The Great Pirate, Edward Newgate

It was an incredulous moment. At the moment the bullets were unleashed upon the colossal man, Ace lunged to the side, trying to save Whitebeard from harm. But at the same time, Whitebeard too, put effort into leaping in front of Ace, to save his son from impairment.

Though, you might ask, why would Whitebeard try to save Ace, when Ace had a logia devil fruit? Any bullet that hit him would just go through him, and he would escape without any injuries.

But the thing was . . . It existed. Bullets that can be imbued with Haki and then released. Only people with a very high level of Haki control can do this, and Whitebeard had no doubt that all these escapees from Impel Down were very strong in their Haki.

And if one of those bullets hit Ace, then he was done for.

Yet, in a heroic move, Ace pushed his Pops aside and jumped forth, planting his feet forward in a battle-ready stance.

Shooting forward his arm, he shouted out to all his enemies, intimidating his adversaries, making them tremble.

"Sōdai Hiken"

The heat of the punch was such that the bullets lost their momentum, and melted away as if it were butter.

This was no normal Hiken.

It's magnificence was enough to blind all, and it's glory enough to burn into the eyeballs of any who dared to challenge him.

Hot fiery waves of fuming wind rippled across the ground, and stripped away the stony pavement itself. The effect was ridiculous.

Doc Q and his donkey started neighing in unison, and Lafitte's skin crawled with heat. He felt as if the heat would burn away all of his flesh, and he would have to walk the grounds of the Earth in his mere bones.

What a funny thought. He would be just like that crew member of Strawhat then, that skeleton.

The great fireball was then defended by none other than Blackbeard. With the remnant of his strength, Blackbeard had managed to prop up a shield of darkness to protect himself.

But the wall was not strong enough, and the ball of burning flames had managed to seep and make a hole through it.

When the last of the flames were throttled to death by darkness and a large piece of rock that had been propped up by Avalo Pizarro, the smoke cleared.

And out of it emerged Portgas. D. Ace, and Edward Newgate.

Both experts in war, and smart in battle, and god-like in combat, the marched forth together, and they looked unbeatable.

Edward Newgate, with a bloodied face, marched together with his son with pride. They had a connection, something that was without words. They communicate without words, as must any duo in battle.

Whitebeard had honestly thought that he was done. He had really thought that at that moment, he would jump in front of Ace, and die, once and only once. That would be his end. But it was not like that. The exact opposite had happened, and his dear son had saved him, again.

Ah, he was getting too old.

Much too old nowadays. All he wanted was a glorious end to this beautiful life that he had, and his sons would not give that to him with ease.

Yet he believed he was not weak enough to be wholly protected by his family. And he was right. He would fight for his family, and not the other way around. And thus, with a head held high with honour, he commanded Ace.

"Ace, step off! That betrayer is mine to vanquish. I will be the one to knock his head off his shoulders."

But revenge was not the only thing that made Whitebeard to tell Ace to retreat. He was concerned for Ace. For if Ace was harmed further… he did not know what will happen to himself.

"Ace, retreat and go join Marco. We must regroup and then attack them in one fell swoop. That is the most effective way!"

All the same, Ace chose to act as if he had not heard Whitebeard's command.

Then, seeing that it was not proper to be this way, Ace answered in a low tone, " No, Pops. I cannot do that. Just thinking about how many of our people have died because of him makes my blood boil. I wanna kill him!!"

"No! Ace stop this! You're too angry to be thinking rationally! Just do what I say and turn back. I command you to!"

And when Whitebeard saw that Ace was still not going to stir, he grabbed Ace by the scruff of the neck, and giving a shout out to Marco, he flung his son in the air.

Ace, flustered now that he noticed what had happened, tried to activate his flying powers again to go fight Blackbeard, but the turbulence in the air was much too great for him to navigate his fire properly.

Also, by the time he had regained composure, Marco had swooped in and caught him gently. Now Ace could not even do anything, for he might hurt Marco by mistake if he did.

And thus in vain he cried aloud, shouting with a cracked voice, twisting this way and that, trying desperately to come out of Marco's grip.

Yet Marco had not only a gentle grip but also a grip harder than steel.

That means, that when the grasp did not hurt the person, it held on to Ace such that he could not squirm away no matter how much he tried.

Thereafter Marco landed in a place that was filled with his comrades, just like a smart man would do. Saving Ace was the old man's foremost priority; and Marco knew that all too well to mess up his job.

However, he could not just leave Pops behind without any aid. Thus, he dropped Ace near Jozu, and commanded Jozu to protect him with all of his strength. Informing others too to rejoin with Ace, he set off in search of Whitebeard, because he knew that not even he could defeat that dreadful lot.

Whizzing through the lines of his fellow pirates, Marco surveyed the feelings of his friends. They were not particularly happy; that is to say, their hope and mentality had decreased since they witnessed the death of the king— — some for a second time.

The hails and shouts of victory had certainly reduced, though the certainty that they would win still hung in the air, like a piece of cloth strung on a rope, desperately trying to not fly away on a stormy day.

They were confused, for one. Should they be happy, or sad?

Happy because their mission was successful, in rescuing their second commander,

Or sad, for the loss of their King, and the imminent danger in which their captain was in.

Yet many, experienced in war as they were, chose for the positive side, for they had less attachment towards Roger, if not nothing at all. Some pirates believed that he had usurped the title of King from Whitebeard, and that Pops was the only one who truly deserved it.

Nevertheless, Roger had helped much in the war against the Marines, and it would go against honour to not treat him like a true warrior, and to use him like a puppet and throw him away from their minds.

So with hearts of lead, the people of the pirates endeavoured, hacking their way through the bare remnant of the enemy. Now, they did want complete domination, and they desired to ravage Marineford and loot it completely.

And thus Marco, marvelling at this sight, reached the area of battle where Whitebeard stood.

As he had hoped, nothing much had happened, and both the sides were still still, recovering momentarily from their injuries.

But Whitebeard, injured heavily as he was, would not give even a single minute extra for the traitor to recuperate.

Swinging forth Murakumogiri, he ran towards Blackbeard.

But what happened was totally beyond what was expected. From behind the crew of Blackbeard, San Juan Wolf, who had been simply relaxing behind on the ruins of the fort, stepped forth, placing his leg carefully so as to not crush his crewmates by mistake.

San Juan Wolf, an elephant in the midst of an army of mouses, walked in a stiff manner towards Whitebeard.

His power was immensely great; it is said that he can level mountains with his punch. Though not on the same level as Monkey. D. Garp when they both fought, he was still strong enough to be worthy to be imprisoned in the sixth level.

San Juan Wolf was indeed very young when he had fought Garp. And he comes forward to prove all that he has not grown weaker since his time in the prison, but even stronger.

He himself frequently appreciates the architects who designed Impel Down. Though the giant did not possess a high level of intellect so as to understand complex infrastructure, he deemed his power to be the strongest in the world.

Like a madman he came, rushing into the battlefield, crushing everyone under his feet with or without the intent to. Even with a body of that size, his movements were quite quick for that 180 meters tall monster.

And as he rampaged, so did Whitebeard too.

Both, running towards each other, with the intent to destruct.

And then, they met.