Escape from Marineford

Admiral Borsalino fired dozens of his lasers at the retreating pirates in a last ditch attempt to at least finish off Ace, but he didn't have much luck. It would be far too dangerous for him to isolate himself amongst Whitebeard's crew by attempting to get in close. He wasn't willing to risk his own skin with such bad odds.

Admiral Sakazuki had recovered from the blow he took from Whitebeard and started launching large lava projectiles at their ships. Aokiji used what little strength he had left to encircle the ships with ice, trapping them inside.

That didn't last long as Whitebeard smashed apart the frozen ocean easily.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku was coming to terms with the fact that they had lost. Their fight with Whitebeard left himself and his three admirals wounded and tired. Garp had been taken out of the fight as well. The only powerhouse they had left that could contend with them was Vice Admiral Tsuru who they had kept in reserve, but she couldn't turn the tides at this point.

'Why didn't I bring Issho and Aramaki in?' Sengoku sighed in despondence. He knew why, they couldn't just abandon the whole world for this fight. Who knows what kind of havoc they'd be left to clean up if they did?

'This is all that little devil's fault.' Sengoku glared in the direction of the retreating Cherry.

He never would have believed that a single rookie could have completely turned the tide of this war, and he had no doubt that that was the truth of the matter. Harpin D. Cherry had demonstrated her strength by defeating Garp, even if she came out of it looking much worse than Garp did.

Her main contribution to the war, though, was whatever mysterious technique she had used to return Whitebeard to the strength of his prime. It was dangerous, extremely dangerous.

There were plenty of big shots in the world who had fallen out of the public eye because their bodies suffered the ravages of time.

'Is it her devil fruit? She is a fusion woman if I recall correctly, did she transfer her own youth or vitality to Whitebeard or something?' Sengoku shook his head, there was no point in speculating by himself. He was no scientist, but he could ask Vegapunk about it later. Perhaps he would have some insights into the matter.

Sakazuki refused to give of the chase, despite his exhaustion and injuries. It was not outside of the realm of possibilities that his recklessness would get him killed.

Just as Sengoku was going to order him to come back, another change occurred on the battlefield.

"Red Hair..." Sengoku frowned. It was over, not even the zealous Sakazuki could argue otherwise at this point, as evidenced by how the lava man had halted in his pursuit and seemed to boil with rage.

Another surprise was the arrival of a yellow submarine belonging to another rookie by the name of Trafalgar Law.

Back on the pirates' side, Cherry stopped running to look at Shanks. Luffy had a promise with the man to meet him again someday when he had become a great pirate.

It was perhaps a bit too early for that, as Shanks seemed relieved to see that Luffy was somehow sleeping soundly in Jinbe's grasp. He had good senses, the moment the battle's result was decided, all the tension left him and he was out like a light.

Shanks felt that someone was looking at him and turned to see Cherry. At first he didn't recognize her, that was just how grisly of a state her body was in.

"Hey, tattletale. Maybe you should go with that fellow and take Luffy with you. He's a doctor, I've heard." Shanks said.

"Don't act all cool, I could hear your squealing from miles away on that night. A little old lady really sent you packing, huh?" Cherry teased, which brought a bit of pink to his cheeks as he coughed awkwardly.

"Yasopp! Anything you want me to say to your boy? I can tell him next time I see him." Cherry called out.

"Ohhh, I appreciate it! Tell him I'm real proud and I can't wait to see what he makes of himself! He needs to put on some more muscle, though. Just cause he's a sniper like his old man, doesn't mean he should skip out on the workouts!" Yasopp yelled back in response with some fatherly praise and advice. It was a shame he was such a deadbeat, he would have made for a decent father.

Shanks basically declared the end of the war at this point. No one could object to his declaration, as they weren't in any condition to fight with another emperor of the sea, certainly not one still in the prime of his life.

Cherry joined up with Jinbe and Luffy who boarded Law's submarine. Ace went with Whitebeard after telling Jinbe to give his thanks to Luffy. Not for coming to save him, but just for being his brother and for loving him.

Law's submarine sank under the waves and he came to check Cherry's wounds first, since Luffy wasn't in any danger.

"How are you even still conscious?! No, how are you even still ALIVE?!" Law exclaimed, he'd never seen someone with this kind of damage who wasn't a corpse.

"Hehehe, don't look down on me brat." Cherry said.

"I'm older than you!" Law growled, trying to herd Cherry into his operating room.

"Some pestering me, I'll be fine. I just need a good night's sleep is all." Cherry said, knowing full well that what she was saying was absurdity of the highest order, by the common sense of this world anyways.

"I don't know how you're being so casual about this, but I'm not leaving you to die. I'm a doctor!" Law complained, thinking Cherry was worse than the most stubborn elderly patients he's dealt with before.

"Stop pushing your luck, Law. I'm only here to make sure your motivations for helping Luffy are pure. Otherwise I'm going to sink us, and I'm the only one with a fishman." Cherry poked his chest, as if to accentuate her threat.

"FINE! Be that way! Don't come crying to me when you're dead!" Law turned his attention to Luffy.

Jinbe didn't want to get involved with the argument and was trying to meditate. He was somewhat worried about Cherry's wounds as well, but his experience with her told him to stay out of it.

...

Meanwhile around the world people were taking in the truth of what they just witnessed. Whitebeard won the war, the World Government had lost, and it wasn't even that close.

Buggy and his group of escapees has stolen one of the den den mushi used for broadcasting, so the Marines hadn't been able to hide their shameful defeat.

The revolutionary army was ecstatic at this massive blow to the Marines' reputation, especially since it was at the hands of pirates instead of themselves. They were trying to avoid any public clashes with the World Government and focus on building sympathy with the people right now, rather than playing into the image of evil doers the World Government told people they were.

Dragon in particular was quite proud of his son. When it came to pissing off the World Government, he was a chip off the old block.

Among the general populace, the reaction was very different. Fear and despair were prominent emotions among many of them. For a small subset of individuals, however, it was like a fire was growing in their hearts.

'The marines are this weak? Then don't I have a shot at becoming King of the Pirates? Won't the next King of the Pirates basically rule the world?' Was the sort of thoughts racing through their minds.

It was the beginning of a new era, a new golden age for piracy. The fervor that had started to die down from Roger's last words was reignited.

Last, but not least, the familiar figure of Grandma Angela was getting wasted with her apprentices Borke and Slenk. She had a great deal to celebrate and a great deal to mourn.

On one hand, her precious granddaughter was still alive and had made quite the name for herself. On the other hand, there was no way the World Government would ever let Cherry go.

"Maybe I should join the revolutionaries..." Angela slurred. Slenk and Borke went a bit pale at that idea, but their loyalties were firmly with their master, not the government, so they would follow whatever path she walked.