Reflection

The skies were black with slashes of lightning painting them, when the ground roared with a jerk. It seemed like an earthquake, and everyone instantaneously turned their eyes towards Whitebeard, but it was not he that did it.

And that was when they witnessed, the break of one of the greatest fortresses of the world, the Marine HQ.

With small cracks in the beginning, the faults and fissures multiplied in width as they zoomed downwards. With a great groan, the mighty Marineford Fort crumbled, and imploded onto itself.

The reverberation was enough to make everyone turn their eyes from Roger's spectacle to this new incident, and when they glanced yonder, their hearts skipped a beat.

"Oops!" Boomed a voice, and it was enough to convince everyone that it was the deepest one they had heard in their lifetime.

Tall as a mountain, stood a… being of impossible height.

San Juan Wolf, a humanoid giant of almost 200 meters, and a prisoner in Impel Down, now was standing behind the Navy HQ.

Why was he here? How was he transported here without the notice of anyone? And the most primary of all, how did he escape!?

And it was then that they got the least bit of clarity, when the leftover Marines saw a man standing on the ledge of the fallen execution platform.

Marshall. D. Teach

The infamous Blackbeard ; Betrayer of faith and faithful among foes. His face was twisted, yet with dark gleaming eyes, he 'tsk'ed. His body shook, and his chessboard-like crooked teeth glittered in the pale sunshine.

Ugh, that huge buffoon could not hide any more than an elephant among sheep.

And as he stamped down his foot, there rose a dozen escapees from the Great Fortress of Impel Down. All of them were charged for the most heinous of crimes, and a life sentence was granted, but yet they stood there calmly before the face of a naval army. Fearlessly.

Sengoku stared wide-eyed at the crew of Blackbeard, and his jaw tightened. With clenched teeth, he exclaimed under his breath. "That scum. . .! How did he make it up there?!"

Whitebeard too, gave nit a much different response. Eyes glaring with fire at his former crew-mate who had killed his friend and son without the least bit of remorse, he murmured.

"That son of a bitch! His darings to come before the might of those he betrayed… he will pay for it!"

With marble-like sharp eyes, Blackbeard scanned through the valiant crowd for musings of his old captain. And when he saw him, tall as always but bloody and wet, his frustrated mood changed into that of elation. Opening his cursed mouth wide, he laughed, and his sneer sounded hollow. "Zehahaha! Long time no see! I sure am glad I made it in time to see you die, old man!!!"

A great many exclamations riddled the air, and many were about the immense giant and Shiryū of the Rain. Shiryū had been a former warder in Impel Down ; he was renowned for his strength and glorified for his tricks, and that was indeed why he was appointed to be the warden of the prison containing the most notorious criminals in the world. Indeed, he was imprisoned for his excessive violence and torturing towards the inmates, and also for the killing of one. He let his temper run wild, and that was one of his weaknesses.

A remaining pair of lieutenants looked at Shiryū in bewilderment. They had heard of him, but had never saw him with their own two eyes. He looked a bold man; with a sturdy angular jawline, and eyes that could chip ice with a glance. His large chest was wide enough to intimidate the pair, and they struggled to move at the sight of him.

Yet even more daunting was the impossibly huge . . . Monster hiding behind the crumpled fortress. San Juan Wolf had destroyed a part of the HQ; by accident.

Still in his prison clothes- a true pity I profess to the tailor who stitched it– he leaned lazily on the rubble. His eyes were sleepy and his lids were drooping. How he could think of sleeping in the midst of a battle, none know, but then, no one could be sure he was feeling sleepy too. After all, he was a weird creature; not quite from the giant family, and of unspecified origin, making him a very targeted research specimen, though studying level 6 Impel Down prisoners was obviously prohibited.

Many still stared wide eyed at Catarina Devon, the most dangerous woman pirate ever imprisoned in the famed prison. They stared not for her face or buxom body, for she herself was not pretty at all, with a jutting chin and a carrot nose. Legend states that her Kyūbi form is miles more appealing than her original.

Named fittingly as the 'Crescent Moon Hunter', the news of her deeds spread far and wide; there were not a dozen women in the world who were stronger than her. On her own, she was incredibly powerful. Her physical prowess was no small telling, and she was as durable as diamond. Also a very much known fact about her, is that she loves to make people beg for her; a sadist, actually. And a sarcastic one too, that's the worst of the lot.

Yet most recognised only three among the ten comrades of Blackbeard.

Jesus Burgess, flexing his bulging muscles and laughing nonchalantly.

Van Augur, the Supersonic, with his great rifle Senriku, stood beside Blackbeard, and was adjusting the aiming scope. He care nigh nothing about presentations, and was himself a man of calm and silent conquer.

Laffitte, the seeming clown but a mastermind in his own rights, sat smugly in the brim of the crumpled tower, fingering the edges of his black hat.

Other than these, the small fellowship also consisted of-

Corrupt King Avalo Pizarro!

The Great Drunk, Busco Shot!

And also one more, unrecognised by most. Seated limply on his sick horse, The Death God, Doc Q silently scanned and analysed throughout the crowd.

What would their chances of winning be?

Doc Q was a man of deception. He seemed to be weak and stricken with illness, but in truth, his hands moved better than most. At his side he fingered a large wicked double-sided scythe; that was his favourite weapon of choice; unless you can call diseases weapons.

All over, tumults and shouts arose abruptly, bringing a very temporary halt to the war.

"What is this?! What happened to warder Magellan!?"

"Don't tell me Blackbeard killed Magellan!!!"

As sudden as that, one of Whitebeard's commanders, 'Speed' Jiru, zoomed and landed near his high-captain. With his lance grounded on the ground and his eyes alert to parry any unfriendly blade, he talked quick to Whitebeard.

"Pops, we just managed to break into the control room, under all these chaos. The Blackbeard Pirates, they… they hypnotised the control officers in the room. They were apparently given orders to allow in any and all ships entering into the premises of the Marineford waters. And that's how these… scum came inside, and that's how a few of our own allies did, too."

Whitebeard nodded his head slowly, but his attention was elsewhere. The Yonko's knuckles turned white as they clutched tight the hilt of Murakumogiri, and he began to shake vigorously with rage foreseen.

"Teach~~~!!!" Roared the gigantic man, and he contracted himself to get ready to launch an air-quake at his former crew member.

Still still and unruffled by the newcomers, Roger and Ace, father and son continued their own… bonding of a sort in their small bubble of privacy. None dared interfere in between the talks of the Pirate King, and even otherwise there lay other things to attend to other than the musings of a pair.

When the largest of alarming noises broke out into the air, Roger just gave the slightest hint of noticing. When the biggest attacks, each demolishing and destroying, crumbled the mighty towers of the Marines, Ace failed to flinch aside.

Each were absorbed in their own world of restraining pain and love, suffering and affection. They found not in themselves the words or expressions to convey to the other properly yet, and their minds each bustled with thoughts clouded and misty that they could not impart.

Lips parting slowly, Ace spoke, with tenderness and care. "But… But why? Why come now when you abandoned me, and mother since before I was born? I would ask you to tell me, but I don't suppose I really care right now. J-just, just leave."

Ace's voice took on a tone of irritation, and his eyebrows furrowed.

When Roger heard this, his heart melted. He felt guilt greater than anything he had ever felt before. Guilt, and confusion. What was he to do for that? It was never his fault… he had never meant it to be like this. Yet he spoke further, and asked forgiveness for a crime he had never done. Such are the circumstances that parents fall into, are not they?

Even as his entire body was dissipating into thin air, he spoke with a heavy heart to Ace, in as soft a voice that could come out of his personality.

"I'm sorry, Ace. Forgive me."

In reply, Ace began his stance. Though his words portrayed something, his heart and face expressed else-wise. "Do you have, any idea about how much mother suffered because of your leaving? When she heard that you had been executed, her mental stability was deprived, although she tried her best to hang on. Gramps told me that she might've survived, if she had not know about your execution, even though you told your byes and only then left her to be.

She died from exhaustion from giving birth to me, did you know? Do you even have the care to understand what I have gone through during my life? Where were you during my hardships, 'father'?" He stressed the last word, and Roger's heart crumbled in a heap.