Chapter 4:

12.20 p.m., Impel Down, some hallway leading through a cell block in level two

The wax yielded with one last loud cracking noise, and acrid poison flooded in all directions. Breathing heavily, the chief warden looked around, but he could see nobody aside from the dead bodies of the prisoner, which had gotten into contact with his poison before he got entrapped by this god-damned rookie Strawhat Luffy and some other prisoner.

"I will make them pay!" Magellan swore in the silence surrounding him. "I will not let them get away." His eyes focused on a point further away. He could feel them. Several hundred people somewhere higher. All together.

Poison oozed off him, creating a slippery road for Magellan to slide along faster than walking or running. He would catch these spawns of the devil and show them hell.

Shocked screams from his left side echoed through the otherwise silent level.

Magellan raised a hand to release a wave of poison, only to stop at the last second as he recognised four startled guards.

"Chief warden?!" one of the guards stuttered, moving away from the poison flooding the floor.

"Report!" Magellan demanded impatiently.

The guards babbled over each other.

"The fire in level fo- "

"Most prisoners from level three to o- "

"Main gate open- "

"Head jailor Domino is pull- "

"Head jailor Sadi is inj- "

"A sea fight in front of Imp- "

"Communication room is destro- "

Magellan got the gist of what they were saying and growled. "Tell Domino to send all remaining units up to the defensive wall. They are to fire at all prisoners who pass through the main gate to the outside. I will come from behind and take them all out."

With pale faces, the guards nodded before racing off to relay his orders.

.

Same time, Marineford, Sengoku's office

"Status!" barked Kong as he rushed into Sengoku's office.

"Status of Fire Fist is still unclear as we cannot contact Impel Down directly. The newly appointed warlord Blackbeard Marshal D. Teach has gone rogue and is involved in a fight in the sea between the Gate of Justice and Impel Down. Unfortunately, the escort fleet for Fire Fist also got entangled in the fight. Furthermore, we expect Whitebeard to appear at any moment.", answered Sengoku tense.

Aside from himself, only the three admirals, Tsuru and Garp, were present.

"And why did I only get informed about this mess so late?" inquired Kong further.

Nobody answered.

"Sir!"

Until Akainu opened his mouth. "Even without Fire Fist present, we should use all forces present to take down Whitebeard and his associates once they arrive at Marineford. If we execute Fire Fist later is irrelevant as long as we can serve justice and bring down all criminals currently heading for Marineford."

Kong fixed him with a cold gaze. "You do know, admiral, that we announced the public execution of Fire Fist Ace mainly because of his status as second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates? All over the world, screens are set up to live stream the execution. If these streams don't show the execution of Fire Fis-"

"Sir!" A panicking rear admiral rushed into the office and froze under the glare of every person present.

"What?" asked Kong coldly.

The rear admiral swallowed. "We- we received an emergency call from two of the battleships guarding Impel Down. They- they reported that they get attacked by prisoners. They reported former warlord Sir Crocodile, warlord knight of the sea Jinbe, Daz Boner, Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace, Strawhat Monkey D. Luffy and an unknown sixth person as the offenders before the transmission stopped."

And the world started to sway around Sengoku as he stared at the rear admiral.

The pain in his head became unbearable as everything turned fuzzy.

He didn't notice the too-hard grip of Garp on his arms keeping him upright or the panicking voice of Tsuru as she screamed for one of the medics.

All he heard was, "Theyreported former warlord Sir Crocodile, warlord knight of the sea Jinbe, Daz Boner, Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace, Strawhat Monkey D. Luffy and an unknown sixth person as the offenders…" over and over and over again.

It was over!

.

A tiny bit earlier, Impel Down, seaside, on an improvised boat

Luffy's hand painfully clutched his arm while Sabo held onto a belt loop of his trousers – well, at least that was better than Sabo trying to strangle him with his necklace – while the three of them crouched down.

Another wave hit their improvised boat – one of the enormous double wing doors of Impel Down's main gate pushed along the outer defensive wall by courtesy of Jinbe – made Ace reach for one of the huge studs to keep his balance. And consequently, keeping his brothers, which stuck to him as if he would take off as soon as they let go of him, and himself from tumbling over.

Unlike Buggy and the wax dude, who both found themselves with their faces pressed to the hard wood. "Hey, a little bit more careful.", complained Buggy picking himself up.

"You have even fewer skills than Strawhat.", Crocodile snarled with disdain. The former warlord and another prisoner, who is friends with the former warlord – and whose name Ace didn't know – stood further down on the door. "Why did you two scallywags insist on accompanying us if you cannot even stand on your own feet."

Buggy growled. "Shut up!"

An arrogant smirk spread over Crocodile's face. "You better pull your weight once we are capturing a ship."

"You all shut up now!" snapped Sabo, tense. "Or you all go overboard. Are we clear?"

Crocodile raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say we all would leave together back at the pier?"

"I- "

Something whooshed through the gap between Ace's and Sabo's heads.

"Ships ahead.", Crocodile's friend drawled.

Ace's head snapped around. He was right. Ahead of them were two battleships, and one was moving at a surprising speed even though its sails were reefed.

"Looks like we are lucky, and there are still ships moored around Impel Down.", Crocodile said while a bullet flew through his eye.

In the next moment, Luffy yelled dumbfound as several bullets hit him.

"They are shooting at us, gane!" wax dude cried, huddling behind a wall of wax together with Buggy.

"Shit!" Ace cursed and grabbed Sabo, pushing him behind Luffy. "Stay behind Luffy!"

"What?" Sabo tried to fight Ace off, but then he cross-eyed as something whizzed past his nose.

"You are not bulletproof, idiot! But Luffy is!" Ace hissed, pushing Sabo down. "So, stay right there."

"If they use seastone bullets, you and Luffy are also in danger.", Sabo protested as a bullet went through Ace's legs.

"I doubt the marine hand something as expensive as seastone bullets out to run-of-the-mills marines.", Crocodile stated calmly.

"So, which ship should we take?" asked Jinbe, slowing down slightly.

"They are shooting from that one!" Luffy pointed at the unmoving ship. "Let's take that one."

"No!" Sabo protested immediately. "The moving one! It must be a ship out of the new line of battleships, with a water pump system that powers a propeller and allows these ships to move freely in the calm belt. With the moored one, chances are we can only use a current to get out of the calm belt, which means going through the Gate of Justice into the Tarai Current if we want to escape!"

Jinbe's blustering laughter resounded from below them. "Okay, then we have our ship." Once again, the fishman speeded up.

"I think I know what they are trying to do.", Crocodile said as more and more bullets rained down on them. He pointed at the unmoving ship. "They are shooting at us from that ship, hoping to take some of us out. And simultaneously, they bring that ship into a position to sink us." He pointed at the moving battleship.

"Don't worry, I won't let them sink you.", Jinbe reassured.

"You better not!" shouted Buggy panicking.

"Luffy! Move!" Ace pulled at Luffy so that he would better cover Sabo.

"You're good, Sabo?" asked Luffy, allowing Ace to move his body.

"Yeah."

Ace clenched his teeth. He couldn't do anything for Sabo. If he refused his body to dissolve into flames once a bullet hit him, he would get injured instead of Sabo. And then Sabo would probably throw another fit. He could only ensure Luffy was well-positioned to cover their long-lost brother as they sped over the sea.

"Why are we slowing down, gane?" wax dude asked, peeking over his wall. "The ship is still a good distance away."

"They are reading their cannons.", Crocodile's friend pointed out unhelpful.

Their improvised boat came to a complete stop.

"Jinbe! Hey! Jinbe! Where is he? Just now, he said he wouldn't let them sink us, and now he deserts us?" raged Buggy.

Ace smiled at his two brothers. "Hold on tight."

Amused, Sabo raised an eyebrow. "You know what's coming?"

"Yeah." Ace laughed. "Luffy will like it."

"I will?"

"So, it's something crazy?"

With loud rumbling, the battleship's cannons fired at the exact moment as their improvised boat got heaved up.

Buggy and wax dude screamed in panic, clutching one another.

"How cool!" Excitedly Luffy shouted as they rushed in the direction of the moving battleship.

Loudly Sabo laughed while Ace chuckled.

Crocodile and his friend were stone-faced.

And then they crashed onto the deck of the ship. Startled marines were running around them, shouting at each other and them.

"Surrender!"

"Capture them!"

"Shoot all but Fire Fist!"

"You are arrested!"

"Get seastone nets!"

"Rescue the kidnappee!"

"Who the hell got kidnapped?" asked Luffy, confused.

"I think they mean me.", Sabo deadpanned.

"Told you to get rid of that uniform.", said Ace.

"Shut up!"

"Do you three intend to help capture this ship?" asked Crocodile annoyed, throwing a four fan-shaped sand blade at the marines.

"Don't worry. We are at it.", said Ace pulling Sabo and Luffy up. "And you idiots, stop shooting at Sabo!" Ace created several small fire bullets and aimed them at the marines.

"Don't light the ship on fire, Ace!" warned Sabo, hitting one marine with his bludgeon and kicking a second. Ace suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and punched somebody in the face. Then he kicked a marine, who tried to sneak up on Luffy with a sword.

A loud swoosh, and from the corner of his eyes, Ace saw a water column hit the other ship destroying parts of it.

"Cool!" Luffy screamed, racing to the railing.

"That's Jinbe. He should have sunk the other ship quickly.", said Ace smiling as several small water columns once again hit the battleship. "Come on, Luffy. We have a ship to capture."

"Okay!" chirped Luffy, watching another attack hit the second ship. Then he ducked to evade a marine, grabbed his arm, and threw him overboard. Two more followed him before Luffy punched one in the face.

Keeping an eye out for his two brothers Ace knocked one marine out after another and limited the usage of his devil fruit to a minimum, lest he made Sabo angry again. At one point, Crocodile asked where Buggy and wax dude were, but Ace honestly had no idea. By the time Jinbe came on board, they had already cleared most of the deck, and Crocodile announced he would go below deck to take out the units hiding there. His friend followed him.

Minutes later, no marines were left to fight, as they were either unconscious or thrown overboard.

"I will go take the helm.", Jinbe announced.

"I will take a look at the engine for the water pump system.", said Sabo, but turned to Ace. "You sit down with Luffy watching over you so you won't get any funny ideas."

"What?!" Ace shouted and got tackled by Luffy within seconds.

"You heard me. Sit!"

Jinbe laughed. "I will take the two with me to the helm." He looked meaningful at Sabo.

And Ace hated it. Like Sabo and Luffy, Jinbe seemed to believe Ace would do something dumb. Like, trying to get to Teach – that brother murdering bastard! – and fight him, but how should Ace do that? It's not like he could take over the ship. Ace knew better than to underestimate the fishman. Even though Jinbe was an honourable man, he was still willing to use underhand methods if he felt their use was justified. And if Ace tried to chase after Teach, Jinbe would throw Ace overboard to stop him.

Huffing Ace stomped over the deck to the bow of the battleship, a happily giggling Luffy in tow. Once there, he slumped down and sent a nasty look at Jinbe, who ignored it. And then, Luffy had the gall to sit in his lap and warped rubbery arms around him.

"Wh- "

"Now, Ace can't leave.", Luffy announced happily.

Jinbe chuckled.

Ace pouted but hugged Luffy anyway. Taking a deep breath, Ace closed his eyes. Why could nobody understand that he just wanted to bring justice to Thatch? Once again, he was close to Teach, close to having a chance to get justice for Thatch, and he couldn't fight the brother murderer because his little brothers suddenly thought that they could rule over his life and make his decisions for him. Pops already was against him going after Teach. And now his brothers, too.

Ace buried his face in Luffy's bloody, sweat-soaked and dusty hair. Anger curled in his stomach, and everything inside of him was screaming, 'Screw it! Go! Fight the brother-murder, so he can never do something like this again! So that he never can endanger anybody dear to you! So that he can't go after Luffy! Go! Go! Go!'. Ace felt his muscle tighten as the impulse to rush off grew stronger and stronger.

Luffy's arms tightened around him.

"It's alright, Ace!" muttered Luffy in his chest. "We are leaving. We are together again. Everything will be alright. Just wait and see. Once we are far, far away, you will feel better." And then Luffy's voice grew softer as he buried his face deeper in Ace's chest. "Please don't leave, Ace! Please! Please let us all go together! Just this once, Ace! Please! Just this once, let it go! For Sabo! For me! Please, Ace, just let us leave." pleaded Luffy sounding so, so close to breaking that it tore Ace up on the inside.

Ace clutched Luffy tightly while on the inside, his instinct to go and fight the brother-murdering traitor battled against his desire to protect his little brother from further harm, even harm inflicted through action taken by himself. And Luffy pleaded with him to go with them the whole time in that soft, nearly broken voice that tore him up.

Hearing steps, Ace relucent opened his eyes and saw Sabo coming closer while talking into a baby transponder snail. A different one, not the striped one from the vice-warden. Where the hell had Sabo gotten that one from?

Sabo smiled at him and Luffy and went to Jinbe, who stood at the helm.

"- then I will leave that to you, Ivankov. Wait a moment.", Ace heard Sabo say before he turned to Jinbe. "How long do you think until we reach the pier?"

"Hm… I have no knowledge about these ships with a water pump system, but we are moving fast. I would say around five minutes."

"You heard that, Ivankov?"

"Yes, my sveet sugar boy. Don't vorry. Ve vill be ready, vhen you arri- "A loud crashing interrupted Ivankov, then laughter. "These remaining guards are really persistent, that I must leave them. Sabo, my sugar boy, ve vill talk on the ship. I must teach a fev more guards a lesson."

Sabo snort. "See you in a few."

The baby transponder snail fell asleep, and Sabo pocketed it.

"I checked the engine over and refilled the fuel tank. We should easily make it out of the calm belt." Then he pointed at something Ace couldn't see from his position. "That's the leverage for the speed. If you move it up, we go faster; down, we get slower." Jinbe nodded. "Ivankov and Inazuma want to slingshot the prisoners waiting for us on board so we don't have to stop. So, I suggest we decrease our speed as much as possible once we see the pier and go full speed as soon as all are on board."

"Sound good to me.", answered Jinbe. "Where are Crocodile and Mr. 1?"

"They are throwing marines overboard." Sabo sighed tiredly. "They also found Buggy and that wax dude Mr. 3 or whatever he calls himself. Can you believe that they were unconscious? Knocked themselves out as we landed." Sabo shook his head. "We woke them up so they can help clean up here." Sabo looked around before his gaze rested on Ace.

"You should rest a few minutes.", Jinbe suggested looking ahead. "I expect we will get chased." For a second, he looked with a pointed look at Sabo.

Sabo sighed but didn't object to the assessment of the fishman. Instead, he turned and walked up to Ace and Luffy. Standing above them, he looked down at them, examined them, and then his face suddenly became soft. Sinking to his knees, Sabo slung his arms around Ace, squashing Luffy between them. And Ace found his face pressed into Sabo's chest.

"I am sorry, Ace!" Sabo mumbled just loud enough for Ace to hear him. "I am truly sorry! But I just can't let you go. I- I am too selfish to let you go! Not now! Not after finally getting you back! We may not have seen each other in ten years, but- you are my brother! I know how you were as a kid. And I- I followed your journey closely. Closer than you probably will ever know. And I – I know how you are!"

Ace felt Sabo press his face against his head. Felt him shudder. Still stuck between them, Luffy wiggled around until he could raise his head higher and leaned his face into the side of Ace's.

"I- I can't lose you now! And I know that if I let you go- if I let you do what you so desperately want to do, then Luffy and I would lose you. And I can't- I-"Sabo's voice grow gruff. "You are my brother! I just- I love you too much to let you go, just to die. I want you to live. That's why I did come."

"Me too! I love Ace very, very, very, very, very much!" Luffy pressed himself – if possible – even closer to Ace. "I don't want to lose Ace! Ace must live! And you promised me! You remember Ace, right? You promised me. You can't break your promise. And now- Sabo is back, Ace! I don't want to get Sabo back and then lose you! Please, Ace! Stay with us! I don't want Ace to leave us now that we are all together again. Please, Ace!"

Why? Why were his brothers such idiots? And why did they have to be all about feelings suddenly? Why did they suddenly tell him that they loved him? Why did Luffy remember that stupid promise he made ages ago? Why the hell did they come to free him? Why did they risk their lives? Their dreams?

Why him?

He was a god-damn monster!

Ace felt something sting in the corner of his eyes and blinked rapidly, but he couldn't stop the tears, which slowly ran down his cheeks, while his two idiot brothers continued to be sentimental saps who made him feel loved.

Unknown to him, Jinbe had watched them the whole time and felt relief flood through himself as Ace quietly wept in the arms of his brothers.

Not even five minutes later, with eyes suspiciously red, Ace was forced to throw a gigantic fire fist against the prison to repel the enraged chief warden and ignite the wooden pier of Impel Down as well as a good part of the top level of the jail in the process. Meanwhile, his brothers, as well as Crocodile and his friend, defended their ship against the barrage from two battleships and the guard units on top of the outer defensive wall, as Sabo's strange friends – in the most absurd move Ace ever has seen – slingshot hundreds of prisoners onto the stolen ship.

.

.

12.55 p.m., Paradise, somewhere under the ocean surface

Whitebeard was sitting in his chair on the deck, watching his children making the last preparations for the upcoming fight. It shouldn't be long until they would reach their destination: Marineford. Whitebeard's face darkened. He would get his son back, even if it cost him his life. He would!

Not a storm that tried to delay them or Kaidou, that snot-nosed brat, nor the marines would stop him!

"Pops! Pops!"

Whitebeard looked to the side where his son stood with a pale face and eyes blown wide with shock. And he tensed up. "Yes, so- "

"Ace! He is on a transponder snail! He is calling us."

And everybody who could hear him just froze.

"What?" snapped Vista.

"He- he is calling the deep blue transponder snail..."

Only his commander had the number to the deep blue transponder snail, which they kept as a partner for their white transponder snail. It's just for them in case of an emergency or if they are solo on a mission. Like Ace as he went after Teach.

Whitebeard heaved himself out from his chair. "Are you sure it's Ace?" he asked because how could he be calling them if he should be in Marineford awaiting them to come to his aid?

"Yes!" his son eagerly nodded. "He said all the codes." His son took three steps when he did one to keep up with him.

Reaching the communication room was like stepping into a beehive. The room was packed with children from all divisions pushing in the same direction, shouting wildly over each other, attempting to get their questions to one poor transponder snail. Still, they fell into silence as they noticed him, pushing and shoving out of the way to allow him to reach the desk at the far end of the room. The dark-coloured transponder snail, with its white companion, sat innocently at the desk displaying the haggard features of his son.

"Hello? Guys?"

And Whitebeard's heart clenched hearing the tired voice of his son.

"Why are you all suddenly silent?"

Whitebeard took the speaker from his son sitting in front of the snail. "Son."

A sharp intake of breath. "Pops." And Ace sounded so relieved, followed by a nervous laugh. "Hi, Pops. I, well, I was just now told that you all are probably still on your way to Marineford and that it would be good to let you know that I, well, I won't be in Marineford, and so there is no reason for you also to go there and- ", babbled Ace nervously.

Whitebeard frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You see- "

"Remember that line is not secure, Ace.", another unknown young voice cut in.

"Yeah, eh, well… things happened, and the marines are probably freaking out, and I think I can still see the smoke rising from Impel Down- " Somebody was giggling happily in the background while another person snorted. "And eh… well, I am not really a fan of the idea of sitting on a scaffold, like a well-behaved boy, so-" More laughter in the background. "Could you stop that? Really? That's not funny! I will laugh the day one of you guys gets an execution date set."

"Eh, you will come to rescue us as we did for you.", a childlike voice laughed. And from that point on, it dissolved into bickering between Ace and two unknown people whose voices nobody could place.

"Did-Did Ace just imply that he broke out of Impel Down?" questioned Vista at his elbow in disbelief.

"And who the hell is he with?" asked Curil from his other side.

"Son.", Whitebeard said to gain Ace's attention again. "Son!"

"Huch?! Oh! Yeah, Pops, so you don't need to go to Marineford. I am out of- "

"Where the hell are you?" shouted Vista.

"Hey, Vista! I am on a ship sailing away from Impel Down." Was Ace's unhelpful answer.

"But how?!" asked Vista.

"Eh, that's where it is getting funny, you know. My- "

"Meeting point!" one of the strangers practically hissed.

"Oh, right! Sorry! No need to get so angry, you know. We need a meeting point. Then I can explain everything to you. Or well, you will meet everybody. Not like anybody here has a chance of leaving the ship and going his own way.", said Ace.

"And for your information, we are low on food and medical equipment with too many injured, which includes your commander, and definitely too many people for one ship. So, meeting up within a few days would be preferable.", injected one of the strangers. "It's not like we had the time to inspect the ships around Impel Down to choose the best-suited one for our purpose with everything that has been going on. So we had to take what we could get."

And everybody just gapped at the transponder snail.

"Somebody gets Namur! Now!", Curil suddenly barked at his sons standing around.

"And Marco!" Vista added.

Whitebeard laughed. "Call our allies. Inform them to pull back."

The transponder snail transmitted the tired eyes of his son, but a small smile was on the snail's lips.

.

Same time, Marineford, Sengoku's office

Garp was back to sitting on the little couch in Sengoku's office and ignoring the murderous glare Kong sent his way. Instead, he focused on appearing as innocent as possible – which, by the way, he was – because Garp had no bloody idea how Luffy was still alive or how he and Ace managed to break out of fucking Impel Down. And if Kong wouldn't be here and trying to kill him with his gaze – because yes, his two grandsons were freaky crazy and strong and insane and his pride and joy (if they just could have been marines, damnit!) – he would break out in roaring laughter.

His boys were still alive!

He wouldn't have to watch one of his grandsons getting killed for some rubbish version of justice.

And Garp wouldn't need to act like he was alright with it – damnit, he raised the boy! Well, Dadan did, but he did visit! Garp didn't need to fight off the ones that would come to help, to rescue his grandson, because it was his job. A job he has done for decades and never questioned if it was the right side he was fighting on. Not even as that fool Roger stood in front of him, smiling bright and eyes alight, and told him that Garp could arrest him, only for the idiot to tell him days later that he would have a child. And if Garp, of all things, could care for his child and the mother! Garp could have strangled the man then and there.

But still, Roger's child was innocent, born long after his father's death. So, he took him in after his mother died just minutes after giving birth, as Garp held the innocent little newborn in his arms and wondered if he would ever get a grandchild of his own blood. Whether he would feel the same rush of emotion, he felt while holding little innocent Ace. The little innocent newborn that grew from a helpless, little baby into a small child with the cutest freckles splattered over his tiny face and silvery eyes full of wonder, who managed to toddle his way into the marine's heart and firmly took his place with all intentions to stay there until Garp carved and accepted that the little child was his grandson.

And Luffy, his sweet little Luffy, he was alive!

Not dead! Not killed by a mixture of Magellan's deadliest poisons.

No, he was up and running – or more like sailing away from Impel Down.

Take that, Magellan! Garp never liked the poison man, and that he poisoned his grandson was just the icing on the cake. Every time he went to Impel Down and had to deal with the chief warden, he had to repress the impulse to punch the man. He understood that the men and women imprisoned in Impel Down were the worst kinds of criminals, but the way Magellan could just kill them with his poison – it never felt right to Garp! It went against something profound inside of him!

"There is no need to be happy, vice-admiral Garp!" growled Kong.

Garp blinked. "Who said that I am happy? I am not happy!" And it's true! He wasn't happy. He was overjoyed!

Kong tried to kill Garp for another second with his gaze before he turned back to some very unlucky vice-admirals and rear-admirals to bark even more orders. "Tighten the Security around Marineford even more! Withdraw the ship station close to Sabaody Archipelago. We need them here. Vice-admiral Momonga and Strawberry, prepare your fleets! They need to be ready to sail off at a minute's notice. Vice-admiral – "

Next to him, Sengoku sighed.

The man was still pale, but at least his skin was no longer transparent, and he had stopped trembling. For a few minutes, Garp feared for his friend. On Sengoku's other side sat Tsuru, who closely watched their mutual friend.

"It will be fine.", said Garp.

"No, it won't be!" disagreed Sengoku. "Why are it always your grandsons that do the unspeakable? First Ace with his-his- "Sengoku waved his hand through the air as if he could catch the word he was searching for. And Garp knew what Sengoku was refereeing to even before he said it, as his friend had been ready to kill him after he learned of Ace's little secret. "His heritage that you had the audacity to keep secret for years! He spits on the position as a warlord after tearing through Paradise like it's child's play, invades Kaidou's and Shanks's territory and somehow gets away to tell the tale, even though it is known that both do not take kindly to loud rookies, only to end up in Whitebeards crew. And what does Ace do there? He rises through the ranks in record time until he gets the command over the second division. The god-damn second division! You know who the last commander of that division was! You know it! Whitebeard never replaced Oden. In over two decades! But your grandson gets the command over the second division! And then Luffy! Within months, Garp, within a few months, Luffy beats all these old-timers in the East Blue like they are the rookies and not him. He is involved in the incident in Logue Town in which the scaffold of Roger gets destroyed and enters the Grandline with the smallest crew anyone can imagine! Five people, Garp! Five!"

Sengoku was nearly pressing his hand in Garp's face.

"And after that, it just keeps getting worse! He beats Sir Crocodile, who tried to do the same as Doflamingo, destroys Enies Lobby, beats Moria up, escapes Kuma, beats a celestial dragon – and by the way, Saint Rosward still wants the head of Luffy – and now he has successfully invaded and broken out of Impel Down! What's next? An alliance with Whitebeard?"

Unfazed, Garp listened to his old friend. Not that he needed the remainder. Garp was well aware of all the crimes - in the eyes of the world government - that his family members had committed in their quest to live their lives the way they preferred.

"I think you should try to calm down, Sengoku.", said Tsuru and reached for the cup of tea standing on the table. "Here! Drink a little bit more tea."

"You know what? You come to my quarter tonight!" said Garp.

"No!" declined Sengoku immediately.

"Oh, come on! Just you, Tsuru and me! I will organise some nice food and that tea you like so much." Garp grinned.

"You just want to celebrate.", insinuated Tsuru.

Really, the nerves of his friends! What could he possibly have to celebrate? Luffy and Ace were still criminals – being marines would be something worthy of celebrating – and their track record kept getting worse as Sengoku, in an imposing way, just recollected.

"No!" Garp nearly – but only nearly – whined. "But this is a horrible day, and what is better than to end it in the company of good friends."

Sengoku's glare was nearly as deadly as Kong's, while Tsuru's appeared to try to compete with Magellan's poison.

Garp gave his all to look as innocent as possible.

"You are impossible, Garp." Tsuru finally sighed. "We will come, but only if you get food from that restaurant. You know, which one I mean. And you get me a bottle of my favourite wine!"

Damnit, Tsuru drove a hard bargain.

"What?!" Shocked, Sengoku looked at Tsuru.

"Okay."

"What?" Sengoku repeated.

"8 p.m. good for you?"

"Perfect. We will be there."

"What?"

Tsuru leaned back on the couch, satisfied.

Garp grinned, pleased.

Sengoku looked confused.

Oh well, Tsuru would surely explain it to him. She always does.

Garp turned around to look at Kong, who was still busy trying to rescue the unsavable – it would either turn out to be the total destruction of the marines at the hands of enraged Whitebeard Pirates because Ace was only the seas know where and they would never believe them – and why should they? – or the total embarrassment they would suffer once the world learned they lost Fire Fist Ace hours before his execution.

"Hey Kong, how comes you can stay here so long? Aren't you busy with some significant World Government commander-in-chief business?" asked Garp knowing it would provoke the other man. But in his humbled opinion, Kong earned it for all the times he made Garp sit down to listen to another lecture on why he should finally accept the position as admiral, as Kong himself still has been fleet admiral.

Next to him, Sengoku groaned, deeply tormented.

.

A little bit later, edge of Calm Belt, rouge battleship

The sun shone hot from the clear sky as the first weak gusts of wind touched the ship. Voices rose, followed shortly by the soft groaning of the ropes and the familiar hitting and flutter of the sails. The wind grew stronger and stronger. The ship picked up even more speed as it left Calm Belt behind itself.

Luffy lay on the wooden deck of the battleship gazing up to Ace, who carefully was cleaning his wounds – one of Ace's friends insisted on it and only shut up about it after Jinbe came over shortly to swear he would personally ensure that Ace would take care of himself – with some water and a clean looking cloth while talking to Sabo, who finally took off parts of that silly uniform. Exhausted, Luffy made do with just watching his two older brothers.

"So, how have you been the past ten years?"

"Eh… fine."

A raised eyebrow. "Fine?

Shoulder shrug. "Yeah."

Luffy was really, really tired. Like he could fall asleep right here, right now and sleep for days. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier. His brothers were at his side, both safe and alive. They escaped hell together. And Luffy was so happy. The waves were peacefully rocking the ship, and the warmth of the sun was-

"-I didn't mean to."

Sabo's loud voice roused Luffy. Blinking, he searched for his long-lost brother and Ace.

"Don't give me that crap!" growled Ace angrily.

What was going on? Just a moment ago, his brothers sat beside him, talking peacefully. Exhausted, so endlessly exhausted, Luffy pulled himself up until he leaned on his elbows. Terrible tired Luffy searched Ace and Sabo with a blurred gaze.

"It's not crap! It's the truth- "

"That you forgot?! How do you forget your brothers?"

What? As if looking through a mist, Luffy saw the figures of Ace and Sabo. They were facing each other, with anger rolling off Ace in waves, while Sabo had his hands raised like he was trying to calm down their older brother.

"I didn't mean to. I had a severe head injury, which caused amnesia- "

"That's the lamest excuse I have ever hea- "

"It's not an excuse! If you would just let me expl- "

Why were Ace and Sabo fighting? They shouldn't fight! Not now. Not after they all were finally back together.

"Oh, dear… Ace gonna punch me so damn hard!"

Sabo's voice echoed in Luffy's ears. No! Ace can't punch Sabo! Not- Not today! Just not today!

"What's there to explain? You said you got your memories back some time ago, yet you never contacted- "

"What should I have done? Write a letter? You would have never believe-"

He had to stop them!

He had to! But how? Raising himself until he leaned on his elbows had taken what little strength Luffy possessed now. How was he supposed to get up and walk the short distance to his two fighting brothers? He was too exhausted, too weak – how had he managed to rescue Ace if he was too weak to get up and stop his fighting brothers? Getting up should be much easier than fighting all these dumb douchebags in Impel Down? So why did it feel so much harder to get up?

Ace widened his stance.

No! Ace would hit Sabo at any given moment.

Breathing heavily, Luffy pushed and pushed and pushed! He had to get up! He had to stop Ace!

Ace raised his arm and pulled back.

"Ace! Wait!" Sabo sounded desperate.

Luffy pushed more and more and so much more. With an unintelligible groan, Luffy staggered up to his brothers. He had to stop Ace!

Ace's fist hit Sabo's face, causing their blond brother to fall.

"No- "Luffy breathed as he fell, hitting hard the wooden deck as he heard a shocked voice screaming his name.

For a moment, everything went black.

No sound.

No feelings aside from his endless exhaustion.

Nothing.

Then-

"Luffy?"

"Luffy, can you hear us?"

Luffy opened his eyes, confused, only to shut them quickly as bright light blinded him.

"Luffy!"

He groaned. Was that Ace? Why did he sound so far away? Ace should be right here with Luffy. Slowly he opened his eyes again. Two blurred figures leaned over him. One was primarily a black blob, while the other was more yellowish.

"Why is Ivankov not here?" a third familiar voice shouted. "We need him."

"Luffy, if you can hear me, clutch my hand."

What- clutch what hand- was that Sabo?

"Sa- Ace- n't figh- "Luffy tried to say, but forming the words was too taxing. I am still too weak, thought Luffy before the faint voices of his two brothers went silent, and everything vanished.