(Location: The Holy City, Mary Geoise)
(The Five Elders POV)
In a large white room, the five elders, who were practically the true rulers of the world, were all staring at the five remaining members of CP-0 with frowns on their faces. "So let me get this straight. Jack Sparrow confronted you all alone, and in a matter of minutes he managed to kill off your entire crew, destroy your ship, and kill seven members of CP-0, while also injuring you all to this degree, and he what, might have been winded at the end of it?" Saint Marcus Mars asked flatly as he stared unimpressed at the five remaining members of CP-0. With her head bowed low, Stussy stepped forward before falling to her knees.
"Sparrow is unlike anyone we have ever seen before. His power is terrifying, and it was impossible to get near him without risking total destruction. Then there is his power to nullify our own Devil Fruit Powers. We were ill-prepared to go up against him, not to mention his organization. There were hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers, all of whom were using the Six Powers techniques." Stussy paused here so as to gauge the reaction of the Elders. Given how they didn't try to silence her, she felt she was okay to continue. "I know we've received reports about this being a new organization, but I believe they've secretly been training for far longer than we've realized. The way they fought, we were no match for them." Stussy said honestly.
"What of his power? What Devil Fruit do you think it is?" Saint Ju Peter asked curiously. The more they knew of his power, the better they could make contingencies against it. "I've never heard of it before, but I believe it is a Paramecia or Logia-type Devil Fruit. He never transformed into any creature, so that rules out Zoan Devil Fruit, but it could be a Mythical Zoan-type that I've never heard of. The black flames only came from his hands, so I'm leaning more towards a Paramecia-type fruit, though what it is, I couldn't say. He has the abilities to shoot black flames that consume almost anything, and he can nullify Devil Fruit powers." Stussy said, explaining everything she had reasoned from the fight.
"What of his allies? Did they show any sign of having Devil Fruit Powers?" Saint Warcury asked. "I saw nothing that would indicate that anyone else had a Devil Fruit power other than Sparrow." Stussy answered, and the other members of CP-0 confirmed this, as none of them had seen anything either. "So he's some upstart who found a powerful Devil Fruit and he thinks he can take us on all by himself…" Saint Saturn remarked, sounding unimpressed.
"No upstart could do what Sparrow's done. He's not cocky simply because he has a strong Devil Fruit. Remember, not even Dragon dared to openly confront us like this." Saint Marcus said, reminding Saint Saturn not to take Sparrow lightly.
"Sparrow… he warned us that he would come here to remind you why you should stay away from the East Blue. He said he's coming here soon." Stussy informed the elders, causing all of them to look at one another. "Go and get your injuries treated. We'll summon you again if we have more questions." Saint Marcus said, dismissing the members of CP-0, who left without another word. Only after they were alone did the elders begin to discuss what to do about Sparrow.
"I say we have Sengoku send the largest fleet of the strongest Marines to deal with him!" Saint Warcury suggested angrily. "He already did that, and if you'll remember, they were killed in a matter of minutes for all of Marineford to see. Fool." Saint Marcus said, sounding as though he were talking to an idiot. "The Admirals weren't there, nor were the Seven Warlords!" Saint Warcury shouted, arguing that the force sent before was not the strongest that the Marines could muster.
"And if we send the Admirals and the Seven Warlords to the East Blue, who is going to be patrolling the Grand Line to keep the millions of other pirates in line, hmm? The moment pirates find out all of the Admirals and Warlords are too busy to deal with them, there will be chaos!" Saint Marcus said, reaffirming why they couldn't do as Saint Warcury suggested.
"What about sending The Holy Knights? Surely they could deal with Sparrow and everyone else who serves him." Saint Ju Peter suggested. "You forget, Sparrow can nullify Devil Fruit powers. Who is to say he can't nullify all aspects of Devil Fruits?" Saint Nusjuro asked, bringing up something that none of them had considered. If Sparrow could nullify Devil Fruit powers, what would happen to the mark bestowed upon them from the great leader?
"The Holy Knights can't be sent there anyways. Without them, who would keep watch over the Holy City?" Saint Marcus said, feeling as though it was pointless to send anyone to the East Blue. "If we can't retake it from him, then what are we supposed to do?" Saint Warcury asked, angry that nothing was being done about this.
"According to Sengoku, Jack Sparrow can be reasoned with. If we can't attack him, I say we offer to give him the East Blue so long as he stays there." Saint Saturn suggested. "To what end? Some man threatens us, so you would have us surrender a portion of our territory so he simply stays there? What if he doesn't want to stay there? In case you haven't been paying attention, Sparrow does whatever he pleases, and so far we haven't been able to do a damn thing about it. He took Tequila Wolf in a matter of hours, he slaughtered fifteen thousand Marines in minutes, and he decimated CP-0. On top of the fact that the man can seemingly shit buildings, he is gathering a force as quickly as we are losing ours. Tell me, why would he ever want to listen to us?" Saint Marcus asked, finding a massive flaw in Saturn's plan.
"What do you suggest we do then?!" Saturn asked coldly. "If we can't go against him directly, I say we find someone who can. For now, we could suggest to him that we have no interest in trying to reclaim the East Blue, but secretly we send word to the strongest assassins we can find through channels that can't be linked back to us. They will receive payment only after they kill Sparrow, that way we lose nothing if it doesn't work, and it can't be traced back to us. If we can get one of the Four Emperors to go after him, all the better. If he kills an Emperor, that's one less thorn to worry about, but if they kill him, things continue as they have been and the Marines will reclaim the East Blue." Saint Mars suggested, coming up with an idea that was pleasing to all of them.
"Why would an Emperor leave the Grand Line for some upstart in the East Blue?" Saint Nusjuro asked, making a good point. If they couldn't piss off an Emperor, then assassins were the only option. "We send CP-0 to the New World and cause problems for whatever Emperor we want, and make it look like it was Sparrow and his organization. We print it in the newspapers, and that way they will have no choice but to strike against him if they don't want to look weak." Saint Mars answered, making it all sound quite simple.
It was decided that they would go with that plan, but for now they would have Sengoku try to make contact with Sparrow, and hopefully he would believe that they weren't up to anything and remain in the East Blue where the Emperor could find him.
*****
(Location: Marineford)
(Fleet Admiral Sengoku POV)
"You did what?!" A furious Sengoku shouted angrily into the Transponder Snail in front of him. "Know your place Sengoku! Don't forget who is in charge here!" The voices on the other end of the Transponder Snail snarled back. Sengoku was angry. No, that was too light of a word. He was furious. After the catastrophic failure to reclaim the East Blue already, he had no intention of provoking Jack Sparrow until it was absolutely necessary, and not when the Marines were weaker now than they had ever been before.
They had yet to gain any significant increase in their numbers since the broadcast, and since that day they had lost a number of their stronger soldiers due to criminals hunting them for their bounties. No, he planned to wait until they at least had things back in order before he even thought of making a move against Sparrow, and now he had learned the Five Elders had made a move without informing him, one that had blown up in their faces, and now they wanted him to try and resolve the situation.
Biting down his anger, through clenched teeth, Sengoku growled, "We're spread too thin as it is, and a fight with Sparrow is something we can ill-afford at the moment, so why would you try to start something with him?!"
"To deal with an infection, one must first cut it out at its roots before the tree can begin to heal. It was a calculated endeavor, one in which we failed. Now we need you to get into contact with him. Try to keep him in the East Blue for as long as possible. Make him an offer of something he might find appealing. Tell him we'll give him the East Blue, and a number of slaves if you think he'll go for it." The elders instructed him, and Sengoku had to fight back the urge to try and reach through the Transponder Snail so he could strangle the old cunts.
"What if he doesn't want to stay in the god-damned East Blue, huh?! He already owns it, and there's nothing stopping him from expanding his real-estate, because guess what? There's no one who wants to fight the fucking monster!" Sengoku shouted angrily, no longer able to keep himself under control.
There was silence for a moment after his outburst before one of the old fuckers finally said something. "We will overlook this outburst, Sengoku, but we would advise you to watch yourself. As for Sparrow, just send him an enticing offer to have him stay in the East Blue." After instructing him on what to do, the communication was cut-off, leaving Sengoku alone in silence, which was rapidly disappearing the more his heartbeat quickened, until all he could hear was a loud pounding in his head.
Not realizing that any time had actually passed, Sengoku found himself in Garp's office, laying down on Garp's couch, as his office was torn to shit, and looked like a freight-train had gone through it. There was even a desk-shaped hole through the wall that had appeared after his desk had somehow managed to fly through it, but he couldn't say for certain how that happened. He didn't even remember all of the shouting and curses he had spouted, but the Marines nearby would never forget them.
Many of them had never heard someone use those words in those kinds of ways, and many of them didn't even think about lodging specific objects up someone else's ass, but Sengoku had clearly shouted for all to hear that he was going to shove Akainu's fist up one elder's ass until he erupted like a volcano, shove Kizaru's fist up another one's ass until they lit up like a disco ball, then Aokiji's fist up another one's ass until they turned into an ice-machine, and another of the elders would get Garp's fist shoved up their ass, then he was going to have Garp use the elder like a boxing glove while he punched Cipher Pol agents, and finally for the last Elder, Sengoku planned to shove his own fist up the guy's ass, grab his tongue, and pull it out of his asshole so he could taste the shit he was spewing.
That had been about an hour ago, and now that his office was under construction, he decided to take a page from Garp's book and invade his office. He even went so far as to steal a bag of Garp's rice crackers. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?!" Garp shouted upon walking into his office and seeing Sengoku on his couch, eating his crackers. "Shut up, Garp!" Sengoku said between mouthfuls of cracker, then went back to staring up at the ceiling.
Seeing that something was clearly wrong, Garp wisely chose to bite his tongue and moved over to sit at his desk. They both sat in silence for a time, before Sengoku finally sat up and told Garp everything that had happened with the Five Elders and how they had sent CP-0 into the East Blue, and even about how they wanted him to try and contact the monster to try and make a deal.
"It sounds like they're trying to stall for something else they're cooking up. They don't want you to resolve the situation, they just want you to keep him in the East Blue, which tells me that something is going to happen soon, something that I don't think is going to go over too well." Garp said, pointing out something that Sengoku hadn't even realized. In his defense he had been too busy destroying his office to really think about it, but now that it had been pointed out, he realized that Garp was entirely correct.
'And they didn't even bother to tell me what they're trying to do!' Sengoku thought angrily. "I'm done… I'm sick of this job. I'm done being some pawn in this fucked up game." Sengoku said coldly to no one. "I'm tired, Garp. I'm so very tired. I've lost my friends, my son (Rosinante), and for what? For some old bastards who drive me up the wall. I've been Fleet-Admiral long enough. It's time I retire." Sengoku finished, looking more tired than he had ever looked before.
"So what are you going to do?" Garp asked, sounding a little shocked at what he was hearing from Sengoku. "I'm going to step down as Fleet-Admiral, then I'm going to take a nice long vacation to a warm island with lots of pretty girls who will wait on me hand and foot." Sengoku said, his words causing a small smile to form on his lips at just the thought of being gone from this forsaken island.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I can't remember the last time we had a proper vacation." Garp said, fully in agreement with Sengoku's plan. "What do you mean, 'we'?! You take a vacation every other month!" Sengoku growled, his anger from earlier returning in full force as he stared at the man who caused him more headaches than all of the other Marines combined.
"Don't be like that, Sengoku!" Garp laughed. "Together, you and I'll go and see Whitebeard. Now that we're not Marines, I'll bet he'd love to hang out with us." Garp finished with a broad grin, a grin Sengoku didn't like. "Whitebeard?! Why in the hell would you want to go and see Whitebeard?!" Sengoku shouted at Garp, wondering if the guy had lost his mind.
"Think about it, Sengoku. Kaido and Linlin are complete psychopaths, and I'd sooner murder that damned red-head before I'd go and hang out with him, so naturally we've got to go to Whitebeard's territory. He'd probably bitch and moan if he found out we went there without telling him, but if we invited him to hang out, I'm sure he wouldn't mind it." Garp explained like the answer was obvious.
"And why exactly would we go to the New World?" Sengoku asked, finding a flaw in Garp's reasoning. There were three Blue seas, the East Blue being excluded from the list of vacationing spots to choose from, not to mention the first half of the Grand Line, so he didn't see why they'd be going to the New World.
"Once we leave the Marines, do you honestly believe the Government is just going to let us go without a fuss? Mark my words, they'll try to cause problems for us, but if we're in the territory of one of the Four Emperors, we're out of their reach." Garp said, making a point that Sengoku hadn't thought of before. 'They would cause problems too.' He told himself in realization.
"I don't see this going as well as you think it will with Whitebeard." Sengoku said flatly. "Don't be stupid, of course it will. Once he finds out we're no longer Marines, I'll bet he'd love to hang out." Garp said with a grin. "Oh yeah, I'm sure he'll like that. I'm sure he'll ignore the fact that we've been hunting him for the last forty years and welcome us aboard his ship for a party!" Sengoku said mockingly, hoping Garp would take the hint at what a stupid idea it was to go and find Whitebeard of all people.
"Think about it, Sengoku. If we're with Whitebeard, any problem that comes our way we can put off onto him, then he'll have to deal with the fallout." Garp said, and Sengoku finally clued in as to what he was getting at. It wasn't just the Government they'd be dumping on Whitebeard, but anyone who came after them, which included a certain monster who was the reason for their problems to begin with.
"I wish you spent more time doing your job instead of finding out ways to make other people's lives harder. However, since this one actually helps me, let's do it." Sengoku said, fully on board with the idea. Besides, the New World was the furthest thing away from Jack Sparrow, and right now, that was exactly where Sengoku wanted to be.
Without giving himself time to really think it through, Sengoku called Tsuru. She was the only one he knew that might be able to get him into contact with Jack Sparrow, so of course he was going to call her first. The line rang for a few seconds before a voice echoed over the speaker, but it wasn't Tsuru's voice.
"Hello?" The child's voice sounded from the Transponder Snail, and Sengoku couldn't help looking at Garp for an answer, but Garp looked just as confused as he did. "Hello? Who am I speaking to?" Sengoku asked curiously. "Didn't your mother teach you it's rude to ask for someone's name without first giving your own? You sound old enough to know better." The child's voice reprimanded him.
Nearby, Garp was nodding his head in agreement, and Sengoku had to resist the urge to throw something at him, if only because there was nothing nearby to throw at him. "You're right, I'm sorry. My name is Sengoku, and I'm calling to speak with Tsuru. You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?" Sengoku asked, sounding much calmer than he appeared.
"Oh, so you're Sengoku! Granny said you might call. Anyway, my name is Soran, and I really, really want to ask you something. Can you really turn into a golden statue like the one on your WANTED poster?!" The little girl, now known as Soran, asked excitedly. Before Sengoku could say anything, Garp chimed in, "You bet he can! There isn't a better-looking statue than Sengoku! Winners of Marine competitions get given small copies of him in his statue form as a reward, and they love them!"
"Wow! That's so cool! I want one! By the way, who are you?" She asked, clearly realizing that Garp was not Sengoku. "I'm Garp, Tsuru's friend." Garp answered. "You're Garp the Fist?! I have a drawing of your WANTED poster in my picture book!" Soran said, sounding very excited. "It is pretty awesome! But why only a drawing of my WANTED poster? Why not just get the real thing?" Garp asked curiously.
"Oh, because when someone with a bounty like yours gets killed, the posters all over the world disappear. I drew a copy of it so when you die, I'll still have a picture of it." Soran said, surprising both Garp and Sengoku, though clearly for different reasons. "I forgot about that! And I already sent a framed copy back home for my grandson! If something happens to me, it'll disappear!" Garp cried, horrified at the realization.
"Don't worry, I can draw a copy of it for you. My mom and Granny say I'm really good." Soran said, and at once Garp's expression flipped and he looked happy, almost as if he were a child himself. "Really? I would appreciate that. My grandson lives in the East Blue on Dawn Island. If you give the picture to a woman named Makino in Windmill Village, she'll deliver it to him for me." Garp said, sounding relieved. "You know my mom?!" Soran asked in surprise. "Your mom is Makino?!" Garp asked, sounding equally as surprised.
Garp snatched the Transponder Snail from Sengoku, and he and the little girl began chatting like dear friends, and the whole time Sengoku couldn't help but wonder what he had done to deserve this. After more than ten minutes of just sitting there, Sengoku had had enough, and faster than Garp could react, he snatched the Transponder Snail from his fingers before cutting in, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to Tsuru. Can you go and get her?"
"That was very rude. Gramps and I were having a good talk." Soran said, to which Garp simply nodded his head in agreement. "I'm sorry, but I want to talk to Tsuru." Sengoku said tiredly. "I'm not sure I should let you. You're a big meanie." Soran said, sounding very much like the child she was. "For the love of…! What do I have to do for you to let me talk to Tsuru?!" Sengoku asked through clenched teeth. "I want a million berries, and for you to say you're sorry." Soran said, her tone changing to that of an experienced pirate, which caught Sengoku off-guard.
"That's robbery!" Sengoku shouted, not believing the absurd price a little girl was trying to get from him. "It's the price for my service, and right now, you need me and I don't need you. Oh, and just so you know, granny said I could be in charge of the communications for the next few weeks, so take that into account. So what's it going to be?" Soran asked cheerfully, and Sengoku had to bite back a few curses as he thought over what could only be called extortion.
"Fine. You have a deal." He said after thinking it over. "That's great! You won't regret this, because I'm really fast, so granny should be on the line in a few minutes. I just need your apology, and your word that you will send payment in less than a year. You can just give it to grandpa Garp because he knows where to send it." Soran said cheerfully. Letting out a sigh, Sengoku apologized for something he wasn't actually sorry for, then promised to send the money with Garp before Soran rushed off to go and get Tsuru.
While she did that, Garp was rolling on the floor with laughter. "Y-you got extorted by a kid!" Garp managed to wheeze out through his laughter, but he still showed no sign of stopping. 'Why me?' Sengoku thought tiredly as he rested his head in his palms, feeling as though this day could end. After only a minute or so of waiting, Tsuru's voice sounded over the Transponder Snail, "Hello, this is Tsuru speaking."
Never had Sengoku been so happy to hear Tsuru's voice, and he showed it by smiling broadly as he said, "Tsuru, it's me, Sengoku! Am I ever glad to talk to you!" "It's good to talk to you too, Sengoku. How have you been?" She asked kindly, which only made Sengoku smile even more. No one had asked how he was doing in a long time, and he felt as if he needed this. "I've been terrible, actually." He admitted honestly, though his smile never left him.
"Look, before I go into why I called, I need you to make sure Soran isn't in charge of your Transponder Snail! She's-!" Sengoku began, but was cut-off by what sounded like a little girl crying. "I don't think Gramps likes me, Granny. All I did was ask him some questions." Soran said to Tsuru, sounding as though she was genuinely hurt at Sengoku's words.
"No, Sengoku is just going senile in his old age. He's a bit of a grouch and doesn't realize that other people have feelings. Run along and I'll come find you later." Tsuru told the little girl in a grandmotherly tone, however once Soran was gone that tone completely changed as the expression over the Transponder Snail turned into a frown. "What is wrong with you, Sengoku?! Soran is a child who loves to talk to people, so it was very rude to get mad at her for simply being curious! You need to learn to not be so impatient! Now, what do you want?!" Tsuru said, her kindness from before all gone.
Seeing that Tsuru wasn't going to listen to his side of the story, Sengoku realized he had messed up. 'Damn kid! Damn Tsuru! Damn Garp! Damn everyone!' Sengoku cursed internally as he let out a long deep sigh. "I need to talk to Jack Sparrow." He said, sounding rather defeated. At this, Gion's voice sounded over the Transponder Snail, "If you want to talk to Jack, you could have just asked Soran. She is his little sister. I think being mean to her might not win you any favors if that's what you're trying for."
Sengoku's mouth hung open and his eye started twitching as he digested that bit of information. Realizing that he had fucked up again, Sengoku let out what felt like the millionth sigh of the day as he began to massage his temples. "Can you take the Transponder Snail back to Soran? I want to apologize to her. In private, please." He said, already having an idea about what was going to happen next.
A few minutes later, Soran once more had the Transponder Snail, and of course her little innocent act was now gone. "I didn't think you were a snitch, Gramps. That was pretty low, even for a Marine." She said coldly to him. "I'm sorry. I realize now how foolish I was. To make amends, how about I send you three million berries instead of one million, and you help me get into contact with your brother." Sengoku said robotically, almost as if he were reading from a script.
"Make it five million berries, and I'll not only forgive you, but I'll have Jack call you ASAP." Soran said, to which Sengoku could only agree. He knew he was in no position to negotiate, and he didn't want to deal with the little devil any more than he had to.
After they ended the call, Sengoku looked over to Garp who looked to be having a difficult situation of holding in his laughter. "Not one word, Garp. Not. One. Word." Sengoku said tiredly as he internally cursed everything about this day. He was hoping to forget about everything that had just transpired with Soran, but for some reason it felt as if the whole thing was playing out again. It took a minute for him to realize that he wasn't in fact, imagining it, which prompted him to look up at Garp, who was listening to a Transponder Snail that had recorded the whole conversation from when Gion took the Transponder Snail back to Soran.
"You recorded that?!" Sengoku shouted angrily as he got to his feet to go and steal the recording from Garp, but he hadn't even walked a step before his own Transponder Snail began to ring. Without thinking, he grabbed the mic off of the receiver before shouting, "WHAT?!" There was a pause of silence before a familiar voice asked, "Are you alright, Sengoku?"
Realizing just who it was who was on the line, Sengoku sat back down while shooting Garp a look that pretty much meant, 'Keep your trap shut!', then he cleared his throat before turning his full attention onto the Transponder Snail in front of him. "I'm fine. I apologize for that, it's just been a rather hectic sort of day." Sengoku tiredly admitted.
"How much did the little extortionist get you for?" Jack asked him, sounding as though he knew everything that had transpired with him and Soran. "You know?!" Sengoku asked quickly, hoping to bring his innocence to light. "I've never heard Soran sing those kinds of praises about anyone, least of all about someone she's never met. She conned me out of almost a billion berries (Mythical Zoan Fruit) the other day thanks to the advice of a greedy little urchin, so yeah, it doesn't surprise me that she conned you too." Jack told him, and Sengoku couldn't help feeling a bit better after hearing that.
"So why did you want to talk to me, Sengoku?" Jack asked curiously. "I want to make a deal with you. The World Government fucked up by sending Cipher Pol into the East Blue, and naturally they want me to try and fix their mess. They want me to somehow convince you to stay in the East Blue, why, I don't know, but probably because they're planning something stupid again. Since I don't think you'd go for that, and I have no way of knowing if you were actually there, there's no point in suggesting something like that. So my deal is this, Garp and I will quit the Marines today and head somewhere in the New World, and in return, you promise to not go to the Holy City and kill the Celestial Dragons for say… a year." Sengoku said, feeling as though that was a fair enough trade.
"That's not a bad offer, but I'm afraid six months is about all you're going to get from me. And of course you would also have to agree to not cause me or my organization any trouble, and you have to swear that you will not aid the Marines in any way, shape or form. Finally, like Tsuru, should I ever meet you, be it in passing or on purpose, I expect a piece of a Vivre Card from you, that way should you break this deal, I will find you." Jack said, his words genuinely surprising Sengoku.
He didn't know Tsuru had to do that, nor had the idea ever occurred to him to get people to give up pieces of a Vivre Card as a way to keep tabs on them. That should have been what they had the Warlords do, if only so they could take them out if they ever became a problem.
"Make it seven months, and you lower Garp's bounty to one billion berries and you have a deal." Sengoku said, and at once Garp interjected himself into the conversation. "Hang on a minute, you can't do that! If you take away my bounty, I'll cause a ruckus for you! I'll make your life hell! Ask Sengoku, he'll confirm I can do it!" Garp shouted quickly.
"Seven months, no bounty changes, and I kill Doflamingo in a very public way." Jack countered. "Deal!" Sengoku agreed quickly. "What about me?! Can I get you to kill someone?!" Garp asked, sounding more excited than Sengoku had ever heard him. "How about I kill Shiki, the Golden Lion?" Jack said, to which Sengoku and Garp both looked at each other.
They hadn't heard any mention of Shiki in almost twenty years. With a shrug of his shoulders, Garp said, "I was more thinking of Admiral Akainu, but Shiki works too. If killing them both isn't asking too much, I'd appreciate it if you killed him too, otherwise I think I'll have to do it myself someday." "If the opportunity presents itself, then sure." Jack said simply. "Good, then I agree too." Garp said, accepting the deal that would see him gone from the Marines.
"Just to clarify this, I won't kill the Celestial Dragons in the Holy City for the next seven months, but outside the Holy City they're fair game." Jack said, making sure they knew exactly what they were agreeing to. "I understand." Sengoku said, not caring about that little loophole. Honestly, this was more than he was expecting to get, and he was going to leave the Marines regardless of what Jack said, so this was just a bonus.
"I couldn't honestly care if you camped beside the Red Line and killed the fuckers the minute they stepped out of their Holy City. In fact, the more you kill, the better." Garp said, not showing the slightest bit of love for the Celestial Dragons. "Shut up, Garp!" Sengoku said angrily. "It's not a bad thought, but I've got something better planned for them." Jack said with a laugh.
"Just remember, they're probably going to be planning something stupid against you in the next few months. Whatever they do, the Marines weren't involved." Garp said, making a good point. After all, Sengoku would rather the Celestial Dragons suffer than the Marines, so that little comment might very well save the Marines a lot of suffering. It wouldn't really, but he didn't need to know that.
"Anyway, with that done, I'm going to call the five idiots and tell them I resign. Bye." Sengoku said simply, then ended the call before he leaned back on the couch. "Let's say Jack left the East Blue today and went into the Grand Line. If he went to kill Shiki and a few other pirates, which he probably will, how long do you think it would take him to get to Marie Geoise?" Garp asked, the question bringing Sengoku up short.
He hadn't even thought about that, but after making a few quick calculations in his head, he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "About six months. He's probably on his way to deal with Shiki right now, which is why he even suggested it. He doesn't miss a trick." Sengoku said, finding humor in the situation instead of being angry. It wasn't actually his problem anymore, so he didn't give a shit what Sparrow did.
Like he had told Jack, Sengoku immediately called the Five Elders. "Speak." One of the Elders said, almost as if he were permitting Sengoku to grace them with this call. "This is Sengoku. Jack Sparrow has agreed to not kill any of the Celestial Dragons inside the Holy City for the next seven months." Sengoku spoke calmly. "That is excellent news." A different elder from the one who answered said. "Should any of you leave the Holy City, you're fair game. Also, Garp and I quit. You can all go and fuck yourselves." After saying this, Sengoku ended the call without giving any of them a chance to try and talk him out of it.
"We should call a meeting with the higher-ups and get out of this shithole before they realize just what we did and try to do something stupid." Garp said, to which Sengoku could only agree.
An hour later and both he and Garp were standing before all three Admirals, what was left of the Vice-Admirals, and a few dozen Rear-Admirals. "As of this moment, Garp and I both resign from the Marines. I recommend Aokiji for the next Fleet-Admiral position, but that decision isn't up to me. Akainu, you probably have many objections and complaints, but I'd suggest you keep them to yourself because Garp is no longer a Marine, and I have no intention of stopping him if he wants to kill you." Sengoku said calmly for all of the room to hear, giving them a few minutes to digest that little bit of information and for Akainu to calm down, lest he lose his head. For his part, Garp simply stared coldly at Akainu, daring him to start barking nonsense. Surprisingly, the Crimson Puppy knew better than to say anything at that moment.
"By the way, we're taking Garp's ship and whatever number of his crew members want to come with us. Also, I'm taking five million berries for services rendered to the Marines. With that, good luck to all of you in the coming future. You're going to need it. Anyway, I don't particularly care about what happens now, so good-bye." Sengoku said, his tone making it clear he was wiping his hands with this whole mess, then with a wave of his hand he walked out of the room.
*****
(Garp POV)
Once Sengoku had left the room, Garp moved so fast that no one even registered his movements until he was holding Akainu in the air by his throat with his left hand, then with his right, Garp coated his fist with Haki before he slammed it right into Akainu's groin, which caused everyone else in the room to wince as Akainu let out a high-pitched cry that sounded very unhealthy. Not one to let up, Garp coated the floor of the room with his Haki before he began swinging Akainu's body into it.
(A.N. Picture the Hulk and Loki scene from the first Avengers movie)
It was only after Akainu stopped moving that Garp stopped what he was doing, at which point he dropped him to the floor like a dirty piece of garbage. "It's people like you who give the Marines a bad name. I just want you to know I'm serious when I tell you, if I find out you've killed another Marine because you think they're weak, I'm going to come back here, and I'm going to pound your head clean off." Garp said, then looked at each person in the room, silently giving them all the same threat, and they could tell from his glare alone that he was entirely serious.
With that, he turned and exited the room, heading straight towards his ship. 'Maybe it's a good thing those two brats wanted to become pirates instead of Marines, at least they'll stand a chance of surviving whatever fucked up storm is on it's way.' Garp thought as he strode through the hallway, his thoughts on his two delinquent grandchildren, Ace and Luffy.
Before he even realized it, Garp was standing before his ship, the giant dog figurehead staring right back at him. "You didn't think I was going to leave you, did you?" Garp said playfully to the ship, treating it almost as if it were a living thing. "Have you finally gone senile, old man?" A man wearing a Marine coat draped over his shoulders, wearing a matching beige suit and hat, with the hat covering his eyes in a shadow said playfully as he moved to stand next to Garp.
"Shut up, Bogard. And take off that damn coat. You're coming with me, and since I'm no longer a Marine, neither are you." Garp said, grinning broadly at his right-hand man. Bogard was a Vice-Admiral, same as Garp, however he had served under Garp since he first signed on with the Marines, and he had never shown any desire to go elsewhere. No one actually knew his true strength, but he was strong to say the least, as for over twenty-five years he had been by Garp's side, fighting against the pirate king, Gold Roger, Whitebeard, and even the Four Emperors.
"Your logic makes no sense. Could you at least tell me why we're no longer Marines?" Bogard asked calmly even as he threw his Marine coat to the ground. "Don't think too hard about it and it makes perfect sense. As for why we're no longer Marines, lets just say the Government fucked up. Sengoku was set-up to fail, so naturally he and I both quit the Marines, and where I go, you go, so button your lip!" Garp said in an annoyed tone as he walked closer to his ship.
"Gather the crew and tell them to grab their families, belongings, and anything else they care about here. We leave in six hours, and we're not coming back." Garp ordered, and Bogard knew from Garp's tone of voice that this was the last he wanted to say on the topic, which suited him just fine. He wasn't a particularly talkative guy anyway.
*****
Six hours later, all of Garp's subordinates and their families had been gathered aboard his ship, along with enough provisions to last them all quite a while out at sea. Now here they all were, gathered in the dining hall of his ship, their gazes turned upon the man who had led them through thick and thin for years, a pillar that they all knew they could stand behind to weather any storm.
Knowing they would need a bit more information than Bogard, Garp decided to explain the situation as best he could. "I'm going to say this once, so open your ears and shut your mouths!" Garp said, making the room quiet down. "The Government fucked up, hard!" He said, then gave a nod before he sat down and began stuffing some food into his mouth. "You're going to need to explain it a little better than that." Bogard told him, which only earned a sigh from Garp. "Fine." He said as he once more got to his feet.
"You all remember the broadcast from a few weeks ago where fifteen thousand of the Marines finest soldiers were slaughtered in a few minutes? Well, using all two brain cells, the Government sent a group of assassins to the East Blue to try and take out the man from the video, and let's just say it went about as well as when the fleet of Marine battleships that were burnt to a crisp. Not only did their 'brilliant' plan fail, but it backfired so hard, now the monster is on his way to the Grand Line as we speak to pay back the Government. The five elders then put everything on Sengoku, and because I don't want him dying from a heart-attack, we're going to be taking him to a resort so he can calm down." Garp explained grimly. He didn't bother to tell them all about the thousands of elite soldiers who served this man, nor did he tell them how the Revolutionary Army was allied with him either, for that would only cause them to panic even more, and he didn't need that.
"Where are we going?" One of his subordinates asked, quieting the room with his question. "We're heading to Secon Island. It's an island resort, and is one of the few islands in the New World not under the influence of one of the Four Emperors." Garp answered, causing a few of the soldiers to actually look a little excited. It had been months or even years since some of them had been given a chance to go on a vacation, and now they were being given that chance. There was also the fact that they felt as though their chances of survival were a lot higher with Garp than if they had stuck around with the Marines, which was probably why not a single member of his crew opted to stay behind.
As soon as Sengoku showed up with his belongings, Garp informed him of their destination, Secon, to which Sengoku could only nod his head in agreement. He rather liked the idea of going to Secon, it being a full resort with hot springs, and given how there was a Sea Train in the New World that stopped there and to a number of other islands, it would make travelling around a lot easier too. It was also near enough to Whitebeard's territory that they could dump their problems onto him, but also far enough away that they could claim to be minding their own business.
Without any further delay, they set off away from Marineford, and Sengoku couldn't help but feel as though a weight was lifted from his shoulders the further they got from the crescent-shaped island. "Who do you think will be the next Fleet-Admiral?" Garp couldn't help but ask once they were far enough away. "Aokiji is the best choice, but you know the government, they don't always use rational thought when making a decision. My guess is Sakazuki will be selected, if for no other reason than because he's too indoctrinated into their ideology." Sengoku answered simply, sounding as though he didn't really care one way or the other who was selected for the position.
"You're not wrong. Sakazuki would probably bend over if they told him to." Garp said with a laugh. The two of them stood there in silence for a time, until Garp suddenly asked, "How close is Secon to Whitebeard's territory?" "You weren't seriously considering trying to get into contact with Whitebeard, were you?" Sengoku asked, fearing he already knew the answer.
"Come on, Sengoku. Just think about it. Any problem we cause we can put off onto him. No paperwork, no reports, no dealing with the World Government, just us, relaxing in a resort." Garp said, getting Sengoku where he knew it would. "You had me at 'no paperwork'. Still, you better not do anything that ruins my vacation." Sengoku warned.
With that, they were headed towards the New World, ready to start a new chapter in their lives away from the Marines.