Chapter 58
"Well, it looks like the Whitebeards have arrived with some style," Ikkaku mused, as Cornelia, the former Spade Pirate, set up a sniper rifle in the shadows of the marine buildings.
"We know how to look good," Cornelia teased, but it was strained.
"Guararararara! It's been a while, Sengoku!" Whitebeard greeted, and Ikkaku's heart leapt at the sight of him. "My beloved son better be unharmed!"
He was so tall. How? What did his parents feed him as a child? Ten horses a day?!
"Pops!" Thatch yelled, a large smile on his face. "Holy shit!" His smile fell. "I'm sorry. I know you told me not to, but-"
"Told you not to what?" Whitebeard raised a brow, his eyes locked on Thatch. "You did as you were ordered to and hunted down Teach like that rat he was."
"But-" Thatch protested.
"It's exactly what I told you, right, Marco?"
"Yeah, exactly what I heard yoi," Commander Marco said. "Sorry we put you through so much, Thatch!"
Thatch bottom lip wobbled and he burst into tears. "Thank you, Pops!"
"Give me a second, Thatch. We're coming to get you," Whitebeard said, and punched the fucking air.
HE PUNCHED THE AIR?!
"Dammit, Pops, don't shake the place when I'm trying to aim," Cornelia grumbled. "Mihar's going to be pissed."
"H-He's causing a seaquake?" Ikkaku gasped. "Thank the seas that Law isn't in Marineford right now, otherwise he'd be drowned!"
"He's got some Marines panicking and running already," Cornelia chuckled. "Five seconds in. Nice job, Pops."
"He's bringing in a tsunami?" Ikkaku breathed in sharply.
"Yeah." Cornelia smirked. "Let the bodies hit the floor."
.:.
Sabo monitored the situation from his higher perch in the crowd of marines. The Whitebeard Pirates had gotten a good foothold after Kuzan had frozen the sea. But much to his surprise Mihawk stepped forward, his eyes locked on Whitebeard.
Shit. He was actually excited enough to move his ass for once?
Mihawk swung his sword, unleashing a piercing strike that flew past everyone and went straight for Whitebeard. None of them stepped in though, and Whitebeard only grinned. What the hell-
"You're the World's Strongest Swordsman?" Whitebeard laughed. "Cute, but I know someone even better."
The sword attack was blocked by an unseen figure and the strike was shattered to pieces. Sabo choke on a gasp. Slowly the invisibility potion wore off the figure, and revealed Portgas D. Rouge, her twin swords now resting lazily on her shoulders.
"Now, now, Mihawk," Rouge chuckled darkly. "Didn't anyone teach you your manners? That's not how you greet someone." Rouge's grin sharpened. "And what kind of sword swing was that? Gotta do better if you wanna make me break a sweat."
"ROUGE!" Garp screamed.
"No way!" Tsuru gasped. "Didn't she die?!"
"Dammit!" Sengoku screamed.
"It's Hibiscus Rouge, the lone pirate of the sea!" Rouge grinned wolfishly. "You better put my Wanted Poster back up, boys and girls, because I'm back in town."
Sabo stared at her, slack jawed, because how the hell was she here? She was meant to be bound to Law's talisman!
"Hell yeah!" Thatch cheered. "You're all fucked!"
.:.
"Well I managed to gather up as many witches as I could before time was up," Rouge said, glancing back at Newgate. "One hundred and six nature witches are currently reviving my spirit."
It was why she hadn't been in Impel Down after Law and Luffy had met up with Ivankov. She had sent her spirit off in search of magical sources, and went back to many of her old connections, and some newer ones she had made while travelling with Eddy.
"You're alive?" Eddy startled.
"Yeah, fresh and blood," Rouge said, grinning. "I'm sort of back to being my kick ass alive self until those witches pass out or stop feeding me their magic."
"Sort of?"
Rouge grimaced. "Half of my strength back when I was alive."
So she had to make this count.
Rouge had failed Ace and Thatch twice now. She was not about to fail for another time. Not again.
"I'm sorry you had to go to such resorts. I can't imagine it was easy." Eddy frowned.
"I'm going to be in a lot of trouble after this in the afterlife, but fuck it. We're dead, it's not like we can always complain. Rahahahahaha!" Rouge chuckled. "Nicos are gonna be a pain though. Oliva will have my head for messing with her clans magic."
Everything was happening fast, while they had been talking, Kizaru tried to attack, so Marco was now taking him on. Jozu was fighting the giants, by chucking a giant boulder of ice at them, but sadly Akainu exploded it into pieces. Rouge was forced to save the Black Moby from getting hit by the lava, cutting down the pieces that flew towards her.
She could feel Finamore at the cannons by the marine side. How the fuck did he get over there and what was he doing?
.:.
"Finamore is sabotaging the cannons," Cornelia breathed out.
"Huh?" Ikkaku startled.
"He's so small and sneaky that most people don't tend to notice him," Cornelia admitted, as the cannons began to explode on themselves, taking out the marines wielding them. "I can see Barry too. He's dressed up as a marine, along with Saber, they're helping him."
"I think the marine's guns are jamming too." Ikkaku's brow furrowed.
Cornelia grinned. "That was Kukai. He's a samurai who hates guns-"
Cornelia choked on her breath.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Rouge just cut down all the Vice Admirals grouped together at the front, including Tsuru!"
Ikkaku went pale. "What?!"
.:.
"You shouldn't have stood there staring at the giant when I'm the real danger here," Rouge scoffed, swiping their blood off her blades. She scoffed. "Little Oars Jr.? What part of him is small? Jeez."
"R-Rouge-" Tsuru groaned, trying to get up.
Rouge smiled coldly down at her. "You shouldn't have tried to erase me, you dumbass. That was probably your biggest mistake, because your stupid Vice Admirals didn't know I was coming for their blood."
Rouge chuckled. "Now, who do I go cut down next?"
.:.
"Tsuru-" Garp hissed.
Sengoku cursed. "Hibiscus is running rampant. She shouldn't be able to do that when she's just a ghost!"
"To be fair, she has been in a pretty bad mood since Ace was kidnapped by Blackbeard," Thatch added in cheerfully. "So maybe now is a good time to call it a day and say we tried to kill the handsome, amazing Twin Blade Thatch, but he was just too awesome, and instead now we should all go stab that ugly piece of shit Blackbeard."
"He's got a point," Garp offered.
"Shut up you," Sengoku growled.
.:.
"Y-You just shot a Warlord-" Ikkaku gasped.
"With a seastone bullet through the head," Cornelia said. "Moria was giving Oars creepy looks. That bitch. Now we gotta move. Get a new vantage spot. We've lost this one."
.:.
Thankfully Oars was just dealing with the giants for now and not charging in recklessly, but if he kept pressing too far on he was going to get himself killed. Sabo grimaced. Cornelia and Ikkaku were on the move now after Cornelia had shot Moria in the head, giving away her position. Rouge, Sabo could see, was now in the midst of the Warlords, fighting Doflamingo and Kuma. Mihawk was watching her intently, as was Hancock.
That maniac! Dammit, Rouge was going to get herself killed.
That was when a ship fell from the sky.
A ship with Luffy in it.
Sabo barely held back a strangled sob.
WHY WAS HE HERE?!
AND HE WAS CHALLENGING WHITEBEARD?!
WHY?!
.:.
"Captain!" Ikkaku beamed.
"Oh, your Captain's here?" Cornelia smiled.
"Wait." Ikkaku's eyes narrowed, and she held out her hand. "Can I borrow your sniper rifle for a moment, Cornelia?"
"Why?"
"Because something is off..."
Ikkaku gasped once she realised it, and flushed. Captain looked so cute...
.:.
"LAW?!" Rosinante screamed.
NO! DOFLAMINGO WAS HERE! LAW COULDN'T BE HERE! IT WASN'T SAFE!
Wait. Why did Law look shorter and slimmer than usual?
Huh? Wait... ROSINANTE HAD A DAUGHTER NOW?!
.:.
"DAMN YOU, IVANKOV!" Law screeched, shaking Ivankov.
Luffy tried to hold back his laughter, but it escaped him and he cackled.
"I'm sorry, Law-boy, but I got startled when the ship began falling-"
"YOU INJECTED ME WITH A FEMALE HORMONE! YOU BASTARD!"
"It was an accident-"
"ACCIDENT MY ASS!"
.:.
"Rosinante's panicking now," Kuzan sighed. "Dammit, Law, why did you come here?"
.:.
"DO I HAVE TO TEACH YOU ABOUT CONSENT, IVANKOV! I'LL FUCKING GUT YOU!"
.:.
"I... one of my kids just turned into a girl... Devil fruits are so fucking weird..." Rouge tilted her head, baffled.
"Fufufufu, what trouble did Law get himself into this time? At least he can say he makes a cute little lady," Doflamingo chuckled. "Jora would love this."
.:.
"YOU WILL CHANGE ME BACK RIGHT NOW, DAMN YOU!"
"I CAN'T RIGHT NOW! THE HORMONES WILL OVERWHELM YOUR BODY IN YOUR STATE-"
"THEN DON'T FUCKING CHANGE PEOPLE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT, YOU ASSHOLE! I'M GOING TO CARVE OUT YOUR LUNGS AND FEED THEM TO JINBEI-"
"Eh?" Jinbei blinked.
.:.
"Aww, Law makes a cute girl!" Thatch grinned.
"Why do I have a granddaughter now?" Sengoku stared at Law blankly.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Garp laughed.
.:.
"Rahahahahaha!" Rouge grinned. "That little psychopath. I think he's about to murder Ivankov."
Doflamingo smirked. "This feels like old times, Rouge. The last time we saw each other we were fighting over Law."
"You still after him?" Rouge tilted her head.
"Fufufufufu, maybe, maybe not."
"You better go for the maybe not, bird boy, because I'm really getting sick of people hunting my kids," Rouge said darkly, then paused. "Huh? Kuma got distracted?"
"Speaking of which, I see Crocodile," Doflamingo mused.
"I see how it is." Rouge crossed her arms and pouted. "None of you want to hang out with me."
Doflamingo grinned. "Now, now, it's not like that."
"Liar! I thought we had something special," Rouge huffed. "We destroyed a man's house together and everything."
"Fufufufu, and I'll forever cherish that memory."
Rouge let him go without a fuss after that. He was quite the amusing one after all, just as long as he stayed away from Law, which much to his credit he did. He went after Crocodile as he had said.
It probably helped that Law was up beside Whitebeard and Marco right now, a heavy furrow in his (her?) brow. Law looked so annoyed talking to Whitebeard.
What in the world were they talking about exactly?
.:.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT IDIOT IS HERE!" Garp screeched.
"And my one too," Sengoku sighed. "Damn that Law."
Thatch grinned. "Luffy's exactly like what Ace described! What a terror!"
But Thatch couldn't understand why Luffy was going out of his way to help Thatch. Sure, they had met in Alabasta and journeyed together for a brief bit of time, but it wasn't like they really knew each other.
He had also failed to save Ace twice now. In all honesty, Luffy should probably be mad at him.
This place was really going to be too rough for the kid, but Thatch trusted his brothers and sisters to watch the kid's back, for Ace's sake at the very least. The Spades would at the very least, not that Thatch had seen most of them so far. He couldn't even see the Piece of Spadille.
Just what were they up to?
That was then Sengoku announced who Luffy's father was.
The Revolutionary Dragon.
Holy shit.
.:.
Sabo went straight for Luffy's side after that. Now he was probably in the most danger here, with that name being thrown around. He threw off his Marine disguise when he took out a whole wave of them with a swing of his staff, and slid on his top hat.
"Luffy, you idiot!" Sabo yelled.
"S-Sabo?!" Luffy screamed.
"You're in so much trouble, young man!" Sabo smirked.
.:.
"WHERE DID HE COME FROM?!" Garp screeched. "WHY IS THERE ANOTHER GRANDCHILD HERE?!"
"They're multiplying," Thatch added in cheerily.
"I'm glad I only have one," Sengoku sighed.
"A granddaughter now too," Thatch teased.
Sengoku groaned.