8 8. The More Things Change. The More They Stay The Same.

We emerged only 10 minutes after Whitebeard and what we saw was the entire port and 100 meters around it frozen over by Akoji. A huge Ice wall that has mostly been broken and the Whitebeard Allies and Crew attacking, while Whitebeard was standing on his ship with a few Cadre. We quickly sailed up in our submarine. Luffy jumped onto their ship no hesitation. For this mission we decided only the main fighting force would go, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and me. Ussop would snipe for support from the sub and everyone else would protect the ship. Rayleigh decided he would sneak around and block Garp so Garp won't get in trouble. When we came back if we needed it the crew would be fresh enough to rush out and save us. The three of us followed Luffy onto the Moby Dick.

" Hey Old Man. You're Whitebeard right? Just tell your people to stay out my crews way. We are going to save Ace. " Luffy said with a grin pointing at himself with a thumb, while Whitebeard and his men turn to their left facing us.

" What did you say to me brat? NO ONE COMMANDS ME ON MY SHIP. I'LL SAVE ACE. HE'S MY SON." Whitebeard says his Conquers impacting all four of us with enough intensity that the ship started to shake a little. Though we are all pressured Luffy and I unleash our Conquers to try and relieve our pressure. Before Whitebeard let's up, Zoro and Sanji almost pass out but, they think of their dreams, of how important this mission is to their Captain, their Nakama, how if they don't get stronger they will become dead weight in later fights. This fear, need for strength, Whitebeard's Haki and will to die if neccessary to accomplish their goals allowed them to awaken their Conquers for just a split second before Whitebeard stopped his own. They regained their posture in that second and stared at Whitebeard in the eyes just as Luffy and I had been the entire time.

" Gurarara gurarara gurarara. What interesting Nakama you have Straw Hat. Speaking of where did you get that Straw Hat? It looks familiar. " Whitebeard said looking at us all interest before he looked at Luffy's hat.

" Oh, Shanks gave this hat to me when I was a kid. My name is Monkey D. Luffy. I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES. " Luffy says blasting a bit of Haki at the end.

" Oh another D. huh. He even has your hat interesting. Whatever brat get off my ship. Do whatever you want. My crew won't interfere with you. " Whitebeard starts by whispering to himself before talking with Luffy dismissively waving his hand at us to go away.

"Hey. Oldman Whitebeard. You might want to tell your crews Ace's secret before the Marines so there aren't any misunderstandings. I would hate for one of your sons to betray you because of a marine lie. " I say as we walk away. My crew, minus Luffy, look at me a little weirdly and I can hear the Whitebeard Pirates calling me a bastard and stuff for suggesting someone would betray their pops.

" Enough, he's right. Teach betrayed us for a Devil Fruit. I can't allow any secrets between my Children. It could cause trouble. Listen well my children not only is Ace MY SON! His biological father is Gol D. Roger! I know some of you may hate his father but he is my SON as all of YOU are! " Newgate says starting only talking to the crew on the ship before shouting out loud.

Stopping all the fighting with his words. You can see the shock on the faces of everyone present. Some of the Whitebeard Pirates look aggrieved but eventually understand their father's point you can't choose who you're born too. The marines are at first shocked but then super happy. They have captured the son of Whitebeard and the Pirate King in one person. Squard on the deck of the Moby Dick drops the knife he had and starts to cry. He is saying sorry to his Father about how Akainu lied to him saying the Whitebeard pirates could go free with Ace in exchange for all Whitebeard's allies crews. Hearing this Whitebeard is pissed and launches himself into the fight at Akainu.

When Sengoku had felt Whitebeard and Our Conquers Haki he used a telescope to see who it was. He said, " Damn it Garp! Your Grandson and his crew are here. They are on Whitebeard's ship talking with him right now. "

" Bwhahaha. I knew that shitty Grandson of mine wouldn't miss this. Of course he would try to save his brother. You saw what he did to Eneis Lobby for his crewmate. This is his Brother. Bwhahaha. " Garp said laughing wating his crackers.

" Damn it Garp. This is serious. If Roger's son gets away it will be a disaster. " Sengoku says looking grim. Seeing Whitebeard and his Cadre enter the battle he orders the Admirals into the battle to stall them. As he announces over a video Den Den Snail the news about Ace's heritage and the true meaning of his death the end of Gol D. Roger's bloodline.

" ACE, I'M HERE TO SAVE YOU!" Luffy yelled out loud. Momentarily the entire battle halted hearing this scream.

" NO, LUFFY, POP'S IT'S MY FAULT! YOU GUYS SHOULD JUST LEAVE AND FORGET ME! I CHASED AFTER TEACH AFTER YOU TOLD ME NOT TO! " Ace screamed back trying to get them to leave him behind.

" Gurarara gurarara gurarara . I DON'TVKNOW WHAT YOU MEAN ACE. I TOLD YOU TO HUNT DOWN TEACH. ISN'T THAT RIGHT MARCO? " Whitebeard yelled back laughing.

" THAT'S WHAT I HEARD POPS. YOU SENT ACE AFTER TEACH. " Marco said lying. As the other Cadre voiced their agreement in the background.

" Oh you guys. " Ace said to himself as he cried tears of joy.

" ACE YOUR MY SON. I'VE COME TO SAVE YOU! LET'S MOVE OUT! " Whitebeard said jumping into the battle.

Newgate and his Cadre entered the battle. Where ever they went Marines where blown away. This lasted for about thirty second but in those few seconds over 7,500 Marines were taken out of the battle, dropping the Marine's troops 15% in 30 seconds. Then they were blocked by the Admirals but even with the Admirals trying to Initially block the marines still lost another 800 troops before the area near them was clear enough to fight.

Kizaru was fighting Johzu. With his diamond body he could block and redirect Kizaru's light based attacks. they were quickly drawn into a stale mate. Johzu could block all of Kizaru's move but he wasn't fast enough to seriously hit Kizaru. Akoji was busy fighting Marco. Akoji would hit Marco but Marco's body would quickly remake itself with blue flames. Marco tried landing a hit but Akoji would distract him by targeting Whitebeard's allies forcing Marco to save them.

Unfortunately for the Marines while those two Admirals where kept busy by his Cadre. Whitebeard was laying a smackdown on Akainu. Everytime Akainu would try and hit him with his magma, Whitebeard would use shockwave punches to sens the magma at marine troops. Akainu wasn't like other Admirals though he didn't care about losing cannon fodder. In his mind it was a great honor to be sacrificed to take down Whitebeard. There fight carried on with Whitebeard stomping Akainu around the field.

Seeing that the Admirals where busy the four of us quickly ran up the side of the battle field. So far it had been easy with the strongest marine we saw was only a Rear Admiral. We weren't the only ones to make a move Mihawk jumped in to fight a Whitebeard swordsman. Doflamingo was using his strings to control marines and pirates alike to attack. Hancock would attack anyone that got near her. There was a small mountain of stone pieces around her made of pirates and marines. The rest of the Shikibuki, minus Blackbeard who wasn't there, attacked.

Running through we were nearly half way there when Mihawk appeared in front of us ready to slash Luffy.

* Ting. Ting. *

" Hey you can't just attack our captain like that you know. " I say while blocking Mihawk's Yoru with Zoro.

" If you want to touch our Captain. YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME FIRST! " Zoro said as he drew his other two swords, his Armament Haki instantly coating the blades and his Conquers Haki erupting at the last sentence.

" It seems the small sparrow has learned how to fly. Very well I'll test you for a while. " Mihawk said facing Zoro in a ready position.

" You three go on. I'll make sure Mihawk doesn't bother you. " Zoro said getting into his three sword stance.

After that we disappeared and reappeared over the entire battlefield. After every clash a small shockwave would erupt. Their battle continued as we ran to free Ace. It was only a few minutes later that Sanji peeled off to face Vergo, Doflamingo's spy in the Navy, a Vice-Admiral that could cover his whole body in Armament Haki after the time skip.

Finally Luffy and I made it to the ramp leading up to the platform. Garp jumped up to 'stop' us but was quickly punched away by Luffy. I could see that Garp had tears on his face and his eyes closed when Luffy hit him. Sengoku seeing this rushed forward transforming, to his Buddha form, to launch a shockwave at Luffy knocking him into the middle of the battle. Seeing this I rushed ahead of Luffy using a double fisted Rokugan against his palm. He was shocked when my fists hit his palm. He planned to use his Devil Fruits abikity to build up energy and release it upon contact, but upon my fists hitting his palm his body instantly turned back to his human body. Unprepared for this shocking change, he was slammed back into a building by my strike.

When Garp got up to look at the scene he almost lost his breath before laughing, " Bwhahaha, that Jonny didn't tell me he would be bring you. I'm guessing he told you everything then? "

" Why didn't you tell me? I would have raised him? I would have at least trained him. Thank you for raising him. Thank you for saving Captain Roger's son. But my job this time is to stall you. Let's make it look good but don't hit me too hard. I'm an old man now. Hahaha. " Rayleigh complains then thanks Garp. Then they start to 'fight'.

As they 'fought' Garp couldn't help feeling a little grateful in his heart for Jonny. He told him he was coming but hid a big surprise that way he could warn Sengoku and truly be shocked by Rayleigh. This would secure his position in the Marines and allow Ace to be saved. He almost cried tears of joy.

" Its like Zoro told Mihawk earlier. IF YOU WANT TO TOUCH MY CAPTAIN. YOU'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME FIRST. " I said launching my Conquers Haki to it's full extent with all my power. All the marines near the execution platform instantly passed out.

" Shishishi. Thanks Jonny! That seagull guy was strong. Now let's save Ace! " Luffy said still running to Ace. We quickly reach him and I store the Seastone handcuffs in my inventory once they are blocked from view.

" Luffy! You shouldn't have come here. 2 years ago you were just my stupid little brother. Now you're saving me? What were did the handcuffs go? " Ace said first to Luffy then asking me.

" We don't have time to talk. Luffy you should use Gear 2 and rush Ace to the Moby Dick. I'll get Zoro and Sanji and meet you there. Then we can take the sub away. " I said. Luffy nodded then turned pink grabbing Ace and launching himself across the sky of the battle field with Gum Gum Starship, an upgraded version of Gum Gum Rocket using Gear 2, Soru and Geppo. Using this he can fly through the sky at super fast speeds. We didn't use this to get to Ace as we wanted to save it for the get away plus now most of the major marines are busy.

While we had been saving Ace, Sengoku had to focus on Whitebeard's beat down of Akainu if he wanted to save his life. When Sengoku got out of the building he was over 30% of the battlefield away from us, I had focused on blowing him as far away from us as I could not trying to hurt him. Since he was much closer to Whitebeard and Akainu he could see Akainu's leg being stomped by Whitebeard with a shockwave smash. He also saw Garp fighting Rayleigh near us but he had to immediately rush in changing to his giant form right before he went to smash Whitebeard with a haymaker to save Akainu'a head from the same treatment his leg got. But Whitebeard had been waiting for Sengoku so he kicked Akainu away from him and returned Sengoku's blow with a Conquers Haki infused punch of his own, before their fists met a strong force was blown outward and they both skirted a few meters back. As they continued to fight back and forth they eventually saw Luffy Flying overhead with Ace. Luffy's speed was now one of the fastest on the battlefield and with maneuverability in the air made him almost impossible to catch right now. When Doflamingo's strings went to catch Luffy, Zoro positioned himself to use Mihawks' missed swings to take care of them. Once Whitebeard saw Luffy he called for a full retreat while he held the line. Immediately the Whitebeard pirates started to retreat. Hearing this Sengoku called for the Pacifistas to be released. 10 robotic versions of Kuma came out finding Kizaru's laser beams from their open mouths.

I had easily retrieved Sanji after sneak attacking Vergo. Using my dark fruit I hid in a shadow near their fight until Vergo got close with my full Armament on my sword I managed to behead him before he knew I was there.

" You shitty asshole. Who told you to interrupt my fight? A little more and I could have taken him. " Sanji said panting after I dodged his kick. It was true he probably could have taken down Vergo with 20 more minutes of fighting. He was only barely panting as he lit a cigarette.

" We already saved Ace. We Just need to get Zoro and we can leave. When we get to him I'll distract Mihawk you run away with Zoro. " When I say this I can see him smile and nod. We take off. It is easy to find Mihawk and Zoro. The only fights with the same type of space between them are the Admiral fights. Seeing a slight lull in the the battle as Zoro caught his breath. We appeared at his side after a quick situation we ran off with Sanji.

" I know you usually like to finish your battles- but we already accomplished our mission. If you wouldn't mind could we just act like we never saw each other? " I said to Mihawk slowly drawing my sword and getting into my stance trying to allow Sanji and Zoro to get far enough away before he attacks.

" Hahaha marvelous. But are you really preparing to flee? It clearly looks like you are getting ready to fight. Well either way I wish to see your sword. " That is all Mihawk says before he is suddenly in front of my mid-swing. I can barely redirect his strikes. After each swing a clear line is sliced 50 meters from his sword's point. It only last a minute before he kicks me away.

" Enough. Though you would a sword you are no true swordsman. This is boring now. It appears there is only one true Swordsman on the Straw Hats. Farewell, tell young Zoro to seek me out perhaps I shall show him a few things. " Mihawk said putting his sword away and leaving.

Seeing him leave I quickly run after Zoro and Sanji. I manage to regroup with them as we near the Moby Dick. That's when the scene I didn't think would happen happened. While Sengoku fought with Whitebeard, Garp was 'fighting' Rayleigh and Whitebeard's Cadre defended Whitebeard's fleeing allies from Kizaru and Akoji. Akainu took this moment to launch a magma punch through Whitebeard's left half of his stomach. Afterwards he was launched by a joint punch by Sengoku and Akainu full force in the chest, his ribs instantly shattered as he landed near us. We hefted him on our back and ran back to the Moby Dick. He coughed up a few mouth fulls of blood before standing up.

Seeing so many of his Family in danger he launched a giant shockwave that knocked the pacifistas, Akoji and Kizaru down giving his family Enough time to return to the boat. Then with a mighty shockwave he broke apart all the ice and ships started to sail away. No matter how many Lava, Ice, Light, or cannon attacks came. Whitebeard stood tall at the back of his ship. repelling all attacks at his children. When they reached the Gate of Justice and people started to panic. Whitebeard used his biggest attack yet to take down the entire Sea Wall. After that the Whitebeard pirates and Allies sailed away. I left Luffy and brought back the crew to meet the Whitebeard fleet at an unnamed island. When I returned Everyone was crying over the lost Nakama and the fact that Pops died after anashing the Sea Wall and saying all of his children are his treasures even greater than One Piece.

After that they held a party and funeral for their Pops, though his body hasn't been buried yet. Later that night I asked to speak with the remaining cadre, including Ace. After they all thanked me for my help to save Ace I got down to business. I also asked Rayleigh to come in.

" I'm sorry if this comes off as rude or too soon. But this is vital information that I need to know. I plan to make Luffy the Pirate King. If you guys would be willing would all answer some questions?" I say trying to prepare them for my questions. Seeing their nods I continue, " What are you guys going to do now that you don't have a Yonko anymore? Don't get me wrong you are all strong but without Whitebeard you don't have a major deterrent. "

" We haven't really had time to think of these type of things yet. But hearing your words you have some plans don't you? " Marco speaks after a few minutes seemingly to be the chosen spokesman.

" The way I see it you guys have three options. You can stay together and try to make one of you a Yonko. Frankly the only one with that type of potential amount you is Ace. If you make Ace the new Yonko you will be hunted fiercely by the marines. His power isn't as big as Whitebeards. So you'll be challenged constantly. Or you can join an existing Yonko crew. You maybe accepted maybe not. Either way I doubt you will be able to protect everything you want too." I say looking at Marco and the rest of the Cadre.

" You said three options but that's only two. What's the third?" Marco says after thinking a few seconds.

" The third is personally my favorite choice. It also helps my Captain and Crew. In this case you join under my Captain." I say to them simply. After I say that they all face fall.

" I know your Captain is pretty strong probably a bit stronger than Ace but he isn't at the Yonko level yet, kid. " Marco says with a flat look after recovering.

" I know he isn't that strong yet, but two years ago we was weaker than Ace. Now, I can safely say Ace would get beaten down by Luffy's newest move. With a year of training from Rayleigh and I believe Luffy will be able to take down Kaido. If you all are willing to wait a year only protecting your territories and training. Then after that year we can show our power. Luffy wants to be the Pirate King. To do this we will have to clash with the other Yonko's crew. We know of the Road Poneglyphs. After a year of training our crew will take the New World by storm. " I say seeming to shock them by my belief in how strong Luffy will be.

" It is pretty amazing that Luffy got stronger in the East Blue and Paradise than Ace did in his whole journey. But how did you guys even do that? How did you all get strong so fast? Your crew hasn't been together over 6 months. " Marco asked me his true thoughts.

That's when I pulled out the books and a gravity belt. After learning about these three songs he learned how we got our current abilities so quickly. Seeing this they were surprised the most by the gravity belt. I mean Rokushiki manuals were rare and Haki manuals were nearly unheard of, but they had never seen anything as useful for training as the gravity belt.

" If you guys are willing to join us I am willing to give you 100 gravity belts than go up to ×20, 25 that can go to ×50 and 20 belts that can go to ×100 gravity. I will also make some copies of the training manuals to give out. As our allies I want you guys to be strong. If you agree I am also willing to tell you a huge secret about myself and my devil fruit. How about we enjoy ourselves and tomorrow we can all talk with my Captain. Rayleigh could I talk with you now alone? " I say to them all.

I see Rayleigh nod, He waits until they all leave before talking to me in a joking manner, " What's this about training? I don't seem to remember promising to train anyone? "

" I want to talk with you seriously Mr.Silvers. THE FORMER FIRST MATE OF THE KING OF PIRATES TO THE FUTURE FIRST MATE OF THE KING OF PIRATES. " I say my Conquers Haki actually breaking out of my control during my last statement. It actually cracked the floor near the chair I was sitting on a little until I reigned it in.

" Hoho seems your the real deal. That Conquers is stronger than some veterans' I've met before. Alright. Your Captain could be the one my Captain was waiting for. It is nearly time for the Dawn to rise. Alright your Captain and Crew are pretty interesting. I think we'll take Ace with us too. I can't let my Captain's son stay as weak as he is. Alright I know the perfect place for us to train for a year. You can tell everyone tomorrow let's go party. " Rayleigh says seeming to have made up his mind before this conversation started. It seems his disinterest was a test. Luckily I passed, leaving I enjoy the night partying with everyone.

What we wouldn't learn till later is while we were escaping Blackbeard had appeared. Without Luffy his break in to Impel down took a lot longer he also lost Doc Q, Strong and Burgess to Magellen. Though he did gain his other Cadre and retained Van Auger. At Marineford while trying to retreat he snuck up on Johzu and turned into a Three Headed Cerberus. With one bite he bit the unsuspecting Johzu in half in a second. In the next the other two heads finished off the rest of his body and the Cerberus turned into Diamond.Then all nearby Whitebeard Allies tried to attack him but he unleashes poison upon them. Seeing this all the high ranking marines called him a traitor, recognizing Magellen's Drvil fruit usage. Instantly they attacked and Garp forced Blackbeard to retreat. They didn't know a few kilometers away were the Redhair Porates watching.

The next day before they take Whitebeard to bury him in his home town we all sit down to talk. Luckily earlier in the day I had managed to inform the crew about all of my plans and my hope for our year of training. Last night I even contacted Dragon to see if Kuma could come and send the crew to their respective training locations. I also let Garp know we would be training for a year before going to the New World. He said it was good we weren't cocky just because we saved Ace. Without the threat of Whitebeard, we would fall 100% of the time.

" Shishishi. Are you guys gonna become my Nakama? " Luffy asks not appearing to sure what is going on.

" Luffy before we answer we have a question. Can you do it? Can you really take the Old Man's Position? Can you compete with Yonko? " Marco asked his with a serious expression.

When he heard this Luffy's face slowly became serious and started unleashing his Conquers Haki. With his hat covering his eyes in a quiet voice that everyone could hear clearly he spoke, " I DON'T CARE ABOUT TAKING ANYONE'S PLACE. I DON'T CARE ABOUT DIGHTING THE YONKO. I SET OUT TO SEE FOR ONLY ONE REASON. TO BECOME THE KING OF THE PIRATES! ANYTHING THAT GETS IN THE WAY OF THAT DREAM WILL GET CRUSHED! "

During his last two sentences a crater over 5 meters was made into the ground. Seeing this Marco and the other Cadre laughed. Then Marco spoke, " Sorry Ace. I guess we shouldn't have doubted what you said about your brother. Alright Staw Hat, We the remenents of the Whitebeard Pirates and Allies show now follow you. From today forward we shall become the Staw Hat Fleet!"

" Thank you guys for joining. Now I want to tell you all my secret. Would you like to choose who gets your Pop's Devil Fruit?" I ask them.

" No way. You can extract Devil Fruits from bodies? " Marco the brains of the Whitebeard Pirates asks me.

" Yeah. It's nice talking with smart people saves time. My ability let's me take Devil Fruits from anyone if I can subdue them properly. I want to keep this a secret but if you guys want I can pull out the Shock Shock Fruit. I think I can even change the Devil Fruits someone has. I need to test that one. " I explain to them.

We get a volunteer who doesn't like his ability and want me to trade it for the Cheetah Fruit. It turns out I actually can do that. After I do the Devil Fruit changes into their old fruit. I took the Shock Fruit out of Whitebeard and gave it to Marco. After that they sailed out with all the stuff I gave them divided between them. The went to train and protect their turf until we came. When we entered the New World we would call them and they would hoist the Straw Hat Jolly Roger over their own. Showing to be a subordinate crew to ours.

It is only a few hours after they leave that Kuma appears. After some talking and tears we say our goodbyes and they leave one by one. Until it is only Luffy, Ace, Rayleigh and myself. Then we sail our ship to our training island in the Calm Belt.