_________ POV Narration_________
From the start, Enel knew that he couldn't just jump ship and start fighting marines.
Especially not after befriending so many of them. Instead, he decided to do what he did best, take on Whitebeard with all of his strength.
The old man had gone to war prepared to die, his sickness was catching up to him regardless, so he likely wanted to make sure that he at least saved his children.
In truth, his death was one of the most tragic in Enel's opinion.
The old man had come to this place with the sole purpose of saving his son, Portgas D. Ace. And not only had that part failed, but many of his children had also lost their lives in the process.
And, to add even more insult to injury. Whitebeard had actually lost his life to the traitor that had started the war in the first place.
Blackbeard, the one that had captured Ace and turned him in to the marines in order to gain a Warlord rank.
Blackbeard had not only killed him, but he had also stolen his power, which he then proceeded to use on his other children.
Thankfully, Enel's plans changed that future in its entirety. But first, Enel needed things to proceed as normal, at least to some extent.
Enel could see Aokiji get prepared to freeze over the tsunamis, which also meant that Luffy was on his way.
Enel didn't want to waste time until then though. He appeared on one of the cannons of Marineford, looking directly at Whitebeard with a smile on his face.
The old pirate was quick to notice him, raising an eyebrow for a second, as Enel's staff turned into a large naginata.
Enel jumped, creating a sonic boom, pushing all of the marines around him backwards, in mid-air, the blade of his Naginata turned black, as a wide smile reached Enel's lips.
"Newgate!" Enel shouted as he prepared to swing his naginata in an obvious motion.
Whitebeard smiled at that scene. "Young people get more and more impressive each generation!"
Marco, as well as a few of the captains, wanted to quickly intercept the brazen Rear Admiral that was trying to attack their father.
But all of them stopped when Whitebeard showed them the back of his palm, signalling them to stand down.
Whitebeard then stepped heavily on his ship, making it shake in the water as his blade also seemed to turn black, with red lightning crackling around it.
He quickly turned around slightly and swung his naginata upwards, meeting Enel's blade halfway.
What followed was a clash that managed to shock the world.
Their blades didn't get to touch, as their wills clashed first.
The world around them slowed to a crawl, and the birds in the sky seemed to flee in fear. The skies were ripped wide open as the waves around Marineford stopped in their tracks.
The air broke at Whitebeard's blade, as the veins on the old man's arms became more and more apparent.
The shockwave pushed every marine back, the rest of the white beard pirates on board were also forced to plunge their weapons into the ship in order to hold on.
"Pops!" Marco plugged one of his talons into the ship, as his wings protected most of the crewmembers behind him.
He hadn't expected Enel, a rear admiral of all people, to be the first on the Marine side to attack.
"Reckless idiot!" Hina and Akainu shouted in the distance, surprisingly at the exact same time.
The two fighters that were clashing had completely closed off their perception of the world around them thoguh, their wills focused entirely on one another.
Whitebeard didn't seem to be mad about it the attack, instead, all of the people could hear a burst of loud laughter.
"Gurarararara!" "Hahahahahah!" Both Enel and Edward Newgate were testing their willpower against each other. Each trying to push the other a bit more with each second that passed.
Enel could feel it, his golden gauntlets bursting and being sent flying like shrapnel towards different buildings in the distance.
He could feel his muscles bursting from the strain, as his Haki struggled to try to keep up with Whitebeard's strength.
In the end, the strongest man alive obviously prevailed, his large arms flexing with his muscles straining a bit.
Enel was blasted backwards, he ended up being plunged like a nail into one of Marineford's buildings in the distance, breaking it completely in the process as a dust cloud obscured everyone's view of Enel's state.
But the clash itself had lasted for around a dozen seconds. Something that far exceeded everyone's expectations.
"Enel!" Akainu shouted as he stood up, many turned to the Admiral, to see him madly looking in between both the dust cloud and Whitebeard in the distance.
Sengoku also released a frustrated sigh. 'He just had to go and do something like that...'
Aokiji, the ice admiral, was rather shocked at what he had just witnessed, but he didn't let that shock last for long, as he proceeded to quickly freeze the tsunamis surrounding Marineford.
Kizaru simply muttered "Impressive..." As he patted some of the dust that had reached his costume. The clash had been large enough to affect everyone on Marineford.
And so, the war started, with Aokiji also quickly freezing all of the water in the bay, and the pirates being energized by witnessing their father/captain's strength.
Enel simply looked at the holes in the collapsed ceiling above him. 'Yeah... That went a lot better than I expected...'
Enel didn't get up, laying in that rubble pile for a bit more, as he wondered why someone like Whitebeard would even need to struggle in that clash.
'I guess his sickness really has gotten to him...'
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Still, Enel looked at his arms, both of them had burst muscles and ruptured skin. It was clear that the old man wasn't holding back to make things easier for Enel.
'If he was in his prime... He would have most likely turned my arms into a thin paste...' Enel winced at the thought.
Enel then glanced at the side, glancing at the bent naginata that had landed a bit further away from him.
Enel didn't let that complete loss discourage him though, the tiredness he felt was also not something he concerned himself with.
The main thing that he felt right now, was excitement.
'I didn't instantly die when clashing with the strongest man in the world!'
All of the sleepless weeks he had spent training, all of the blood and sweat he had shed to grow his strength in such a short time. All of that was validated by that single clash.
Sparring with Garp was not the same as this. The old man had always gone somewhat easy on Enel. After all, in a life and death battle, Garp could likely kill Enel in a few punches.
Enel knew that facing these top powers with only his body and enhanced speed was simply impossible.
But now he had forged his body and haki enough to at least take a serious hit from someone of Garp's and Whitebeard's calibre.
So, Enel could only laugh. Much like he had laughed during the clash with Whitebeard.
That satisfying feeling, of seeing and feeling the results of his training. It was more than cathartic, it was almost addictive.
Enel stood in that rubble for a bit longer. Then he slowly got up, walking over to his bent naginata, picking it up and straightening it with his power, as he turned it back into a staff.
He put the staff on his back, as his arms could use a break currently.
Enel then proceeded to use his observation haki and went to collect the gold from his gauntlets. Reforming them and using them to tightly bind his wounded arms.
The tight fit seemed to somewhat quell the bleeding. As Enel was finally prepared to step back into the war.
To Enel's surprise, Squard's betrayal hadn't happened anymore, as Enel's clash with Whitebeard had made all of the captains vigilant, and Marco was able to stop him before he stabbed his father in the back.
Whitebeard still hugged Squard, despite the attempted betrayal. The old man could forgive people stabbing him in the back, that was just how much lenience he gave to his children.
It was rather admirable, but Enel didn't have the time to ponder on that for too long.
The war had already jumpstarted, and Luffy was already being assisted by his companions as he ran towards Ace's platform.
Akainu was currently facing Whitebeard, Marco was fighting with Kizaru, holding him back, and Aokiji was also fighting a few of the captains by himself.
Hancock was doing a lot more damage to the marines than she was to the pirates, something that didn't quite shock Enel.
Hina was doing her best, but she wasn't strong enough to make a large difference in a war of that scale.
Enel started walking towards the platform, he looked at Garp, who was currently sitting near Ace.
He Geppoed his way on top of the platform, shocking Sengoku a bit with his messy appearance.
"Enel! Why did you do that?!" Sengoku shouted in annoyance. He had hoped for his plans of turning Newgate's children against him would work to weaken the old man even further.
But Enel's outburst had made things a lot worse for him.
"Why wouldn't I?! This is a war, Sengoku. You can't micromanage every aspect of it." Enel said as he sat down on the platform, glancing at the situation with a weary gaze.
Akainu was having a difficult time matching up with a less injured Whitebeard. But he was still holding his own.
"... We will talk more after this! Don't get involved without my orders anymore!" Enel just rolled his eyes at that. He was getting the same treatment as Garp, for some reason.
Enel could see the pacifists being destroyed by Hancock, as she shielded Luffy from them. It was also at this point that Sengoku gave the executioners the word, and they raised their blades to pierce Ace.
Luffy rushed through the crowd of trained marines, Enel whistled as he tried to understand how Luffy was even holding his own against that many marines.
But that didn't last forever, as he was pushed to the ground eventually. The people helping him were all preoccupied with fighting strong opponents after all.
That was when it happened. Just as Ace was about to die, Luffy released a burst of Conquerer's Haki powerful enough to knock out all of the marines near him, and the executioners on stage.
Enel could feel that burst of energy. He could tell it was untrained, but he could also tell that it was strong. A lot stronger than he had expected it to be.
He could see all of the Admirals being shocked by it. Even Akainu turned his head around slightly, which made him receive a punch that sent him flying into the distance.
Kizaru was quick to try and shoot a laser towards Luffy, which was blocked by Ivankov, as he positioned himself in front of it and released a Hell Wink.
Enel struggled to understand just what that attack was while Luffy continued making his way to the platform, as one of his allies, and a revolutionary fighter created a bridge of stone for him.
Enel couldn't help but wonder how the world aligned for Joyboy to get his way.
The way things were positioning themselves, it made Enel wonder how exactly Akainu had even managed to kill Ace...
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