4 4. The War Begins. One Less Sacrifice.
│3rd Person POV│
[Marineford, War of the Best, approx. Three Hours before the Execution]
"You should not lie, Fleet Admiral. A man of your stature lying sets a really bad example, you know. Maybe writing [I must not tell Lies] a thousand times a day would help.
"Heh, there's no point in covering the Den-Den Mushi now Fleet Admiral. There's nothing more I want to say."
'For now.'
Just after he finished thinking that, a marine called out from the back of the execution platform and reported to Sengoku that the Gates of Justice had been opened without anybody's orders.
After a second of being shocked, Sengoku immediately commanded the marines and Shichibukai to get ready to face the incoming pirates.
On the horizon, an impressive fleet of Pirate ships started appearing.
The commotion among the marines grew as they counted the number of ships.
And it looks like Doflamingo and Moria got a pretty hard boner all of a sudden after seeing the Pirate Fleet.
The former just wants to see chaos and the latter is hoping to gain some strong undeads from this war. And only one of them would be able to achieve their objective today.
Then, giant shadows appeared in the bay.
Sengoku exclaimed in realization as he figured out how the Moby Dick and three other ships of Whitebeard Pirate appeared in the center of the bay.
"GURARARARARA~!!"
Whitebeard's laugh reverted throughout the Marineford as he stood at Moby Dick's figurehead.
"How many years has it been, Sengoku? My beloved Son had better be unharmed! Gurararara! You just wait right there… Ace!"
Ace smiled widely as he responded, "That was one hell of an entrance, Pops!!"
"Gurararara~!"
Upon seeing that Ace wasn't as depressed as he thought he would be, Whitebeard was truly happy, not just smiling to instill confidence in his crew and allies.
Then, he put his Naginata at his side for a moment and took a stance that sent chills down the spine of marines who had an inkling of what was about to happen.
Whitebeard punched the air and cracked it.
All those present felt the massive seaquack that rocked the world around them, but otherwise seemingly did nothing, much to the confusion of the thousands of gathered Marines.
The normal members of the Whitebeard Pirates were all shouting jeers and taunts at the hundred thousand gathered across from them.
Seeing them go, Marco, the 1st Division Commander and Head Doctor of Whitebeard Pirates, was itching to join them as well.
"Don't worry Ace." He called out, his voice echoing across the bay, "We'll have you free in no time, yoi~"
He was also happy upon noticing Ace's clear, bright gaze that was not drowning in misery and depression.
All the other Squad Leaders also spoke up, expressing their desire to free Ace and beat up some marines along the way.
Suddenly, the entire Marineford started to shake again. The seaquake that Whitebeard sent some moments ago was returning with a vengeance.
An enormous tsunami roared towards Marineford, easily large enough to obliterate the island in an instant.
Sengoku started raising his men's morals and cautioning them while also hyping up Whitebeard at the same time. Ultimately, the Marines stood to significantly enhance their reputation by emerging victorious in the war, especially since they would solidify Whitebeard's image as THE powerful pirate who was overcome by the Marines.
As the roaring waves crashed towards the bay, a single figure leaped upwards from in front of the execution platform.
"ICE AGE!"
The figure bellowed as ice erupted from their hands towards the tsunami, freezing it completely solid almost instantly.
"Gurararara! Aokiji!" Whitebeard's gaze tracked up to lock onto the airborne Admiral's figure. "You little tyke."
The Ice Logia user didn't waste any time in responding in his own way.
"Partisan!"
Whitebeard retaliated quickly, sending a powerful quake through the air, shattering the ice spears thrown by Admiral Aokiji. The attack even reached him, cracking his body and sending him flying towards the water in the bay.
Just as Aokiji touched down on the water, ice started spreading from his hands and within seconds, the whole bay was frozen solid.
A few seconds later, Ace slowly raised his head to look up. With his Observation Haki, he sensed the presence of Luffy, Jinbe, and several hundred other pirates.
He smirked as a plan began to form in his head.
=+=+=+=< Scene Break >=+=+=+=
The war had been raging for some minutes now.
Whitebeard stood on the prow of the Moby Dick, watching quietly as the battle continued to progress. Marco was currently fighting with Kizaru, and 'Hawkeye' Mihawk had just tried to attack him, only to be blocked by 'Diamond' Jozu.
And then, Jozu ripped out a giant chunk of ice, almost the size of a ship, out of the frozen bay.
"Try blocking this!" Jozu shouted as hurled the ice over, towards the execution platform.
Akainu, the Magma man, presumably the strongest of the three Admirals, and possibly the strongest Marine present today, stepped forward and annihilated the giant block of ice by sending out a giant fist made of lava.
Destruction rained down on the bay from the resulting explosion, scattering marines and pirates alike.
One of the globs of magma was going directly toward Whitebeard and he handled it with ease.
"Your attacks are a little too flashy, Magma Brat." He smirked while saying, "Why don't you use your skills to light birthday candles instead?"
Akainu's mouth also split into a smirk as he replied, "Why, you don't want a flashy funeral, Whitebeard?"
Whitebeard just laughed and shifted his attention towards Oars Junior who was charging from outside the bay with a Marine Battleship as his shield.
=+=+=+=< Scene Break >=+=+=+=
│1st Person POV of Ace│
Now then, my time to do my contribution in this war had come.
"Oars!!!" I shouted while also infusing my voice with Conqueror's Haki. This is a trick that I learned to use during my training with Jinbe.
My call woke up Oars from his mad haze of charging without a care for himself.
However, this action also brought all the Admirals, two Vice-Admirals, and Sengoku's attention to me as they likely sensed Conqueror's Haki usage from me.
I paid them minimal attention.
Back to Oars, he was looking at me attentively now.
I smiled at him and said, "There's no need to sacrifice yourself right now buddy. I will need you for something here later. Just focus on the Marines Battleships that are now encircling the Whitebeard Pirates allies for now, alright? I will call you over when we need you here."
Oars visibly struggled with indecision for a few moments. Ultimately, he seemed to have decided to trust my words as he retreated to the back lines and started unleashing destruction upon the Marine Battleships there.
I heaved a sigh of relief as he listened to me. For a second there, I thought he was going to ignore me.
I don't want him to die here doing what he can easily do while being alive and healthy.
Also, Oars being there would be of massive help when Sentomaru arrives with the numerous Pacifistas.
And if my plan succeeds, then the Pacifistas would become completely inconsequential in this war.
"You surely don't think we will let you escape, right? Especially now that you have shown that you have that power, even being capable of utilizing a never before seen trick with it." Sengoku said menacingly from my side.
I completely ignored him, not responding to him, and continued to watch the war.
I can hear the sound of teeth grinding from his direction and imagining his frustrated face brought a smile to my face.
Then I heard footsteps from behind me and a glance backward told me that Gramps had come.
He stepped past Sengoku and sat beside me. He and Sengoku exchanged some words before he addressed me with slight tears in his eyes.
"Damn you, Ace! Why did you not live as I wanted you to?"
I sighed and stayed quiet, knowing that he didn't question me while expecting an answer. He already knows the answer from our talk during the time he came to visit me in Impel Down.
"If you try anything at all, I will show no mercy, even for you, Garp." warned Sengoku, trying to dissuade any thoughts of rebellion from Gramps' mind.
Gramps didn't delay in responding, "Hmph! If I meant to try anything, I would have done it long ago!"
Then, the three of us focused our attention on the battlefield.
It wasn't long before an extremely bizarre scene played out in front of us. Even though I knew this was gonna happen, it doesn't make the scene any less bizarre.
A Marine Battleship was falling from the sky towards the frozen bay, spinning and flipping through the air. Its occupants were all shrieking and flailing as they were thrown into the open air by the fall.
Miraculously, the ship and crew somehow landed in the hole that Jozu created earlier when he had ripped the ice chunk out to throw at the admirals.
A few moments later, a single voice ripped its way across Marineford.
"A~~~CE~~~~!!!" A young man in a yellow vest screamed as he climbed on top of the wrecked Marine Battleship, several other figures appearing behind him. "I finally found you. We're here to save you~!"
Well, who else but Monkey D. Luffy, my little brother, could top my Pops entrance? Hahahahaha!
...To Be Continued!
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A/N: Not just Ace and Whitebeard, I wouldn't even let Oars Jr. die. He was there for at most 5 chapters in the Manga.
However, I will never be able to forget the way he sacrificed himself to save Ace. As the Almighty Author of this Fic, I wil use my power to make him live longer and accomplish more significant things in the future.
Anyway, if you like this Fic, Shower it with Power Stones, Save it in your Library, and Post a Review if you feel like doing it.
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