(Marco POV)
"Shouldn't I have stopped him, pops? Those music shell things were really helpful, yoi."

"Gurararara. No, there wasn't any need, my son. Kizaru is about to find out he put in all that effort for nothing." Pops wasn't showing it, but Marco could tell that a small load had been lifted from his shoulders. Just a small one but a load nonetheless. "The music will come back."

No wonder when one remembers that pops was far more experienced than Marco himself when it came to war. Hence, whatever Marco could see, it was a near certainty that Whitebeard was aware of it too.

Seeing the advance being stalled, his sons and daughters being exposed to danger must have weighed heavily on their adoptive father. Though that had eased once the battle had swung in their favor. Marco had even picked one up for safekeeping before Kizaru started his lightshow.

"Do we know who was responsible, father?" Izou asks, joining the conversation, idly polishing his pistols after they had clogged somewhat from unloading several rounds into a giant's brain.

"Shouldn't you be with your division, yoi?" Marco drawls, giving his crewmate a lazy wave.

"Shouldn't you be with yours?" Izou counters with a smile. "Haruta is taking care of them for me, and we do need some reserves when the warlords decide to get off their fat asses. You haven't answered my question by the way."

"Which one?"

"Ass. It's the first one and you know it. Who sent us these gifts?" Izou holds up one of the sea shells, though sadly it had gone silent. The answer to his question is something Marco would like to know too. Regardless of how much he appreciated the help, an unknown variable was almost never welcome during a war. "Do you think it was one of those kids back there?"

"You mean the rookies, yoi?" Marco knew they were out there at the edges of his sensory range, but so far, all they seemed to be doing was watch the war unfold.

"Gurararara, we've got an interesting one this year!" Pops chuckled, his smile stretching just that little bit wider. "I haven't seen one of these dials since Roger came to visit. To think another was as insane as that man."

Wait, seriously? Marco owed him a drink after this. "Do you think he has any more of these?"

"Oh, my son I believe he's prepared something even better."

(Apoo POV)
That was some good music coming from the Hyena's ship. Truly a masterful performance so good he was tempted to cry.

"Captain Apoo, you are crying." One of his crew unhelpfully reminds him, causing Apoo to sob even louder. It was so beautiful. It was…it was…

"It's not fair! Music is my shtick!" Apoo wails, curling up on his deck of his ship in despair. "And I came all the way out here because he and monk guy said they were going to marineford! He can't do this to me!"

"Captain, please…" his crew futilely tries to comfort their captain, but without success. Instead of being comforted, Apoo starts rolling around the deck leaving puddles in his wake.

"It's even in my epithet! Roar of the Sea Scratchman Apoo, the greatest musician on the high sea!"

"…" Apoo ignores the dutiful, but long-suffering looks his crew is giving him, choosing to focus on the important things instead.

"I even have a bigger bounty than him! He can't beat me! He can't! he can't! I'm not gonna accept that…WAIT!" Struck by a sudden flash of brilliance, Apoo jumps back to his feet. "CHECK IT OU-UT! I have a terrific idea!"

"Yes, captain?"

"I'm going to crash their concert!" Apoo decides, pumping his fist in the air. "Apapapapa, it's going to be brilliant. I'll upstage them at their own game and prove to the world that I am the greatest musical pirate! No one can out-music the roar of the sea! CHECK IT OUT!"

"But we don't have any speakers." His first mate tries to protest but it's a stupid problem with a simple answer.

"Then we just got to get even closer to our audience." Unfortunately, his first mate isn't able to read between the lines, forcing Apoo to spell things out for him. "Full speed ahead! We're landing on the ice!"

"WHAAAAAAAAATTTTT!?"

(Eustass Kidd POV)
"That music is grating on my ears." Eustass grumbles as he levels a glare at the Hyena's ship, currently blaring out an upbeat melody.

"Shall I silence them, Kidd?"

"Nah. Leave them be for now, Killer." To be honest, he's not certain if Killer could take down the Hyena and the angel chibi at once, especially when the mad monk was nearby as well. Of course, he can't say that to his first mate. It would crush him. "Doing so would only help the marines."

"I do have to admit that I didn't know music could have such an effect." Killer comments, leaning his back against the railing. "It's so unlike the sea roar's abilities too."

Eustass hadn't known either but that didn't make it any less fascinating. The difference in combat ability of the Whitebeard pirates was, well maybe not night and day, but still significant. Even more so once they began their live performance.

This was going to put them on the map and he isn't sure how he feels about that. Actually, scratch that. He knows exactly how he feels about it and it isn't positive.

He couldn't care less about what the public thought of him or how he was portrayed in the newspapers. But the one of the things he prided himself on was his position as the greatest of his generation.

He had the highest bounty, possibly one of the highest a rookie had ever earned, the greatest notoriety, the strongest power. Being upstaged one of his wannabe rivals?

Not on his watch.

"Kidd, the 'Roar of the Sea' is moving in." And so he was. Couldn't bear to stay out of it in the end, could he? Not when he was being challenged so openly. "Same with the mad monk."

While they are nowhere near being his equals, Eustass will give it to them, they aren't cowards. A prideful bunch too if they are anything like him.

"We're not going to fall behind." Eustass declares. "I'll show them and the world why I'm the number one."

"Aye aye, captain!"

He'll take it easy for now. After all, he's not fully warmed up yet. Tearing a pacifista apart should do.

(Jewelry Bonney POV)
"Faster! I'm not going to be left behind!" Bonney commands her crew, exhorting them to greater efforts. Stupid monk and stupid Kidd had gotten a surprise lead on her but her ship was faster. "And bring me more food!"

Maybe she should hire another three cooks? How in the world was she supposed to have enough energy to fight if she was constantly being starved?

"The kitchens are working as fast as they can, captain. We just don't have enough room for more than a dozen pizza ovens."

"PIZZAAAA!" She hadn't even planned on getting involved at first. Whitebeard was the strongest man alive, there was no way he'd need her help. She hadn't been confident of being able to be of any assistance either.

"Coming, captain. One meat lovers, one pepperoni and one quattro formaggi." But seeing the Hyena in action – well his musician but it was essentially the same thing) – had lit a fire under her. She hadn't been able to fight an admiral on Sabaody but there were plenty of marines she could fight. And that was good enough.

Giving her cook a curt nod, she sends him scampering back down with another set of orders and begins inhaling her food.

"Give it here!" As Bonney does her best to perform the magic trick of the disappearing pizza, she doesn't forget to level her glares at marine HQ looming in the distance.

Daddy, I'm coming. Your daughter is coming for you. And I'm going to rip those assholes apart who took you from me.

(Trafalgar D. Water Law POV)
Hyena-ya didn't do things by halves did he? First killing a celestial dragon and now this? And here he thought Strawhat-ya was the crazy one.

Interesting moves from someone who would have barely been a blip on his radar just a few short months ago if not for his status as one of Doflamingo's many affiliates. Back on Water Seven Hyena-ya had followed the warlord's orders and crushed Crack A. Barrel's drug cartel, but now he was openly aiding Doflamingo's enemy.

Courage or madness? Rebellion or a ploy from Hyena-ya? That was the question.

To be honest, it is very likely that he had seen the writing on the wall and decided to go independent before Doflamingo could offer him up as a sacrifice to the world government. Though however logical, this choice had been somewhat unexpected considering his obvious loyalty until now.

"Interesting, Hyena-ya. Very interesting." Maybe he should approach Hyena-ya at some point?

But that was something for later. Right now, Trafalgar had to focus on getting in on the action. It wasn't that he had any interest in the spotlight or greater notoriety, nor the higher bounty that came with both. But he wasn't about to sit back and give an immature brat like Eustass-ya a reason to gloat over him. Especially not after he called Law ill-mannered. A man just didn't forget that sort of thing.

Thing was, most of his peers seemed to be gunning for the pacifistas or their marine escorts. Doing the same thing would be boring, no? Especially as he was a doctor first and a pirate second.

And there was one very obvious patient in need of urgent medical care.

(X-Drake POV)
How had things spiraled so far out of control so quickly?

When he'd been first selected for this mission by the Fleet Admiral himself, he'd been incredibly honored. What true man wouldn't jump at the chance to promote justice, protect the innocent, and make the world a better place?

He'd been naïve and idealistic then and that despite having seen the darker side of his line of work. It had made him even more determined to create a world where such underhanded methods were unneeded.

"Captain, are we not moving in?"

It had been a simple mission. Pretend to go rogue, become a pirate and infiltrate Kaido's inner circle. It had been part of a long-term plan to remove all four emperor's from the board, taking advantage of their advancing age one at a time.

Drake himself had been confident in his ability to accomplish the mission, having been one of the most celebrated and talented officers in the entire marine corps, nearly one of a kind amongst officers ranked rear-admiral or higher. Only vice-admiral Virgo had been more highly regarded and Drake had even looked up to the man. He still looked up to the man, really.

"Captain, Basil Hawkins has raised anchor as well."

He had been prepared to receive a bounty. He had been prepared to be 'hunted' down by vengeful marines, most of whom had no idea of the truth. He had been prepared to be labeled a crook and a criminal for life, never to regain his good name in the service of the greater good.

His younger self had been a fool.

"The Firetank Pirates have engaged a marine warship! Apart from the Bellamy Pirates, we're the only ones who aren't engaged in combat." Not that Drake expected the Hyena to do much more than what he was doing. In playing that damn music, he was already having a greater effect on the battlefield than the rest of the supernova's combined.

He should never have gotten involved with the man. Taking the blame for the death of a world noble was not something that could ever be swept under a rug. If the marines, no if Sengoku ever had any intentions of exonerating him in the future, that door was well and truly shut and locked now.

It wasn't even a matter of finding the true culprit and holding Dr. Vegapunk accountable. The marines had lied to the world, which wasn't anything new, but more importantly, they had deceived the celestial dragons as a whole with the full knowledge that they were doing so.

The marines could not ever admit this or even have this become a rumor. If they'd been trying to hunt him down to give him credibility, they would now do so for their own sake.

"Captain!"

What did that mean for him now? Did he continue to pursue his mission objectives? The lines of communications were still open and Drake expected that they would continue to be as long as he proved useful. But what about the moment he no longer was?

Just because he was prepared to lay down his life for the weak and innocent, it didn't mean he was going to accept a death without purpose. Then again, this was the hypocrisy wasn't it? Especially amongst followers of absolute justice. Most, especially amongst the higher echelons were prepared to sacrifice others, even their comrades in the pursuit of absolute justice but never themselves.

Drake was just the latest victim in a long line of victims unbroken since the Void Century.

"Raise anchor and full speed ahead." Drake orders and his crew jump to obey. "We're supporting the Whitebeard Pirates."

If anybody asked, he was doing this to maintain his cover. And if they didn't believe him, then too bad. If Sengoku wanted to turn him into a criminal in truth, he couldn't complain if Drake played the part perfectly, could he?

(Kizaru POV)
Well, that wasn't nice of Bellamy, was it?

And after he put in so much work to turn the music down as well. The kid had no consideration for others at all. Akainu was literally seething, his lava bubbling and popping all over his body. Even Aokiji looked disturbed but why wouldn't he?

Their great encirclement and rear attack was being thwarted while they watched, Akainu had failed to convince Squard to stab Whitebeard…seriously, how does one convince a man that his leader set him and his allies up to die, if he was having the time of his life dismantling the supposed instrument of his death?

Perhaps encouraged by Bellamy, Apoo had started adding his little bit to the whole incessant cacophony but with his personal…explosive touch. That had set off the avalanche with every other supernova captain joining the fight on the other side providing not just a morale boost but a significant amount of staying power.

Especially Kidd was running amok, taking pacifista after pacifista, taking them out of the fight. It didn't matter if the pacifista themselves weren't magnetic if he could just encase them in all the free metal lying around before manipulating said metal to cast the pacifista into the sea.

For all his genius, his old friend hadn't yet figured out how to make metal float without a significant amount of buoyant inner space.

And to top it all off, Dragon's son had to drop in without as much as a "do you mind" along with a whole shipload of unwanted guests. Now, he was carving his way through their ranks and leaving a string of defeated marines & other allies in his wake.

Most prominent amongst them being Hancock whom the boy had grappled to the ground and done something to her head. How else did one explain why the man-hating warlord had lost the ability to discern between friend and foe?

Off to the side, old man Sengoku was having a fit about being unable to cut the video feed of the event and Kizaru couldn't blame him. What had been supposed to be a triumphant moment had turned into a PR disaster. Even if they executed Firefist and defeated Whitebeard, the marines would be licking their wounds for a long time. Additionally, the whole world was watching as the carefully cultivated image of invulnerability and invincibility of the marines crumbled before their very eyes.

Thus, his next move should be obvious, shouldn't it? While he may have been unable to cut off the enemy's head in a surgical strike, turning the music off permanently should be simple in comparison.

Aokiji was busy scouring the battlefield for the missing video den den mushi and Akainu refused to budge from his position guarding the platform, plus in any case he was too slow, so it had to be him. What a bother.

"I guess…I'll pop over…and say hellooo then…" he tells Sengoku who nods in agreement. "Yata no Kagami."

This won't take a second…wait, is that himself?

Author's note:
And the Worst Generation joins the fray.
Apoo joins because of Bellamy, Kidd because of his damn pride, Law because he hates Kidd, Bonney because of her father, the rest out of a sense of rivalry.

With regards to X-Drake, I find it's difficult to maintain loyalty to an organisation that is trying to frame you for something they did and kill you to keep your mouth shut.
He hasn't completely decided to flip sides yet, but he is wavering.