Chapter One
Luffy was flying. He knew this feeling. Nothing could dim the memory of losing his nakama. Knowing they were alive didn't change the horror of watching his crew disappear, believing they died one by one. Now he was flying again, just before he could see them all after two years.
The bear-man might have saved his nakama before, but this was just plain mean. Luffy tried to cross his arms to pout, only to realize he couldn't feel his arms. He tried opening his eyes, but nothing changed. Something was wrong. He couldn't see, couldn't talk, couldn't move, and beyond the sensation of flying, the captain couldn't feel anything.
Luffy might have flown for an hour or a week, he couldn't tell, but he knew the exact moment he stopped. One second he was flying, the next he was blinking his eyes. It felt like waking up. He was laying on a hill. No, that couldn't be right. The texture was wood, not grass or rock.
The sound of battle registered before the haze of sleep cleared from his eyes. A wooden deck was in front of him and shifting his head showed another wooden deck underneath him. The ability to move came with the feeling of his body pressed down by heavy weights and a deep ache. Everything hurt and his head throbbed.
Raising a hand to his head, Luffy slowly sat up and glanced down at himself. He froze. He wasn't wearing his new red shirt Hancock gave him. A ragged yellow vest covered his chest. Reaching down, Luffy tugged at the clothing, only to freeze a second time when a smooth chest stared back at him. No scar. No hard-earned muscles. A glance at his legs showed they were just as undefined as his chest and arms. Red shorts instead of the blue he was wearing a moment ago.
Luffy reached up and found no hat on his head. Bolting upright, he felt around until he found the straw hat hanging on his back. Sighing in relief, Luffy pushed the hat onto his head. With the adrenaline from his near panic, Luffy raised himself up on his legs. The steep incline made his balance wobbly, but the extra height helped him to look around. Bodies lied everywhere - some stirring, others completely still. The black and white striped clothes and fishnet stockings seemed familiar, but his head was still fuzzy. It hurt to think, even more than normal.
Shaking his head, Luffy pushed off the deck to leap towards the railing at the top of the incline he had been laying on. Halfway through the leap, he realized he wasn't going to make it. Scrambling, he stretched his arms out to the rail above him and hung there for a moment before his arm snapped him forward. He stretched a lot slower than he planned. Luffy's feet almost hit someone before the recoil snapped him towards the rail.
The pirate captain idly stretched out his arm a bit before recoiling it back. There was a definite lack of speed. Casting his eyes out to find something else to stretch towards, Luffy's breath caught in his throat. A familiar sight of pirates fighting marines on an icy field greeted him. Marineford still haunted his nightmares, but it had never felt as real as now. The sight and sounds of battle mingled with the smell of ice and gunpowder, tainted with the copper tones of blood. He felt the rough texture of the wooden rail he grasped and toed the leather straps on the sandals he wore.
The dull burn of oxygen-deprived lungs reminded Luffy he needed to breathe. Only after a deep breath did he wonder why he would need to breathe in a dream. Instinctively, Luffy looked for Ace. No nightmare of Marineford was complete without seeing his brother.
A wall of ice blocked out the horizon. No buildings, no walls, and no execution platform. If Ace wasn't on this side, he must be on the other. Staggering back the way he came, Luffy tried to get a hold of the way his body worked. He stretched for the crow's nest, which lay fallen, almost on the other side of the ship. The power he pushed into his arms didn't make it that far. He let his hand fall short and grabbed a different handhold. The rubber-man pushed off the deck as the recoil kicked in, launching him up and over the broken middle of the ship.
He released his hands partway through the jump and free-fell to the fallen mast. His sandals skid when he landed. Even his jumps weren't working as he expected. Trying to right himself, Luffy then scrambled to duck under the sword swinging for his head. Pushing off the mast, Luffy rammed his fist into the marine's gut. At least the rubber-man's aim had been right on.
Dashing up to the mast towards the front of the ship, Luffy continued to dodge and knock a few incoming marines away. Just before he reached the crow's nest, Luffy launched a whip attack to scatter the attackers. His aim might be okay, but his power was off. He was sure they should be flying farther than that.
Standing on the top of the ship, Luffy found the execution platform with ease. He could see Ace, kneeling on the top.
"Ace," he whispered. No matter how many times Luffy remembered this, it still didn't look right. His brother should be standing tall, or fighting, or something. Anything besides kneeling meekly with his head bowed. Just thinking about those swords coming down while Ace just knelt there made Luffy feel sick. What would have happened if those swords weren't knocked away?
No. That wouldn't happen. Even in a dream, Luffy wouldn't let it. Breathing deep, the captain screamed his defiance. "ACE!"
"Luffy!" Ace screamed back. Squinting hard, Luffy made sure his brother was looking up. Even if his brother couldn't see him, Luffy didn't want to see Ace's head bowed.
"I'm going to rescue you!" The Straw Hat Captain yelled. This time for sure. Never had his nightmares started so early in this crazy fight. It might not be much, but there was enough time to get there. His dream body might be slow and heavy, but he could still do this.
"Hmmm. Where's Croco-Boy?" Iva-chan asked, catching Luffy's attention. Oh no. No way. If Luffy was saving Ace, he was saving Whitebeard too. The old man might be strong, but Ace would never forgive himself if anything happened to Ace's pops while the Emperor was trying to rescue his son.
It took two tries to get Second Gear to work. The one arm technique he'd perfected during training didn't pump as much the first time he tried. He jumped to the icy ground and swung an arm through the gaping hole in the ice to create a wave. Ignoring the slight weakness that came from spray of ocean water, Luffy aimed for Whitebeard.
Not wanting to fall short again, Luffy's kick off almost shot him too far. Luffy had to stretch a bit to block Crocodile's hook. Instead of knocking the ex-shibukai away, Luffy pinned the hook between the deck and his foot. Grabbing Crocodile's shirt, Luffy got right in his old enemy's face, his straw hat dangling on his back once more.
"Whitebeard is Ace's nakama. I won't let you hurt him when I'm here." Crocodile's glare didn't bother him. Luffy met his stare and silently promised not to bother with a proper fight. He'd take Crocky down hard and fast if the jerk tried anything. There wasn't any time to play around right now. Luffy would kick the sand-man's butt another day. Knocking him out would do for now.
Crocodile was the first to glace away, eyeing the growing puddle under Luffy's feet. Luffy let him go and stepped off his hook, holding out a hand to help the man up. He dared the sand-man to try something, but Crocodile only smacked the hand away, grumbling as he picked himself up.
Luffy grinned, knowing his old opponent wouldn't give any trouble right now. Crocodile was cruel, but he had his own kind of honor. The real Marinford battle had shown him that. Still, Luffy made sure to watch him with Observational Haki as he turned back to the battlefield.
"That straw hat looks familiar, Straw Hat." Luffy blinked up at his brother's captain. Then grinned wider.
"Ah. Shanks gave it to me to keep safe. It's my treasure."
Whitebeard gave a slight nod at that before narrowing his eyes. "Why are you here Straw Hat?"
"I'm gonna rescue Ace," Luffy replied.
"Leave that to us. Do you even know what's going on? What you face? What force you are going up against?" Whitebeard rumbled. Luffy scowled. He forgot about this. The old man's dismissal still pissed him off.
"Of course I know!" Luffy yelled. "I know all about this. Worry about yourself Old Man. I'm gonna rescue Ace and become the Pirate King!"
Whitebeard's frown grew and Luffy recognized the weight of the Emperor's haki this time. It didn't matter. Luffy growled low and stood straighter. His eyes didn't budge. The old man wasn't stupid. Neither of them had time for this.
The strongest man in the world smiled. "What a cheeky brat," the old man laughed. Luffy just shook his head and jumped onto the railing.
"Do whatever you want Old Man. I'm gonna be the one to rescue Ace." Luffy knew that for certain. He was the one who unlocked those cuffs. This time he was going to make sure Ace made it all the way out too. Luffy started to push off, only to change it into a spin to face Whitebeard again. "Oh yeah. I almost forgot."
The Straw Hat Captain met Whitebeard's gaze again. "The marines are moving the execution time up. We heard it on the talking snail on our way over."
"Is that so," Whitebeard replied. "What exactly did they say?"
"I can't remember. But they've got these mystery walls hidden in the ground all around here," Luffy gestured in a circle. "When they pop up, they'll try to execute Ace. Well, after the lava-guy tries to burn all the ice away. Those walls are really tough, so you have to go over them. But they're really high up and have a lot of cannons!"
He turned and pointed at the giant laying down near the platform. "That guy's too heavy, so that part won't come up." Looking over his shoulder, Luffy met Whitebeard's gaze one last time. "Don't die old man."
"Thank you for the information Straw Hat." Ace's captain replied with a grim face. Then he grinned, "But you should worry about yourself brat."
Returning the grin, Luffy set his hat on his head and faced forward. "Say that to me when we get out of here Old Man." The rubber-man pushed off the rail and landed on the ice, listening to Whitebeard's laughter.
Author's Note:
*Whitebeard would have been fine, but Luffy doesn't keep those things in mind. He stopped Crocodile before so he needs to stop the ex-Warlord in the "dream" too.
I broke up the prologue and the first chapter. There were a few minor grammar changes I wanted to update in both and just decided to split them up on
Don't worry, I did real update and added Chapter 2 at the same time so you don't get a pointless story update alert.