Welcome my friends to discount marine ford (for those on a budget)

XXX

"The Cipher-Pol agent is dead. We recovered his body early this morning."

There was a long pause from the other end as the words sunk in.

"And the pirates?" The Fleet admiral asked.

"…We haven't found them yet."

"And the boy?"

"He's still missing."

There was that silence again. It was rather overwhelming.

"Did the agent manage to take out any of the targets?"

"Not that we know of," Akainu admitted.

"…"

"We will find them," he told his superior.

"Is that before or after the pirates overwhelm the base?"

Akainu said nothing, silently standing there. "Sir."

There was a weary sigh from the other end. "This is penance for getting into bed with a pirate like Blackbeard. You never want to go up against the Whitebeards nor the Revolutionaries without bargaining chips. Which you have managed to lose. What a mess we have managed to make for ourselves."

"The world government will prevail," Akainu told him. "As it always has."

"Indeed," Sengoku agreed. "But we have not survived for so many centuries from poor decisions. "And I have lost the point of this war."

Akainu hung up with the fleet admirable, angrily throwing the den-den back onto his desk. The situation only seemed to get more and more troublesome. His irritation was tangible as he stalked from his office. One of the marines struggled to keep up with him.

"Uh, Sir."

"What!" He snapped.

"It's Teach," the man said breathless, "He's going to-," The floor beneath them rumbled, as the bombs went off.

XXX

Ace cried out in warning as the ceiling above them cracked. He had a second to slide Sabo off his shoulders, all but falling on his brother as he tried to protect both of them.

"Ace!" Someone cried out from behind him, but their worries were drowned out by the splitting of the rocks.

Ace closed his eyes, bracing his arms on either side of Sabo's head as the walls came down around them. The marines were really trying to kill them, weren't they? Nothing new there. Still, this was getting desperate even for them. If they weren't careful, they would take this whole island down with them.

Ace's heart skipped a beat as he thought about Luffy, he was leaving him alone down here. It would be okay, Thatch had him. When things were over Ace could try to start making everything up to him. But first…

He felt his fire explode outwards from him, scorching the ruble as it fell, creating ashes around them as it burned what it could. He felt the pieces as they came down, swallowing them up in the chaos. And he held onto Sabo, not daring to look up or breathe in the destruction in the air.

All the noise was drowned out by the roar, and Ace lost all of his senses for a moment, trying to focus on the feeling of Sabo's blood-stained shirt beneath his fingers. The pressure above him got too heavy and something struck his head, causing everything to turn fuzzy for a moment. Still, he managed to stay above his brother, propped up on his elbows to take the weight of the rubble upon his own shoulders so not to suffocate the other.

'I'm so sick of this.'

Luffy believed in a better world, he always had. He saw things as they could be, and trusted in the good of everyone, even jerks like Ace. And this was what the world did to people like that. The optimists.

"I'm so sick of it," he told Sabo, even as the pressure above him began to crush the air from his lungs.

He felt the other stir beneath him, so ridiculously softly that it may be his imagination.

"S'okay," Sabo murmured. "S'okay Ace, I'm with you this time. I'm not going to leave you again."

XXX

"Jesus," Thatch swore as he threw himself to the side as part of the ceiling broke up, shattering against the hallway. "What the hell are they doing!" He was lucky to have been far away from the explosion, but he had sure felt it like a 5.0 earthquake. They were still in one piece though, well- relatively. But the shaking had upset the foundation this place was built on. Stone was not known for its flexibility and now spider cracks ran up and down the length of this place. One more good shake, or even a gentle breeze, and it was coming down.

They had to go, like now.

He stood up carefully, using the wall as leverage to help him balance out Luffy, who was still sprawled out on his back, completely passed out. He wasn't very heavy- honestly like a hundred pounds or less at this point, but Thatch also wasn't strong anymore and carrying the kid, and Marco's bag of supplies was slow going.

No matter how much his weary body protested he would have to pick up the pace. He figured heaven was probably full of idiots who complained when they needed to just move. Thatch refused to become part of that list.

He tightened his grip on Luffy's legs, adjusting the pack against his back as he made his way further down the hall, praying to outrun the aftershock of the mess.

"One of us, and I'm starting to think it's you- has the worst freaking luck I have ever seen." Thatch laughed, a dry sound in the ruined catacombs. "Damn kid, you just found out your father is Dragon… which I guess is less of a big deal after everything…. And I guess the Pirate King's son is your brother, so you kind of just take things in stride huh."

Speaking of, that was still kind of insane to him. No wonder Ace had a chip on his shoulder, that was the ultimate generational trauma right there. He hoped Luffy wouldn't let the whole Dragon thing get to him too much, he had enough going on already. Plus, he didn't seem like the kind of person to worry about what others thought.

Thatch walked in silence for a moment, his labored, somewhat wheezing breath filling the corridors with a maddening type of silence. Like a horror scene right before something catastrophic happened. Thatch had gotten used to the quiet after Luffy… He hadn't even tried in the months following. Somehow even his own voice grated on his nerves. He deserved the silence then. But now, if he had to sit with only his own company he would go freaking insane.

This was somehow better- even with how seriously their situation sucked right now. Thatch would have traded every single finger, hell every single limb he had for this, for his friends to have come for him, and for Luffy to somehow be miraculously returned to him. So yeah, it sucked that the roof was collapsing, it sucked being stuck underground in tunnels swarming with marines, and it sucked that there was an active war going on upstairs. But honestly, with how shitty his life had been lately, it didn't even crack the top ten list of his recent grievances.

His feet sped up a little as he meandered down the tunnels, every now and then hitting a caved in section, or a tunnel with so many cracks that it looked like a single sneeze could bring it down. He tried to pick his path around them, heading towards where he remembered hearing the water.

He tapped on Luffy's knee to get his attention, not expecting a response, which was just as well as he didn't get one.

"Hey, I have to tell you something." It probably wasn't the best time, but when was it ever. "In case we die," which they wouldn't, "for what it matters, I would have found you… if I had known you were still alive, I would have come for you." And tried to save him from whatever terrible fate that happened to him in the months they were separated. "I wish I knew…" For both of their sakes. But right now wishes wouldn't do any of them any good. They just had the present, and hopefully the strength to fight for a better future.

"But it's okay," Thatch promised. "We're okay now, and we're going to prove it to you any day now. You'll see."

Thatch didn't know what was going to happen after this. More likely than not it seemed that Ace was probably going to take Luffy and leave, never to be seen again. Which, as much as Thatch didn't want that, he knew they would be okay together. But if for some miraculous reason they stayed…

"You'll always have a home with me kid," Thatch promised him. "Your brother too." They had been through too much together for Thatch to consider them as anything other than family. Especially in the grand scheme of Whitebeard's views on the subject.

Luffy didn't answer, and Thatch, unable to stomach the silence kept talking, as he led them downhill, where the stone seems to get progressively wetter, and the ceiling started to drip. "If you stay," he reasoned, "I'll make you all of the things you wanted, whenever you want, I'll introduce you to my hundreds of brothers and sisters, we can show you some cool islands…." He trailed off as the path ended in water. Thatch knew the ocean was close, he could hear it gently hitting the stone walls from somewhere beyond in the inky blackness.

The gods were testing him today.

He swore to himself, tying Luffy's arms around his neck with a scrap of cloth so he didn't slip away.

"You liked to listen to the ocean," Thatch recalled.

When all of this started Thatch had figured he had a pretty good grasp on Luffy; Simple, optimistic to a fault, brave, and sometimes stupid. Ace on the other hand, he felt like he hadn't known at all. All the time they had been together, the teenager had so much going on, so much he hadn't trusted them with.

But now, after everything, Thatch was starting to realize he had it backward. He finally felt like he was starting to understand Ace, and why he was the way he was. Luffy on the other hand was just as surprising and unpredictable as the day they had met. And he never really knew what the kid was thinking.

"If you really have a giant water lizard friend, now might be a good time to ask for a favor," Thatch told him as he stepped into the water, feeling it soak through his pants. It was freezing and he shivered. "I should have listened too," he told him. "Who knows what I might have heard out there…" Although to Thatch it would probably just have been waves. It seemed only Luffy's ears could hear what everybody else missed.

"We're going to survive," Thatch said as the water began to swallow them up, "And I'll do everything I said I would." He took a deep breath, tugging Luffy's arms closer still as he took one last look at the cold tunnel before diving under.

Luffy just had to keep breathing, they would worry about everything else.

XXX

"ACE!"

"ACE! ACCE!"

"SABO!"

"SAY SOMETHING DAMNIT!"

The room was wrecked, with most of the ceiling and about half of the walls in pieces on the floor. The air was so thick with dust, it was hard to breathe or even see.

Jozu had been the closest to Marco, Izou, and Haruta. He had grabbed them, instantly hardening his skin to protect them as the rocks came down. Ace had been too far ahead, and before he could reach them the ceiling came down and they lost sight of them.

It had taken Jozu a good twenty minutes to shift the rocks off his back so they could climb up above the sleek rock avalanche. When they surfaced the room was dead silent. They had been looking for another thirty before Haruta saw the blood, and they started the delicate process of moving the rubble away.

Jozu grew impatient with his brother's slowness, as he managed to leverage himself under the last chunk of the rock ceiling, motioning Izou to crawl underneath and drag them out.

When he had gotten them both Jozu dropped the pile and it smashed against the ground with the weight of a ship slamming against the rocks. He shuttered at the thought. "Are they okay?"

Marco knelt down, patting Ace's face to wake him up. The teenager groaned, shifting a little bit. He looked worse for wear, covered in scrapes, black powder from the rocks, and there was a gash somewhere in his hairline that was dripping blood down the right side of his face alarmingly fast. He sat up, all the same, shaking his head to clear it despite Marco's wince.

"What… what happened?" he looked down at Sabo, still unconscious beside him. The blond had done much better, with only a couple of new scratches. No doubt thanks to Ace, and his desire to stay solid to protect his brother.

Ace reached up, touching his forehead, his hand came away bloody. He stared at it for a second before wincing. "Ow," he said without any real emotion.

"Jesus," Haruta actually laughed at his delayed and diluted reaction.

Ace looked up at them, his grey eyes still confused, but he looked surprised. "Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," Jozu promised as he stood up, looking around the room. "But I think we might be really stuck this time."

Marco frowned, looking around the room as well. Both their exits had gotten sealed off in the explosion. He had no clue where to even start with the pile of rubble the cave had turned into.

"Damnit!" he said under his breath. "We were getting so close to the surface too."

Izou opened his mouth to respond but he was interrupted when Sabo picked that exact moment to wake up. He shot up with a gasp, as if waking from a nightmare, gulping in air as he tried to catch his breath.

All of them jumped, not expecting their deadest member to move so suddenly. Izou was the closest, managing to grab his wrist before he could fall backward again.

"You good?" He asked, reluctant to let go until Sabo nodded, leaning back on his hands to stay upright.

"Wow," Sabo said, still breathless. "That got kind of dark."

"Idiot!" Ace punched his shoulder.

"Sorry," Sabo said, not sounding sorry in the least. "Did I do this?" he asked, looking around the room.

Marco shook his head. "No, different room, the same amount of carnage though."

"Taking on the agent," Haruta told him. "That was stupid- but kind of cool."

Sabo turned back to Marco. "Is he dead?"

Marco nodded, and Sabo smiled. "I can die happy then."

Ace punched him again, harder this time. "Sorry," Sabo said again, rubbing his shoulder. "Kidding- kidding. I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Marco told him. "You lost a considerable amount of blood. Seriously, if those knives were a couple of centimeters off you would have bled out."

"I feel okay," Sabo said, patting the partially healed, cauterized wounds. "I didn't really need more permanent burns but," he shrugged as if to say 'can't be helped.' "Too good actually." He looked up at Marco, his eyes wide, with a hint of teasing. "Did You try to save me?"

"Try being the word," Marco told him. "Between you, your brother, and this one," he gestured at Ace. "You've basically used me up. And trust me, that's hard to do."

"Aw," Sabo said, still unconcerned with how serious the situation was. "And I thought you didn't like me. Does this mean I won the bet?"

"What bet?" Izou asked looking between them.

"Yes," he said, unable to hide his grin despite Ace's annoyance at both of them now. "You win, happy! I no longer think you are going to betray us."

"If I knew that all it took was nearly dying, I would have tried it weeks ago."

Besides them Ace threw up his hands, giving up on both of them.

"Oh, you did," Marco said. "I believe after the first time I told Ace to tell you that: if you were going to kill yourself anyway the bet was pointless."

"What bet?"

Sabo laughed, showing white teeth against his dust and blood-streaked skin. His smile was carefree, and also distinctly Ace's, terrible timing included. Honestly, it was hard to believe that they weren't actually related sometimes.

Besides them, Ace sighed, apparently finding it hard to stay mad at his brother, despite his worry. "I would say be more careful, but I think it's pointless with you."

"Coming from you," Sabo said, grabbing Ace's shirt to pull himself up, "that means nothing."

"Seriously," Marco said. "Now that I've met both your brothers, you are still somehow the worst."

"Okay," Ace held up his hands in surrender, sensing he was outmatched here. "We can take easy shots at me later. How are we going to get out of here?"

Sabo groaned, both in pain and annoyance as he stretched his stiff limbs. "I am so Sick of this place! Let's go already."

"No shit," Ace said, "Did you come up with that all on your own."

Sabo laughed again, "Okay- okay. Ace I'm sorry. I mean it. No more facing off with cipher-pol agents without telling you okay. I mean I have been in more wars than I've had birthdays, but I appreciate your misplaced concern."

"I could have helped you," Ace told him. "Maybe you would have more of your liver left."

"My livers fine, I think it's actually my kidney he nicked." Sabo rubbed the bandages over his stomach. He looked up into Ace's worried face, and smiled, dropping his hand. "Kidding? It's fine, I think I have two anyway." He walked towards the left-most wall, climbing over the rubble, with a well-concealed wince to press his ear against it, waiting a second before he nodded.

"Stand back."

"What are you doing?" Haruta asked when no one moved, convinced the blood loss was getting to him.

"I told you, I'm getting out of here." He blew on his fist for good luck, before it began to take on an unnatural black sheen. Haki. And a powerful one at that.

The rest of them scrambled back, as Sabo slapped the wall with his palm, with ear-shattering force. To just about everyone's surprise the cracking was not his frail bones, but rather the wall itself as it splintered.

"SHIT!" Jozu was already moving towards him, trying to protect him from the falling debris that used to be a section of the wall. But he was too far away.

When the dust cleared, Sabo was still standing, looking back at them with that Portgas-Monkey trademark grin. Beyond him, through the hole in the sheer bedrock, light streamed in. "Let's go guys."

XXX

"This is annoying," Doflamingo said, his hands deep in his pockets as he slunk through the courtyard, ignoring the less than desirable marine bodies besides him. Ground forces always annoyed him. In fact, most of the marine positions did. Getting a call from the government was as annoying as always, especially this time when apparently, they had managed to piss off the Whitebeards and the revolutionaries at the same time. How or why, they had done such a thing was a mystery, one he didn't care enough to uncover.

"What mess have you gotten into now?"

"Sir," the Marine hovering at his elbow tried to interject, but he waved his hand in dismissal, his string simultaneously cutting the man off. He made a pained sound, turning on his heels decidedly. A wise decision.

Still scowling he gazed out at the scene before him. The island was littered with ships, the marines collecting on the field, overlooking the formidable outlaw forces that pressed in on them from all sides. As it turned out, the Whitebeards and Revolutionaries had quite a few allies. This probably wasn't the world government's best idea. They would win of course, but they would probably suffer a blow to their pride and manpower. Not that Doflamingo really cared. He would come out on top, he always did.

At the center of the war stood Whitebeard, like a beacon to the other ships, towering like a monster among the crowd. Honestly, Doflamingo could see the power of the old guy. He wouldn't want to go one on one if he could avoid it. He wasn't one to underestimate himself but Whitebeard was a legend, practically a relic, with powers from another generation. When the world was different. It was time for that old geezer to die, but he was clinging to life as strongly as he ever had, with his forces and territory far from slipping.

"How annoying," he said again. After all, if the old never die, then there would be no room for the young to rise up and take their place.

And Doflamingo intended to.

XXX

They had gone as far as the next tunnel allowed, all the while the light growing brighter and brighter as they made their way up. Eventually, they hit a dead end, trapped between the intersection of six different tunnels.

"Which way now?" Haruta asked and Marco shrugged.

"We could each pick a tunnel, and see who survives," he joked humorlessly.

"There's no time," Marco said as the base shuttered again, the stone splintering further. The war was starting. He looked up, where the light was pooling, bathing down on them from a large crack in the ceiling. It would be tight but -there, that was their way out.

He turned to Ace. "You ready?"

Grey eyes stared back at him blankly. "What?"

Marco gestured at the ceiling. "You wanted a way out."

Ace glanced up again. "Will we all fit."

Marco shook his head. "Me and you," he said. "You guys will be okay right," he smiled at his brothers, glad to see them returning the look.

"Only if you will be," Izou told him.

"If that's how you want to play it, save some of the fighting for us yeah?" Jozu chuckled.

"Uh, No." Sabo said.

Ace looked up again, more confused than ever. "Why me?"

"I told you," Marco said, "I'm here to help you Ace. It's all I've been trying to do since you took off like an idiot. You want to fight, well let's go."

Still Ace paused, looking back at his shipmates. "You guys don't mind?"

"Right behind you," Izou smiled.

"I mind!" Sabo said.

"I'll come back for you guys." Marco promised.

Jozu shook his head. "Don't bother. We'll find our own way out."

Marco held out his hand, "come on."

Ace reached out to take it, only for Sabo to break them up. "Yeah no!" he said. "Didn't we just talk about this?"

"Talk about what?"

"You look kind of shaky on your feet," Marco said eyeing him up and down. "You've done more than enough already."

Sabo ignored him, instead of turning to Ace. "You just chewed me out for doing the same thing. This one-sided hero complex is still annoying as hell."

"He's right," Ace frowned. "You should stay here. You lost a lot of blood."

"Do I look like Luffy?"

"…No?"

"-Then I'm not dich-able. Trust me, I've survived worse. I'm fine," he turned to Marco. "Take me too."

Still, the man hesitated, torn between reason and impulse.

"We get it," Ace said, his voice softening as he met his brother's eyes. "-Your tough, you proved that enough Sab."

"I'm not trying to prove anything," Sabo shot back. "I'm trying to Save You! From yourself. It's what I've been doing since we were five. I had to fight a stupid bear for you. I trust you, I do. But not with yourself. I don't want you to die idiot."

Unable to look at him anymore Ace's grey eyes flickered to the floor. "Sabo… better me than both of us."

"Better none of us," Sabo said. To Marco he said, "Take me with you."

The man nodded, his face serious. He understood Sabo perfectly. "Okay," he said softly. "You better mean it when you say you're fine."

"Okay,' Ace said softer, as his eyes met the two of them. "Okay."

They took Marco's hands.

XXX

"My old friend," Jimbe greeted as he came to stand by Whitebeard. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

The man's eyes crinkled as he smiled down at the Fishman. "No eyes are sorer than mine," Whitebeard told him, and the Fishman scoffed in amusement.

"You sell yourself short, old friend. I'd take your side anytime. Bet money on it too if I had any to spare."

"I thank you, and everyone, for coming to our aid."

Jimbe nodded, looking out at the sea of marines in front of him. There wasn't a lot Whitebeards allies wouldn't do for him. Especially in the wake of Teach's betrayal and Thatch's abduction. "Let's get them back."

"I intend to," Whitebeard said. "Even if it's the last thing I do."

After all, there was no greater pain for a father, than their children's pain. And lately, that's all there was room for.

He watched, with his weary old eyes, as the first cannon ball came.

XXX

Marco's light was blinding, his wings stretched out around them as he flew. Taking them up through the fortress, and straight through the rafters. His grip never slipped, even as the two of them held on desperately.

He tucked his wings in more, as he shot through the skylight, shattering the glass, and sending the shards outwards like tiny crystals, reflecting the blinding sun.

Ace and Sabo shut their eyes tightly at the sudden brightness, but Marco didn't so much as flinch as he spread his wings out again, slowing his descent, his blue fire attracting more than a little attention.

He stepped down onto the now shattered peak of the fortress, finding footing on the stone spire at the top of the tower, waiting until Ace and Sabo caught their breaths enough to latch onto it before he let go.

Both boys were still panting, their arms looped around the spire, kneeling on what remained of the section of roof.

Below them, stretching out like chess pieces, was the beginning of a war.

The marines lined up on one side, facing the pirates. Pre-emptive carnage was the smoking hull of one of their ally's ships, partially sunken from the resulting cannon fire.

The war had temporarily halted at their intrusion. Not that a flaming phoenix person, bursting through a giant glass window at the top of a stone tower was very subtle.

Ace straightened, locking his hand around the pole as he leaned down to get a better look.

Whitebeard stood at the helm of the pirates, on the front lines, giant staff in hand. His opponents were temporarily forgotten; he was looking up at them.

Their eyes locked.

And despite himself, and every single thing that had transpired since Luffy's hat appeared on the Moby- Ace smiled.

XXX

Would you believe me if I said that when I started this story I hated it? I thought it was so boring. But everyone seemed to like it, so I figured I may as well write a few more chapters. (That's why the first chapter says it's only going to be five-ish chapters.) It's weird how long, and multi-lingual it became. (But very proud. Your excitement was contagious!)

What's there to say, Ace still loves his dad, Marco is low-key falling in love with Sabo (as in he's loving the possibility of getting a lower maintenance version of Ace as a little brother). Thatch always kinda loved Luffy. And everyone loves Whitebeard, the softest pirate emperor on the sea.

I doubt I can do Marine Ford any justice compared to the original. But considering the AU is in place of the real thing, some stuff still needs to happen to be comparable to the real thing.

Also, no spoiler, but the new chapters! Ah! So many thoughts. Mostly, I'm just scared. (and outraged at the lack of Marco). I've been scared since the narrator cut in after Dressrosa to say "This basically ended in catastrophe…" He's like the harbinger of doom.

Please tell me what you thought. I'll try to update again soon.

XXX

Natsuyuuki: OC!

Irene Sharda: Same here, I'm glad the cipher-pl dude never got a name. He didn't deserve one. I like that take on his final moments. I think I intended him to be such a rotten person, that he was literally spending his last moments doing as much damage as he could. (In sort of a last-minute revenge ploy). And thank you, corrected.

Thank you! That is so nice. I'm sure it will be amazing. If it's ASL I would love to read it. (I'm a sucker for them )

Pause143: Right! Too late now, but Luffy doesn't do fate, fate bends for Luffy. And yes, corrected. THX.

Wishfull-star: Everyone will survive (who deserves to), at bargain-bin marineford. Maroc has done so much for them, he's such a good oldest brother. Thank you!

qiaraz97: I think Ace is already juggling quite a few hurtful things, he doesn't have room for much more. I think they were actually intended for Marco more than anything. The agent wanted him to know he couldn't save the brothers. Poor Luffy : (

Aquarica: Things will get better! Promise. Sabo will be fine, he's tough.

AngelFallenDemon: I'm glad you still like it. Sorry about Sabo, but he will be okay. He knows how to handle himself (and Ace.)

:

(For your internet safety please don't let your username be your email : )

And thank you! I am so glad you like it. Tell me about it, these updates. Ack!

xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx: SaMe! That guy sucked. Who could hurt Luffy?

Tell me about it. I can't believe how big the story is getting. I was also caught off guard. I thought we had ruled that out as a possibility.

ThePansexualFish: Why thank you! Sorry about another delay. Hopefully you liked this one too.

Onar27: Right! Lately all of the OP chapters have been amazing. Cloud Luffy gives me anxiety.

And Thank you! That is seriously a compliment. There is a side ASL quest I'm planning later. But I think Sabo and Ace are a lil bit like Luffy's parents right now. (They take care of him, and train him.) And he needs them more than ever. But if they do their jobs right, Luffy won't need them like this forever. (Plus I think if Sabo and Ace went with him they would be too worried about him to let him grow like he does in the manga.) Like in Dressrosa where Sabo just stops fighting because he's worried about Luffy XD.

Luffy won't stay out for long, although his involvement will be slightly disastrous. He will break out some new powers that I am excited for!

Yumi-nachan: Sorry for the break. Thanks for understanding.

Sabo is safe and ready to protect Ace. And I think WB will love all three of them once they finally get the chance to meet. (They are wonderful kids!) At least I think so.

Pixi04: Stupid CP0. Don't worry, Sabo is tough, and experienced. Whitebeard is finally here! Ready to make everything okay!

HalloumiHermit: Thank you! You are so nice. I love Sabo, he is such a sweet boy. (and a brat).

Mako-clb: Oh no! You're like me when I discovered One Tree Hill and stopped sleeping. Please get some rest! Luffy will return.

Mako-clb chapter 42: Yeah, Marco finally got what he wanted, to get let in.

ChildofWar: Aw, That's nice to hear. I'm told it's kind of sad. But I like to think the story is a hopeful one!

Mako-clb: Thank you! I am so glad people connected with that story. I rpomsie good things are on the horizon. (Cuddle Luffy away, he needs it).

DemonKittyAngel: Oh my goodness, not another one. I have been there before, and it led to my extreme caffeine addiction. I now have the heart of a sixty-year-old heart attack patient and I work at a naturopathic clinic (the judgment my boss gives me is real). Please get some sleep.

Yes! Shanks is connected. Poor guy. But I really like your version. It's very in character for lil Luffy. I think Luffy is tired of apologies. (He can't eat them!)

Luffy's Haki is growing and will continue to. More sea king to come, promise. And wow! Way to go! And I thought I was being subtle with that. I think it counts!

I am really glad you like my Ace version. I worry he's out of character, but even in the show he seemed both stoic and a goofball. So that is high praise indeed. And yes! Once Luffy is better he will straighten Ace out from his sadness! But yes! That was exactly what I was going for.

HAHA, "Luffy was the one who got tortured for months but SOMEHOW Ace is going to be in therapy longer." (I love that.)

I promise I am already planning the ASL only vacation they will take. Right after the war it's nothing but cuddles and being happy.

Believe it or not, Izou apologizing is going to be important in the future. They are exactly on Luffy's shit list haha. I don't think he usually holds grudges, but he will make an exception for them. I have a whole plot line about Luffy trying (and failing), to be mean to them about it.

Marco's lost to the ASL cause now. It's too late for him, he already likes them. They will be honorary family members soon enough.

Yeah… SAbo really pulled an Ace, and then got called out for it here. I think your forecast is spot on, especially after the war. Haha, just one really bad event, which will spiral into lil baby bad events. But everything will work out in the end. Luffy has protagonist powers, and I did not write a thousand-page story just to re-kill Ace, promise.

Oh my goodness, please get some sleep. They didn't have a lot of food. Just the regular amount they take with them on missions. (They are used to the survivalist packing.) Mostly protein bars, dried food powder ect, like the stuff Sabo gave to Luffy. Just the bare essentials, they were not doing any elaborate cooking.

Thank you for the lovely review! I loved it so much I read it twice. Please get some sleep and by all means, share all of your wonderful thoughts. Some fo them really made me think!

Witch68: They will be! ASL for the win soon enough.I'll try to get through the war fast.

BryanFinch99: Thanks!

Guest chapter: That is so nice! I'm glad you like it! Haha, what a good question. I was thinking 70, but that seems a little optimistic. Honestly, I'm just hoping to cap it off at 80, but more likely before 90 chapters, or god forbid a hundred. (I'm drawing the line there.) I would say after the war the story is three-fourths finished.

Balrock: Thank you! I'm glad it didn't stress you out!

03Morgenstern09: Aw, thank you so much. I love hearing that.

XXX

Till next time!