard and fast as he could, but the man evaded him.
"What's wrong, Akainu?" the man asked in a tone that seemed to be playful mockery. But there was something else in his tone, and if the Admiral had to guess, he'd say it was hatred.
"I thought you were stronger than this? How disappointing. You couldn't touch those two brothers, and now you can't even touch me. I guess you're just a failure."
"SHUT UP!" the Admiral roared, unleashing his magma in a massive stream towards the man. He dodged again, but the stream coiled around towards where he appeared, and another stream joined it. The process continued until a pool of magma surrounded the man, and with all of the energy Akainu could muster, he compressed the pool into two streams that coiled around the man, blocking him from sight as they grew into a double helix spire. Finally, the spire collapsed into a sphere before plunging downwards, Akainu cutting off the connection to his body as he forced the ball beneath the ice. A geyser of steam erupted from where it descended, and a red-hot stone solidified a moment later. The stone slowly sunk beneath the surface, though the geyser continued to spout. Akainu panted slightly, infuriated that he had been brought that far, especially as he felt the steam rush against him and solidify his body. But his rage was cooled as he saw the proof of the man's demise.
"Take that, you cocky brat. That's your punishment for standing against Justice," he snarled.
"That might have been impressive if you had managed to touch me," came a voice from behind him.
Akainu spun around on his heels, and a punch from an obsidian hand grazed his face, as he was unable to dodge fast enough. Blatant disbelief came across his face, even surpassing his rage for the moment. He had known from the start that the man somehow knew the Shave technique, and it was a fair guess that he had Observation Haki, too. But not even both of those together could grant the speed needed to escape the attack he performed; that needed something more, which could only mean…
"You have Devil Fruit powers," Akainu snarled.
"Yep."
There was no mistaking it. That was hatred in his tone. Then he raised a hand, and Akainu just barely made out that it was blackened with Haki, and that steam was flowing out of it as well as around it before it burst into flames. Then all he knew was pain.
The man moved with ruthlessness, his flaming fists seeming to multiply as they pummeled every inch of him. His Logia defenses were useless, his own Haki failed to do more than muffle the pain, and every blow that he attempted to strike was crippled against the man's own strength.
It was barely a minute when Akainu fell to his knees, every inch of him beaten, bleeding, or bruised. Through all his pride, he saw the facts: he was outmatched against this man, his powers were useless, and this man hated him. It was likely that he was going to lose…to die.
"…Tell me…who are you?" Akainu said, venom dripping from his tone as he accepted the reality of the situation.
The man raised a hand to his hood…and then changed his mind, and lowered the hand again.
"I am Gold Roger's successor as the Pirate King."
Akainu's eyes widened, and whatever resistance he had left found its way into his speech.
"Impossible. The Government would know if any pirate had made it to Laftel, and One Piece is just a myth! I'll admit you're powerful, but you're lying. You're just—"
"I DID make it to Laftel, I DID find One Piece, and I AM the Pirate King. I just haven't done it yet, in this time. An old man with a mystery power sent my crew back to the past to save something that we lost before."
Akainu glowered at the man; strange though his words were, they explained everything perfectly. No…almost everything.
"Even if I believe you…what did I do to make you hate me so much?" he snarled.
"Two things, actually. One, you're a dog of the World Government. One of those stupid Celestial Dragons almost killed my brother when he was just ten, and nobody cared. The fact that you don't care about life makes me sick. And two…you're why I lost what I did. You murdered my other brother right in front of me. He DIED IN MY ARMS BECAUSE OF YOU!" the man screamed.
Hearing those words, Akainu's eyes widened as everything clicked. But the last words that fell from his mouth were defiance:
"Well, that just means that he deserved it. He was a pirate, and he was weak, son of Dragon."
"ACE ISN'T WEAK!" the man that he now knew to be Straw Hat Luffy screamed. As the steam around them finally began to disperse, he pulled back his arm, and even as it hardened and ignited, it GREW. Not much, but about as big as a normal person. The Pirate King punched forward, and Akainu grimaced ferociously as the fist penetrated his torso. It retracted a moment later, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of his body.
"That was for my brothers," Luffy spat, turning away and not giving another thought to the dying man as he made his way towards where his past self and brother waited.
From the moment that the wave of Haki had erupted from the stranger, knocking out everyone allied with the Marines beneath the level of a Vice Admiral in power, Sengoku had been paying very close attention. At the moment that the strangers scattered, he shouted out to the remainder of his allies.
"IGNORE THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES! FOCUS ON THE STRANGERS! KILL THEM!"
He watched as Akainu fought against the man who was buying time for Whitebeard and his allies…and his eyes widened as he saw that the man was not only holding him off, but toying with him, not even fighting him. Looking around at the rest of his forces, the results weren't any more encouraging. Aokiji seemed to be even with the swordsman with Haki-infused swords. Kizaru was barely fending off a man who was fighting with powerful kicks. The Vice Admirals could barely stand up against a tall, thin swordsman whose cuts left ice on their bodies, an onslaught of massive plants from a man with a slingshot, and a short, squat figure that moved with vaguely familiar martial arts techniques. And as for the Warlords…only Gecko Moria was fighting, and a rather bulky figure with enormous arms was winning that bout. Hancock, Kuma, and Mihawk all stood before a lone feminine figure, not attacking as she spoke to them. Doflamingo, predictably, was simply relaxing and relishing the chaos of the situation.
As Akainu's lava attack created a makeshift geyser, blocking him from view, the Fleet Admiral had had enough, and moved into the fray himself, taking on his Buddha form as he surged towards the group that had so effortlessly defeated the Vice Admirals. The man with the slingshot aimed at him and Sengoku prepared a shockwave. His Haki warned him of an attack from behind him at the same time that the shot fired. Too late, he realized that the projectile wasn't a plant, and the attack from behind proved to be the same as the one in front, neutralizing his attack and form.
Sea prism stone, he realized with anger and horror, handcuffs from the sniper coiling around his neck while what felt like a rod of the oceanic mineral hit him from behind. He struggled to get up, to throw off the restraints, but a blade pressed to the back of his neck, and a cold mist flowed off of it that nearly gave him frostbite.
"We have no grudge against you, Sengoku. I suggest that you stand down," he said quietly.
The Fleet Admiral grimaced, but sagged, the sea prism stone and blade practically cutting into his throat robbing him of the potential to fight back. He quietly cursed himself for being defeated so easily.
"Garp. We have even less inclination to kill you than we do Sengoku. Stand down."
Sengoku carefully looked over and saw a livid Garp standing a few feet away, holding himself back from attacking with a visible effort.
"One of ours is convincing Whitebeard to leave Marineford with his life…and with Marineford intact. I suggest that you command your forces to allow it; enough blood has been spilled already. If you still want to fight, we won't hesitate to destroy the island," came a female voice, the source clear with Haki but her body somehow invisible. Sengoku and Garp's grimaces intensified.
"Who the hell are you people?" they demanded.
"That's for us to know," said the invisible woman. "Let's just say that we have an invested interest in the well-being of your grandchildren, Garp, and leave it at that." Garp's anger visibly faltered, and his posture relaxed the slightest amount.
"Where did you come from?"
"That's for us to know, too," said the sniper. "But you'll probably never see us again after we leave. Now, I'd suggest you hurry up and surrender, considering what our captain did to the one who tried to kill Ace."
Garp's anger returned for a moment, and he looked in the direction of Akainu. Then any anger he had left in his mind vanished, and he and Sengoku both looked in shock as they saw the result of the battle between the cloaked captain and the admiral: Akainu's kneeling form penetrated right through the middle by an oversized fist, withdrawing to leave a bloody, burning mess. The admiral slumped back and fell on the ground. He would never move again.
"It's time to make your choice, Sengoku. Stand down, or fight. And we assure you, you won't do any better than Akainu did," the swordsman said, his voice as chilling as his blade.
The Fleet Admiral grimaced, but before he could attempt to fight back, another bellow shook Marineford:
"MY SONS! WE RETURN TO THE NEW WORLD TOGETHER!"
Sengoku's eyes widened; Whitebeard was actually standing down and retreating?
"You have nothing more to gain from continuing to fight, Sengoku. Give the order...please," said the smallest figure. The childish voice spoke to him in a way, and he sighed before raising his head and his voice.
"MARINES! STAND DOWN!"
The instant the words left his mouth, the sword at his neck withdrew. He stood on his feet and faced the battlefield. "GATHER THE INJURED AND GET THEM THE NECESSARY TREATMENT! THIS WAR IS OVER!" He then lowered his voice to a much less audible pitch as he bowed his head in shame. "...And we've lost."
"A wise choice regardless, Sengoku."
The figures stepped back, the invisible woman materializing before she spoke again.
"I'm going to put this in a way you'll understand, Sengoku: picture yourself and the Marines in Whitebeard's place, and the rest of the world in your place fighting this war. That's what would have happened if they captured your son and advertised it, all because of the sins of the father. Remember that."
Sengoku stiffened, but the strangers said no more before they turned away and vanished in a burst of Shaving. The words rang through his mind, however, even as they departed.
Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate, one of the Four Emperors of the New World, captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, former rival of Gol D. Roger, user of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and the current holder of the title 'strongest man in the world,' was a man that nobody with half a brain would intentionally provoke, because the result, as shown with the ruins of Marineford, was nothing less than outright war. He was old, however, and he was prepared to make this place his final resting ground, taking down the headquarters of the Marines along with him. As long as his sons would be safe, he would be satisfied.
But that mysterious man and his tiny crew had shown up out of nowhere, with a wave of Haki that almost made even his hair bristle. Almost…but he had only ever felt Haki of that magnitude from one other man. Feeling it again now, more than twenty years after the Pirate King's death, was enough to give Whitebeard pause. He observed the man, he and his crew talking down the most ruthless of the admirals, up until the point where Akainu tried to attack. "Tried" being the key word; as the man blocked a fist of magma with one hand and knocked him back with the other, the stirrings of an old emotion rose in Whitebeard's mind. It took a minute before he realized that he was almost thunderstruck by this new development.
"OLD MAN! TAKE YOUR SONS AND FALL BACK! THIS IS OUR WAR NOW!"
And that was the end of his shock. His pride returned in full force as the man ordered him to leave and promised to cover him.
"Ordering me to run away from battle? Cheeky brat."
Then he saw that one of the cloaked figures, a large and somewhat round fellow, was running towards him, Ace under one arm and his cheeky brother under the other.
"Who the hell are you?" Whitebeard asked. The figure did not respond immediately, throwing the two brothers up onto the whale ship before looking around, and beckoning Jinbe over. The whale shark fishman complied.
"What do you want?" Jinbe demanded. The other figure raised both his gloved hands, and lowered his hood.
The thunderstruck feeling stirred again as Whitebeard saw the face of the same fishman that he was facing on the head of the cloaked figure, if a bit older and more weathered. Jinbe, on the other hand, gaped openly at the sight.
That expression does not suit him, Whitebeard thought absently.
"I am Jinbe, helmsman of the Pirate King's crew. It was three years from now that we came across an old man who had a Devil Fruit with time-based abilities. He offered to send us back and let us save something that we lost. My captain chose here; if not for us, Akainu would have killed Ace and Luffy would have barely made it out of this with his life."
His voice became harder as he looked up at Whitebeard.
"Old man, I know you intended to die here. But for the sake of your family, and those who rely on you for protection: live just a while longer. Die among the ones that you love, and leave your legacy with those who can carry it on. You've done so much for all of us, and now that I have the chance to do this, I'm begging you, don't die today."
The whale shark fishman bowed low, his forehead touching the ice, and after a moment, his past self joined him. Whitebeard stared at the two for a few moments, the decision already coming to his mind; the fishmen as a race would be left vulnerable immediately upon his death, to say nothing for the others. And his sons…he was satisfied, but he could not say that he would be unhappy with being among his family a little while longer. This wasn't a retreat. The fight was over.
"I grant you your request, Jinbe, First Son of the Sea," he rumbled, turning to the whale ship and putting his strength into his legs. He leaped the full distance onto the bow and then bellowed.
"MY SONS! WE RETURN TO THE NEW WORLD TOGETHER!"
A collective cry of joy came among all of the Whitebeard Pirates, many of those onboard the ship already coming to embrace him. Whitebeard stared at the scene around him, taking in with some surprise the impaled and dying figure of Akainu, and the fights going on between the remaining two admirals and cloaked figures.
"MARINES! STAND DOWN!"
Sengoku's cry echoed throughout the area, and Whitebeard once again felt that long-forgotten shock surface as he saw the Fleet Admiral at the mercy of the other figures…and that Aokiji and Kizaru were the only Marines still fighting. Seeing their superior thus subdued, however, they reluctantly complied and fell back. Sengoku was allowed to stand, and the nine other cloaked figures retreated, making their way back towards where Whitebeard stood.
"GATHER THE INJURED, AND GET THEM THE NECESSARY TREATMENT! THIS WAR IS OVER!" he yelled.
Nobody noticed that much of the events that had unfolded were caught by a Transponder Snail in the hands of a small-time pirate with a big-time past. Most of those present did notice, however, a rather large figure that suddenly appeared behind Marineford.
"Wait a second. Is that…'Colossal Battleship' Sanjuan Wolf?" Ace asked incredulously. "He was imprisoned in Level 6 of Impel Down! How did he get here?!"
"Take a look over there for your answer," said the older Jinbe, his hood now replaced as he pointed to a nearby section of ice. There stood ten figures, and Whitebeard felt his blood boil as he saw the one in the lead, grinning down at him before cackling.
"ZEHAHAHAHAHA! IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, OLD MAN!"
And, cliffhanger. But don't worry, I'm not going to separate this into more than two parts, and I also don't intend to separate any of the other chapters into parts. Now, a few notes as to why I'm changing things the way that I am for certain parts of this story.
Note I: The Moby Dick was destroyed long before Luffy managed to free Ace, so they're not escaping that way. And on that note, Whitebeard left his nurses behind when he went off to the war, already resigning himself to not coming back.
Note II: When Ace was freed, Whitebeard resigned himself to dying, sacrificing himself to take down Marineford, rather than escaping with his sons.
Note III: There is NO Note III.
So, the second half should be up in a week or so. In the meantime, remember: Patience is a virtue.