The Evolution of the King.

Above Ace, the sun, now a yellow sphere of light that seemed dimmed to infinite lengths because of the imminent war happening below it, shone with a thousand rays, each trying in vain to penetrate the smoke and pollution that made the HQ a living blight.

Though the resonating sound of clangs of steel reverberated across the battlefield, Luffy and Garp paid it no heed, for they were caught up in their own struggles, and a beat louder than any in the materialistic world echoed itself inside the duo's head, simultaneously.

As Luffy shouted across and his voice boomed inside Garp's old ears, his mouth tasted the metallic taste of sulphur, and his nose declared it as gunpowder. No wonder. So many rounds were being loaded and dozen times more bullets fired, this spreading smell of sulphur and harmful chemicals should not have been surprising at all.

His arms flailing wildly, he yelled. "No,Gramps, I cannot do it! Move!!!"

In response, Garp replied, his voice immensely deep. He glanced down, for he was tall enough to make Luffy seem like a mouse beside him. "No. If you can't do it, it simply means that Ace will die!"

When Luffy was that his grandfather did not appear to be moving, he charged him.

And Garp too, witnessing that Luffy had also begun to oppose him, raised his fist.

"Luffy, I now consider you. . . An enemy!!!"

Suddenly, past memories and fond thoughts crossed across his mind, concerning Luffy.

Times countless he had beat him up, dragged him to Dadan. And together would they all get roared at by him, all of them including even Ace, Sabo and all of the other Dadan's henchmen.

His guilt and remorse for Ace was boundless, but it was his inner feeling that his duty was important, if only by a hair's breadth.

He recalled all of his joyful times he had spent with his grandsons, at least joyful for him. For there was no better time spent than time with his family.

He realised, slow as it may be, that he was being hesitant to throw a punch at his Luffy.

He also realised that this was no time to be hesitant; the time for thinking and the action of the brain was all over. Now it was the time for action, for the movement of muscles, not the flexing of the mind. For that had already been exercised, for much too many times, in vain.

He had sat and thought on the topic for hours uncountable, but there had emerged no result.

And ergo, he thought on the bigger scale now, for Roger was a new addition to the scales.

If Roger had joined, and he was indeed as powerful as he seemed to be, then this might pose an immense problem for the Marines. Already they had lost more than three-fourth of their members only due to his Haoshoku and nothing else. Moreover, many more Marines were being felled by his hand even as he was thinking.

If this act of chaos reigned, then the Marine Headquarters will undoubtedly perish. And that would completely upset the entirety of the workings of the World, and the Three Powers would dissolve, and even Mary Geoise would tremble under the consequences.

That being the case, Garp decided to firm his fist, take a solid stance, and fight hardily on the side of the World Government.

Even as Luffy switched gears to go into Gear 2, Garp brought down his famous fist, and slammed it into Luffy's smoky cheeks.

Strawhat at that time was completely slow, atleast in comparison to Garp the Hero.

In fact, so slow had his reactions been that he did not even realise that he had been hit until moments past. Yet even then, Garp was merciful for his family. He restrained himself so that Luffy might get away with a simple blood clot and a fracture or two.

Monkey. D. Luffy then tumbled backwards into the prime of the Oris Plaza, and suddenly his ears were filled with the booming roar of his grandfather. "Roger!!!"

Sengoku the Buddha glanced towards his mate, and his lips widened in the hint of a smile. "It appears as though I was incorrect about your levels of attachment, Garp. . ."

With the roar of their Hero, the remaining Marines were filled with renewed vigour, and newfound strength was behind each stroke dealt by them against the unruly pirates.

Kizaru smirked, for he too had had a spark of excitement when he heard Garp's bellow.

As the sound reached his ears, he teleported to the place where Whitebeard lay, and decided to go against him with the full extent of his power.

If he could not defeat Roger, then the least he could do was take care of Whitebeard.

Reappearing in front of Shirohige, he joined his palms together, and faced them towards his opponent. And thus was created a powerful beam of light, undoubtedly the most brilliant and eminent and majestic beam of luminosity made by the Admiral in that war, and possibly in his entire career; for we may never know.

In his swift rampage, Roger had managed to fell more than a hundred Marines merely by his sword; the numbers were unknown of the collateral damage and of the unleashing of the Haoshoku. And yet, he was trying his best to reach the platform, and he almost reached it, when a young man wearing a strawhat which was now sprawling across his neck came flying towards him. Immediately without fail did Roger discover that he was none other than Monkey. D. Luffy.

Grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, Roger continued to run towards Ace, and when he turned aside to enquire Luffy of something, he heard rage personified.

"Roger!!!" Shouted Garp, and he could hear it as clear as polished glass.

And when he was being challenged, Roger was not one who could let that go aside. In return, he too bellowed with a voice that matched the amplitude of Garp's.

"Garp!!!!!" He thundered, and the smoke itself parted for a moment.

Placing Luffy down nearby, entrusting him to comrades, Roger ran down a path of destruction.

And down the same way, Garp too with similar intentions ran.

With a sprint that shook the ground, the pair clashed.

With Roger holding the weapon of a sword, one might've thought that it would be an easy win for him, with Garp wielding nothing but his fists. Yet it was not that easy. Garp the Fist had been named rightly, for no weapon would be of effective use for him, because his bare hands are more powerful than most Supreme Grade swords.

It is said that he felled mountains and levelled plateaus in his prime, and each shake of his hands brought down earthquakes almost of the same might as that of Whitebeard.

And after the standard Armament Haki was imbued into his iron fist, there was nothing he couldn't demolish, or so it was said.

This clash was no less epic as the ones aforementioned in tales which might very well fade into legends soon enough. As Garp's fist and Roger's Ace came together, giant purple whips of Haki erupted from the clash, and waves of corruptive force was emitted from the point of collision.

At this point Roger was certainly weaker than he was at the starting, for he had yet to suffer great wounds, but still stamina and time played a part in his weakening. But he was not all weakened as much as is believed, for still his might was enough to almost overpower Garp's great fist.

Great and thunderous were the sounds that were produced, and the waves of power rode through the air strong enough to part the skies itself. The pollution of the smokes seemed to run away in front of the might of the shockwaves.

The Marines instinctively ran in the opposite direction of the attack, yet they were caught up in the ripples of force. Many were mortally wounded, but few died. But none died on the side of Roger, the allies of Whitebeard, for the thrust of Ace was strong enough to withstand the opposite force of the Fist without giving up any space. Most of the destruction too, was aimed at the Marines.

Oh, how time erodes away the might.

Garp still reeled from the impact, and his knuckles created horrendous sounds, for he had not faced against the might of a man such as Roger in a long time.

And yet as he massaged his fingers, Roger smirked and stood in a stance which signified the coming of his next attack.

Raising his loyal sword Ace such that the tip faced the heavens, the Pirate King raised a foot, and stepped forward.

" Dai Yaminari."

Tremendous lightning, taking the colour of the blackest black, with the shape of forks and spears that radiated energy, struck down from the skies, and crashed into Roger's palms, or so it seemed. In that frenzied state, it was difficult to identify much, and thus was it hard to see whether the lightning was being emancipated from his palms or vice versa.

Such cosmic power was contained within those lances of pure electricity that, the very air crackled and cackled with the sound of it. The lightning danced it his palms, and it engulfed him.

Ere was he the King of Pirates, and then he became more. Stronger, faster.

Fast enough to challenge Kizaru. Strong enough to make Whitebeard's quakes seem less, inadequate.

Black lightning cackled around him, and he blitzed Garp.

He evolved and transformed, and turned into his most terrible and magnificent form. This was his peak, and his peak meant Death.

He donated a smile for his victims.

Knowing that one was the most powerful being in that battlefield, and possibly the entire world, that feeling was just priceless. That overwhelming sense of content was enough to almost override his worries and anxiety for Ace.

Boasting his power, he launched himself towards Garp, and the Marine was unable to react wholly. All he was able to accomplish was raising his arms to his head, as a singular defence method, as Roger slammed into his fists with a force formidable.

And as Garp crashed into the Execution tower behind him, it collapsed, and Sengoku turned up to face Roger.