Chapter 114: Whitebeard
Admiral Borsalino landed on the execution platform, where marines were waiting to place sea stone cuffs on Ace. Fortunately for them, they were prepared for some trouble and had more than one pair, so they could cuff the rubber man that unexpectedly came along with them.
Ace was cuffed immediately and wasn't able to put up fight, and Luffy was no match for an admiral so he was quickly restrained as well.
The nearby Garp grimaced and shouted. "Luffy?!"
Sengoku glanced at him, but Garp didn't make any moves to rescue either of them.
He looked back at the 5 marine warships and saw that they had foolishly changed course directly towards the fortress. It saved them the trouble of capturing them later, as they couldn't split up their forces before they dealt with Whitebeard.
Hawkeye saw Garp's internal conflict and turned his gaze towards the oncoming ships, one of which carried the person with this somehow familiar haki. He hoped that Garp was the only one who would have an unexpected family reunion today.
Hancock was barely containing her worry and fury seeing Luffy chained up on the execution platform. She almost rushed directly to him, but managed to stay her hand at least until Whitebeard showed up.
Sengoku stepped onto the execution platform and turned towards the den den mushi that was broadcasting the execution to the entire world.
He told a story about a woman who managed to fool them, Ace's mother, and that Ace's father was none other than Gol D. Roger.
"In addition." He gestured to Luffy, who still squirming in his chains. "Since we have him here in custody, we will be executing Monkey D. Luffy as well. Not only is he the adoptive brother of Fire Fist Ace, he is also the son of the revolutionary Dragon!"
...
Ivankov was a tiny bit annoyed that he wasn't told that Ace wasn't also the son of Dragon, but just Luffy's sworn brother. It didn't much matter at this point though, as Luffy had been caught.
Jinbe looked both determined and worried. "We should start from the edges and work our way forward. Marines have always been lazy, so the admirals probably won't move personally unless absolutely necessary. Then we can stall until Whitebeard arrives while reducing the enemy's forces."
"We don't need to wait for Whitebeard. He's already here." Cherry said, baffling everyone. No one spoke out against her though, as she didn't seem to be in a good mood.
Their ships got in range of the marines' firearms so they started a fire fight until the ships reached the outside of Marineford's crescent, where they started disembarking and attacking the marines in melee as well.
Cherry didn't make any moves, however. She was waiting until the right moment.
As Jinbe expected, none of the admirals made a move, just a few vice admirals at most.
Soon, a long stretch of ships appeared out of nowhere on the horizon and no one knew how, except Cherry who could sense more people moving below the water towards the center of Marineford.
*Sploosh*
kind of eyes that some youngster should have.
He actually stopped to think over her words seriously, then. What she was offering wasn't something that would harm his reputation at all, and he really would like to feel the strength
of his youth again.
The problem was whether to trust this little girl. It might be a trick to weaken him instead. Although her own captain was currently on the chopping block as well, it wouldn't have been the first time the World Government planted an undercover agent amongst a pirate crew. "Stop thinking so much, you old coot." Cherry said, bringing Whitebeard out of his thoughts. "I don't want to die, so I'm not gonna stab you in the back. Do we got a deal or not?"
Cherry extended a hand out for him to shake.
Whitebeard inwardly chastised himself, since when did he start to lose his boldness?
Sengoku who had been observing the meeting between Cherry and Whitebeard suddenly had a terrible feeling when Cherry held out her hand to Whitebeard.
"STOP THEM, RIGHT NOW!" Sengoku shouted, suddenly changing into his golden buddha form and charging the Moby Dick. Admiral Sakazuki followed right behind. Even Garp moved,
his instincts telling screaming at him.
Whitebeard clasped his large hand over Cherry's forearm. Immediately Whitebeard felt something rush up his arm and spread out in his body.
None of Whitebeard's crew could stop the three powerhouses of the marines from reaching the Moby Dick. They prepared to attack the two of them all at once at full power.
*BOOOOM!!!*
All three of them were struck with a massive shockwave as the air shattered from one side of
the bay to the other.
"GURARARARA!" Whitebeard laughed with great gusto. His lungs no longer hurt, his bones no longer creaked, his heart pounded with a strength it hadn't had for decades!
Cherry hadn't been using hyperbole when she said she'd give him the strength of his prime back. Perhaps you could even say he was stronger than his prime, as he still possessed his many years of experience making up for his declining strength.
"""""We're fucked...""""" Every single present marine had the same thought, whilst the people of the world watching through the den den mushi broadcast paled in horror.
Cherry was huffing and puffing behind Whitebeard. She hadn't been sure how much energy his mortal body could handle, but ultimately she didn't have a chance to find out. Whitebeard had sucked up 90% of her total vital energy and still wanted more. Naturally she didn't want to give him everything she had and stopped prematurely.
Cherry slunk away, intending to climb up the Moby Dick's mast tot he crow's nest to
recuperate a bit. Although, Whitebeard had been careful, she still took a big hit from Whitebeard's attack.
She wasn't out of the fight just yet, though. She wouldn't let the old man have all the fun.