A/N: Don't forget to check out my original novel: Can I Magic Please. It's like really good. š
ANYWHOOO. ENJOY THE CHAPTER
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The sea still roared from Whitebeard's arrival.
Three enormous Moby Dick-class ships floated within the bay of Marineford like mountains rising from the deep. Around them, the forty-three allied pirate ships of the Whitebeard Pirates formed a massive semicircle, their cannons aimed squarely at the Marine fortress.
And at the center of it all stood the legend himself.
Edward Newgate.
The Strongest Man in the World stood at the bow of the Moby Dick, bisento in hand, his massive white coat billowing behind him like the banner of a king.
Even from across the battlefield, his presence dominated everything.
The plaza fell eerily silent.
Then Whitebeard tilted his head upward toward the execution platform and grinned.
"Gurararara!"
His booming laughter rolled across Marineford.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
His voice was deep enough to shake the air.
"It's been a while!"
High above, Sengoku gritted his teeth.
The old pirate's casual tone only deepened the tension.
"Edward Newgateā¦"
Below them, chained to the execution platform, Portgas D. Ace lifted his head.
The moment he saw the pirate flag.
The moment he saw his father standing there.
His eyes widened.
"Old manā¦!"
Emotion surged through his voice.
"What are you doing here?!"
Tears began gathering in his eyes.
"I told you not to come!"
His voice cracked.
"I begged you not to come!"
The entire battlefield listened in silence.
Whitebeard's grin did not falter.
He pointed his bisento directly at Ace.
"You fool."
His voice carried absolute certainty.
"I told you to go."
Ace's eyes trembled.
Whitebeard's smile widened.
"You're my son."
"Of course I came."
A wave of emotion swept through the Whitebeard Pirates.
Many of the allied captains grinned fiercely.
Some laughed.
Others tightened their grips on their weapons.
Even among the Marines, some were visibly shaken by the sheer devotion in Whitebeard's words.
Ace lowered his head, tears slipping freely down his cheeks.
Tenjin stood among the elite trainees, his eyes fixed on the towering pirate.
He narrowed his gaze.
That old man.
This frail-looking giant.
This sick, aging pirate connected to tubes and medical equipment only days ago.
This was one of the monsters standing at the very summit of the world?
His thoughts drifted back to the battle he had witnessed in Totto Land.
Vice Admiral Garp.
Emperor Big Mom.
Figarland Shamrock.
Titans whose very clashes split the heavens and shattered islands.
Tenjin still remembered the overwhelming pressure. The sense that he was watching forces beyond human comprehension.
And now he looked at Whitebeard.
An old man.
Breathing heavily.
Scarred by countless battles.
Tenjin frowned.
I don't see it.
Nearby, Koby shivered.
"Just looking at him is terrifyingā¦"
Helmeppo adjusted his glasses with trembling fingers.
"That's Whitebeardā¦"
Kujaku narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
"He feelsā¦ enormous."
But Tenjin remained unconvinced.
Whitebeard suddenly moved.
His massive shoulders rolled beneath his captain's coat.
He shrugged the white garment back slightly, revealing the full breadth of his scarred chest.
Then he planted his feet.
His right hand tightened.
The world seemed to hold its breath.
"What's he doing?" Hibari whispered.
On the Warlords' side, Dracule Mihawk watched with quiet interest.
Donquixote Doflamingo grinned wider.
Boa Hancock, however, barely noticed Whitebeard.
Her eyes remained fixed on Tenjin.
'What if he gets hurt?'
'Should I go to him?'
'Would he be pleased if I protected him?'
'Would he call me his wife?'
Her cheeks turned pink.
'I must keep him safe.'
Thenā
Whitebeard punched the air.
The effect was instantaneous.
CRACK.
The sound was like the world itself breaking.
The space in front of Whitebeard shattered like glass.
Jagged fractures spread across the atmosphere.
The entire battlefield froze.
"What?!"
"The airā¦ cracked?!"
"How is that possible?!"
Even Tenjin's eyes widened.
The ocean began to move.
At first subtly.
Then violently.
The water surrounding Marineford rose and twisted unnaturally, as if the sea itself had lost all sense of order.
Massive waves formed on both sides of the bay.
The towering walls of water grew higher and higher, casting enormous shadows over the battlefield.
Panic spread instantly among the Marines.
"The sea is rising!"
"We're going to be swallowed!"
"Is this the power of Whitebeard?!"
Koby's face turned pale.
Helmeppo grabbed his shoulders.
"We're going to die!"
On the execution platform, Garp finally spoke.
Monkey D. Garp kept his eyes fixed on Whitebeard.
"That's the power of the Gura Gura no Mi."
His voice was low but clear enough for those nearby to hear.
"The Tremor-Tremor Fruit."
"The ability to create earthquakes."
His expression remained grim.
"It's said to possess the power to destroy the world."
Tenjin's eyes widened slightly.
'Destroy the world?'
The waves continued rising higher.
Hundreds of feet tall.
A disaster made manifest.
Even the Vice Admirals tensed.
Sengoku's face hardened.
Yet just as the waves reached their most terrifying heightā
They stopped.
Completely.
Whitebeard lowered his fist.
And went silent.
The immense walls of water remained suspended for one long, agonizing moment.
Then the battlefield fell quiet.
Tenjin stared.
'That's it?'
He blinked.
'The old man had made a dramatic entrance, cracked the sky, raised a few giant wavesā¦'
'And then simply stopped.'
Tenjin crossed his arms.
His earlier awe faded quickly.
Maybe this old man isn't as strong as everyone says he is.
---
Far from Marineford, a battered Marine battleship surged through the violent waters of the Grand Line.
At its bow stood Monkey D. Luffy, his straw hat pulled low against the wind. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
Ahead.
Marineford was just ahead.
And Ace was waiting.
Around him, the unlikely group of escaped prisoners from Impel Down held on as the ship rocked violently.
Buggy waved his arms in outrage.
"THIS IS TERRIBLE!"
His followers. The escaped inmates who now worshipped him as some kind of messiah echoed his panic.
"Captain Buggy!"
"At this rate, we'll miss the war!"
"We'll lose our chance to become legends!"
Buggy pointed accusingly at the ocean.
"Why is the sea standing up?!"
Nearby, Crocodile exhaled a stream of smoke, his expression as unimpressed as ever.
"That old man is as ridiculous as always."
Jinbe stood at the helm, his powerful hands gripping the wheel.
His face remained calm despite the monstrous walls of water rising on either side of the ship.
"Do not panic."
Buggy whirled toward him.
"DON'T PANIC?! THE OCEAN IS TRYING TO EAT US!"
Jinbe's voice remained steady.
"We will make it."
Luffy's eyes never left the horizon.
"Aceā¦"
Thenā
The suspended waves began moving again.
The walls of water surged forward.
The ship was swallowed by their shadow.
Even Crocodile narrowed his eyes.
"So that's your move, Whitebeard."
Back at Marineford, the battlefield had become unnaturally quiet.
The giant waves Whitebeard had summoned loomed on either side of the bay like two watery mountains.
Yet for several long momentsā
Nothing happened.
Whitebeard stood motionless.
His commanders remained silent.
The allied pirate fleet waited.
Tenjin crossed his arms and let out a dramatic sigh.
"What a disappointment."
The elite trainees turned toward him.
Koby blinked.
"Huh?"
Helmeppo adjusted his glasses.
"Disappointment?"
Tenjin nodded, speaking loudly enough for everyone around him to hear.
"I expected more from the Strongest Man in the World."
He tilted his head toward Whitebeard.
"He's not nearly as scary as the stories make him sound."
Hibari's eyes widened.
"Tenjin-san!"
Koby nearly grabbed his shoulders.
"Please don't say things like that!"
Kujaku covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
Prince Grus shook his head.
"He really has no sense of self-preservation."
Nearby, Vice Admiral Gion let out a soft laugh.
"He said that with such confidence."
Tenjin puffed out his chest.
"Exactly."
He raised one hand toward Whitebeard.
"I mean, look at him. He cracks the air, splashes some water around, and then just stands there."
Before anyone could respondā
Whitebeard moved.
Tenjin's words died in his throat.
The old Emperor shifted his stance.
Both massive arms rose.
Garp's eyes sharpened instantly.
"There it is."
His voice carried a weight that made even Sengoku glance at him.
"The real attack."
Whitebeard clenched both fists.
Thenā
He punched the air.
With both hands.
CRAAAAAAAAAAACK!!
The sound was apocalyptic.
The sky itself seemed to fracture.
Jagged fissures spread through the atmosphere like shattered glass.
Every Marine on the battlefield stared in horror.
And then Whitebeard roared.
"GURARARARARA!"
With a savage pull, he dragged both arms downward.
The effect was immediate.
The two suspended walls of water moved.
Not as waves.
As cataclysms.
The tsunamis surged upward and forward, growing even larger as they descended toward Marineford.
They towered over the battlefield like the wrath of the sea itself.
Thousands of Marines looked up and felt their blood turn cold.
"THAT'S A TSUNAMI!"
"WE'RE DEAD!"
"It's too big!"
The enormous shadows swallowed the sunlight.
The entire fortress of Marineford disappeared beneath their looming mass.
Even Tenjin's eyes widened.
"Oh."
That was all he managed to say.
At the foot of the execution platform, Kuzan rose from his chair.
The lazy Admiral stretched his shoulders as if he had merely been interrupted from a nap.
"So troublesome."
He stepped forward.
The air around him instantly grew colder.
White mist rolled from his body.
Kuzan leapt into the sky.
The Marines watched in awe.
He spread both arms.
"ICE AGE."
The world froze.
A wave of cold swept outward from his body at blinding speed.
The monstrous tsunamis crystallized instantly.
The towering walls of water transformed into colossal mountains of ice, frozen in place on both sides of Marineford.
The sea itself became a vast field of ice stretching across the bay.
The entire battlefield stared upward in stunned silence.
The threat had been stopped.
Just like that.
The Marines erupted into cheers.
"AOIKIJI-SAN!"
"THE ADMIRALS ARE AMAZING!"
"We're saved!"
Koby's jaw hung open.
Helmeppo nearly collapsed from relief.
"That was too closeā¦"
Even Whitebeard's commanders narrowed their eyes with renewed seriousness.
The Marines had monsters of their own.
Tenjin looked up at the two frozen tsunamis towering over the battlefield like icy mountains.
For the first time since Whitebeard appeared, his confident expression faltered.
He swallowed.
Then muttered quietly to himself.
"I might have underestimated this old man."
---
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