Chapter Three
Mihawk was difficult to predict. Only his experience sparring with Rayleigh helped Luffy keep up with the flurry of slash attacks. The rubber-man kept as much distance as possible between them. With his Armament Haki unreliable, the captain dared not block the attacks. Luffy needed the distance to ensure he could dodge everything. This dream continued to mess with his speed. His body moved so slow!
Luffy rebounded off the wall and slid under another slash. Didn't Hawky get bored of using the same attack all the time? He weaved through two more attacks and then side stepped a falling marine. Wait, falling marine?
The wall behind Luffy was collapsing outward. The marine on the wall hadn't been quick enough to evacuate and fell from the top. Another marine still clung to a turret as the wall fell towards the battlefield. The Straw Hat captain lost track of that marine when he was forced to duck under another slash from Mihawk.
Forget Hawky. Luffy was getting bored from all these slashes. Since he couldn't fight the Warlord, there was only one option left. Leaping over another attack, the rubber man started bouncing off the falling rubble while dodging more attacks from the swordsman. Once the air was clear enough, both his hands grasped the roof of closest building for his slingshot. The captain used all the power Second Gear could give him to rocket out of the area.
He grabbed the corner of a building beyond the main crowd of marines and swung around it, trying to keep up his speed but lower the power behind it. The rubber-man continued to sling shot around buildings until he could land without making a crater. Carefully pulling himself onto the next rooftop, Luffy let go of Second Gear and dropped to the rooftiles. It was hard to catch your breath quietly, but the captain tried. He needed to be a ninja, a sneaky ninja who even old Hawkeye couldn't see.
"Shishishi," He couldn't help but laugh at the image of a Ninja Luffy. The pirate watched the nearby marines scrambling around. The damaged wall was pretty far away now. Nobody seemed to be coming through, but the way the white clad men acted you couldn't tell. Then again, there was an army of pirates on the other side. Maybe their panic was normal?
Taking a break was a bad idea. As Luffy's breathing got under control, the rubber-man realized how tired he was. Frowning, the pirate looked around. Ninja Luffy was funny to think about, but he really wasn't good at sneaking. Sanji caught him every time he tried to sneak more snacks!
But this was for Ace. Luffy was behind the walls. Even when the mystery walls are raised, Luffy would be on Ace's side. Why was the execution platform still so far away? If he fought his way through by himself, he might not make it in time. But if he tried to sneak, he might be too slow.
Argh! He hated thinking! Alright. He decided. He was going to reach Ace. If the marines saw him, oh well. Luffy would still rescue his brother.
There were so many marines running around, and no one noticed the Straw Hat captain on the roof. Luffy couldn't help but laugh again. This was just like the marine base Merry landed in. Sanji cooked some really good food there. The rubber-man licked his lips. Would the marines have a kitchen nearby?
No, no, no. Luffy shook his head hard. He needed to rescue Ace! Then he could find the kitchen with Ace and eat some meat. A great idea came from remembering the last Marine kitchen he snuck into. He could run around and still be sneaky! Scanning the ground around him, Luffy chuckled one more time before turning on Second Gear. He needed speed for this to work.
A lone marine huddled in a small alley, away from the crowds running in the street. The rubber-man jetted over to the coward, knocked him out, and dragged him back to the roof top in record time.
Striping the shirt, pants, and cap off the marine, Luffy put the uniform on over his current clothes. He tore off the bottom of the too long pants. He had to make a new hole in the leather belt to cinch it around his waist. With the cap shading his face and the straw hat resting under the too large shirt, no one would know it was him.
"Shishishi," Luffy laughed as he hopped back over to the alleyway and joined the rush of marines in the main street. They were all running in different directions, so he didn't bother following anyone. Luffy just ran in the direction of the platform he had seen from the roof.
The path wasn't a straight one. Luffy wanted to stay away from the wall just in case he got stuck on the wrong side again, but the fort was confusing. Marineford's buildings were large and the pirate captain had to run around them or go up or down a flight of stairs several times. Luffy shrugged off the delays and just kept moving, until the ground moved out from under him. Buildings crumbled, marines panicked, and the pirate captain fell to the ground to keep from tumbling down the street that was suddenly a steep hill.
He dashed out of the way of the building that tried to crush him but ignored the rubble that bounced off him. Luffy loved being made of rubber. As soon as the ground stopped moving, he was off again. Old Man Whitebeard was in the fight and could take care of himself for now. Ace was the one running out of time.
"Oof!" Luffy grunted as he slammed into a marine standing in the middle of the next walkway. He picked himself up, grumbled about stupid marines, and started to move around the knocked down guy.
"Straw Hat!" a high-pitched voice hissed in surprise. Luffy scowled. He was this close! One more stairway and he might be able to see Ace on the platform. The voice was pretty quiet. There weren't many marines around. Maybe he could knock the marine out before anyone else noticed? Glancing over to do just that, Luffy stopped in his tracks.
"No! How could you get over here? No way could you come up with such a brilliant plan as I created!" The mutterings changed from surprised disbelief to utter dismay. Luffy snickered. This guy was always so funny.
"Yo, Candle-head," the captain greeted his fellow prison escapee. He helped pull the ex-Baroque Worker up. Mr. 3 dusted off his uniform and placed the cap back over his distinct hairstyle. As soon as the cap was back on, Luffy grabbed his arm and started off again.
"Wait! Where are you taking me?" The escaped convict cried, trying to keep up.
"To rescue Ace," Luffy called back. He'd have to get even closer to the platform to rocket over with the wax-guy, but Luffy wouldn't be able to keep up with the light-guy Admiral with his current speed. Having back-up was perfect! If the admiral broke Hancock's key, candle-head can make another one again.
Stopping abruptly, Luffy ignored the grumblings when his companion slammed into him. While the man rubbed his squashed nose, the pirate captain dug out the key Hancock gave him. "Here," he thrust the key at Mr. 3. When the man took it, he explained. "It's Ace's. Make a new one if it's broken." Instructions given, Luffy grabbed the candle-man's hand and dragged him off again.
The future pirate king didn't listen to any of his new companion's protests. He just kept running. Up the stairway, around two buildings, down a short flight and then up another. He was nearly there when the sky turned red. Luffy clenched his teeth at the sight of the magma fists in the air. He remembered how they rained down on the pirates in the frozen bay. The rubber-man didn't have much time left to get to Ace!
The duo reached a point where there was nowhere else to go except farther away from the platform, or down into the barren courtyard filled with marines and the three admirals. "Why won't you listen to me!" Mr. 3's whining finally registered with Luffy.
"You say something?" the pirate captain asked.
"Yes!" the ex-convict yelled, then slapped his free hand over his mouth when he realized how loud his voice was.
Luffy frowned. "Well. What is it? We're kind of in a hurry."
The candle-man growled. "Of course, we are! But you've been going the wrong way. The entrance to the platform is over that way!" He pointed back to a building several hundred yards away.
"How do you know?" Straw Hat asked, peering over Mr. 3's shoulder to try and see what the ex-con was gesturing to.
"Mr. 1 had floor plans of many of the major marine bases, including Marineford. I guess being a Warlord helped with collecting intelligence on the-" Luffy tuned the man out and glanced back to the courtyard.
The light-admiral was fighting the blue-fire bird. Ice-man was taking out most of the pirates climbing over the Awesome Giant. Luffy couldn't see Akainu, but there was no way the lava-man wasn't down there. Garp was sitting up on the platform with Ace and the bird-head guy. The two no-name marines were lifting their swords as Bird-Head yelled into his Transponder Snail. "The execution of Portgas D. Ace!"
Luffy didn't even scream. Within two seconds he had knocked out any weak-willed marines within his current range of Conqueror's Haki, flipped into Second Gear, and rocketed toward the platform. Two sand blades hit the platform at the same time the two would-be executioners hit the ground after an overdose of Conqueror's Haki. Luffy tossed Candle-head at Ace while planting a jet pistol into Bird-Head's face and launching an Axe attack at his gramps.
Only when both high-ranked marines blocked his attacks did the pirate yell. "Don't touch my brother!" Luffy didn't give them a chance to reply, just knocked Garp off the platform with an Armament coated jet whip and started a Gatling attack at the other old guy. When the marine started to glow and grow, Luffy bit his thumb and landed next to Ace and Candle-head. The wax-man wasn't knocked out but was struggling to stand. Luffy started to blow air into his bone. "Gear, Third!"
He diverted Bird-Head's attack but didn't expect the ice attack from the side. Yelling in pain at the spear of ice stuck in his side, Luffy knocked two other spears away, saving the wax-man currently trying to unlock Ace's sea-stone cuffs while balancing on a crumbling execution platform. Straw Hat moved the air in his bones to his ribs, then sucked up air to balloon out as large as he could for the second attack from Bird-Head.
As the fist bounced off his ballooned middle, he heard a cry of triumph from Mr. 3. "You idiot!" Ace roared as he surrounded the trio in flames while the platform crumbled beneath them. Luffy dropped Third Gear and snapped down into mini-Luffy mode. "You shouldn't be here!" The huge grin on his older brother's face didn't match the stern tone of voice. "You're always such a reckless little brother," Fire Fist declared.
"Ace!" Luffy cried, tears streaming down his face. The two didn't get another chance to talk as both were distracted by a storm of small lava fists.
Author's Note:
The hidden walls were not up when Luffy went over the wall. That happened later, but there were still stone walls before the hidden ones were raised. This section took way too much abuse from Hawkeye's attacks.
How is the pacing of this going? I'm not interested in dragging the whole Marineford arc out, but I hope I'm not going too fast.
Reader Replies (As of 1/23/2021):
Smiley-Nami – I got the ding of a submitted review just as I was clicking the button to add a new chapter. Congrats on making the cut to have a reply in the chapter and thanks for the vote!
kylekatarn77 – Thanks for the PM vote! I think you are the only one that specified keeping Whitebeard alive. I'm having trouble voting for saving Whitebeard. It would feel nice, but his death made all the difference in the political structure change of the 4 Emperors of the Sea during the time gap. I also think Whitebeard would rather die with dignity than hang in there as a disabled person unable to keep his territory safe. So… At the end he's either dead, or still an Emperor who can take care of his territory. Not sure if I'm creative enough to complete re-think how the 2-year gap would be after that kind of butterfly effect.
In the Darkest of Nights – Loved your review and thanks for the vote! I forgot about the harem aspect some time-travel One Piece fics try. I think I willingly tried to block those from memory. Girls/Boys falling for Luffy? Sure, but he's be oblivious. Luffy having any kind of self-started romantic inclination? Feels like I'm in the Twilight Zone.
Tygrezzy25 – Thanks for the vote. Not sure if you want to keep Ace or Whitebeard alive, but I can see which way you are leaning!
ChunkyFunkyMunky – Thanks so much for the feedback! I'm really glad there's someone else out there who want to read without the Japanese terms. I like Japanese, but when you are going to translate something, the point is to not keep using Japanese. It's a bit grating to see it use in something English only speakers are supposed to read. Like when you try to define a word using the word in the definition.
Nakama & Haki
I'll have to disagree on the using and English translation of Nakama. It could be crew, friend, and even comrade would be a good translation. But the connotation Luffy gives it vs the connation most people in the One Piece world first think of it, is not quite right on each of those. In my view, using Crew in place of Nakama would be like using co-worker. You have co-workers you like and dislike. Some are friends some aren't. Most co-workers are not as close as family. Friends in place of Nakama would probably work in Luffy's interpretation but loses out when other's view Nakama as closer to the co-worker/crew term. Not every crew views each other as close friends or family. Comrade is far closer, but again, a lot of other crews would see it as too intimate to describe those they sail with. If I absolutely had to, I'd use comrade – but I keep getting images of Russian accented pirates, so I decided not to.
If someone used Nakama in modern day, I'd pick an appropriate word to translate given the conversation it was used in. For One Piece, any of the choices doesn't encompass all the word means to all characters throughout the anime (in my viewpoint). I think it's similar to how people used Pokemon instead of Pocket Monster. You could translate it, but for a single word, it turned out better to just have it as a label which can define the anime.
It took me forever to decide that Nakama would stay because I agree that most romanji words should not be used in fanfiction. And while I understand you lose a lot of subtle information when you take out the -kun, -chan, -san, -sama, etc. everyone refers to people by, it's still lost on most people that don't know anything about the Japanese language. I don't understand why people keep it in there. And some Japanese words lose something with a straight translation, like Nakama would if I used Comrade. But if it was a professional translation, I'd still use Comrade because English speakers have no idea what they are missing and can be confused when a word is left untranslated. It's fanfiction so while I'm staying true to leaving out most and using the English language to get the messages I want across, I personally prefer all the Nakama entails to me so I did decide to leave it in. Especially since I know my audience (who read One Piece fanfics) will be familiar with the term.
For my other exception - I'll be honest, haki just sounds weird in English just like Rubber Rubber does compared to Gomu Gomu. I can omit Rubber Rubber by avoiding battle cries. I can't really stop describing haki when it's vital to the fight scenes.