AN: Hello everyone. This is it; this is what you have all been waiting for. The Marineford Arc, baby! From here we'll see Ben 10,000 and Luffy allying themselves with the Whitebeard Pirates to face the full might of the Marines in order to rescue Fire Fist Ace. However, things are going to be slightly different as there are certain individuals who will be using this to their advantage. I appreciate everyone's patience and now without further wait, I present the long-awaited chapter.

South Blue

In the South Blue, the weather was very stormy. People would have to be crazy to sail a ship in this weather…especially on this day.

In a marketplace, people were buying whatever food they could get.

"Well," said a young man, "only three more hours to ago. Where do you think Whitebeard might be? You think that the old man will ever show up?"

"I don't know, and to be honest, I don't give the slightest damn!" an older man snapped. "I haven't heard much about ol' Whitebeard anyway!"

East Blue

In the East Blue, it was cloudy, and some shepherds were out herding some sheep.

"Whitebeard's practically a living fossil from an era-gone-by," said an old shepherd. "What makes you so sure that he'll beat the Marines at his age?!"

"It doesn't matter who's gonna win or who'll lose," said a man with tattoos on his bald head and smoking a pipe. "I do know this: a lot of people are gonna die in that war. "If Whitebeard's wised up over all these years, then he won't show up and let Ace die. I mean, what's the life of one pirate against those of so many, anyway?"

North Blue

In the North Blue, it was a snowy, freezing cold day. A couple of men were hoping to get some drinks at a local pub, but upon getting there, they saw it had been closed, as their neighbors had said.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"

"I want my booze, old man!"

"You shut up!" the barkeep snapped at them. "The pub's closed all day, today! Maybe I'll open up tomorrow, that is if there's a still world, tomorrow! Until then, get your booze someplace else!"

"Can't you sell me just one bottle, at least?! I need some booze to get through this thing! Please!"

West Blue

In the West Blue, some men were enjoying drinks at a bar that had decided not to close for the day. Apparently, the barkeep didn't believe that the world would be in shambles once Whitebeard attacked. However, others still spoke of him.

"There's no way that old-timer's gonna win against the World Government, now. Look at him!"

"You're right. Whitebeard should just give up while they're ahead. Let the rest of his crew handle taking care of rescuing Ace!"

"Shut up!"

A peg leg stomped into the floor.

"Whitebeard may be old," said the punter, "but don't you dare go underestimating him! If you ask, he's still as strong as ever! Why, it was just one year ago…the moment my crew and I first laid our eyes on that old man…our lives were as good as over. Whitebeard…is a living demon.

A pause, but then, everyone broke out into laughter.

"Whitebeard? A demon?! Yeah, right! HAHAHAHAHA!"

The old pirate seethed before he took a drink of his grog.

Grand Line

In the Grand Line, a mother was watching her children play jump rope with their friends. However, she did not take delight in doing so like she used to.

"Listen," the mother told her friend. "Even the children know about the terrible Whitebeard. Listen to them singing."

"The pirate Whitebeard, scarier than the Devil~!"

The mother sighed. Did her children even realize how morbid they were sounding right now? Singing about the Devil of all things? She closed her eyes, raised her head up to the heavens, and folded her hands in prayer.

"O, heavenly Father," she prayed. "Deliver us."

Marineford

On the island of Marineford, where Marine Headquarters was stationed, there was a large town mostly inhabited by the families of Marine personnel. The streets were completely empty, save for one stray cat. The reason: the citizens have been evacuated to the safety of the Sabaody Archipelago. There, they shall bear witness to Ace's execution on monitors. Reporters and photographers have gathered there from hither and yon to report the news to the entire world.

At the Sabaody Archipelago, the evacuated families stood in front of the monitors, watching every event that shall take place, along with news reporters and photographers, when suddenly…

"Look!" a man shouted. "There's Ace, on the scaffold!"

Outside of Marineford, the Marine surveillance ships have all disappeared in the fog. So far, there has been no sign of Whitebeard, but even so, the entire island holds its breath.

Ace dropped to his knees as he was being chained to the scaffold, and the executioners held their blades in front of him in an X-position. There were only three hours to go until his head rolled.

"Stay alert, men! We have to be ready for anything!"

The owner of the voice was revealed to belong to Vice-Admiral John Giant. As his name implies, he was a giant that towers over regular Marine soldiers by several times in height and has curly brown hair. He wore a red Marine bicorn hat and a variation of the standard Marine coat with yellows colorings, red borders, and medals adorned on the left side. Unlike other high-ranking Marines, like Garp, John wore his coat with his arms in the sleeves. Underneath the coat, he wore an orange shirt, simple loose pants, and boots. Overall, he appears to be a well-decorated Marine. Slung over his shoulder was a katana that fits his size.

"In three hours," John boomed, "it will all be over!"

The Marines roared in agreement.

Over one hundred thousand elite Marine troops stood ready for battle.

Meanwhile, there were fifty battleships surrounding the island of Marineford, as well its crescent moon-shaped bay.

Batteries of heavy cannons line the shore, and on the wall stand five warriors, ready to decided the outcome of the upcoming battle. They were pirates, the five remaining Warlords of the Sea who have answered the summons of the World Government: Dracule Mihawk, Boa Hancock, Gecko Moria, Bartholomew Kuma, and Donquixote Doflamingo. While Mihawk, Kuma, and Doflamingo were dressed in their usual attire, Hancock, on the other hand, is dressed in a purple dress with the mark of the Kuja printed all over, as well as purple high heel pumps, and Moria was wearing a blue cape with beige fur trimmings.

Finally, high atop the execution scaffold in the town plaza, the central figure of this drama, 2nd Unit Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. "Fire Fist" Ace, kneels and quietly awaits his fate. The platform is guarded by the World Government's Ultimate Powerhouses: the three Admirals, Aokiji, Kizaru, and finally, the one in the middle, Admiral Sakazuki, better known by his alias, "Akainu".

These mighty defenders of justice have come to prevent Ace's rescue and to do battle with the mighty Whitebeard and his pirates.

Back at Marineford, two figures are walking to the scaffold.

"Garp…don't try to stop me. I'm going to tell them everything."

"Fine. Do whatever you please. I'll be waiting, down below."

Fleet Admiral Sengoku appears atop the scaffold while Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp stayed behind.

"Stand back," Sengoku ordered the executioner, who stood aside to allow him to stand next to Ace.

"Yes, sir."

Everyone looked up when they saw Sengoku, who was given a Mini Transponder Snail.

"Attention, everyone," Sengoku said. "I have something to say to you all The execution of this man, Portgas D. 'Fire Fist' Ace, is a matter of enormous importance!"

Marines such as Smoker, Tashigi, and Momonga all looked up, wondering what Sengoku meant.

Vice-Admiral Tsuru turned to look at Garp and said, almost sympathetically, "It's not your fault, Garp."

"BWAHAHAHA!" Garp laughed, albeit halfheartedly. "You women sure are kind about this stuff like this, eh, Tsuru?"

"Ace," Sengoku continued. "What is your father's name?"

A slight pause came.

"His father's name?"

"What does that have to do with any of this?"

"…my father's name," Ace began, "is Whitebeard."

"Not true!" Sengoku bellowed.

"Yes, it is!" Ace shouted. "Whitebeard is my father! My REAL father! There's nobody else!"

"We were looking everywhere," Sengoku continued, ignoring Ace's protests, "When Cipher Pol gave us intelligence of the possibility that one of his children might be born on a certain island. We examined newborns, even unborn infants and their mothers and found nothing…but that was only natural. Your mother used a trick to hide you. A trick that cost her her very life!"

Hina, Jango, Fullbody, Coby, and Helmeppo looked up, the latter of the two looking somewhat nervous.

"We were fooled. The whole world was fooled! Your mother, Ace, lived on the island of Baterilla in the South Blue. Her name was Portgas D. Rouge. She did something we never imagined was possible. She hid her child in her womb for 20 months in order to save it!"

Ace's eyes went wide.

"She bought your life, Ace, at the cost of her own. One year and three months before you were born, your father was executed. The blood of the most terrible criminal that the world has ever known…courses through your veins."

A pause.

"Don't you start playing dumb, now!"

'No,' Ace thought. 'No! Don't say it! Please, DON'T SAY IT!'

"Your father, Ace, was the one and only Gold Roger, the Pirate King!"

Everyone in the plaza gasped. For no one except Sengoku, Garp, and Ace himself knew about this.

Portgas, or rather, Gol D. Ace…is the son of Gol D. Roger, the former King of the Pirates, and judging from Ace's facial expression, it appeared to be something he did not take pride in.

Garp stood behind, looking down with guilt, and he let his mind wander to the day before Roger's execution.

"My unborn child is innocent, Garp," the old Vice-Admiral heard the Pirate King's words in his memory. "I ask you…take care of my son!"

Garp sighed.

Forgive me…Roger.

At the Sabaody Archipelago, everyone was still watching everything on the monitors, and is shocked to hear the news that Sengoku has revealed.

"'Fire Fist' Ace…is Gold Roger's son?!"

"This is big news!" said one of the reporters. "Quick! Notify the head office, at once!"

"We'll print an extra edition, if we have to!"

One of the reporters of the press tried to write down this shocking scoop, but alas, his hands shook, and his notebook fell out of his hands.

"It…it still exists…!" the reporter said. "The bloodline of the great Pirate King!"

Back at Marineford, even all the Marines that stood ready for battle is also shocked at the revelation.

"So…he's not Luffy's blood brother?" Hancock questioned. "I wonder if Luffy knows."

Ace squinted his shut and had his head lowered.

"Gold Roger's…son?!" the Marines repeated in shock.

The Three Admirals sat in silence.

"So!" Moria exclaimed with a grin. "His son is alive, after all! It's incredible! Everyone who was ever associated with Roger was executed."

Doflamingo chuckled.

"Wait a minute," Coby whispered to Helmeppo. "I thought that Dragon would be his father, too!"

"So did I!" Helmeppo whispered back. "So this means that he and Straw Hat aren't brothers?!"

Meanwhile, Garp's mind was elsewhere. He thought back to the day when he visited Roger in his cell…before his execution.

"Garp! You won't believe it! I'm gonna be a father! Too bad I'll be a dead man, by the time it's born."

Flashback, 24 hours before Roger's execution

A younger Garp stood before Roger's cell, speaking with the great Pirate King, himself, and with only away until his head rolls.

"Why in the hell are you telling me this, Roger?!" Garp asked him. "You know that I'm with the Marines! We mean to hunt down anyone who was ever associated with the likes of you!"

"And that's exactly the reason I'm telling you this, Garp, old boy," Roger said. "The World Government's gonna try and retrace my footsteps for the past…and when they find her…they'll kill her."

"Her, who?" Garp asked.

"Why, Rouge," Roger answered. "My girl. She's gonna having my child, any day, Garp."

Garp gasped silently.

"But our unborn child is innocent, Garp," said Roger. "I trust you as much as any of my crew!" He gave Roger a familiar wide grin. "So…I'm counting on you."

"Stop talking this nonsense, Roger!" Garp yelled.

"I know you," Roger said. "You'll do it, I know you will. Take care of my kid, Garp!"

10 months later

In Baterilla in the South Blue, Marines were running, this way and that way, scouring the town for any pregnant women and newborn infants. Why? It had been rumored that Roger had been here, and that he had fathered a child here.

"Check all the children born up to ten months after Roger's capture!"

"Inspect all the pregnant women, too! Kill anyone who looks suspicious!"

"The era of Gold Roger is over! We have to wipeout his bloodline at any cost!"

What the Marines didn't notice was that a young woman is walking away from all this commotion.

The woman had long, wavy, strawberry-blonde hair with a bright red hibiscus flower to decorate it. Also, her face was dotted with little freckles. She had on a long, flowing, short-sleeved, light blue dress that reached down her feet and sandals. Her most noticeable, however, seemed to be that her stomach was larger than most women's.

At first glance, people might think that she had been eating well. However, if one were to notice her actions, it was revealed that it was anything but.

This woman, one Portgas D. Rouge, was pregnant…for more than nine months.

"No," Rouge told the unborn baby in her belly. "I'm sorry, but you can't come out yet."

This went on for the next ten months, until finally, Rouge could no longer bear the pain of carrying her child. After 20 long months, after the marines gave up their search…her baby was finally born.

Two doctors had come to aid Rouge in her delivery, and, almost surprisingly…Vice-Admiral Garp had come, as well.

Rouge cradled the crying newborn infant in her arms. She sniffled as tears dribbled down her cheeks, and yet she smiled, as well.

"If you were a girl, your name would be Anne…" Rouge said, "but if you are a boy…your name is…Ace. Those were the names that he chose. Your name is….'Gol D. Ace'. Our child…"

Rouge panted as she put a hand on her bloody sheets, and then…she collapsed.

Rouge had kept her baby boy in her womb for such a long time, that giving birth had caused her to become extremely exhausted to the point where she could no longer hold on.

"Rouge? Rouge?! Can you hear me?!"

"Rouge, say something! Hang in there! ROUGE, NO~!"

Garp looked on, worried, as the doctors attempted to revive Rouge, to no avail.

How was such a busy Marine like him supposed to look after a newborn child?

10 years later

Garp is walking up a mountain trail into the jungle, and reluctantly following behind him is a 7-year-old Luffy.

"Dadan?!" Luffy repeated.

"That's right, Luffy," Garp answered. "You're living here, from now on."

"But I don't wanna~!" Luffy whined.

Garp struck the boy in the back of the head.

"OW~!" Luffy cried and soon broke into tears.

"Stop that crying, brat!" Garp snapped. "I didn't even hit you that hard!"

Once they had reached the top, they saw a young boy waiting for them.

"Who's he?" asked Luffy.

"He's your new big brother," Garp answered. "You're gonna be living with him, so be nice!"

He slapped Luffy in the back of his head.

"Ugh!" Luffy groaned and crossed his arms in a pout.

10 more years later

Garp sat before Ace's cell in Impel Down.

"It doesn't even matter, Gramps," Ace said. "Unfortunately for me and Luffy, we both carry the blood of two of the world's most infamous criminals in our veins. We couldn't be Marines if we wanted to. I took the surname 'Portgas' from my late mother, whom I owe a great deal to, but I never, ever wanted to carry my ne'er-do-well father's blood, mostly because I have no memory of him and I don't owe him a damn thing."

"I understand, Ace," Garp began, "but you see, he tried-"

"What I'm trying to say is, Gramps," Ace spat, "my Father…my REAL and ONLY Father…has and always will be…Whitebeard."

Flashback end

Garp sighed and put his palm over his face.

"Two years ago," Sengoku said, still speaking into the Mini Transponder Snail, "you took your late mother's family name and began working your way up at amazing strength and speed as captain of the Spade Pirates. That was when we discovered that the bloodline of Gold Roger had not been totally extinguished! But we weren't the only ones who learned the truth. Whitebeard took you, the son of his former rival, aboard his ship so that he could raise you to be the Pirate King!"

"You're wrong!" Ace retorted. "I joined Pops so I could help HIM become the next King of the Pirates, not the other way around!"

"You're the only one who believes that," Sengoku argued. "Did you ever stop and think about why we were never able to touch you? Because after all this time, Whitebeard has been protecting!"

Ace gasped silently.

"But you had to be stopped, Ace," Sengoku said. "In time, your abilities would eventually allow you to lead a new generation of pirates on a reign of chaos and terror! For that reason alone, your execution today is necessary! You must die, today, EVEN IF IT MEANS ALL-OUT WAR WITH WHITEBEARD~!"

The Marines raised their weapons and roared.

Just then, another Marine Vice-Admiral appeared.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, sir!" he said, saluting him. "Important news, sir!"

"What is it?!" Sengoku asked.

"The Gates of Justice!" the Vice-Admiral answered. "They just opened up, on their own!"

"WHAT?!" Sengoku shouted, questioningly. "BUT HOW?!"

The Marines had now sounded the alarm.

"Here they come!"

"All hands! Battle stations!"

"No way!" Sengoku said. "They all appeared so suddenly! Where did they come from?!"

Outside of the bay, Sengoku can see a huge fleet…of pirate ships, all with different kinds of figureheads and Jolly Rogers, and some of them belonged to infamous pirate captains of the New World.

"Bohemian Knight" Doma, a man with black curly hair and a beard that seems to have lines that extends to his eyes. He wears a large red headband and a necklace with big light blue square jewels on it. There is a stitched scar on the lower right of his neck, and he sports a large and long light brown coat with a wide dark red collar and cuffs. He also wears a pair of loose blue pants tucked inside a simple pair of boots. Perched on his shoulder with its prehensile tail wrapped around his arm is a monkey.

"Thunder Lord" McGuy, a man with a long face with a big nose and a prominent chin, wavy blonde hair that reaches all the way down to his waist, and a black mustache in the shape of a lightning bolt. He sports a blue cardigan shirt under a black vest. He wears dark Bermuda shorts and an orange sash decorated by a silver colored ornament with a red jewel on it.

"Let's do this thing," said McGuy.

The Decalvan Brothers, two brother that appear to be twins, both wearing overalls. Both have wide faces (though one of them is wider than the other) and flowing black hair. The one with the wider face has sharper teeth. Each brother had one of their eyes which is large and black around the rim, open, and had the other eye which has a scar over it closed; either way, whichever eye they had open and closed are opposite to one another.

They both wear a brown and yellow pirate tricorn hat with polka dots bandanna underneath it. The hat bears their Jolly Roger two skulls and a cross-bone, with a wavy design over it. They both wear yellow long gloves with razor-sharp nails at the end on both hands.

Finally, "Whirl Spider" Squard, a pale, slim man of average height. He has a bald top, but light-pink wavy hair that flows long downwards. He is often seen sticking his tongue out and has sharp teeth.

He wears a spider design on his forehead of which has a spiral at the bottom, with a diagonally-placed headband that attaches to it. He wears a dark grey, long coat with ruffled edges over a similar designed, lighter-colored shirt, and dark pants that almost reach his armpits, with some buckles and strings on the front, tucked inside boots, and with ruffled, lighter-colored edges as well. Around his neck he has a dark red tie. For footwear, he wears high-heeled black boots with loose white cloth coming down from the openings

There are at least 43 pirate ships in all, all of them here to rescue Ace, and all of them here are aligned Whitebeard…who is still nowhere to be found.

Ace looked on in surprise, for at one point after he first set sail…he had actually managed to defeat these people, and yet, here they are, coming to his rescue.

"You guys…you came for me, too?" Ace asked.

The battleships stationed outside the bay faced the pirate ships, prepared to attack.

"Shall we commence the attack?!" asked a Marine officer.

"No, not yet! Whitebeard hasn't shown himself, yet! He's sure to be up to something! Keep your eyes on the surrounding waters!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Doflamingo laughed. "Well, this is getting interesting! Now I'm getting excited, here! Whitebeard! Hurry up and show yourself!"

Suddenly, the Three Admirals raised their heads up. They could've sworn they heard something.

The water gurgled.

"No," Sengoku said. "It can't be!"

The water kept bubbling, and the nervous Marines looked around, trying to find the source.

"He's going to try and pull off something outrageous, for sure," Garp said.

"It looks like we could be in the wrong formation," said Tsuru.

Just then, four shadows formed under the water.

"Hey! What are those shadows?!"

"No…you don't think…?!"

"So that's it!" Sengoku said. "They had coated their ships and went underwater!"

A giant whale-like pirate ship appeared from the depths of the ocean.

"IT'S THE MOBY DICK!"

Yes, the Moby Dick, the ship captained by none other than Whitebeard himself, has finally appeared, along with three other large (but not as large) whale-like ships.

"They're inside the bay! Even the Fourteen Division Leaders!"

"Whitebeard," Sengoku seethed.

A familiar man walks up the main ship's figurehead. It is revealed to be none other than the mighty Whitebeard, himself, "GURARARARARA…how long has it been, Sengoku?" asked Whitebeard. "My beloved son had better be all right! GURARARARARA~!"

"I'm coming, Ace," said Whitebeard.

"POPS!" Ace shouted.

The Calm Belt

On the marine battleship that the Impel Down prisoners had commandeered, the atmosphere on the ship was surprisingly light and happy. The convicts of Impel Down along with Buggy were happily drinking and celebrating their escape from Hell. It was like the entire emotional breakdown they saw only a few minutes ago never happened.

"Well, they bounced back fast," Ben muttered in mild annoyance. Bon Clay deserved more than a few seconds of mourning, especially after he saved all of them.

Ben then looked around the ship for his friend. "Where's Luffy?"

Jimbei glanced up towards the upward level of the battleship. "He's up there."

The Omnitrix wielder turned to see the Strawhat captain along with Mr. 3 and many others from Newkama Land leaning against the railings. They were all looking towards the Gate of Justice, which wasn't even a dot in the horizon anymore. They all appeared to be depressed and disheartened.

"Now that I think about it, he was not a bad fellow after all," Mr. 3 said somberly. He was standing right next to Luffy.

"We'd finally been reunited," Luffy sobbed as he attempted to wipe his teary eyes. He slumped even further on the rails. "And he ended up saving me again."

Ben felt Luffy's anguish as the people from Newkama Land cried Bon Clay's name. Bon Clay had preformed the ultimate sacrifice. Now, Luffy could never repay Bon Clay for that sacrifice. The only thing they could do now was honor Bon Clay's final wish and save Ace.

"Hey, how long are you guys are going to stand there sobbing?" a drunken voice asked.

the group turned to see Buggy walking up the stairs with a jug of beer in his hand. It was obvious that he had one too many given his flushed cheeks, slurred speech, and the hiccups in between every other word.

Luffy, Ben, and the others from Newkama Land turned towards Buggy in mild irritation.

"He was a good guy, but he's dead now and there's nothing we can do," Buggy said dismissively as he hiccupped. "Let's just celebrate!"

Everyone's eyes darkened. If looks could kill, there wouldn't even been a body left of the clown pirate. Except for maybe his nose.

"Celebrate our freedom!" Buggy shouted as he raised his glass and laughed. "Or, if you would like, we could have a funeral for Mr. 2." It was obvious by his tone that he wasn't serious and was close to mocking them.

Before Buggy could say more, Luffy slugged the clown pirate in the face, sending him tumbling down the stairs. Blood squirted out of his nose like it was a water fountain as Buggy laid dazed on the deck.

"Thank you!" Ben exclaimed. He wanted to go Rath on Buggy since that clown opened his mouth.

"We don't know for sure that Bon Clay is dead, Big Nose!" Luffy yelled at a semi-conscious Buggy.

Buggy immediately stood up when he heard his hated nickname. "Who're you calling Big Nose!?"

Luffy rushed down the stairs and got right into Buggy's face. "You, you red-nosed, round-nosed, stupid-nosed idiot!"

Buggy pulled on Luffy's cheeks. "Well, you got a rubbery, stretchy, stupid face!"

"That's kind of a lame comeback," Ben said.

"What'd you say!?" Luffy yelled as he reached to squeeze Buggy's nose like it was a plushy toy.

"Bon Clay is alive!" Luffy yelled as he punched Buggy back to the deck, given him a large bump on his head.

When Luffy was through with Buggy, he stretched his arms and joined Jimbei who was still steering the ship.

"Luffy-kun, Ben-kun," Jimbei said as Ben and Luffy stood at his side. "Thanks to you two, I have a chance to save Ace-san. I am indebted to you both."

"Oh, don't say that. It was no problem at all," Luffy said with his usual bright smile. "I feel better that you're here too. You're really strong!"

Jimbei looked at Luffy from the corner of his eyes. It looked like he wanted to say something, but instead went back to staring at the ocean.

"You can call me Jimbei. I used to be one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, but I abandoned that title," Jimbei informed. "Let's unleash hell on Marine Headquarters!"

both Ben and Luffy looked at Jimbei in surprise.

"We must save Ace so that Okama-kun's efforts will not go to waste!" Jimbei declared.

"One of the Warlords?" Luffy asked slowly.

"This is my first time hearing it," Ben said.

"Marine Headquarters?" Buggy asked as he joined Luffy.

Both of their eyes widened in shock as they took in their respective information.

"Hey, hey, you were one of the Seven Warlords!?" Luffy yelled in shock. "No wonder you're so strong!"

Everyone on the ship began to gather around Jimbei, hearing all the yelling.

"Forgive me. I should have introduced myself sooner," Jimbei said, not seeming surprised by Luffy's ignorance.

"What do you mean Marine Headquarters!?" Buggy screamed, changing the subject. "You better not be telling me that this ship is going to Marine Headquarters!"

"That is right," Jimbei answered nonchalantly.

"WHAT!? You know about the war between the marines and the Whitebeard Pirates, right!?" Buggy shouted. It looked like his head was going to explode.

"Um, what?" one of the prisoner asked dimly.

"What are you saying? It is not our faults that you are so dim-witted," Crocodile said in his usual cold manner. He was sitting nearby on a cannon, doing his best to look bored.

"WHAT!?" Buggy screamed in horror.

"Now that we are through the Gates of Justice, the only possible destinations are Enies Lobby and Marine Headquarters," Crocodile stated as he puffed on his cigar. "The only reason we escaped in the first place was because we wanted to join the battle."

Buggy and Mr. 3 both freaked out at the news. They escaped one hell and were headed straight into another.

"Yeah, the battle begins now!" Luffy yelled with a smile on his face.

"No going back now," Ben said with a serious tone.

"NOBODY TOLD US ABOUT THIS!" almost all the Impel Down prisoners screamed.

There were more than a few protests from the prisoners. A mutiny would have broken out that very moment if a transponder snail didn't start ringing, catching everyone's attention.

Luffy causally opened the steel door that housed the transponder snail and picked up the phone. "Uh, hello?"

For the next couple of minutes, the marines gave Luffy and the former Impel Down prisoners the rundown of what they knew about them. Namely, the marines assigned all blame for the Impel Down breakout to Luffy and Buggy, the latter whom they now knew was part of the Pirate King's crew.

Buggy wasn't happy to have his past blurted out and everyone, especially Crocodile, Mr. 2, and Iva, who were surprised that such a weak pirate was a comrade of the late Pirate King. From what Ben had heard of him, Gold Roger was pretty much the top dog among pirates before he got executed and hearing that Buggy of all people was a member of his crew certainly caught the shapeshifter off guard.

After the marines revealed Buggy's past, they verified all the information they knew about him. Most that was completely incorrect, like Shanks and him being close as brothers, Buggy wanting to save Ace because they're friends, and how Buggy hid his true strength from everyone for over two decades.

The former prisoners became gradually more impressed and enchanted with Buggy with each new bit of information they heard. The Strawhats could practically see the stars in their eyes. There were also tears.

The pure amount of incorrect information and the hero-worshipping of Buggy by the Impel Down prisoners made Beni facepalm.

Once the marines finished their intel on Buggy, they told Luffy and the others outright that the Gates of Justice wouldn't open for them and they were trapped in the Tarai Current. For a lack of better words, they would wander the current until the marines came to kill them.

"Hey, wait marine!" Luffy shouted over the transponder snail. He took a deep breath. "I'm definitely going to save Ace!"

"So just wash your potatoes and wait!" Luffy yelled over the line before he slammed the phone down and closed the metal doors.

Luffy's last sentence broke the emotional mood among the prisoners as they glanced each other.

"Potatoes?" One prisoner asked in confusion.

A New Kama sighed. "I think he means necks."

"It's necks, Strawhat!" one of the prisoners corrected. "Watch your neck, Strawhat! Like this is anytime to wash and boil potatoes!"

After getting over Luffy's mistake, the prisoners began to cheer Buggy as a hero. Their savior was not only one of the Pirate King's men, but a brother to one of the Emperors.

Ben sighed. "Like his head needed to get any bigger."

At first, Buggy attempted to dispel all the praises. Eventually, of course, he began to like hearing the prisoners cheer his name and talk about what a great pirate he was.

With the prisoners fired up, they were ready to steal the ship. With a legendary pirate like Buggy on their side, they could easily overthrow a three-hundred million belli rookie, a powerful shapeshifter, two former Warlords, and a Revolutionary general along with all the members from Newkama Land.

Luffy, Ben, Crocodile, Mr. 1, and Jimbei were mildly annoyed by these developments. Crocodile's solution was, naturally, killing everyone on the ship. He already had a sand tornado ready in his palms.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for some, the murder plot died the moment Buggy got control of the prisoners and encouraged them to go to Marineford to fight in the great war. He gave a rather lengthy and impressive speech about how they all had a chance to be part of history and fight against the best in the world.

Needless to say, the prisoners ate the speech up like candy and were practically jumping for joy to go to war.

It was almost an hour later before the Gate of Justice that led to Marineford appeared within sight.

Ben wracked his brain thinking of how they can pass it. Even with the strength of everyone on-board the battleship, there was no way they could break through. They were going to need a miracle that not even Iva could provide.

Jimbei looked stumped as well. "So, how are we going to get through that gate?"

Buggy took this time to go into his 'king of the world' act. "My men, it's almost time!"

"Time for Captain Buggy to rule the world!" the prisoners cheered as they pumped their arms.

"Oh, brother," Ben groaned.

"Indeed my comrades!" Buggy yelled. His grin got bigger. "Who will be Pirate King?"

Buggy laughed in delight when all the prisoners shouted his name.

"Ace..." Luffy murmured. He was so busy thinking about his brother that he didn't even bother to correct Buggy about who the Pirate King would be.

Luffy's eyes hardened in determination as he rapidly swung his arm. "Maybe they'll open if I just punch them!"

"Yeah, we can try knocking at the door," Mr. 3 said sarcastically.

Without warning, the giant metal doors to the gate started to open to the group of outlaws.

"It's opening!" Ben shouted.

"What is going on here!?" Jimbei asked. Although he kept his face neutral, it was easy to tell he was completely lost as to what could have happened.

Buggy got to the front of the battleship and spread his arms opened, allowing the light from the opening gates to bathe him. He looked like Messiah from legend. "Here it comes! It's time! I know it! How? Because my shoulder blades are dancing a Lambade of rapture!"

"What the heck are you talking about!?" Ben yelled at Buggy.

"Here it comes! It's coming! It's coming!" Buggy continued to chant.

"Don't tell me you're..." one the prisoners exclaimed before they all fell to their knees and in worship of Buggy. "I never realize you were actually God's messenger!"

"Seriously, Buggy!?" Luffy shouted in complete disbelief. His eyes were wide with both wonder and awe.

"Don't even start!" Ben yelled at Luffy.

They passed through the gates without any difficulties, although no one really could explain what happened. For now, they were all just grateful that they could get to the war zone.

"We made it past the gates," Iva said as he walked towards Luffy's side. "Now then, I wonder if you and Ace-boy's father will show up."

Luffy gave Iva a confused look. "Ace's father?"

Iva leaned down and spoke softly so no one could hear them. "Since his son Ace is about to be executed, I'm sure that Dragon will do something."

Luffy smiled. "Oh, me and Ace don't have the same dad."

Iva's eyes widened in shock.

Luffy wasn't finished yet. "My dad is Dragon. But Ace's dad is Gold Roger."

"WHAT!?" Iva screamed in utter disbelief.

"It's pretty amazing, but they never actually met," Luffy went on in a cheerful voice, complexly unaware of how silent the ship had become. "Although, Ace will probably be mad at me for telling you." He recalled how Ace didn't speak to him for weeks after he found out who his dad was.

"You think, Luffy?" Ben muttered. Though he couldn't help but feeling shocked as well.

"WHAT!?" everyone on the ship screamed. They had all heard what Luffy just said.

Even the normally cool and dispassionate Crocodile looked completely stunned and his cigar hung loosely in his mouth. This was the last thing he ever expected to hear.

Mr. 1's neutral expression faded as he took in the information. He was just as surprised as his boss.

Jimbei was still as a statue as he took in the news.

Buggy and Mr. 3's mouths had dropped open. For Buggy, this had to be the biggest surprise to learn that his old captain had a son and he knew nothing about it.

Iva had a frozen expression of shock and surprise. The poor man couldn't even form words.

Luffy paused for a second, as if finally realizing that he had said too much. "Oh yeah, this a secret by the way. So, don't tell anyone."

"WHAAAT!?" everyone on the battleship screamed again.

For the next thirty minutes, everything was peaceful and uneventful despite the fact that they were heading towards a war against two of the greatest powers in the world. That all changed, however, when the battleship suddenly began to rapidly pick up speed and tumble in the sea.

"Hey, look at that!" someone shouted as a shadow fell over the ship.

"What is that!?" Buggy screamed in panic.

It didn't take long before everyone had their answer. A giant tidal wave was heading right at their backs. It was so huge that it appeared to be merged with the sky.

"It's a tsunami!" everyone screamed.

"It's huge! It's going to swallow us up!" a prisoner shouted.

Luffy ran up to Jimbei, who looked strangely calm considering the situation. "H...Hey Jimbei, if this continues..." He couldn't finish the sentence. "I can't be killed by some tsunami here! I have to save Ace!"

"Pull in the sails!" Jimbei ordered before turning to address Luffy. "We will hold on and ride the wave!"

"Huh!?" Buggy exclaimed. "You're not going to avoid it!? What are you talking about, you damn fish-brain?!" He ran up the stairs and attempted to take the wheel from Jimbei. "Turn the damn wheel already!"

"Hey, would you cut it out!" Jimbei yelled as he regained control of the ship.

"How many years have you been pirates? Are you complete amateurs?" Crocodile asked in annoyance. "If we recklessly change our course now, we will capsize immediately. There is only one way out of this."

Ben had to nod in agreement. The only option they had was to ride the tsunami and pray that they didn't get turned over or sucked into the wave.

"He is right!" Jimbei exclaimed as he knocked Buggy away. "Hold on tight or you will be pulled into the wave!"

"Dammit!" Luffy cursed as he wrapped his arms around one of the railings. Ben and Buggy quickly did the same.

The tsunami grew closer until it hung over the battleship like a massive hand ready to crush them.

The entire ship took a dive and the wave began to consume them. When it reached its lowest point, the ship was sucked upwards into the tsunami until it was completely vertical. It kept going until it reached the top of the tsunami and they began riding on top of the massive wave.

No screams could be heard the entire time since the crashing sound of the tsunami enveloped everything.

Just as it looked like they might've been able to ride the tsunami across the Grand Line, it suddenly stopped. Everything was silent and the rush of water had completely disappeared.

"Huh, what happened?" Buggy said as he looked around. Just about everyone on the battleship was too shell-shocked to noticed that they had stopped moving.

Ben walked over to the side of the ship and found their answer. "The water is frozen."

"What!?" some of the prisoners yelled as they ran towards the side of the ship.

Ben was right; the entire tsunami was frozen solid.

"What the hell!?" Buggy screamed when he realized what had happened. "We're trapped in ice! Now we can't go anywhere at all!"

Crocodile got off the ship and walked toward the edge of the frozen tsunami. "Take a look below us. There is your answer."

Everyone looked down and saw that Marineford was right below them. Even from high up they could see the fighting and hear the gunshots.

"So how exactly are going get down there?" Ben asked.

"Listen up, everyone!" Luffy's yells got everyone's attention. "I got an idea about how we can get past this! Now that we have made it this far, we have to hurry!" He was standing near the top of the battleship with one arm up.

"We got less than three hours until they execute Ace!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Yeah, so?" Buggy asked in his 'I don't give a damn' voice.

Luffy ignored him as he was explaining his plan to everyone. His ideas basically boiled down to them breaking the ice and then sliding to safety.

"You wants us to slide the ship down the wave!?" Buggy yelled in outrage after Luffy finished outlining his idea.

"That's our only choice," Luffy said as he crossed his arms.

Even Ben had to agree. "He has a point. It would be really bad idea for us to jump, given the height we're are at and I can't carry all of you with either of my aliens."

"First off, we have to break the ship out of the ice," Luffy said.

"Are you an idiot!? This is a battleship!" Mr. 3 yelled. "It is not going to move that easily!"

"That's right, you moron!" Buggy screamed.

Luffy clenched his fists. "If we work together, I know we can do it!"

Buggy paused for a moment. "I'm starting to feel like we already can..."

"That's right! We got the man who's going to conquer the world, Captain Buggy, on our side!" one of the prisoner exclaimed.

"If Captain Buggy can do it, then I know we can!" someone else yelled.

The transponder snail on the ship began to ring again, getting everyone's attention. Before anyone could think to answer, the snail started to talk on its own. "Calling all ships and troops, out target site is TOTTZ. Change formation and initiate Operation Three."

"What's going on?" Ben asked in confusion.

"It is the marines giving orders to their ships and troops," Crocodile explained. "Everything is spoken in code to prevent valuable information from leaking if someone gains access to the marine's channel like now."

"Make haste the preparations. Once the preparations are complete, we will push the schedule forward and execute Ace, over!" the messenger said before the transponder snail stopped talking and fell back to sleep.

Luffy immediately panicked, along with several other people on the ship.

"Looks like the marines aren't going to stick to their execution time," Ben said, feeling more disgust and outrage at the actions of the marines.

"Let's hurry!" Luffy yelled, getting the crew back in the memory. He jumped off the battleship and rushed to free themselves of the ice.

"We can't wait any longer! There's no time to argue about this!" Iva yelled. "Everyone, we're going ahead with Strawhat-boy's idea!"

"Why do I have a feeling that this isn't going to end well?" Ben asked dryly as he transformed into Armodrillo to help break the ice with his jackhammer arms.

All the most powerful fighters on the ship, including Buggy, went to break the ice. Unfortunately, all of them messed up. They broke the ice on the wrong side, causing the battleship to plummet onto the battlefield. They all screamed as they fell to their eventual deaths onto the frozen ice below.

Marineford

Back at the Marineford, the war raged on. With both sides already taken major casualties.

"Stay back!" 13th division commander Atmos cried as he continued to attack his own crew. "Don't come near me, whatever you do!"

"Commander Atmos, what are you doing?!" cried one of the pirates.

Doflamingo continued to laugh.

"Are the pirates the bad guys?" he asked. "Are the Marines the good guys?! Who knows?! Things like that change with the seasons! Kids who have never known peace and kids who have never known war have completely different ideas of what's wrong and what's right! It's the job of those at the top who decides what's good and what's evil! Right now, it could go either way! Justice will prevail?! Sure, it will, because the side of Justice…WILL BE WHICHEVER SIDE THAT WINS! HAHAHAHAHAHA~!"

The Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines continued to fight on.

Marines were hit by rifles and bazookas. A pirate was punched in the mouth by a Marine with brass knuckles.

"Defend the path that Oars cleared for us!" cried one of the pirates. "Move in, now!"

A gigantic pirate ship with an ice breaker on the prow crashed into the wall.

"What the?! It's an ice breaker!" cried one of the Marines.

At that moment, a woman appeared on the masthead of the ship.

"It's the Ice Witch, Whitey Bay!" exclaimed another Marine.

Whitey Bay was a woman with long, flowing, light blue hair, full lips, and there was a confident expression written all over her face. She sported a short striped dress closed by laces that have flower-shaped buttons with loose sleeves and a scarf. She also had on a polka-dotted bandana, and over that was a light blue and purple bicorn hat with her Jolly Roger, which is a skull with a snowflake design, in the center. Draped around her shoulders was a long flowing cape.

"This iceberg is nothing to me," said Bay.

Now the pirates had two ways to enter, since Bay had breached Marineford's defenses at a different point. It looked like the whole of the HQ was going to be overrun with pirates, but Sengoku seemed unbelievably calm.

At that moment, the Fleet Admiral chose to contact Tsuru, who had somehow caused some of the pirates to flattened like clothes and hanging from a clothes-line of some sort.

"I'm all washed up," said one pirate.

"I got sent to the cleaners," said another pirate.

"Tsuru!" Sengoku called her via Mini Transponder Snail. "We're putting the plan into effect, now!"

"I suppose it is that time, isn't it?" asked Tsuru. "Transmit the message to the entire fleet!"

Soon, other Marine officers had been given a message from Sengoku. Whitebeard simply grinned.

"GURARARARARA…" he chuckled in his throat. "I know you've got some kind of trick up your sleeve. You certainly are a cunning foe…eh, 'Buddha' Sengoku?"

Just then, Ace sensed a presence, and turned to see who it was approaching him, and when he did, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Gramps…!" Ace whispered.

Indeed. Garp had come to stand on the execution platform with Ace and Sengoku.

"And just what are you doing up here, Garp?" asked Sengoku. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"Of course not," Garp answered. "This is war, Sengoku, and our enemies are the Whitebeard Pirates. There's no room for mercy for them, here."

"In that case-" Sengoku began, but Garp suddenly cuts him off.

"SHUT IT!" Garp barked. "Just let me sit here, all right?!"

"…fine," Sengoku said.

Ace sat there on his knees, staring at Garp, who sat cross-legged beside him.

Before long, Garp began to think back to days long passed.

Flashback; 10 years ago

"You stupid boy!"

A ten-year-old Ace suddenly fell to the ground, having been struck by a hard punch.

"Ace!" a seven-year-old Luffy cried. "Are you okay?!"

As one can very well see, Luffy has his signature straw hat, so this took place after Shanks left his village.

"'I'm gonna go out to sea, someday?'" Garp questioned. "Ridiculous! There's no way I'm going to let that happen!"

Ace sucked his teeth and wiped the blood off his lip, while Luffy stood at his side, nervously..

"You're not the boss of me," he said. "You're not even my Father! You can't tell me what to do, you old fart!"

"What did you call me?!" Garp asked. "Call me 'Grandpa', you little smart aleck!"

"…old fart," Ace muttered.

Garp growled and raised his fist.

"I guess you're asking for another Fist of Love, huh?!" he asked before he blew on his fist, but then…

"Hey, Grandpa!"

Garp looked over to Luffy, who was smiling.

"Someday, I'm gonna get bigger and stronger," said Luffy, "and when I do, I wanna go out and sail the sea with Ace!"

Garp quickly hit Luffy on the noggin, causing a large bump to form, and for Luffy to start crying in pain as he nursed.

"OWIE~!" Luffy cried.

"Dammit, Luffy!" Garp snapped. "You're not gonna start with that, too! Your mother may've allowed it when she was alive, but now that she's gone, you have to do what I say!"

"You leave Luffy alone, you crappy old fart!" Ace shouted as he stood before his little brother, defensively.

"Huh?! 'Crappy'?!" Garp questioned. "DAMMIT ALL, ACE! WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"

"RUN FOR IT, LUFFY!"

"I-I'M COMING!"

That night, Garp, Ace, and Luffy were eating a huge dinner of meat, fruit, and other things.

"Listen up, you two," Garp said as he ate at a fast pace. "Sometimes, a battle can come unexpectedly, so you've gotta eat to the fullest whenever you have the chance! That's one of the important things of being a Marine soldier! Don't you forget that!"

"Marine?!" Ace questioned as he gulped down a fish. "'Marine', my ass! You can't decide that for us!"

Before long, Ace and Garp were butting heads.

"What did you say?!"

"You heard what I said, you old coot! I'm gonna be a pirate!"

"You and Luffy are gonna be Marines, and you're gonna like it!"

"I'm gonna be a pirate!"

"You're gonna be a Marine!"

"Pirate!"

"Marine!"

"PIRATE!"

"MARINE!"

"Yummy~!"

Ace and Garp looked down and saw, to their horror, that all the food had disappeared, and Luffy had bloated up like a balloon!

"AH! HE ATE IT ALL!" Ace and Garp cried.

"I'm stuffed!" Luffy exclaimed.

He flopped down on his back and fell fast asleep.

"I'm gonna be…a pirate…" he muttered in his sleep, his belly rising and falling with each snore.

Ace and Garp sighed and sat down in defeat, but then, the former flashed a grin.

"You know, Gramps," said Ace. "If Luffy ever does end up becoming a Marine, his entire food stock will be gone within a day."

"I guess so," Garp agreed. "He'd be an even bigger handful than the pirates! BWAHAHAHAHA~!"

Flashback end

Ace and Garp sat in silence.

"…but this is family," Garp said, suddenly. "What the hell should I do?!"

Suddenly, Ace heard the sound of Garp…choking back sobs.

"Dammit all, Ace!" Garp sobbed. "Why? Why didn't you and Luffy live the way I wanted you to?! Can't you see that it was for your own good?!"

Ace stared at Garp with wide eyes. At long last, he finally understood why Garp had wanted him and Luffy to become Marines: it was all to save them from being on death row, and now that Ace had become a pirate, as well as the fact that Gold Roger was his father, nothing, not even the man who had come to be his grandfather, could save him now.

It would take a miracle.

"Gramps…!" Ace muttered, almost sounding close to tears.

"Garp," Sengoku said. "Don't you start getting any funny ideas in that thick skull of yours. If you start a commotion, here and now, I'll dispose of you, too."

"Trust me, Sengoku," said Garp. "If I were going to do something, then I'd have done it a long time ago, but I didn't, so there!"

Meanwhile, not too far away, Coby and Helmeppo are heading back to the battlefield.

"Helmeppo," Coby whispered. "Did you hear about the plan?"

"Yeah, I did!" Helmeppo whispered back.

"They're gonna execute Ace ahead of schedule!" Coby revealed. "But, if they do that…then…"

"Yeah, I know…but…huh?" Helmeppo began, but then, he spotted something…in the sky.

"What the…?" Coby began.

"There's something falling from the sky!" Helmeppo commented.

Up in the sky, everyone could hear what sounded like…screams.

"I knew you would overdo it!" Buggy screamed. He had tears running down his eyes as he approached his death.

"This is because of his wink!" Crocodile yelled.

Iva glared at Crocodile as he fell. "You're blaming this on me, Croc!?"

"Who cares!? We're going to die!" Luffy screamed. "The sea beneath us is frozen solid!" He paused for a moment as a realization hit him. "Oh, I'm made of rubber, so I'm fine!"

"Then you'll be the only survivor!" Mr. Three screamed as he floundered in the air.

"I don't want to die like this!" Iva screamed. "Someone, stop us!"

"I never should have listened to you, Strawhat! Dammit!" Buggy shouted at Luffy.

A green flash of light was heard as Gravattack suddenly appeared in his planetoid sphere form, "Don't worry, I got you guys."

Everyone who was falling to their deaths suddenly stopped as they floated in midair thanks to Gravattack lowering the gravity considerably, allowing them for a more safer landing.

"Wow, that's so cool Ben!" Luffy shouted.

"Nice job Ben-boy!" Iva screamed.

"Amazing..." said Jimbei in awe.

Luffy glanced around the battlefield as he got closer to the ground. He could see a small dot in the distance that looked like Ace, but he couldn't be completely sure. "Ace!"

Luckily for all the Devil Fruit users, Gravattack had the group land in the one area of the ice field that wasn't frozen. For some reason, there was a giant hole that was cut out of the ice, making a safe landing for the regular prisoners and Jimbei.

Sengoku and Whitebeard stared at the battleship, which had broken in half, also surprised by this sudden entrance.

"Hey, look!" said one of the Impel Down escapees.

"It's the ocean!" said another. "We ended up falling into the water!"

"Why is the only spot that isn't frozen?!"

"For a minute, I thought we were gonna fall on the ice and get crushed to death!"

"Hey!" said Mr. 3. "What happened to Buggy and Straw Hat?"

Under the water, it is revealed that Luffy and Buggy had fallen into the water. Luckily for them, Jimbei and Gravattack had dived in to save them.

"These Devil Fruit users can be such nuisances," said Jimbei.

"You don't know the half of it," Gravattack said as he lifted Luffy up to the surface with his gravity powers, followed by Jimbei taking Buggy.

"Get up!" shouted Jimbei as he dragged Buggy back onto the battleship.

"Come on, Captain Buggy!" said one of Buggy's followers. "Compared to the water torture in Impel Down, this is nothing!"

A moan was heard as Luffy slowly began to sit up. The Strawhats could tell by the far-off look in his eyes that Luffy wasn't completely there. The seawater had completely drained him.

"Where am I?" Luffy muttered as he watched the chaos around him. He then looked up into the sky. "I see...I fell from way up there..." After a few seconds, Luffy's eyes widened as he remembered why he was there. "Ace!"

He got unsteadily to his feet and searched for his brother. He climbed to the top of the now destroyed battleship and looked around until he saw Ace. Luffy smiled happily and gave a deep sigh of relief. Ace was still alive. He was so overwhelmed with emotion that it looked like Luffy would break down right then and there.

"Ace..." Luffy whispered before he took a deep breath. "ACE!"

Ace looked right at his brother. He didn't seem happy to see his baby brother. In fact, he had an expression of horror as he stared at Luffy.

"LUFFY!" Ace screamed back. He appeared to be trying to tear his chains off.

"Ace!" Luffy screamed again as he waved his arms. "I finally found you!"

"Luffy!" Ace yelled in a near panic. He was completely powerless to help his brother.

"Ace, wait for me, I'm coming to save you!" Luffy yelled as he eyes hardened in determination. From his back, all the most powerful fighters from Impel Down were grouped together. "We're all here to save you!"

At that moment, everyone turned to see Luffy and Ben, as well as their army of Impel Down prisoners.

"Look!" said one of the Marines. "That's Crocodile!"

"It's not just Crocodile!" said another. "Look at the others!"

"I'm here to save you, Ace!" Luffy called.

"Whoa, looks like they already started fighting without us," Ben grinned.

"Goodness!" Ivankov exclaimed. "They mean business! Look at how many there are!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA~!" Buggy cackled. "Look out, world, 'cause here I come!"

"GARP!" Sengoku roared. "IT'S THAT ACCURSED GRANDSON OF YOURS, AGAIN!"

"LUFFY!" Garp cried. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Jimbei! And Crocodile!" said one of the Marines.

"Even the Revolutionary, Ivankov!" said another.

"And they've got a lot of other notorious pirates with them!" added another. "They're escapees from Impel Down!"

"Never a dull moment with you," Mihawk again, "eh, Straw Hat?"

"STRAW HAT~!" Moria roared, angrily.

"What the hell's he doing here?!" questioned Fullbody.

"That's not his usual crew!" Jango added. "Plus…who's that man in the black and white shirt?!"

"Luffy! Ben!" Hancock whispered, her cheeks blushing a bright pink. "Thanks goodness the both of you are safe!"

Coby climbed up a wall to look at the scene.

"Helmeppo!" Coby called. "Look!"

Helmeppo soon joined Coby's side, and lifted his shades to see what was happening, and when he did, he gasped.

"S-STRAW HAT?!" he cried.

"I heard that they had Luffy in Impel Down!" Coby said. "I knew he'd get out of there, somehow!"

"That there's a nice bunch you've got," Aokiji mused.

Kuma remained silent.

"Well, well," Kizaru said. "I didn't expect to see you so soon, Straw Hat."

"So that's the little brother that Ace talks so much about," Marco commented.

"HAHAHAHAHA~!" Doflamingo laughed. "The Seven Warlords, both old and new, are here! And that's what we call the 'Legendary Upstart', Straw Hat!"

"Didn't your mother teach you to look at your opponents when you're fighting?!" shouted a pirate that tried to cut Commodore Smoker, only for his attack to faze straight through his smoky body.

"Commodore Smoker!" Tashigi called. "Look!"

"I know, Tashigi!" Smoker said. "It's Straw Hat and Crocodile! What a strange alliance."

Akainu eyed the scene from his place.

"So," he said, "that's the grandson of Garp 'the Hero' and the son of Dragon. He must be eliminated, as well."

"Of all the things you could have done, you joined forces with Strawhat Luffy. Is this your answer, Jimbei!?" Sengoku screamed.

"That is right! I quit being a Warlord!" Jimbei yelled back defiantly.

Sengoku now looked majorly pissed.

While this was happening, Crocodile turned his eyes towards Whitebeard. He was standing on his ship, overlooking the entire battle. the former Warlord then used his powers to make his move against Whitebeard. He was on the old pirate's ship within moments. Whitebeard didn't even raise an eyebrow as Crocodile raised his hook.

"Long time no see, Whitebeard!" Crocodile growled fiercely.

"You never learn, do you?" Whitebeard asked nonchalantly, never turning his head.

Crocodile attempted to impale Whitebeard, but was intercepted by a wave of water and Luffy who was in his Gear Second. He kicked Crocodile's hook out of the way, knocking the logia user off-balance.

When Crocodile recovered, he saw Ben who had transformed into Water Hazard and Luffy glaring fiercely as his skin burned red. Crocodile observed them for a moment longer and realized that water was dripping out of the two portholes in Water Hazard's palms.

"So, you have a transformation that allows you to control water, eh Tennyson?" Crocodile asked neutrally. "I have honored our agreement and helped you and Straw Hat get here. Why are you two defending Whitebeard?"

"I don't make deals with scum like you," Water Hazard glared as he reverted back to normal.

"So, this old man really is Whitebeard? Then don't touch him!" Luffy yelled. "Ace likes this old guy!"

"Don't let him near the Old Man!" several Whitebeard Pirates yelled as they held Crocodile off, much to the sand user's annoyance.

"That man who just transformed..." more random whispers.

"Is he a Straw Hat too?"

"How reckless of both of them..."

Whitebeard finally turned his head and observed Luffy and Ben. His eyes fell to Luffy's strawhat and stood there for a moment. A look of recognition crossed his face. "Kid, that strawhat of yours. It looks a lot like the one Red-Hair used to wear."

Luffy turned to face the old pirate. "You know Shanks, old man? I'm holding on to it for him," he said as he looked at his hat, which was hanging off his neck.

Whitebeard stared at Luffy for a moment longer. "Have you come to save your brother?"

"That's right!" Luffy exclaimed, staring right up to the powerful pirate.

"Do you not realize what you are up against?" Whitebeard asked as if he was talking to a small child, which Luffy was compared to him. He raised his bisento off the deck and slammed it down with such force that it shook the entire ship.

"Someone like you does not stand a chance," Whitebeard yelled fiercely.

The outburst would have shaken any normal person and brought them to their knees, but Luffy continued to stare defiantly at Whitebeard.

"Shut up! That's not for you to decide!" Luffy yelled, making Whitebeard raise an eyebrow. "I know perfectly well! You want to be Pirate King, don't you!? I'm the one who's going to be Pirate King!"

Luffy's outburst left a wave of silence. No one could believe that he had dared spoken to Whitebeard like that. Even the marines in the area were left in a state of shock.

Whitebeard narrowed his eyes and glared at Luffy as if he was sizing him up. It was most likely to decide if Luffy was serious or just some kid spouting nonsense.

Luffy refused to back down from Whitebeard's cold glare and even growled at the man.

After a moment, Whitebeard grinned and chuckled. "You are pretty damn cheeky. I will not show you mercy if you slow us down, you spoiled brats!"

"I'm doing what I want to do!" Luffy yelled. "I'm going to save Ace myself! Ben go!"

"Shouldn't you stop your comrade?" Whitebeard now glared at Ben.

Ben's expression became serious. "You're not my captain pal. Ergo, I don't have to take any orders from you. Therefore, I going to do my own thing, to use any and all means necessary to rescue Luffy's brother."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Every single person yelled at him.

"Someone else stood up to the old man!"

"Seriously? He's gonna get killed!"

After a moment, Luffy finally started to cool down. "Old man."

"Yeah?" Whitebeard answered.

"We heard a message on the battleship just now," Luffy said. He quickly told Whitebeard of the marines' plan to execute Ace early.

"They are moving up the time of the execution?" Whitebeard asked. He did not sound too surprised by the latest development. "You are sure that is what they said?"

Luffy and Ben nodded. "After they finish some kind of preparations." Luffy then added, "Then, some code stuff that I didn't understand."

Whitebeard gritted his teeth in concern.

"Since you want to save Ace, I thought I would tell you," Luffy said casually.

Whitebeard turned his head back to the battle. "I see. This is rather important news. Sorry about before."

Luffy shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

"Luffy, get ready," Ben pointed out as he transformed into Humungousaur, "Cause we're taking these guys down!"

Humungousaur charged off the ship as he then plowed into a group of marines, easily knocking them aside.

Each and every soldier within the area found themselves having a WTF moment as they witnessed this man who transformed into some creature tearing through so many marines at once.

"What the hell's that?"

"Another monster?"

"IT'S A DINOSAUR!"

"A dinosaur on Whitebeard's side?"

"No," Humungousaur said as he backhanded a few more marines, "Call me Ben 10,000! Hero of Heroes!"

"Right. Ace, I'm coming now!" Luffy exclaimed as he jumped off of Whitebeard's ship. He hit the ice below and took off running at full speed.

A group of marines ran to intercept him, but Luffy was not about let anyone stop him after coming this far.

"Gum Gum Bazooka!' Luffy yelled as he shot both of his arms forward. His hands hit the ice under the marines, knocking them off their feet. "Move it!" he screamed as he ran past them.

Behind him, Luffy could hear one of the Whitebeard's commanders ordering his group forward on top of Jimbei and Iva joining the war. He also heard the cries of the Newkama Land's people.

"Do not lose focus!" Sengoku yelled through the speakers that surrounded Marineford. "Proceed as instructed!"

Luffy ran for a few seconds before he saw a very unwelcome familiar face.

"It's you from Sabaody!" Luffy yelled when he saw Kizaru.

"The Celestial Dragons will be on my case if I let you get away again," Kizaru said easily. He lifted his foot as he prepared his attack. "Strawhat Luffy."

The light blinded Luffy. Kizaru obviously intended to fire a laser at him.

"I don't think so!" the voice of Chromastone screamed from behind Luffy. The Crystalsapien pushed Luffy out of the way, saving him from the laser blast as he absorbed it and then shot out a multicolored energy beam at the admiral, which ended up passing through him due to his Logia ability.

Those present could only look in shock at the sight of the dinosaur having transformed into some sort of rock creature in an instant. Kizaru however, merely raised an eyebrow in slight interest.

"What an interesting ability you have there," Kizaru stated, "Clearly not the work of a Zoan Devil Fruit. Just what is the source of your transformations, shapeshifter?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Chromastone snarked.

"Strawhat-boy, are you alright!?" Iva yelled at Luffy, who was lying face-down on the ice.

He quickly sat up and faced Iva. "That was close! Thanks, Ben!"

"It's my mission to protect you from death!" Iva screamed angrily. As he yelled, another laser shone in the distance. "Kizaru again!"

Everyone else, however, knew by the silhouette that it wasn't Kizaru.

"Kuma," Iva whispered, before the bear Warlord fired at him.

"That's the bear guy who sent us all flying!" Luffy yelled as Iva furiously shouted Kuma's name.

Kuma fired his laser, but Iva easily evaded it.

"Bartholomew Kuma!" Iva yelled. He pointed his finger at the Warlord. "You, here I come!"

Kuma shot at him again and burnt a chunk of his hair off, much to Iva's surprise.

"Iva!" Luffy screamed.

"Don't worry about me!" Iva yelled. "Leave this to me and just keep moving!"

"Alright!" Luffy yelled as he took off running again with Chromastone flying right beside him.

He didn't get too far before two chakrams nearly hit him. He dodged the chakrams easily, but was nearly hit by Fullbody, who attempted to slam his fist into him.

"How unlucky for you to bump into us!" Fullbody bragged.

"Strawhat, this is where it ends for you!" Jango exclaimed as he spun his chakrams on his hand.

"Huh, who are you?" Luffy asked, not recognizing them at all.

They both were annoyed by his lack of recognition.

"I'm Fullbody!" the marine yelled. "I still owe you from the floating restaurant Baratie!"

"Ah...the guy who got his ass kicked by Sanji," Luffy said neutrally.

Fullbody gritted his teeth in anger.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten these chakrams?" Jango asked desperately.

"Aren't you the hypnotist from Usopp's village?" Luffy asked. "What are you doing here?"

Jango brought up two chakrams tied to a string. "With the marine's help, I perfected Jango Hypnotism! Two chakrams, twice as effective," Jango said proudly. "With one, two, Jango you will fall asleep."

Luffy followed the chakrams with his eyes.

"Luffy, don't look at them!" Chromastone yelled.

"One, two..." Jango started. Just before he said Jango, a distance explosion distracted Luffy. When he turned to face Jango again, Fullbody and he had both fallen asleep and were snoring loudly.

"He even hit his own ally." Chromastone said in a deadpan voice.

"What is going on?" a woman with long pink hair and a reddish-purple uniform said.

Hina ruthlessly kicked Fullbody and Jango awake. "Hina disappointed!"

"You...I met you back in Alabasta!" Luffy exclaimed. "I don't have time to waste with any of you guys!" He ran forwards, attempting to pass her.

"I will not let you run," Hina said as steel cages shot out from her arms and entrapped Luffy and Chromastone in her area.

"What's that?" Chromastone asked. "A Devil Fruit ability?"

"Everything that passes through my body is lock tight," Hina said, causing Fullbody and Jango to swoon.

Luffy wasn't impressed. "I've had enough of being in cages!" He quickly went into his Second Gear while Chromastone switched to XLR8.

Hina attempted to entrap Luffy and Ben with her powers, but Luffy and XLR8 used their great speed to avoid the trap. Luffy seemly disappeared and jumped over Hina while XLR8 was already running past her before she even knew what had happened.

"They're both fast!" Hina exclaimed in surprise. "I could not see them!"

Luffy hit the ice and wasted no time running away from her as she deactivated his Gear as XLR8 slowed down so that Luffy could keep up with him.

"Stop right there!" a marine yelled as he blindsided Luffy with his club. Luckily for Luffy, the spikes on the steel club were dull and did nothing more than cut his face. XLR8 quickly used his tail to bat the marine across his face, knocking him out.

Luffy attempted a counter attack by punching another marine, but the man blocked Luffy's punch with his staff, which threw Luffy's balance off. He landed hard on the ice, but Luffy quickly rolled over before the marine could finish him. He jumped up and knocked the marine out of the way with a Gum Gum Whip.

Another marine snuck up behind Luffy and attempted to behead him with his sword. Luffy sensed him coming and easily evaded the fatal blow. He took a page out of Sanji's book and did a handstand. Luffy spun his legs around rapidly like a windmill, taking any marine within his range out.

With the last marine dealt with in Luffy's immediate area, he ran again towards his brother. Some of the marines managed to keep up with Luffy's running speed and attempted to attack him, but he managed to evade them

"Strawhat!" someone screamed.

The Strawhats looked to see Moria up ahead. Besides some bandages on his head, one would never think he got badly beaten just a couple weeks ago.

"Come out and play, my zombie warriors!" Moriah exclaimed as zombies rose from the ground.

"Zombies?! You got to be kidding me?!" XLR8 exclaimed.

"Now, my minions, go and capture Strawhat!" Moriah ordered his zombie army.

"Moria!" Luffy yelled when he saw the Warlord. "Another tough guy!"

"Capture Straw Hat and the shapeshifter!"

"They're the culprits behind the prison break!"

The zombies attacked Luffy, but the rubberman was able to knock them away from him. XLR8 used his claws to cut them down to size. That didn't do much, however, since they were zombies, meaning they felt no pain and would keep getting back up to attack Luffy and Ben. No matter how many zombies the duo took down, more came out of the ground. Gradually, the zombie army began to push them back.

"There's more!" Luffy exclaimed after he saw about thirty zombies walking towards him.

"Of course, this is a battlefield!" Moria yelled smugly. "People dying simply adds to my zombie army!"

While Luffy was having trouble with the zombies, elite marines also mercilessly jumped him at every turn. He was quickly becoming overwhelmed, but he kept fighting even as he was being nicked and cut by marines and zombies.

Ben kept transforming to one form into another. Thanks to the Master Control, he could keep transforming without timing out. Taking out many marines and zombies with Diamondhead using crystal pillars, massive streams of heat as Heatblast, bolts of electricity as Ampfibian, and booming soundwaves as Echo Echo.

"Stay away, Luffy!" Ace suddenly screamed over the battlefield, getting his brother's attention. "You ought to know already, you and I are both pirates! You should be out sailing however you want! Me, I have my own adventures! Me, I have my own friends! You have no right to interfere with this!"

Ben's eyes widened as he listened to Ace's yells.

"A weakling like you coming to rescue me, do you think I'm going to let that happen!?" Ace continued to shout. "That would be humiliating! Go back Luffy! Why did you come!?"

Ben could see Ace's body shake as tears collected in his eyes. He had a feeling Ace must have been feeling guilty. It was his duty as the older brother to protect Luffy. Now, Luffy was all but killing himself trying to save him. It was any older brother's nightmare.

Luffy ran forward through the horde of zombies and marines, not caring anymore if he was getting hit.

"I'M YOUR BABY BROTHER!" Luffy shouted to the top of his lungs, startling everyone in the area.

The marines muttered in confusion over Luffy's relationship with Ace. How could he also be a child of Gold Roger?

"Those stupid pirate rules, I've never heard them!" Luffy yelled as he kept running.

"Don't you get it!?" Ace screamed in frustration.

Luffy was about to be attacked by zombies again when a tidal wave of water suddenly hit them. The salt water got into the zombies' throats, causing the shadows to be released and the zombies purified.

Moria gasped in shock as he watched this happened.

Jimbei jumped out of the water and landed next to Luffy.

"Jimbei!" Luffy exclaimed happily.

"Your timing is beyond awesome!" Ben grinned.

"They are weak against salt, those zombies of yours," Jimbei said as he addressed Moria.

The fellow Warlord growled at the fishman.

"Luffy-kun, Ben-kun, leave the zombies to me," Jimbei said.

"I'm counting on you!" Luffy yelled, "Ben, charge!"

"What are you doing!?" Sengoku yelled through the speaker. "It is only two rookies! Do not let them dictate the entire war this way!"

"Out of the way!" a giant yelled as he ran to confront Luffy. "I'll crush them!" He raised his club attempted to make good on his promise.

Luffy, Ben, and Jimbei quickly got out of the way before the club could hit them. As Luffy fought the giant, Sengoku kept speaking.

"That man will be dangerous in the future! He was raised with his sworn brother, Ace, but his actual bloodline makes him the son of the Revolutionary Dragon!" Sengoku announced.

"Revolutionary Dragon!?" several people on both sides shouted in shock and disbelief.

The marines started to look at Luffy as if he was some kind demon.

"The son of the world's most fearsome criminal!?" others screamed in terror.

"So, that is how it is!?" Jimbei exclaimed in shock.

"Aw great," Ben said with sarcasm in his tone, "Just what we needed."

"We mustn't let him live!" a marine shouted, making all the other marines get over their previous fear.

This got almost all the marines in the area on Luffy in moments. They were going to make certain that Luffy didn't leave this war zone.

"They had to learn who his dad was before they started to take him seriously?" Ben asked in annoyance as he transformed into Humungousaur again.

Luffy bit down on his thumb and used his Gear Third Rifle to one-shot the giant that was attacking him, while Humungousaur charged forward and grabbed the giant by the arm, proceeding to throw him over his shoulder, shocking the marines.

"Ace!" Luffy screamed towards his brother. "Say whatever the hell you want! I'm saving you even if I die!"

Luffy shrunk after he released the air from his body, but, luckily for him, the people from Newkama Land were there to cover him until he turned back to normal.

"Hey, Strawhat, you're attracting too much attention," one of the Newkama people said.

Luffy looked to see an army of marines was surrounding him.

"Do not let them move an inch!" Sengoku ordered. "Do not let these rookies wreck our plans!"

"Charge!" a marine yelled as Luffy and others were attacked from all angles.

No one backed down as they attacked the marine forces head on. Elite or not, they weren't going to let the marines stop them. More people joined the battle, as some of the Whitebeard Pirates combined their strength with the Newkama Land people.

It was complete chaos. Guns were fired from all directions and people fell by the wayside as more people ran in to take their place.

More marines charged Luffy, forcing him to step back to keep from getting cut by their swords. Despite his best efforts, he was slashed across the chest by one marine before he was able to put him down.

"I'm going to save Ace! Get out of my way!" Luffy yelled as he ran forward in an attempt to break the marines' barricade.

Ace looked completely tormented as he watched his friends, his captain, and his brother fight and get hurt because of him. This was worse than dying to him. After a while, Ace's face became set as he willingly accepted whatever fate waited for him.

Cannons began to fire on Luffy's group, forcing them to lose ground again.

Luffy quickly used his Gum Gum Balloon to deflect the cannon fire and take out the people shooting at them.

Even with the cannons gone, however, they still couldn't break the marines' barricade and they were quickly losing men.

"Death Wink!" Iva yelled as he used his attack to knock several marines out of the away.

"Lord Iva, are you alright?" someone asked.

"Iva, I want to make a straight line for Ace!" Luffy yelled. He turned towards Jimbei, who was taking out several marines with his Fishman Karate. The look he gave Jimbei was similar to the stare he gave Zoro when given an unspoken order.

Jimbei caught Luffy's eyes and understood the silent message and used his Fishman Karate to clear a path.

Iva also helped cleared the way by blasting marines with his Death Wink. Ben did his part by turning into Articguana and freezing marines in place with his ice breath. Luffy added his power as well and hit a group of marines with a Bazooka.

With a path finally cleared, they all made a run past the marine's barrier.

Moria was back and he decided to handle Luffy directly. Before Luffy could reach him, however, Jimbei got in front of him.

"Fight me, Moria!" Jimbei yelled as he ran towards the fellow Warlord. "I am more than a match for you!"

Luffy didn't see the battle as he kept running forward, but he knew Jimbei would be alright. Even with Moria being dealt with, Luffy had a much bigger problem.

So fast that Luffy couldn't see it, he was smacked with a steel weapon across the face. Blood flowed out of Luffy's mouth as he stumbled around, completely dazed.

"What was that!?" Ben exclaimed. "Steel shouldn't make Luffy bleed like that."

Luffy wiped his mouth in surprise. "That hurt!" He looked up to see what had hit him and his eyes widened when he saw Smoker standing before him. "You're...Smoky!"

"At last we meet again, Strawhat!" Smoker exclaimed dramatically. He had his jutte up, ready for another attack.

Iva attempted to intercept Smoker, but he was too busy dealing with Kuma, who was trying to blast him with lasers.

"That's right, his jutte has seastone in it," Luffy muttered as he considered his options. "Damn you..." he yelled as he activated his Gear Second.

"I will finish you!" Smoker proclaimed.

Luffy wasted no time using a Jet Gatling and pummeled Smoker with his lightning fast punches. At least, he would have plummeted him if Luffy could touch Smoker's body. He was still unable to hit smoke.

Smoker launched himself into the air using his powers and prepared to dive bomb Luffy.

"He's much stronger than before!" Luffy yelled as he watched Smoker fly in the air.

While he was distracted, Tashigi charged in and attempted to slash him. Luffy quickly disappeared, catching the swordswoman off-guard.

Smoker was equally baffled before Luffy appeared behind him and attempted to hit him with another Jet Gatling. Although he didn't need to, Smoker skillfully evaded the punches and rammed Luffy.

"Seems we have both grown stronger," Smoker noted before he pushed his jutte into Luffy's throat and slammed the rubberman onto the ice. If Luffy wasn't made of rubber, his throat would have been crushed from the impact.

Luffy was completely helpless as he struggled to escape. It was all in vain since the seastone robbed him of his strength.

"You cannot defeat me with your abilities," Smoker said as he pinned Luffy.

"Damn...it's the jutte..." Luffy murmured weakly. He was dead if he couldn't break free.

"I finally understand why Dragon saved you back in Loguetown, Strawhat," Smoker stated as he pressed down harder. "Dragon got in my way back then, but this time, you are not getting away!"

"Dammit...!" Luffy exclaimed as his struggling got weaker.

Suddenly, the jutte found itself knocked away from Smoker's hands by a blue blur. Before the marine could react, he was then hit in the face by a blunt object knocking him off of Luffy.

Smoker got up, now in shock from actually being hit. He looked up to see a blue feline-like humanoid holding his jutte with a smug look on its face.

"Hey pal, looking for this?" Fasttrack taunted as he rushed forward in a burst of speed, hitting Smoker from all sides with his own jutte. The sea prism stone weakening him with each hit.

"Damn you," Smoker snarled as he got up now covered in several cuts and bruises from the blows.

"Not so fun when it's you on the receiving end isn't it?" Fasttrack remarked.

Smoker was prepared to strike back as he turned into smoke once more before he was rudely interrupted.

"Get your filthy hands away from them!" someone screamed at Smoker was kicked in the face.

"Hancock!" Fasttrack exclaimed.

It was indeed the Pirate Empress. She was riding her snake, not even bothering to walk. Despite being in a war with the best, there wasn't a scratch on her.

"She managed to hit me although I am smoke," Smoker muttered in shock.

"But a kick should not have touched him!" Tashigi exclaimed in equal surprise.

Hancock glared at Smoker. She looked extremely pissed off, to say the least.

"Hancock, what are you playing at!?" Smoker demanded as he stood up. "Do you intend to quit being a Warlord too!?"

"Silence!" Hancock yelled angrily as she got between Luffy and Smoker. "I am so infuriated that I do not care what you say! How dare you hold down my dearest!?"

"I will not let you leave!" Hancock exclaimed as her rage grew. "I have never been this angry! I will rip you apart and feed you to a beast!"

Smoker stared at her for a moment. "So, that was Haki of the Kuja Tribe."

Ben turned back to normal as he helped Luffy up who he attempted to catch his breath. Luffy smiled when he realized who had saved him. "Hancock!"

"Yes!" Hancock yelled in childish squeal. Ben could practically see the hearts in her eyes. She was also blushing furiously. "The two of you called me Hancock again!"

"What's going on!? Why did the Pirate Empress protect Strawhat and the shapeshifter?" a marine asked in shock and confusion.

Hancock turned to face Luffy and Ben, ignoring the shocked marines. She put her hands in a heart formation, like she was ready to use her ability on him. It was just a ploy, however, as she blushed at Luffy and Ben.

"I always believed that you both would make it here alive," Hancock whispered as she reached into her cleavage and took out a key. She took Luffy's hands into her own and gently dropped the key in his palms. "Take this. It is the key to your brother's handcuffs."

Luffy's mouth dropped as the marines yelled something about the woman's witchcraft.

"Hancock!" Luffy exclaimed once he found his voice.

She immediately blushed again. "He said my name again!"

Luffy jumped up and hugged Hancock happily. "You're...you're...thanks a lot! I owe you one!"

"Yeah, this really saves us a lot of trouble," Ben grinned.

"It's alright, it's alright..." Hancock stuttered. "Do not worry about it...just keeping going forward, Luffy and Ben!"

"Oh, yeah!" Luffy exclaimed as he remembered his task. He jumped off of Boa and began to run again with Ben right at his heels. "Thanks!" As he ran, he looked down at his hand and stare at the key for a moment. "I'm really grateful for this! I'm in her debt again!"

The Marines looked on in shock, anger, and disbelief.

"I-impossible!" said one of them. "Straw Hat defeated Lady Hancock, effortlessly!"

"A bear hug! It has to be!" said another. "Straw Hat used a bear hug to render Hancock powerless!"

Hancock panted as she attempted to stand on her feet with Salome at her side.

'I did not expect such a big hug!' she thought. 'Can it be…? Is…is this that thing that I've heard so much about from the Kuja warriors? Can this be…marriage?!'

Luffy ran faster as he focused on his brother. "Wait for me, Ace!"

"You won't get away from me, Straw Hat and shapeshifter!"

Hancock turned and saw Smoker attempting to go after Luffy and Ben, once more.

"Perfume FEMUR!"

Hancock's leg struck Smoker's jutte. Normally, a sea prism stone would cancel out her Devil Fruit powers, but Hancock's kick was so powerful, it caused the jutte to turn into just regular stone and break in half in Smoker's hands.

"You INSOLENT FOOL!" Hancock barked as she stood up and gave Smoker her "looking down" pose. "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

"Look! Look at that!" a Marine exclaimed. "Look at the way she's looking down on him!"

"She's looking so far down, that she's looking up!" said another.

"You bitch," Smoker hissed. "Don't you remember what'll happen if you defy the orders of the World Government?"

"Anything I do will be forgiven," said Hancock.

A few more marines attempted to flank Ben and Luffy, but the rubberman and Omnitrix wielder were able to break through without too many problems. They wouldn't allow the marines to box them in again.

As they moved forward, he saw Iva up ahead with Kuma and Doflamingo.

"Iva!" Luffy yelled. He was more concerned about Kuma than Doflamingo. "It's the bear guy! Be careful Iva! He'll blast you away!"

"I'll be fine," Iva assured in a calm voice. "Now, Kuma, move!"

Luffy was surprise by the way Iva was addressing the bear Warlord. Kuma for his part made no move. He didn't even appear to be aware of anything.

"Iva, you know this guy?" Luffy asked as he stopped in front of the two Warlords.

"Yeah...but he's acting strange," Iva said as he narrowed his eyes.

Doflamingo chuckled in amusement. "It seems that you two have memories of Kuma, but the Kuma you know and this guy are two different people."

Ben looked puzzled.

Luffy blinked in confusion. "Different people? What is he talking about?"

"That's not possible! This is, without a doubt, the one who ate the Paw Paw Fruit!" Iva yelled as he pointed towards the cyborg. "He's Kuma! Kuma, answer me!"

Kuma gave no response. He continued to stare blankly at his former friend and comrade.

"This is so irritating!" Iva growled. "But, then again, he was always been a man of few words!"

"I keep telling you that it's useless, no matter how much you talk to him," Doflamingo said with a grin as he leaned into his hand. "Just a couple of days ago the government head scientist, Doctor Vegapunk, completed his final modification on him, transforming him into a perfect human weapon. In other words, this is the former Bartholomew Kuma!"

"Modification, a weapon, what are you talking about!?" Iva screamed in outrage.

"Basically, he was selected by the government's human weapon project to be a test subject. He volunteered for it himself," Doflamingo explained with a huge grin on his face. "They started with his hands, then his legs. Leaving only his conscious intact, the scientists replaced his body parts one by one over a long period of time."

Ben's eyes narrowed at the mental picture.

"Don't lie! Kuma hates the World Government!" Iva yelled in disbelief. "He would never offer his life to the government!"

"Well, I don't know what kind of deal this guy had with the government," Doflamingo shrugged as walked away. "A couple of days ago, there was definitely some human left in him." He stopped walking and sat on a fallen pirate's corpse. "But now, he has lost all his memory of being born human. He's as good as dead. He has become a monster who only fights according to the World Government's orders. The Pacifista, PX-0! The past is gone; you should forget it!"

As if to prove his point, Kuma got ready to fire his mouth laser at Ben, Luffy, and Iva. They barely had time to move before the laser nearly hit them.

Iva looked pissed as he glared at his friend. "Kuma, what happened to your body these past years!?"

Luffy stood up and stared at both Warlords as if he was trying to decide if he should try to take them both on.

"Now that I think about it...the thing he said to me..." Luffy muttered as he remembered Kuma's final words before he sent him flying.

"What's wrong with you, Kuma!? It's me, Ivankov!" he yelled desperately at his friend.

Kuma seemingly disappeared, taking Iva off-guard.

He appeared behind a group of Newkama Land people and removed his glove.

Luffy knew what was going to happen. "He's dangerous! Be careful!"

Kuma put his hand down and hit everyone with what looked like a cannon.

"Damn you, Kuma!" Iva yelled as he charged the Warlord.

Ivankov starts moving his head around at a fast pace, making it appear as if he had more than one, like Luffy's Gum-Gum Gatling.

Kuma stared at Ivankov, trying to find a vulnerable spot, but he was moving so fast, his visual sensors couldn't keep up.

"Galaxy WINK!" Ivankov winked at Kuma, much like a Death Wink, only this time, this variation had been multiplied, as if his several heads are winking all at once, much like a Gatling gun.

"WAHOO~!" Ivankov cried. "How dare you hurt my precious little candy boys!" Ivankov shouted. "If that's the way it's going to be, then don't expect me to hold back, anymore!"

He then kicked Kuma away.

"Wow!" the New Kamas cried. "He's so powerful!"

"This is the first time in my entire life," Ivankov began, "that anyone has ever forgotten this face of mine!"

'Yeah, makes sense,' the New Kamas thought.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MEMORY!" Ivankov shouted. "HOW COULD YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE, HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW SCARY I CAN BE?! IT LOOKS LIKE I'LL HAVE TO BEAT THOSE MEMORIES BACK INTO YOU! PREPARE YOURSELF, KUMA!"

He then turned to his New Kamas.

"I can handle Kuma!" he shouted. "The rest of you! Help Straw Hat Boy and Ben Boy and back them up! And whatever you do, don't let either of them die!"

"Yes, Lord Iva!"

With that, the New Kamas proceed to follow Luffy and Ben.

"We gotta get to that scaffold!" Luffy shouted.

"YEAH~!" the New Kamas shouted in agreement.

Luffy knew he was no match for the Warlord and he needed to save his brother. That was his number one mission.

Although, Luffy wasn't having much luck with Warlords today since he was running straight into another one.

"Go, Straw Hat, go!" shouted one of the New Kamas.

"Got it!" Luffy said. "C'mon, Ben! We're gonna make it!"

"I really hope you're right Luffy, Ben replied, " But I still got a bad feeling about this."

Just then, the two spotted a familiar figure in the distance.

It was Mihawk.

"Forgive me, Red-Hair, I will not go easy on him," Mihawk said softly as he got his sword ready. "Now then, fate, will the life of a promised child and his ally from the next generation end here? If not, how will he escape from the Black Blade?"

Ben could see the horrified look on Luffy's face.

"I don't have time to fight someone as strong as him! I came to save Ace!" Luffy yelled.

"Got it, Luffy!" Ben said, turning into XLR8 as he grabbed Luffy. "Hold on!"

The Kineceleran dashed towards Mihawk before disappearing from Mihawk's sight.

The swordsman waited, patiently, his perfect eyes never wavering as he searched for them, even when he cut down a few more swordsmen. "There!"

Both XLR8 and Luffy were almost at the stone wall where they could finally leave the bay and enter the plaza when a giant green energy wave suddenly slammed them from the side and lift them off the ground like they were in a tornado.

"What the heck!?" XLR8 exclaimed in surprise.

Luffy and XLR8 were both thrown into a nearby wall and the former gasped in pain as his wounds began to bleed. Thankfully, he had no fatal injuries.

"If I was twenty years younger, I probably wouldn't be alive right now," XLR8 said as he slowly pull himself from the wall.

Jimbei stepped forward and attempted to defend Luffy while he recovered. Jimbei, however, was at a disadvantage on land and Mihawk eventually defeated the fishman by cutting the ice right from under him.

Luffy and XLR8 had to dodge quickly when they saw Mihawk jump into the air and attempt a downward thrust on them. Luffy rolled until he was able to get some breathing distance between himself and the swordsman.

"Damn you!" Luffy yelled as he pulled his arms back, ready for a Jet Bazooka.

"Don't do it, he'll cut your hands off!" Ben shouted instinctually.

Mihawk ready his sword for the attack and Luffy prepared to launch his Bazooka when a sudden apparition filled his eyes. A vision of his arms being hacked off by Mihawk.

Luffy ceased his attack by slamming his arms into the ice.

Luffy breathed hard as he look at his hands, making sure that they were still there. "That was too close! If I had stretched my arms, he could have cut them off!"

"You are not as reckless as I expected," Mihawk noted before he attempted to slice Luffy's head off.

Luffy bent backwards, avoiding the slash, but he was left speechless by what he saw.

In the distance, the sword released another energy wave that cut an ice glacier that was the size of a mountain. The upper half of the glacier appeared to hover in the air for several seconds before it began to collapse onto the battlefield. The marines and some of the Whitebeard Pirates were left stunned by the display of power.

"He cut an entire ice mountain in half with just one slash," Ben exclaimed in shock. His eyes nearly popped out at the sight. "Just who is this guy?!"

More than a little unnerved by the display of power, Luffy tried to run again, but Mihawk easily incepted him off with another energy wave. Mihawk could do his aerial attacks much faster than even Zoro, even when compared to Zoro's current form. Zoro's aerial techniques also couldn't rip a person apart with one hit. He also was one of the few who didn't call his attacks as he performed them, making him hard to predict.

"Now, what will you do?" Mihawk asked calmly as he continued his ruthless assault.

Luffy dodged each sword slash skillfully, but he was being pushed back with ever evasion.

"You and the shapeshifter are being forced further away from your brother," Mihawk said as he continued to pummel Luffy with energy waves.

'He's right!' Ben thought. 'We can't just keep dodging his attacks like this! We can't just run pass him, either, because then he'll keep attacking us! What do we do?!'

"Damn!" Luffy cussed as he ran towards Mihawk.

"Is this where it ends?" Mihawk questioned as he prepared for the finishing blow.

As Luffy ran, Ben suddenly heard someone screaming from the sky.

"What is that?" Ben asked as he looked around. "It kind of sounds like Buggy."

Up in the sky was Buggy along with Mr. 3 along with several other prisoners from Impel Down. They were all being carried away by one of Crocodile's sand tornados.

"How did they get up there?" Luffy asked neutrally.

"I can't tell if this clown has extremely bad luck or extremely good luck," Ben muttered.

"It seems your fighting power had increased considerably, but I have already seen through all your tricks," Mihawk informed. "From this distance, there is not even a ten-thousand-to-one chance that I will miss."

Just when Luffy got close enough to Mihawk, he stretched his arms up and grabbed Buggy as he spun in the tornado. "Gum Gum Jet Substitute!" He brought his arms down and allowed Buggy take the sword blow for him.

Buggy gave a loud cry as he was sliced in half by Mihawk's blade.

Ben was left shocked into silence by the technique, "What the..." He murmured in disbelief.

Mihawk looked up and his face remained as impassive as ever.

"Hey, what are you doing, Strawhat!?" Buggy screamed angrily as he turned towards Luffy. Despite being cut in half he showed no ill effect or pain.

"What? He was the one who cut you in half!" Luffy yelled in his defense as he waved his hand between Buggy's two halves. "Besides, didn't you come to help me?"

"You dumbass, you hear what you want to hear!" Buggy screamed furiously.

Luffy grabbed Buggy again and threw him right into Mihawk, who proceeded to cut Buggy into onion slices. True to form, Buggy completely reformed himself within seconds.

Mihawk had a look of mild wonderment on his face as he stared at Buggy.

"Unforgivable! You're Hawk-Eye, aren't you!?" Buggy screamed in fury as he pointed at the swordsman.

Mihawk still said nothing. It seemed he was observing why Buggy was still alive.

Buggy had pushed his luck, however, and shot a Muggy Ball at Mihawk. Without even trying, the great swordsman deflected the ball right back at Buggy.

For the first time since Luffy had ever seen him, Buggy's mouth was completely closed as he watched his Muggy Ball fly towards him. It exploded in a grand fashion, engulfing the clown pirate in flames.

"Captain Buggy!" several of the prisoners and Mr. 3 yelled.

Ben sighed. "Moron."

"Thanks, Buggy, I'll never forget you!" Luffy yelled as he waved and left Buggy to Mihawk.

"It is not over yet!" Mihawk yelled as he attempted to hit Ben Luffy with another energy wave from the back, knocking the duo off-balance.

Before Mihawk could move in for the kill, he was intercepted by one of the Whitebeard's commanders. He had a long mustache that curled on the sides along with a black top hat and cape. He blocked Mihawk's sword with two rapiers.

"Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Fifth Division, Flower the Blade Vista," Mihawk muttered.

"Nice to meet you, Hawk-Eye Mihawk. So, you have heard of me?" Vista asked in a friendly voice. He had a huge grin on his face.

"It would be strange if I had not," Mihawk answered.

"I'm saved!" Luffy exclaimed as he turned around to see Vista holding Mihawk back. "Who's that old man?"

"Let's not worry about him, now!" Ben exclaimed.

Mihawk continued to glare at Ben and Luffy, but could do nothing to get to him with Vista stalling his blade. He neither looked upset or happy at the dup escaping his blade. If anything, he seemed more interested as his golden eyes pierced into Luffy himself.

"Well, whatever, I'm grateful!" Luffy yelled as he ran away.

'It's not the power of his Devil Fruit or his techniques, he thought. 'That boy possesses some sort of quality that makes people, even his enemies, want to help him. And in these seas…that's the most formidable power of all!'

Within moments of Ben and Luffy moving again, several explosions went off behind them. They glanced to see laser fire from the back of bay and the screams of people. Still, They couldn't be bothered by what was going on behind they.

As the dup ran forward, he began to encounter less and less resistance.

Luffy was getting close to the wall again when a flash of light blinded him. Standing in front of him was Kizaru.

"Not him again!" Ben yelled.

Kizaru smiled at Luffy before he kicked the rubberman and Omnitrix wielder who had transformed into Diamondhead in the face. "Back to where you started from!"

"Luffy-kun, Ben-kun!" Jimbei shouted as he caught Luffy, keeping them from flying further.

Luffy was breathing hard as he looked up at Jimbei. He then glanced at Kizaru, who was standing only a few feet away, looking as laid-back as ever.

"One of the admirals are here...dammit!" Luffy huffed tiredly.

"He is a formidable foe, but we must hurry," Jimbei said calmly as he faced the admiral. "You always knew that strong enemies would stand in your way and you decided to come anyway."

Luffy slowly stood up and continued to face down the admiral. He was, however, very unsteady on his feet and the memory blurred slightly.

Diamondhead frowned worriedly as he stared at Luffy. Was Iva's adrenaline already running out? Luffy's cheeks were also redder, showing that he was running a high fever.

At that moment, several people ran towards Luffy and surrounded him.

"Ace's brother, has your stamina run out?" one of the people asked. He was dressed in a kimono and had lipstick and eyeliner on like a woman. His hair was also pinned up in an exotic style.

"Oh, it's the commanders!" Jimbei yelled. "This makes things easier on us!"

"You can't let one admiral stop you," the man went on. "Come with us!"

"Alright!" Luffy yelled as he followed the Whitebeard's commanders, "Ben! How are you holding up?"

"Just peachy, thank you!" The Petrosapien remarked before forming his arm into a large blade.

"Now's our chance while the marines are fallen back!" the commander yelled to his troops. "Let's break their defenses!"

The pirates cheered in compliance.

"Oh, now that looks like a tough bunch," Kizaru noted in his normal dull surprised manner. It was impossible to tell if he meant what he was saying or if he was mocking them.

In a different part of the battlefield, Moria was confronting one of the Division Leaders: Curiel, a tall, muscular, and sturdy man with purple-tinted square-rimmed shades and wearing a watermelon-patterned bucket helmet on his head with a pair of headphones over his ears. Tattooed on his chin is the Whitebeard Pirates' Jolly Roger. He wore a green sleeveless coat over a magenta shirt, and brown and green spotted army pants tucked inside a standard pair of boots, and strapped to his back are two bazookas, and he is armed with two flintlock pistols, as well.

"KISHISHISHISHI!" Moria cackled. "Come at me, if you dare, Curiel, leader of the 10th Unit, but you're doomed if you stay here in the bay! KISHISHISHISHISHI! Ace will die and you fools will all be trapped! I don't care who wins or loses, to be honest, but it would be hilarious to see Whitebeard die!"

"I'm not gonna let Pops or Ace get killed!" Curiel shouted. He then fired one of his bazookas at Moria.

Meanwhile, with Vista and Mihawk, the two are still dueling. The two clashed swords, but neither of them seemed to get a hit on each other.

"Perhaps we should settle this later, Vista," said Mihawk.

"It seems that would be best for the both of us, wouldn't it?" asked Vista.

"Commodore Smoker!" Tashigi called as she finished cutting down a pirate. "This place is already…!"

"I know, Tashigi!" Smoker called.

"Oh, Luffy," Hancock whispered, worryingly. "Please, you and Ben must hurry!"

Kuma just remained silent.

Luffy's group didn't get too far before the battlefield suddenly became dead silent. Everyone on both sides had stopped fighting and looked behind them in shock and surprise. It was like time itself had stopped.

Diamondhead and Luffy slowly turned around and saw that Whitebeard had been stabbed through the chest by one of his allies.

Just Above Earth's Atmosphere

Vilgax sat, brooding, on his command throne aboard his flagship. His vessel was over a mile long, covered in orange plates of metal and red, almost organic-looking, spheres. The ship looked like it promised nothing but total annihilation, and it could make good on that promise. The vessel could level a continent on its own; sadly, for any who dared challenge Vilgax, it wasn't alone. Surrounding the ship were over three hundred other vessels; they were scaled-down versions of the flagship, each was only about half a mile in length. The warlord himself was staring at a video feed of the Marineford War with malice and intrigue.

"Finally," he rumbled, his voice deep enough to make the entire bridge vibrate, "The time of my vengeance has come."

The sound of footsteps behind him caused him to glance over, his eyes the only thing making any movements.

"Indeed, my master; soon, the humans will bow down to you!"

"Is the machine ready, Psyphon?" Vilgax finally turned his head to look at his chief scientist and chief lieutenant. While Psyphon was only a toady, Vilgax would still be in the Null Void if Eon hadn't used Psyphon's technology, and thus, he was invaluable, though his sycophantic nature could get grating at times.

Psyphon nodded, a sadistic gleam in his eyes. "Indeed, master; Tennyson, these pirates, and this World Government will not know what hit them."

Vilgax looked away, back to the footage of the ongoing war, thinking about what was transpiring. These humans were more impressive than he had imagined. His recent battle was proof of that. He needed to try a different approach if he was to fully conquer this world.

He growled softly; This world will soon be his. Its inhabitants will either submit to his will or be annihilated with the rest of this planet.

"When will the other members of our alliance arrive?"

Psyphon bowed again. "They will reach orbit in twenty minutes, master."

"Instruct them to head to Tennyson's current location as soon as they hit the atmosphere."

"When shall they strike, master?"

If it wasn't for the mask, Psyphon would have seen a sick smile cross his master's face.

"Let these humans continue fighting their little war. If we play our cards right, this shall work in our favor..."

AN: Happy New Year everyone! Since the other big names have already updated their Ben 10 stories, I figured I should do the same. If you think things are intense now, just wait till part two. What does Vilgax have planned? What happened to Blackbeard? What is this machine that Psyphon is working on? What will happen next? Find out next time on A Hero and the Strawhat! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as this is the longest one yet. I promise to post Part 2 soon. And trust me, that's when things take a real unexpected turn regarding a certain pivotal moment in One Piece. Thank you, and good night.