(Location: East Blue)
(General POV)
The weeks leading up to the arrival of the Marine fleet passed by quickly, and just to be sure that he wasn't caught unaware, Jack had Radek open a portal to Sixis, then from there he went alone, propelling himself like a rocket through the sky around the area with his Haki spread out to better find them, though it was unnecessary given how he could see for miles from up in the sky, and the number of battleships the Marines were sending would be kind of hard to miss. It was on the third day of doing this after a little more than three weeks of waiting before Jack finally spotted the fleet of fifteen battleships leaving the Calm Belt.
Going back to Sixis where Radek was waiting for him, Jack told him to go back to Windmill Village and to not come back until he called him, and that he was to not come back here under any circumstances until then. Radek could see how serious Jack was, and so simply nodded his head. He knew Jack could handle himself, though he and everyone else didn't know exactly what kind of force Jack was going up against, they had every faith in the world that he would prevail.
Once Radek went back to Windmill Village, Jack began to set up something he had planned. In the weeks leading up to this day, he had wondered how best to send a message to the World Government to stay out of the East Blue, and it was then he realized that a simple message wouldn't be enough. He had to show them just how truly fucked they were, and to do that, he had to buy a number of Video Transponder Snails. Of course he had to make sure the fleet of battleships didn't pass Sixis by, so he sent a pillar of black flames high into the sky to act as a beacon, and thankfully they saw the flames off in the distance and decided to come check up on it.
Jack could see the ships off in the distance from the island, which is when he decided now was the time to make a call. "This is Fleet-Admiral Sengoku." Came the voice over the Transponder Snail. "Good day to you, Fleet-Admiral." Jack said, his words making the face over the Transponder Snail twist in surprise. Evidently Sengoku recognized his voice, and he wasn't pleased to hear from him, especially not right now of all times.
"What do you want, Sparrow?" Sengoku asked, clearly biting his tongue and forcing himself to not shout at him. The last time Jack had called him, or well, Garp, he had revealed information about one of his Vice-Admirals being a spy for a pirate, and now he had just sent a fleet of ships to the East Blue, so he knew this was no mere coincidence.
"Evidently I wasn't clear enough the first time you sent ships to the East Blue, so now I'm going to have to make it crystal clear this time." Jack said, then he pushed some buttons on the Video Transponder Snail beside him. He couldn't see it, but over Marineford, a screen should have sprung to life. This was supposed to be something that only the Fleet-Admiral could do, but after purchasing the right things from his [STORE], it was very possible for Jack, who was all the way here in the East Blue. "What did you just do?!" Sengoku shouted, then Jack heard him and some other people move around through the call.
*****
(Location: Marineford)
(Fleet-Admiral Sengoku POV)
Running outside of his office after hearing the sounds of some alarms going off, Sengoku was shocked to see the Relay Screens active high above Marineford, making so everyone on the crescent-shaped island could see what it was showing. This was supposed to be something that only he, the Fleet-Admiral, should have been able to do, but it seemed something was very wrong. "God damn it!" He shouted before he stormed back to his office before he grabbed the Transponder Snail off his desk before he went back outside to look at the screen.
"What's going on, Sengoku?" Garp asked curiously as both he and Tsuru appeared beside him. Ignoring Garp, Sengoku directed his attention towards his Transponder Snail. "What is the meaning of this, Sparrow?! What are you up to?!" He shouted, completely losing his cool. He didn't like not having control of the situation, and as it was, there was absolutely nothing he could do to interfere with what was going on.
"You should have realized after the last group of Marines you sent my way, that the Marines aren't welcome in the East Blue. Now you will all see." Jack answered, and everyone heard him over the big screen, though thankfully they hadn't heard Sengoku. That would have been hard to explain, though this whole situation was going to be rather hard to explain.
"Let's see… There are fifteen battleships, with a Vice-Admiral on each ship, along with a thousand regular soldiers of varying ranks on each ship. Have I got those numbers right?" Jack asked curiously, which only seemed to make Sengoku frown even more. He had no idea how Jack even knew about the fleet, but now he knew the number of soldiers and their ranks as well. 'Someone tipped him off.' Sengoku told himself, realizing that things were not looking good.
"I'll take your silence as confirmation. Anyway, please note that it is approximately fifteen minutes to 4:00pm." Jack said, then suddenly his form appeared on the screen above Marineford, giving Sengoku and everyone else the opportunity to see what he looked like. He was far younger than Sengoku would have guessed, but that didn't mean he was any less dangerous. Jack had already dealt with three battleships and three Vice-Admirals in the past, but now Sengoku and everyone else would get to see how he fared against fifteen of them.
Sengoku watched as Jack seemingly disappeared from the front of the Transponder Snail, only to reappear off in the distance above one of the battleships. Sengoku watched on in horror as a wave of black fire completely engulfed three of the battleships. He could hear the screams of the men and women on board, though it was only after a minute when he realized that the sound was coming through the Transponder Snail he was holding instead of the big screen. Apparently the ships were too far away from the recording equipment to hear the screams, which was good, because he didn't want everyone on the island to hear that. Still, they all heard the BOOM from the ships exploding, and by the looks of it, no one had survived.
"By my calculations, that's twenty percent of your force gone in what… ten seconds?" Jack's voice sounded in Sengoku's ears, though he was too horrified by the sight before him to really answer. He continued to watch on as the remaining twelve Vice-Admirals launched themselves into the sky towards Jack, but he ignored them, and instead he appeared at one end of the fleet and unleashed another, much bigger wave of the terrifying black fire at the remaining ships. Marines tried to jump overboard into the water to escape the flames, but it was for not as the water they jumped into very quickly began to boil, and the Marines in the water were cooked alive.
From what he could see, it was just the twelve remaining Vice-Admirals jumping in the sky with Moonwalk, and Jack, and the Vice-Admirals were clearly out of their depth. None of them could track his movements, let alone keep up with him, and Jack was efficient. He would sometimes shoot flames, other times he would shoot his gun, or he just used his sword to cut their heads off.
Sengoku even saw one of the Vice-Admirals fly uncontrollably towards Jack's outstretched hand, then he was shot in the head a few times before his body fell into the ocean where a sea monster appeared and ate it up. From when the video feed went up, it took less than two minutes to kill around fifteen-thousand Marines, destroy fifteen battleships, and to kill a few Vice-Admirals, which was no small thing, and now Jack was toying with what was left of the Vice-Admirals, killing them off at his leisure while making snide comments here and there to Sengoku about where they could have trained better to be more of a challenge for him.
A little more than five minutes had passed since the whole thing started, and there were only two Vice-Admirals remaining, both of whom had the potential to be promoted to Admirals one day. One was Gion, better known by her alias, Momousagi, the other was Tokikake, who was also better known by his alias, Chaton. They tried to work together to take on Jack, but try as they might, they were helpless. The fight, which couldn't even be called a fight, was quickly making its way towards the island where the cameras were set up, letting everyone get a better close up of the whole thing.
Sengoku was struck with horror when Tokikake was kicked down onto the ground, right in front of the Video Transponder Snail, and the next second Jack appeared above him, and after pulling Tokikake to his knees, Jack looked into the Video Transponder Snail, looking as though he was glaring at each person who was staring at the screen, then without uttering a word, he put a bullet through Tokikake's head, splattering the screen with his remains, making so everyone could only see red.
Sengoku heard the shouts of horror from the Marines in Marineford who had watched the whole thing, and it was then he quickly moved to get the screen turned off. He was about to turn his attention back to his Transponder Snail to talk to Jack when he realized he wasn't holding it. "STOP! Please stop!" Tsuru shouted into the Transponder Snail.
Even though they couldn't see what was going on, they knew Gion was still alive a few seconds ago, and Sengoku knew why Tsuru was begging. Tsuru had practically raised Gion, and had been the one to encourage her to become a Marine. There was also the fact that Tsuru had trained Gion for years, and after spending as much time with her as she had, it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities that she might look at Gion as if she were her own child.
"Who am I speaking to?" Jack asked, and Sengoku was surprised to hear the curiosity in his tone, when not just a few seconds before he looked like the most ruthless killer Sengoku had ever seen. "I-I am Staff-Commander, Vice-Admiral Tsuru." Tsuru answered, her voice slightly shaking as she did so. It wasn't a lie to say Tsuru was famous, hell she was the one Marine all women who wanted to join the Marines admired.
She could have been promoted to Admiral anytime she wanted for the last twenty-years, but like Garp, she didn't want to get under the thumb of the Celestial Dragons, so to hear her name, a normal person would have been cautious, but that wasn't at all what happened here. On the contrary, what Sengoku heard was laughing. "Tell me, Staff-Commander Tsuru, do you care for this sack of flesh?" Jack asked cruelly. Sengoku wondered if Gion was even still alive, as neither she or Jack could be seen on the screen that was still red from Tokikake's blood.
"I do. Is Gion- Is Gion alive?" Tsuru asked carefully, looking as though she dreaded the answer she might get. "She is. She's currently unconscious, actually. Before we go any further, I need to say something." Jack said, then suddenly the screen in front of them all changed as the blood and skull-tissue was wiped off of the Video Transponder Snail that was broadcasting, giving everyone a perfect view of Jack.
"Greetings and salutations, pathetic dogs! What you've all just witnessed here was the sorry attempt by the World Government to reclaim the East Blue. As you have all seen, that is a fruitless endeavor, and you should think twice before you enter my domain! You are not welcome here!" Jack stated, then without further grandeur, he shutdown the video feed. He had sent his message loud and clear, and the whole of the Marines had heard it.
"Okay, I'm back with you, Staff-Commander. So tell me, for what reason should I spare her life?" Jack asked, plain and simple. Sengoku was coming to see that Jack Sparrow never beat around the bush with anything, which depending on the situation could be either good or bad. "I'll take her place." Tsuru said, her words not only shocking Sengoku and Garp, but Sparrow seemed surprised as well if the expression the Transponder Snail was making was any indication. There was a pause for a moment before Sparrow said, "I hate to break it to you, Staff-Commander, but that's not going to happen. You're strong, I'll admit that, but you have what, three, maybe four years before you retire from the Marines. Gion is still young. She has room to grow, to get stronger and potentially become a much greater threat. It makes more sense for me to put a bullet in her head and be done with her."
"What would you have me do in return for Gion's life?" Tsuru asked sadly. "I'll tell you what, Staff-Commander. Let's make a deal. If you leave the Marines and come here to the East Blue, I will let you barter for her life. I make no promises that she will leave here alive, but you have my word that if you come here and don't cause any trouble, I will not harm you or any non-Marine you bring. So at the very least you can come and get her corpse without the concern of being killed until you at least leave the East Blue after our negotiations." Jack offered, and Sengoku could see it in Tsuru's eyes. She was going to accept.
"How do I know she will still be alive when I get there?" Tsuru asked. "You have my word, and of the two of us, I've never served the Celestial Dragons, so I think it carries more weight than yours." Jack said coldly. "Very well. I will leave the Marines." Tsuru said tiredly. "Then I shall see you in a few weeks, Staff-Commander. I'll call you in a week or two to check up on you, after all, we wouldn't want to mistake you for an enemy ship. That would be tragic. Now, if you would be so kind, please return the Transponder Snail to the Fleet-Admiral." Jack said with a smile.
Once he had the Transponder Snail back in his hands, Sengoku waited for what else was to come, for surely this wasn't it. "I have another warning to give, Sengoku, but this one I'll let you explain to your rabble. The tides are turning, and soon the Marines will feel what its like to be prey. Tread carefully, for none of you will be safe." Jack told him, then without explaining it anymore than that, he ended the call.
*****
(Location: Marineford)
(Tsuru POV)
Marineford was in a bit of an uproar after the video feed cut-off, and all over people were wondering what was going to happen next. Tsuru wanted to give Sengoku time to sort out the chaos before she really did anything, but every hour she waited was an hour where she didn't know of Gion's survival. Deciding to spare Sengoku some bit of headache, she cleared everyone, save for Garp, out of Sengoku's office and gave him a look she saved for him when she wanted no arguments from him.
"I'll be taking my ship and crew with me. I'll give them the option to stay in the Marines, but I'm going to strongly recommend they leave as well. They should have all seen that broadcast, so they should have a good understanding of what's happening." Tsuru told Sengoku as she sat in one of the chairs in front of Sengoku's desk next to Garp. "You're actually going to do what that monster says?!" Sengoku asked through clenched teeth. He knew it was coming, but it probably still hurt to hear it.
"This day was coming sooner or later, Sengoku. The Celestial Dragons have treated this world as their playground, and millions have suffered. It was only a matter of time until someone had enough and did something about it. He was right, you know, about his word being worth more than mine. For how much I've preached the justice of the Marines, how many times have I turned a blind-eye to the horrors from the Nobles? You know that's why Garp and I have never accepted the promotion to Admiral, it's because we couldn't bear to work for them and help them continue to hurt others. I guess we were just fooling ourselves, because being in the Marines does the same thing, we just don't see it as clearly." Tsuru said, not willing to let Sengoku talk her out of this.
"Do as you please." Sengoku said with a sigh before adding, "We're all too old for this kind of shit anyway. Take the ship and go get Gion." Tsuru knew Sengoku meant every word of what he said. They were too old to fight someone like Jack Sparrow, someone who could take on a force like that and erase them in a matter of minutes. Thinking back to the broadcast, Tsuru couldn't help but remember how Sparrow called Sengoku first.
"How do you know, Jack Sparrow?" Tsuru asked Sengoku. "He's someone who has it out for the Marines." Sengoku said after releasing another sigh. "Obviously." Tsuru said, having figured that piece of the puzzle out on her own. "He called me awhile back, trying to recruit me to his organization. Sengoku happened to be there at the time, and that's when he told us about Virgo being a spy for Doflamingo." Garp spoke up, shedding a bit of light on the situation. "How did he get your Transponder Snail number?" Tsuru asked curiously, after all, not just anyone could reach Garp, and especially not Sengoku. 'Come to think of it, he didn't ask for my number either. He just said he'd call me.' Tsuru realized, finding that to be rather odd.
"We've got no idea. My best guess is that he has a spy here in Marineford, but I don't even know where to begin searching to figure out who it might be." Sengoku said, looking as though he had aged ten years in the last hour. Deciding that there was nothing else she had to say on the matter, Tsuru stood from her seat and removed her coat and put it on her chair, then left the room without so much as giving either man another glance. She didn't want to give them the chance to talk her out of it, and if anyone could, it would be them.
As she walked to her quarters, Tsuru used her Transponder Snail to contact her Captains, then instructed them to gather everyone under her command to meet aboard her ship in an hour. She arrived on her ship just before the hour was up, carrying her belongings, and was now no longer wearing her uniform, which everyone took notice of. Seeing everyone lined up on deck and awaiting her orders, Tsuru addressed them, "As of right now, I am no longer with the Marines!" She said, loud enough for all of them to hear.
"You've all seen or heard about the broadcast by now. Gion is alive, and I am going to go and get her back. It is selfish of me, but I want each and every one of you to leave the Marines and come with me! The decision is yours and yours alone, and I will not think any different of you should you choose to stay, but I am leaving with or without you in two hours time, so if you wish to come with me, you had best gather your belongings." She finished.
Tsuru knew she would have to explain it all a bit better than that, but they all knew her, and they knew she wouldn't do something like this without thinking about it. Plus they had all watched the broadcast, and it was a terrifying thought to run into the man who decimated fifteen thousand Marines in a matter of minutes, and they all knew if they had been with those same Marines, they would be nothing but ash right now.
Tsuru left them at that, going about and organizing the provisions for the trip. After two hours, she couldn't help but smile as every woman on her crew was standing on deck with their belongings and were now no longer wearing the Marine uniform. Of course her crew were all women, mostly because she hated men, but also because she didn't trust them, to a degree of course. Of course there were men she did trust, but they had to work for that trust.
Seeing her crew gathered, Tsuru felt they deserved an explanation, so she told them everything, not leaving anything out, and even after that, none of them moved to leave the ship. They were with her, even if they were sailing straight to hell, they refused to abandon her. With that, the ship set sail towards the East Blue, no one knowing for sure what awaited them.
*****
(Location: Windmill Village)
(General POV)
After ending the call with Sengoku, Jack called Radek and had him come and collect him and his unconscious prisoner. Gion remained unconscious even after Jack took her down to the cells in the fortress and chained her up with Sea-Prism Stone shackles. He honestly had no idea if she had eaten a Devil Fruit, but he wasn't going to take the chances. Everyone was quite shocked after he regaled them with the story of the events that had just unfolded not more than an hour before, Smoker especially because he knew exactly what that all entailed.
It was as if Jack had single handedly decimated an entire Buster Call and then some. That was a force large enough to put pressure on even the Four Emperors, and yet Jack handled them all alone. "I can't believe you left me out of it! I so badly would have wanted to stick it to the sorry cunts!" Luke said in mock anger. He did want to go with Jack to kill the Marines, but he couldn't stop smiling after hearing how many of them Jack killed, so he couldn't be all that mad.
"Are you kidding me?! He killed thousands of people, and none of you have anything to say about it?!" Tashigi cried angrily. "In case you haven't realized, the DOGS were coming to put an end to us! To recapture every person freed from Tequila Wolf! I don't know about you, but I think that makes them unqualified to keep breathing. So quit your bitching and lay down like a good little DOG." Luke said, emphasizing the word "DOG" when he spoke about the Marines and Tashigi.
It didn't matter how much time had passed, his hatred for the Marines hadn't diminished in the slightest, nor had his fondness for Smoker or Tashigi increased either. The best he did for them was tolerate their existence, even if they were part of The Order. "He's right, Tashigi. If they had their way, the Government would enslave everyone here again." Smoker said, knowing Jack did what he did for the right reasons.
"Back on topic, who is that woman and why did you bring her here?" Haedrig asked, referring to Gion who was locked up in the cells. "Her name is Gion, and she is a Marine Vice-Admiral. I spared her because someone is coming here to try and make a deal for her life. I still might kill her if things don't go well, but that's a discussion for later." Jack explained to the group of people. "Who's coming here?" Smoker asked curiously. He was interested to know who Jack might potentially make a deal with for Gion.
"Staff-Commander, Vice-Admiral Tsuru." Jack answered simply, causing a few different reactions from everyone in the room. They all knew who Tsuru was, as she was one of the few Marines in the world who had fought against the Pirate King, Gold Rogers in the past. She was right up there with Garp the Fist, and Sengoku the Buddha, and was a complete monster in her own right, so the fact that she was coming here was kind of a big deal.
"If this doesn't pan out the way you want it to, do we get to kill her too?" Luke asked, sounding a little hopeful. "Seriously?! That's what you want to know?!" Tashigi shouted before Smoker could stop her. He really needed to do something about her outbursts, while Jack realized he might need to do something about Luke's desires to slaughter all Marines. They had a number of new recruits into The Order that used to be Marines, and though Luke didn't hurt them, he wasn't kind to them, and Jack knew he needed to curb this before it really became a problem.
Pretending as though Tashigi didn't exist, Luke waited patiently for Jack to answer his question. "I gave my word that we wouldn't touch her or anyone she brought with them so long as they weren't Marines, and if she didn't cause any problems. If she does, then she's fair game, but Luke…" Jack said as he eyed the man. "I don't want you to purposefully start shit with her so you can try to kill her. She's a lot stronger than you, and I don't like your chances of survival." Jack added, which only earned a frown from Luke before he got up and left the room.
Jack finished explaining all of the details with everyone, then concluded the meeting. Before he left the fortress, Haedrig stopped him when they were alone. "I need to talk to you about Luke." He said, getting straight to the point because he knew Jack didn't like beating around the bush. "What about?" Jack asked, already having some idea of what it was most likely about. "I know he's got good reason to hate the Marines, hell, we all do, but not everyone of them was to blame. He treats the members of the Sentinels who used to be Marines like shit, and more than a few of them are terrified of him. I was hoping you could do something about it." Haedrig explained, which only got a sigh from Jack.
He had never said something about Luke's attitude towards the Marines before because he knew it was all deserved, but he knew there was going to come a time where he was going to have to step up and do something about it, and he guessed now was that time. "I'll talk to him." Jack said, getting a nod from Haedrig.
Leaving the fortress, Jack went to find Luke to have a conversation he didn't actually want to have. It was easy finding Luke, as all it took was going to where the sounds of destruction were coming from. Heading out of town, Jack found Luke near the forest's edge, working on a training exercise to cut leaves on a tree a short distance away without cutting the tree itself. "We need to talk." Jack said seriously.
"Look, I promise not to cause shit with that Tsuru lady unless she starts it first, okay?" Luke said, hoping to end this little conversation before it went anywhere. "That's good, but it's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Jack said, then made two cold beers appear in his hand before he extended one to Luke.
They moved over to a downed tree before taking a seat. The silence between them lasted a few seconds before Jack got right down to it. "Do you want to die?" He asked, surprising Luke for a moment before he looked away from Jack and took a drink of his beer. "What makes you ask that?" Luke asked without looking at him, while also not answering the question. Jack had noticed from the day they met how Luke put himself in harm's way, or just straight up put himself in situations that he may very well die in, and he couldn't help but wonder.
"You give off that impression." Jack answered simply, then took a drink of his own beer. There was a moment of silence between the two of them that lasted almost a minute before Luke said, "Yes." It was short and honest, and confirmed what Jack already suspected. Before Luke had the chance to react, Jack slammed a fist into the side of Luke's head, sending him flying to the ground a few meters away.
"You selfish son-of-a-bitch!" Jack growled as he appeared over Luke and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "You can't just give up your life like-!" "WHAT LIFE?! I HAVE NO LIFE!" Luke shouted, interrupting Jack. "They took it from me, along with any chance I had of finding happiness." Luke said much quieter. Staring down at him, Jack could see the pain in Luke's eyes, but wasn't quite sure how to help him. Still, he wasn't going to let this slide.
Luke went flying through the air when another fist collided with his jaw, and it wasn't just the one. Jack rained blow after blow, fighting harder than he had ever fought Luke before. Luke had thought he was near enough to Jack's level, but he wasn't even able to react to Jack's movements, and he could see now how blind he truly was before. "If you want to die so badly, then I may as well kill you now!" Jack growled, then kicked Luke into the forest. Moving quickly, Jack followed after him, arriving just as Luke shakily got to his feet and drew his swords.
"That's cute." Jack said, then unleashed a wave of Conqueror's Haki that dropped Luke to his knees. Jack continued to release his Haki in pulsating waves that never allowed Luke a moment of reprieve as he stepped closer towards him. When he was towering over him, Jack made his sword appear in his hand, then brought it high above his head. Closing his eyes, he released a breath, then swung down.
*CLANG!*
Opening his eyes, Jack saw Luke on one knee holding one of his swords above him, blocking Jack's own sword as he released a wave of his own Conqueror's Haki to combat Jack's. It was weaker, but Jack couldn't stop himself from smirking as he raised his right foot so fast, Luke didn't know what hit him before he found himself flying through a few trees. When he finally stopped flying, he slowly pulled himself out of the tree he had been embedded in, then coughed out some blood.
"For someone who wants to die, you're sure trying awfully hard to stay alive." Jack told him, causing Luke to look up at him with a frown. Jack no longer had his sword out, but instead had his hand extended down to Luke, who looked at it for a few seconds before he reached up and took it. "If you don't have a reason to live, then let me be that reason." Jack said, and rather than argue with him, Luke just nodded. They didn't need to say anything else to one another, at least not right now. Jack knew he would have to talk a bit more about the new recruits, but for now, this was enough for today.
*****
(Location: Fortress Cells)
(Gion POV)
It had been a few days since she was captured by the man known as Jack Sparrow, and despite being the sole survivor of the fleet, Gion didn't let it get her down. On the contrary, she was biding her time, waiting for the slightest opportunity to escape. Whoever brought her here obviously didn't think to search her, because Gion still had a number of her things in her pockets, one of which was a clip she used to pick the door to her cell.
She had hoped to remove the Sea-Prism Stone shackles, but they were a bit trickier to work on, and the clip broke before she could undo it. Still, now that she was free, she crept through the hallways and up the stairs before she made it into the yard of what appeared to be a fortress. Thankfully it was dark out so no one saw her, but she knew she had to be careful.
She had barely run no more than ten feet towards the wall when she saw what looked to be two people sitting on the edge of said wall, looking directly at her. Knowing she couldn't let them sound the alarm, Gion used Moonwalk to try and close the distance between them, then she would deal with them, however just before she was about to reach them, she was kicked on top of her head and sent crashing into the ground.
"Are you still alive?" A man's voice called out to her, and for a moment Gion wondered if she should pretend like she was dead, but then thought better of it. Who knew what they would do if they thought she was dead. "I'm still alive, bastard!" She shouted back at the voice. "For now at least!" The voice shouted back at her, and Gion couldn't help but wince as she realized her predicament. She had only just escaped her cell, and within minutes she was found out and slammed into the ground, or kicked into the ground would be a more apt description.
"Who are you?" She asked when the unknown voice made no move to apprehend her. "The name is Luke, and the guy sitting over there on the wall watching us is Jack, but of course you've heard about him." The man called Luke said, and at once Gion's eyes widened upon realizing the man watching her was the same man who had decimated the fleet and captured her, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she didn't stand a chance in hell against him.
Knowing she couldn't kill him, and given how fast she knew him to be, she knew she couldn't escape him, so Gion decided the only thing left to her now was to try and get some answers. "Why am I here? What do you want from me?" She asked, looking to where the man on the wall was sitting. "You are here because it has yet to be determined if your life holds any value. That will be determined in a few weeks when Tsuru gets here to try and make a case for your life. As for what we want from you, nothing. You're just a DOG." Luke said simply, making Gion frown.
"Tsuru? What does she have to do with this?" Gion asked warily. "She is going to try and bargain for your life. I'm hoping she fails, but that's just me. Anyway, you can either come peacefully, or I can keep kicking you into the ground until you pass out. Your call." Luke said, deciding that their conversation had come to an end. Knowing that fighting was pointless, she raised her hands high above her head in surrender. "Oh well, you weren't on my list anyway." Luke said, sounding disappointed that she had given up.
Gion wondered what list the man was talking about, but felt that what was going to happen next was more important than knowing about some list. "Are you going to take me back to my cell?" She asked curiously. "Afraid not. You've proved you can escape, so you're going to be coming with us from now on." This time it was the other man, Jack Sparrow, who answered, and Gion couldn't help the chill that went down her spine at hearing his voice. She had tried envisioning in her mind what the monster who haunted her nightmares would sound like, but she never expected him to sound so normal, which for some reason made it worse.
*****
(A Few Weeks Later)
(Location: Windmill Village)
(General POV)
In his office, Jack was going over the final touches of a project he had been working on for the last few weeks, ever since he had dealt with the fleet of Marines that were sent after him. Using the [Bounty] section of the [STORE] in the [Customize Settings], Jack was putting his stolen wealth to good use. After robbing the nobles in the Goa Kingdom sometime back, and combined with his $7.5 Billion berries he had gotten from Arlong, and after selling the great many items from his [Inventory], Jack had something like a $100 Billion berries. Of course he spent $3.6 Billion of that on his ship, another $5 Billion on his fortress, and somewhere around $1 Billion on homes for all of the former slaves, but that still left Jack with a sizeable fortune, though he found it quickly diminishing the more he worked on his project.
'Let's see here, if I remove all of the ranks below Captain, that frees up a few billion. I guess there are just too many Marines to put bounties on all of them right now, so this will have to work.' He told himself as he scrolled down the screen, looking at the value he had put on the ranks of each Marine.
==========
[Rank: Captain]
[Bounty: $25,000,000]
==========
==========
[Rank: Commodore]
[Bounty: $50,000,000]
==========
==========
[Rank: Rear-Admiral]
[Bounty:$100,000,000]
==========
==========
[Rank: Vice-Admiral]
[Bounty: $500,000,000]
==========
==========
[Rank: Admiral]]
[Bounty: $1,000,000,000]
==========
==========
[Rank: Fleet-Admiral]
[Bounty: $2,000,000,000]
==========
==========
[Rank: Garp]
[Bounty: $3,000,000,000]
==========
All said and done, Jack spent $16.7 Billion berries on all of the bounties. It would have been a lot more had he done this before he massacred the fleet containing the 15 Vice-Admirals, but thankfully he didn't need to worry about that. Instead, he bit his tongue as he clicked the confirm button, at which point more than $17 Billion berries disappeared from his Inventory, given that he also had to purchase the activation fee for each bounty.
'That kind of feels like a kick to the gut, but for who, I'm still not sure.' He told himself. Luke would be glad at least, though anything to do with Marines suffering excited him. Granted, he had been better since their little talk, though what really made him feel better was after Jack had went in the [STORE] and purchased a list of all of the Marines who personally worked with the nobles, because of course they had a list for that, and of course Jack also went and got him a list of every known Cipher Pol agent.
Luke had actually found an undercover Cipher Pol agent in the town the next day after getting his list, and at first Jack thought maybe he was wrong, but then after reading over the report, and confirming the guy was undercover in the East Blue, and seeing that it was the guy in the picture, Jack realized that Luke was entirely correct. There hadn't been any other Cipher Pol agents in town, thank goodness, but the one scare was enough for Jack to really look over more of the information he had access to.
*Knock!*
*Knock!*
"Hey, are you almost done whatever it is you're doing? You promised to have dinner tonight with Nami, Genzo and I back in Cocoyasi. Radek is opening the gate in ten minutes, and you're coming." Nojiko came in after knocking, and it was only then that Jack realized he must have been at this a lot longer than he thought. It was scary how long he could get lost in his [STORE] without realizing it, and he knew he had to start limiting himself. Already he was doing too many things at once, and if he didn't take the time to take a break, he was going to lose it.
"I'm sorry, I lost track of time. You don't mind if we're a few minutes late, do you? I promised Soran I'd read her a bedtime story before we left." Jack said, remembering the little girl in question. In response to this, Nojiko simply smiled. "Go ahead. I'll go tell Radek that we're going to be a few more minutes." Nojiko said happily. "You're not upset that we're going to be late?" Jack asked her curiously.
"No. We're going to be late for the right reasons, so it's fine. Besides, I think this is good practice for when we have a child." Nojiko answered, and Jack had to suppress a groan from slipping out. Sure, it had been close to a year since he had taken her from Cocoyasi, and they had spent a lot of time together, and he did very much like her, but he didn't think he was ready for children. Thankfully, Nojiko wasn't dead set on having kids just yet, but she wasn't afraid to talk about them, and she rather liked how awkward he got whenever she mentioned the subject.
"I'll be there soon. Give me like twenty minutes. Thirty minutes tops." Jack said, then quickly made his way towards Makino's place. He arrived at Soran's room in time to hear her tell Makino, "He'll be here any minute! He promised!" It made him happy to hear how much faith she had in him, and vowed to do a bit better to make sure he never broke that faith. "I'm here. Sorry I'm late, I was working on a project and lost track of time." Jack said as he stepped into the room.
"See! I told you he was coming!" Soran told Makino with a smile, then she looked pointedly at him with a frown before saying, "You almost missed bedtime!" "I'm sorry, okay? I'm here now, and I'm ready to tell you any story you want. So what's it going to be tonight?" Jack asked, knowing he didn't have a hell of a long time before he had to go and meet up with Nojiko.
"Last time you told me about the despicable wastes of flesh-" Soran began, but was cut-off when Jack covered her mouth, then looked over at the doorway where Makino had stopped. "Excuse me? Just what kind of stories are you telling her?" Makino asked with a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. "Oh, you know, the ones about the notable sites around the world. This time I think... I think we're going to go with one about mermaids." Jack said, hoping to dig himself out of the hole Soran put him in. Makino didn't look impressed, but thankfully she left without chewing his ear off.
As soon as she was out of hearing range, Jack uncovered Soran's mouth before letting out a breath. "You did that on purpose, and it wasn't funny." Jack said, knowing he hadn't in fact told her that. She had simply overheard him and Luke talking about the Marines the other day, and for some reason decided to bring it up now at the worst possible moment. "Maybe next time you won't be late." Soran said simply, confirming that she was just getting back at him. "I said I was sorry, what more do you want from me?" He asked, figuring he'd get this over with now before it came back to bite him in the ass later.
"I'm glad you asked. I need more paints, brushes, and some more canvases. Or, you know, $53,843 berries. Either will be fine." Soran said without looking at him. "Excuse you? What happened to all of the painting stuff I got you the other day? And why would you need that much money?" Jack asked, finding the whole situation to be rather confusing. "Well, I sort of lost a bet with Nami, and until I can pay her back, she's keeping my painting stuff." Soran answered sheepishly. "What?! You're gambling?!" Jack practically shouted at the little girl.
"Not so loud!" Soran whisper-shouted to calm him down as she looked at the doorway to listen for Makino in case she heard him. "And Nami said it wasn't gambling, because that would be bad. It was more like a lesson in what not to do when playing cards." Soran said, and Jack couldn't stop his eye from twitching slightly. Nami was a bad role-model, and Jack found that the orange-haired girl was teaching Soran more than a few bad things over the last few months, but he didn't think she was teaching her gambling.
"Call it whatever you want, but I don't want you gambling anymore. I'll give you more paints if only because Nami doesn't paint, and you'd probably be able to buy that stuff back off of her for cheaper than anywhere else if you wait long enough, but this is all I'm going to give you if you try to gamble it off again." Jack warned the little girl, who nodded happily, then said she'd like to get on with the story.
Because Jack had mentioned mermaids to Makino, he decided to tell her a story about mermaids, which was actually the little mermaid. He even used different colors of flames to create images of the movie so she could get a good visual on what he was talking about. After the story, Jack quickly made his way to where he knew Nojiko was waiting, and he had to apologize again for being even later than he had originally thought, but Nojiko said it was fine. In fact, she was on his side after he told her about Nami teaching Soran gambling, and both of them gave her an earful before they went through the portal to have dinner.
*****
The next morning, Jack awoke to the sound of his Transponder Snail going off, and it took him a few seconds to realize what was going on and where he was because he wasn't in his bed. Looking around, he saw that he was in Nojiko's bed and that she was sleeping beside him, which made him remember that they had stayed here last night. "Hello." He answered softly after picking up the receiver of the Transponder Snail. "Hey, there's a Marine ship approaching Windmill Village. I think it's that Tsuru lady." Came Radek's voice over the line. "Can you open a gate for me in the same place as yesterday in about five minutes?" Jack asked the man, who said he would before he hung up.
Quickly getting dressed, Jack wrote a quick note for Nojiko before he went to the usual spot, arriving just as the gate opened up for him. "Thank you, Radek. Lunch is on me today." Jack told the man, getting a thumbs up before Radek disappeared into a different gate. Moving towards the docks, Jack saw a bunch of people already awaiting the approaching ship. "It's rare that you're one of the last ones to arrive. What gives?" Haedrig asked as soon as he got there.
"It was a late night. Had too many things on the go." Jack answered. Just then, Smoker came walking over to them with a large pile of WANTED posters in his hand. "Alright, I know this was your doing, but I don't know how you did it." He said as he held up the posters showing Marine soldiers. "And you will continue not knowing because I have no intention of explaining that little trick. For now, just know that it's going to suck being the Marines." Jack said, not bothering to explain more about the subject.
It didn't take long for Tsuru's ship to pull into port, at which point the woman herself made a show of disembarking the ship alone, moving straight towards Jack while everyone else on her ship remained at the ready, almost as if they expected to fall under attack at any moment. "Greetings, FORMER Vice-Admiral Tsuru." Jack said with a smile, emphasizing the word FORMER to her to remind her that she was in fact, NOT a Marine.
"Sparrow… Where is Gion?" Tsuru asked, getting straight to the point. "She's around. In the meantime, we still need to discuss what you have to offer in return for her." Jack said, reminding Tsuru that Gion wasn't free yet. "Very well. Can we go somewhere private to talk?" Tsuru asked, looking tired as she surveyed all of the people gathered who looked armed to the teeth and ready for war.
Jack led her to Makino's bar, which was pretty much neutral territory in Windmill Village. Most people knew better than to cause any sort of problem there, if for no other reason than not to upset Makino. For one, she was probably the most liked person in the village, and she was a teacher to more than half of them, and all of them loved her. It didn't hurt that she was Jack's friend, but that was irrelevant.
"So what would you ask of me in return for Gion?" Tsuru asked after they sat down at a table in the bar. "I've been thinking about this over the last few weeks, and I think I've come up with a few demands that aren't unreasonable. First off, like you, Gion must quit the Marines and swear to never join them again or help them in any way shape or form. Secondly, because I don't trust either of you, I want a vivre card from both of you, that way I will be able to find you anywhere in the world should you become a problem. And finally, I want you to join the Adventurers Association side of The Order. It is a way for me to keep tabs on you, but it also gives you and yours something to do, while at the same time giving you the opportunity to keep tabs on me, that way we both sort of get something out of it." Jack said, clearly stating his conditions.
"By me becoming a problem, you mean to kill me using a vivre card?" Tsuru asked with a frown. "I could just kill her now and save me the trouble." Jack said, making a good point. "I won't go against the Marines for you." Tsuru said firmly. She wouldn't back down from this, even if she had to fight against Jack right here and now. "That's why I said you were going to join the Adventurer's Association, not the Sentinels. They're the ones who are going to do that, whereas the Adventurer's Association does jobs like exploring caverns, escort missions, transporting goods, finding rare materials, that sort of thing. They also get to choose whatever mission they want to do, so it's not like I will be forcing you to do anything." Jack explained, getting a nod from the old woman.
It made sense that he wouldn't want her to join the Sentinels, as they wouldn't trust her and she wouldn't trust them, but if she joined the Adventurers then they could at least keep tabs on her. "Very well. I agree to your terms, now let me see Gion." Tsuru said. "In order for this to work, you have to convince her to leave the Marines. If she fails to agree to that, this whole thing is null and void and I will kill her within the hour." Jack said, then pulled out his Transponder Snail before he called Luke to bring Gion to him. He was the one watching over her today, so she should be with him.
About ten minutes later, Gion came flying through the door, bound and gagged and looking like she just got curb-stomped. Jack could see the rage burning in Tsuru's eyes upon seeing Gion's condition, so he was quick to put her mind at ease, and to do that, all he had to do was remove her gag. "You sadistic bastard! Just wait until I tell Makino about this!" Gion shouted at Luke, who looked like he had a bit of a migraine.
"And she's talking again. Why is that not a surprise." Luke said tiredly as he moved over to the bar and began rummaging behind it for a bottle of something to dull his headache. "You'll have to forgive her state, she's challenged Luke nearly every day this week to a fight, and this is pretty much how it ends up. The gag was new." Jack told Tsuru who looked confused more than angry as he made the chains binding Gion disappear, save for a Sea-Stone bracelet that was locked onto her wrist.
"Gion… what's going on?" Tsuru asked, confusion plain for all to see as her mind tried, and failed, to make sense of the situation. Upon hearing the question directed at her, Gion turned to Tsuru and it was only then that she realized that Tsuru had finally arrived. Giving her a tight hug that lasted only a few seconds, Gion spoke, "I'll explain it later, for now, I'm just really glad to see you." After saying that, Gion looked at Luke before sticking her tongue out at him like a child.
"Give me back that gag." Luke said to Jack as he moved towards Gion, who hid slightly behind Tsuru so she was between her and Luke. "Calm down. We're right there at the finish line, so no point in running off course now." Jack told Luke, who really wanted to bash Gion's head in just a little bit more. "It's about time you got here, old woman. I don't think Gion could have lasted another day without you." Luke said to Tsuru, then as if he didn't care about her, he turned and walked back to the bar.
"Fuck you, Luke! Everyone else likes me, you're just a sadist!" Gion shouted at Luke's back, and without even turning to look at her, Luke responded, "Correction! They don't like you, they tolerate you! They've had practice putting up with the bullshit of yapping little bitches, and can better tune them out!" The bar was silent after that, and no one moved to correct Luke, because he was probably right. "Could someone explain to me what's going on?" Tsuru finally asked, her mind still trying to make sense of the whole thing. After all, prisoners did not become friends with their captors, that just wasn't how it was, especially not these captors and not this prisoner.
"After her little escape attempt a few weeks ago, we have sort of been dragging Gion around with us to keep an eye on her. As you probably already know, she's quite talkative. Anyway, after watching a bit of our training, she somehow thought it was a good idea to challenge Luke to a fight, which she lost by the way, and has since then been challenging him to more duels in the hopes of maybe one day beating him." Jack answered when no one else did.
"I see." Tsuru said, even though it was clear she didn't actually see. She didn't understand Gion's actions, nor did she understand why Jack would let her see as much as he had. She was still in the midst of trying to process everything when she noticed Smoker leaning against the wall by the doorway. "Smoker…? What happened to you?" She asked with a frown. She thought it was him down by the docks, but her mind hadn't actually believed it was him until now. Exhaling a breath of smoke, Smoker replied, "I was given a chance… My eyes have been opened to what's really happening in the world, and for the first time I can see straight. From now on, I follow my own path, and it's not with the Marines."
The room was silent for a minute after that, and not wanting the silence to press on, Jack cleared his throat and turned towards Tsuru before addressing her, "I have kept my word, now you need to keep yours. You have one hour to discuss everything with Gion, and if you can't give me an answer by then, I will assume the deal is off." Saying this, Jack left the bar with Luke in tow. Jack trusted them not to cause any problems here in town, because if they did, Tsuru, Gion, and everyone aboard Tsuru's ship were all dead, and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop them.
"So you're Tsuru…" Nojiko said as she looked Tsuru up and down. She and Nami had arrived a few minutes ago after Radek had opened a Gate for them from Cocoyasi. She had read Jack's note, and had been somewhat interested in meeting the woman, if only to satiate her curiosity. "Yes, and you are?" Tsuru asked her in return. "I'm Nojiko, and this is my sister Nami." Nojiko introduced herself and her sister, then continued, "Our mother was a Marine soldier like you. She said she met you a few times, but never actually served under you. Looking at you now and knowing the things the Marines have done, I can't help but think she was wrong about you." After saying her peace, Nojiko too left the bar with Nami and most of the bar's patrons in tow.
There was silence for a minute as none of the remaining individuals said anything, then suddenly a little girl who couldn't be older than ten years old came running into the room shouting, "Makino! Makino! Look at this!" Soran was excited as she held up a painting for Makino to see. The painting in question was a bird's eye view of the village, and it actually looked pretty good. "Wow! That's amazing Soran! How did you get it to look this accurate?" Makino asked happily as she crouched down to get a better look at the painting.
"Accurate?" Soran asked, puzzled. She didn't know what that word meant, so didn't know what Makino was asking. "Accurate means, correct in all details or is exactly like it is." Makino explained simply. Soran had a big O-face as she realized what Makino was asking, then snapped back to being excited before responding, "Radek and Tiana were giving all of the kids rides through the sky for the last few days in their spare time, and I managed to draw what I saw."
Makino caressed Soran's hair softly before saying, "It's beautiful, and I'm very proud of you. Can I hang it up in the bar?" Soran beamed happily while nodding her head, then ran out of the building with a smile on her face. Walking over to the doorway to stare after the little girl, Tsuru saw her run to Jack, and a few minutes later they, along with more than a hundred other children were running through town with kites attached to strings.
'What a strange man.' She thought with a faint smile, which disappeared when she realized she still had to talk to Gion about her deal with Jack. Turning towards the woman who was basically her own daughter, Tsuru let out a deep sigh before saying, "Gion, we need to talk."