The Day It All Began (Mihawk X Shanks)

Chapter 16: Interrupted

It was finally the time. Due to some troubles in the Impel Down, the execution was to be taken care of an hour earlier. Good. He may not have to deal with Shanks after all.

Mihawk was escorted to the battle grounds, where everyone got into their positions. He stood next to the other warlords, and nervously looked around the area, hoping to distract his mind from the Red Hair. He noticed the tension growing within the navy soldiers, and same for the Admirals. Even though it was the entire Navy Headquarters and the 7 Warlords of the Seas versus the single pirate crew, there was no doubt that there would be an insanely huge amount of death that would result from the war. Mihawk let out a sigh. At least he can relax somewhat after the war, assuming that he would walk out of the battle field alive.

"Fufufu... It's not a very common sight to see the World's Greatest Swordsman sigh~"

"Yes because unlike you, I don't kill for fun, nor like helping the government, Doflamingo."

"Tsk. You know I hate the government." Doflamingo frowned. He cleared his throat, and looked over the thousands of marine soldiers getting ready for the fight.

By the time everyone was prepared, it was already almost sundown. Mihawk could see the sun slowly fall, and he could also see the tension growing. No sign of Whitebeard Pirates yet, and no sign of them appearing.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, Mihawk noticed something off in the distance. The marines made a blockade with warships to protect the front, but this was something no one expected.

Everyone started whispering, as the rumbling grew louder. It was coming from... The center pool area on the base? Mihawk looked at the pool area with amusement, as he saw dark shadows grow bigger and bigger. He did it. That old pirate did the impossible. He coated his entire boat and traveled under waters. It was a genius move; one that no one expected.

The rumbling grew louder as the shadows grew bigger. He could tell the marines were panicking, because by the time the ship appeared, some of the soldiers fainted. Great. What a way to start off the war.

From the distance, Mihawk was able to spot Whitebeard as he slowly emerged from his ship. Even at a distance, Mihawk felt the strong aura Whitebeard was giving off. So this was the strength of the Strongest Man in the World. Even without doing anything, he was able to make everyone tremble.

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As the war dragged on, more and more casualties occurred everywhere. There wasn't one spot in the field that wasn't covered in blood. To make the situation even worse, Straw Hat Luffy and prisoners of Impel Down somehow made it out of the prison, and reached the Headquarters. With more enemies to fight, the war went on even longer.

It was a miracle that Straw Hat made it out alive, but it was even more miraculous that he actually managed to save his brother. Somehow, he reached the platform, unlocked the cuffs, and freed Portgas D. Ace. Things weren't looking so good for the Marines, until something unexpected happened.

For some reason, the prisoner started fighting Akainu head on. Mihawk was already busy fighting some of the Whitebeard commanders, but he saw the fight between the two happening from the corner of his eyes. Mihawk knew, even from the start of this fight, that Portgas D. Ace would not be making out of this place alive. Why would he fight against the Admiral in the first place? It didn't really matter. He just had to focus on his fight with Vista.

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Mihawk was so busy fighting, that when he heard the terrifying scream coming from Straw Hat, he flinched. He looked over his shoulders, and saw that Portgas D. Ace was on the ground, with an enormous wound on his back, and Straw Hat was next to him, probably going under physical and mental shock.

Whatever it was, it caught everyone off guard, including Mihawk. On the other hand, it brought back the reality of war many. By witnessing the scene, many realized the harsh reality of war and fighting. It was like a slap of reality, especially to the marines.

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By the time Mihawk was done fighting the Whitebeard Commanders, most of the pirates have retreated. Whitebeard was dead, and so was Portgas D. Ace. Mihawk was drenched in sweat, and panting most of the time. He was tired, and he just pretty much wanted to go home and sleep. The Fleet Admiral told everyone to meet back after the war to discuss future actions, but Mihawk just wanted to leave.

He thought the war would be over by now, but according to Akainu, it wasn't. He definitely wasn't satisfied with the result, but one marine decided to step up against him.

The pink haired marine was screaming out into the battle field, saying something about there is no justice if they continued to kill even if their goal was met. Of course, Mihawk never bothered to listen to the full speech, since he never really cared for marines anyways.

He was about to head in the building, when he saw something out in the corner of his eye. He turned around, and saw the pink haired marine getting approached by Akainu. Mihawk knew that Akainu had a radical mindset when it came to "justice" but he never knew the lava jerk would kill one of his own Marines.

Just as Mihawk was about to return back to his walk towards the nearly destroyed Headquarters, he saw a flash of red. It can't be. He wouldn't have. He turned around, to see if it was just in his imagination. But it definitely wasn't his imagination.

Red hair. Shanks.

He was here. Even though Mihawk hoped that he wouldn't be here, he was. He didn't come alone. He came with his entire crew.

Before Akainu managed to get to the pink haired marine, Shanks interrupted him with his sword. Mihawk was far enough to stay out of Shanks's line of sight, but he was able to hear a few words. He heard something like "coming here to end the war". Playing the hero as always.

Mihawk quickly walked away from the scene, trying to stay out of sight. He didn't care about the damn government. He just wanted to get out. Mihawk didn't want to face Shanks when he just finished fighting a war. He also didn't want to deal with the drama between the two that happened before the war.

He thought that he managed to get out without being caught, but Shanks knew about Mihawk's presence. He caught a glimpse of the swordsman, and tried to stop him, but Mihawk walked too fast for Shanks to catch up. Shanks had other things to do first, so he gave up trying to catch up. He signaled Benn Beckmann to get Mihawk, and resumed what he was doing.

Mihawk on the other hand, managed to reach his boat.

"Hawkeyes! Where are you going?!" Here and there Marines yelled out at Mihawk to stay, since the war was technically not over.

"I agreed to fight against Whitebeard, not another emperor. I refuse to stay for any longer."

Mihawk got ready to part ways, when Benn tapped his shoulders.

"Our captain wants to have a word with you."

"No. I don't want to. Tell him I don't want to see him at the moment."

"Look Hawkeyes. I know things went down between you two, but Shanks has been really depressed lately. It's not like him. Please."

Mihawk stayed silent for a while. Truthfully, Mihawk did miss seeing Shanks. He missed the red hair, the smile, and his presence. But he was too tired to do anything. He didn't want to deal with that emotional man at the moment.

"... I'm sorry. I need to go. But here. Don't give this to him just yet."
Mihawk handed Benn a piece of his Vivre Card, and hopped onto his Coffin Boat.

"Don't worry. We'll visit you once in a while."

"Pff. Thanks for the warning." Mihawk lightly chuckled, and sailed off. Mihawk was tired, but at least he knew that Shanks would visit him later in the future.

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Whoops i swear i didn't forget about this story. I was lazy and busy. Sorry the story is uhh bad. Like really bad. Next one should be a lot better.