Chapter Eight

Luffy laughed as they landed on the ice. Buggy was such a funny guy, and always so helpful even when he whined so much. The clown pirate was almost as bad as Coby sometimes. He hoped the light old guy didn't beat Buggy up too bad. It never occurred to him that the slice-man might die. Buggy was like that. Harder to kill than a roach.

Ace pulled him along as the fire man raced towards his retreating crewmates. Luffy didn't mind. If he started to complain his brother was likely to hit him for rocketing them without warning. The rubber man wondered why no one realized how cool rocketing around was. There wasn't a better way to travel.

Surprisingly, there was no major resistance when the brothers reached the wall the Marines pulled up. They were now in the bay proper, but there wasn't much solid ice left. Only around the edges. The bay was filled with random ice blocks and slushy looking ocean.

Luffy frowned. He didn't remember how they got away from the island last time. Traffy said he picked him up, but Traffy wasn't here. Would he still be here when Luffy wasn't hurt? How else were they supposed to leave? Whitebeard's ship was burnt down, and that other ship was stuck in the execution area.

"Commander Ace!" Some of the Whitebeard pirates yelled for Ace, directing him towards one end of the crescent bay. This area was rather free of marines and the Straw Hat Captain grimaced. The only time when Luffy went through Marineford where Marines were absent was just after the walls went up and the lava fists started raining down. Even in dreams, no Marines meant trouble.

The rubber man stretched his neck to glance around the area. The brothers were pretty far away from where the main hole in the wall the giant made was. They were running down one side of the iced over bay with a bunch of other Whitebeards. The majority of the Marines remained on the island side of the wall.

The other breach in the wall, one with just a ship, only had general fighters near it, no big names. Whitebeard himself was holding the line in front of the giant who was still laying down on the wall but was hugging a boat like teddy bear.

The future pirate king was beginning to worry. If the giant waited too long to get up, he could really die! Ace's crewmates better hurry up and get out of there so the giant could move. Actually, since they made it over the wall without a hole, the giant didn't really need to stay there, did he?

Luffy could see the blue firebird in the air again, fighting with the light old guy. Most of the cannons on the wall were taken out, but there were still explosions ahead in the direction they were running. There were occasional flares of magma showing the Red Dog was on the other side of the wall as well. Luffy felt a tug on his arm. Luffy stuck his tongue out towards the Lava Admiral as he let his head snap back to his body. The longer Akainu stayed away the happier he'd be.

"My crew has a few boats to retreat in. Many of our allies were still outside of the area and are keeping the Marine boats away. We just have to make it past the last line of Marines," Ace told him as they started running again.

The pirate captain grunted an acknowledgement and grinned wide. "Bet I can knock out more Marines than you can!" Ace squawked, causing a ripple of laughter around them. "Shishishishi," Luffy laughed.

Fire Fist Ace grinned at his little bother's familiar laughter. "Don't count on it." With renewed vigor, the two brothers raced ahead of the Whitebeards around them, eager to get back into the fight. Ace's crewmates cheered and picked up the pace a bit as well.

There wasn't a line of Marines to slam into, just a chaotic mess of Marines vs. Pirates scattered everywhere. Luffy kicked into Second Gear and used his Rubber Jet Pistol to knock out the first Marine he could reach. Ace just snorted and knocked out two Marines with a couple of Fire Bullets. The two stuck together and kept a running tally, egging each other on. Ace was at 37 while Luffy just needed two more to catch up when a shower of Ice Javelins rained down on them.

"Aokiji," spat Ace. The Ice Admiral didn't engage them directly but kept a steady rain of javelins over the area with the least number of Marines. Luffy dodged them with ease and pulled Ace away a time or two when his brother seemed a bit too caught up in his thoughts to notice he was about to be hit. Luffy never remembered his older brother being so slow before.

The third time Luffy had to nudge Ace out of the way, the pirate captain snapped, "Oi! Did Impel Down wear you out that much Ace?" Then another thought occurred to him that spread a large smile across his face. "Or are you just getting too old? Eh, old fart? Slowing down in your old age! I see how it is. Need a nap old timer?"

The knock on the back of his head just made him laugh more. Ace grinned back, "You're one to talk! Should I start prepping you a bottle, baby brother?"

Banter was good. His big brother couldn't be too worn out if he could still joke around. They continued to insult each other until suddenly, Ace grabbed Luffy by one arm and swung him around. Luffy used the momentum to add speed to his stretch and knocked the unsuspecting Ice Admiral in the jaw with a Haki-enforced Jet Pistol. Once his feet were back on the ground, Luffy swung Ace around and launched the fire man at Aokiji.

With the javelins stopped, the Whitebeard pirates were surging back towards the escape route and Marines were streaming back into the fray. Luffy did a quick knock back of two more Marines before snatching his big brother out of the air and pulling him back to the ground.

"37!" Luffy shouted to the fire man as he punched an ice attack to the side and let Ace's Fire Fist fly unobstructed towards the ice-man.

Aokiji sidestepped it, but Ace grinned and replied "38." Groaning, Luffy did a low Jet Whip to knock Aokiji's legs out while Ace hit high. The Admiral grimaced after realizing his sidestep had injured one of his men and physically blocked Ace's attack while jumping over Luffy's whip. The rubber man snapped his leg back before a newly made Ice Sword stabbed it. The sword made it a bit more complicated, but without the speed of light the Yellow Admiral had, the Ice Admiral was far easier to tag team.

"Ace!" A swordsman with a wicked cool mustache jumped into the fight and parried the ice sword. "Glad to see you again." The large smile never wavered as the new guy dueled the Admiral.

"Vista!" Ace's answering grin was just as large.

"You need to get going. No one wants to leave without our brother on board." Vista grunted as he continued fighting the admiral. Ace looked like he would argue when a lance cut into the fight and another man joined Vista.

"Get to the shoreline so we can start getting our family home." Speedy Jiro called. "We have a feast planned to do Thatch proud!"

Luffy ignored the tears forming in Ace's eyes and just started pulling his brother towards the escape. "Thanks mustache-sword guy! Lance-guy!"

With the Ice Admiral stuck with new opponents, Ace and Luffy continued to make slow progress to the boats. When the Straw Hat Captain knocked out his 62nd marine, tying his brother, that dreaded voice sounded loud and clear in the future Pirate King's ears. "Still acting like a dog with his tail between his legs. No wonder your Captain is no more than a washed-up hound doing nothing but reminiscing of his golden years. Just like the son of the Pirate King does nothing more than hide behind others when trouble comes calling."

Luffy didn't need to look back to know that voice. Instead, his head swiveled quickly to his brother, who had frozen up in rage. Not again. Luffy would not do this again. With a Haki infused fist, Luffy slammed into his big brother's head as hard as he could. The Second Commander of the Whitebeards dropped but didn't go down. "Luffy! What in the world was that for?" Ace screamed, clutching his head.

The Straw Hat captain didn't answer. He grabbed his brother's arms and flung him towards the boat line while slamming a Jet Ax attack into the ice, throwing huge chunks in the air, blocking a lava fist heading their way. Luffy didn't stay to engage the Red Dog. He coiled his legs and leaped after his brother, snagging his belt as he passed over Ace's head.

"What do you think you're doing? You rubber-brained idiot!" After yelling, Ace rolled over in the air, pulling both brothers out of the air and crashing into the ground. Fire Fist didn't let that bother him as he pulled himself up, grabbed his younger brother's shoulders, and glared into Luffy's eyes. "What's up with all that?"

Luffy glared back at his brother. "What else? I didn't go through Impel Down, dealt with that nasty poison guy, and fought through a war – twice! – just to see die because you can't run away!" Ace's eyes widened in shock, his hands loosening their grip on Luffy's shoulders.

"You never run away! I get that. So, I won't ask you to. If I have to knock you out, I'll do that. If I have to carry you, throw you, or shove you away from here, I'll do that too! Didn't I already tell you? I'm here to save you, Ace!"

He didn't wait for Ace to get over his shock. Luffy flipped back, kicking Ace with both legs, sending the Whitebeard commander flying towards the boats once again while the rubber man regained his feet. Where the two brothers use to lay was a new crater with Akainu's fist still steaming from the near miss. The pirate captain couldn't dash away. There were too many of Ace's crew nearby. If his crewmates were hurt, Ace definitely wouldn't leave.

Before Ace could make it back to him and while Akainu was just starting to pull his fist from the remaining ice, Luffy blew up his arm into Gear Third and threw it behind him. He tried his best to cover it in Armament Haki, but it didn't even cover all the knuckles. Uncaring, the rubber-man pulled his arm forward as soon as he had a decent distance behind him. Akainu was just looking up when the Elephant Fist slammed into his chest. Luffy felt the impact and the burn on his non-Haki covered skin. He continued to push forward, crying out to put more power into the swing.

Instead of pulling his fist back, Luffy let Gear Third go, shrinking his body and snapping all his limbs back in one go. "Hot, hot, hot, hot!" The mini-Straw Hat waved his burned hand in the air, trying to cool it down. He didn't look at it, trying to see where Akainu ended up. He cursed when he couldn't find the Lava Admiral right away. The rubber-man pushed his tiny legs to move as fast as he could in the direction Ace flew.

His body snapped back to normal just as he heard his brother's angry call of "Luuuuuffffffyyyyyy!" The fire man was running back and did not look the least bit happy. The pirate captain just laughed, "Shishishishishi."

A tingle of warning had him twisting around, only to get a fist of lava to the chest.

Luffy felt a tug on his vest at the same time as the burn from the lava fist hit his chest. The tug pulled him away and to the side of the attack. "Ha!" Jinbei cried with his free arm shoved out. A wave of air and water pushed the Akainu away from the two pirates.

"Luffy!" Ace still sounded upset, but more sad than angry. Luffy felt his brother's arms go around him, hands avoiding the chest area that still burned, even without the lava near him. The rubber man couldn't see his brother. In fact, his whole vision was dyed black.

Around that time the pirate captain realized he wasn't breathing and tried to suck some air in. He choked. Okay, that wasn't good. Luffy tried to cough and felt wet globs dribble from his mouth. But this time he was able to breath in. It was shallow and not enough air, but it gave him the chance to cough again.

For the next few moments, just trying to breath was all Luffy noticed. Muffled sounds of yelling, the feeling of being pulled this way and that, pieces of ice bouncing off his rubber skin, it all orbited around him without really registering.

Wasn't he doing something? Oh yeah, he was dreaming, wasn't he? Stupid Ace. Why could he never be rescued? Luffy got farther than he ever had in one of those dreams. They were so close to getting out of there for the first time, and Luffy had to get knocked down by Akainu. Again.

No way was Ace going to run away after the Red Dog killed his little brother.

But did he die in his dream? Wouldn't he be waking up then? Luffy tried to open his eyes, realizing they were closed. He coughed instead. Wow, that hurt. His chest felt like it was fire. He couldn't breathe more than a short shallow breath at a time. The rubber man tried to open his eyes again and managed to crack them.

Blinking a few times, the Straw Hat Captain watched as a boat got closer and closer. Was the boat moving? Shouldn't he move out of the way then? No. Luffy was moving, but he wasn't though. He was just laying here. But wasn't he being carried? Who?

He couldn't turn his head, but rolled his eyes to the right, looking up. His brother's face was turned away, looking behind him. The fire man was grinding his teeth before yelling at someone.

Luffy knew he should have heard that, but it all sounded like he was underwater. He lifted an arm to his ear to see if it was covered in water, but the limb only twitched in response. The rubber man felt really heavy. His eyes started to close again. Ace was there. His big brother always kept them safe. He'd just sleep in today and let Ace take care of everything.

No! No. That wasn't right. Ace was gone. He broke his promise. He died. Luffy clawed away the sleepy feeling, gritting his own teeth as he pried his eyelids open again. It was only halfway open, but he managed. The pirate captain watched as they came right up to the boat. Ace leapt up onto the boat deck in one graceful arch. Stupid fire powers. Why did Ace get to fly? Oh, yeah. Because he couldn't rocket like Luffy. Gear Four was just as much flying as Ace's fire, anyway. Rubber was still the best.

A lot of people were on the boat and there were cheers everywhere as soon as Ace landed. Luffy could hear them even underwater. Or was he above water? The Second Division Commander snapped at them, cutting off the happy sounds. "Where are the medics?" Oh. Luffy could hear Ace again. Zoro must have pulled him out of the ocean already. Luffy's eyes closed.

Author's Note:

After writing this I thought of a new ending. I'll save Ace and Whitebeard and kill Luffy! LOL. No, not really. Sorry, but I'd rather lose Ace than Luffy in the end.

This was a tough chapter. The Red Dog would not have let them leave without a confrontation. I hope I did the scene justice, but I ended up with Luffy mortally injured again. Still working out a plan to get him off Marineford and safe.

Reader's Response (5/10/2021):

AngelFallenDemon – Glad you enjoyed Buggy. He was really hard to write!

Kae Membrana – You guys win. Ace is going to live.

ChunkyFunkyMunky – I've lived in Austin, Houston, and East Texas for several years in each. Never seen it like that. And while I can say Utah and Oregon has that much snow, not having a fleet of snowplows for the roads was really disheartening. I won't touch the lack of power.

SOGEKINGU – Thanks for reading!

Frightener-boy – Having decided Ace will live, I took a slightly different route than you described. However, I completely agree. I had to force Ace to live. Honestly, even if Ace says he decided to live, that boy just wants to throw his life away so many times in this war.
Oh! I can see Luffy trying Gear 4 and it not quite working like planned. Hmm… I'll think that one through. From what I know about rubber, I figure using the armament haki would increase the strength of rubber allowing him to use more force from a certain action. And the Gear 4 somehow uses armament in a unique way to harden the rubber, but still keep it stretchy in my opinion. Sounds trickier to use than normal armament so I just dismissed the gear completely. I've already got the rest of Luffy's part scripted, but I now have an idea for an epilogue chapter – maybe. Thanks again for plot ideas!