(Location: Marineford)
(Kizaru POV)
"You're telling me it was the same guy from Enies Lobby?" Aokiji asked in mild surprise. "It was him alright. He got me by surprise just as I got him back then." Kizaru answered simply even as the doctors on standby were patching up his wounds. Already he had taken Saint Shalria back to the Holy City and informed them all that if they wanted to leave then they had best get a proper escort next time. Now that he was back at Marineford he was getting himself looked at while at the same time giving a debriefing about what happened.
"You're telling me one guy not only got the upper hand over you, but he also killed two Celestial Dragons and injured a third?!" Akainu growled angrily. "By all means, Sakazuki, if you think you can do any better, he's probably still on Sabaody Archipelago. And for the record, he only killed one of the Celestial Dragons. Saint Charlos killed himself because of that pink-haired girl's powers. I would also like to remind you that this is the guy who slaughtered his way through Enies Lobby and a Buster Call. The only reason I was able to take him on last time was because I surprised him, but he surprised me this time." Kizaru explained, a little annoyed at Akainu for making it seem as though some little weakling was able to beat him. 'Whoever he is, he sure as hell isn't weak.' He told himself, knowing that any other Admiral would have probably fared the same as him, and that was if they were lucky.
"What the hell is going on in the world?! First it was Sparrow taking over the East Blue, then that freak of nature in the West Blue, and now this monster shows up to cause the Marines problems! Not to mention Crocodile's disappearance, and now we can't get a hold of Moria!" Akainu growled angrily. "Given how I chased that guy into the Florian Triangle, and given how that's where Moria's ship was located, it's safe to say he's dead." Kizaru helpfully informed his Fleet-Admiral.
"By the way, Sir. We actually have news on Crocodile." Commodore Brannew piped up from where he was standing near the doorway. Seeing all eyes turn to him, he continued, "We've had agents combing over Alabasta for the last few weeks in search of anything related to Crocodile, and they've brought forth information about a guild that's recruiting members in the city of Nanohan. As you all might remember, these guilds are part of Sparrow's Order, which leaves us to believe he has now expanded into the Grand Line. If it really was Sparrow, we can assume he was the one to kill Crocodile, especially considering there was no bounty for Crocodile among the ones that he spread throughout the world. Granted, a lot of this information is pure speculation, but we believe this to be the current situation."
"Damn it! What is that monster up to now?!" Akainu shouted to no one in particular. "The man just told you Sakazuki. He's expanding." Kizaru answered the question that no one else would have dared answer. "Shut up, Kizaru! I have half a mind to strip you of your rank for your failure!" Akainu growled at him. "You're not wrong about that, Sakazuki. You do only have half a mind. As for the demotion, by all means. I'm sure one of the five or six people we've been able to recruit in the last seven months would love to have my job." Kizaru said sarcastically, knowing full well the Marines couldn't afford to lose someone like him.
The room was eerily quiet after he had spoken, and everyone below the rank of Admiral were holding their breaths and silently praying that their two superiors wouldn't come to blows. Thankfully there was one among them who could cool the situation by tactfully changing the topic of conversation. "That freak of nature in the West Blue is no longer in the West Blue. He somehow managed to get over the Red Line and into the South Blue." Aokiji said plainly.
"Do we at least have any other information on him, other than where he is or isn't? Maybe a name or a picture so we can put out a WANTED poster of him." Kizaru asked curiously. "He's killed every Marine he's happened to come across, so no. On the plus side, he's been killing more pirates than Marines, so there's that." Aokiji said, trying to bring some positivity to the annoying topic.
"Any big names?" Kizaru asked curiously. "Not really. Mostly just a few upstarts, but what's really scary is how fast he's moving. Reports say he was on one island, and then the next day he was on another one. He also got rid of that pain in the ass, Gasparde. You remember that Marine Captain who turned pirate a few years ago with the Logia Devil Fruit power?" Aokiji said, and everyone in the room knew exactly who he was talking about.
"We should have been the ones to deal with Gasparde!" Akainu said hotly. "If we had been able to find him, we would have. But given how big this world is, there's lots of places to hide. Anyway, look on the bright side of things. He's dead." Aokiji said simply. "What are your thoughts on this new guy? Where do you think he's going to go next?" A Vice-Admiral asked curiously, changing the subject back to the man who had wounded Kizaru.
"He was defending the pink-haired girl, so probably somewhere with her. My guess would be to the New World. Given how strong he is, he'd fit right in with the Emperors." Kizaru guessed. "Well, let's hope they deal with him. He's too much of a pain in the ass for us." Aokiji said hopefully.
Little did they know that it was they themselves who would be having issues with the Emperors, and it had nothing to do with Jack Sparrow, but everything to do with their own actions and the actions of the World Government.
*****
(Location: Somewhere in the New World)
(Sengoku POV)
It had been a few months since Garp and Sengoku set off from Marineford, the trip being far more lively than they had hoped it to be. They had first gone to Fishman Island where they had been attacked by a group called "The New Fishman Pirates" who were quite radical about the fact that fishmen should rule over humans. Garp had tried to not pay them much mind, however when they moved to attack his ship he had ripped them apart, going so far as to round up their leader, a great white shark fishman by the name of Hoady Jones. The guy had been more arrogant than Akainu, which didn't go over well with Garp, who actually ended up killing him.
After that, they had been detained on Fishman Island for a few weeks to clear up everything, and during that time, the former Marines and their families had lounged around and mingled with the fishmen and mer-people. For the most part they simply considered the whole thing as a vacation, as most of the crew and their families had never seen mermaids and fishmen, so this was a whole new experience for them.
As for Garp, he pretty much just hung around the palace with the three princes while the guards investigated who was in the wrong. It was during that time when a few axes and spears had come flying from out of nowhere and slammed into the palace. Upon finding out that it was a fishman named Vander Decken who had been targeting Princess Shirahoshi for the last eight years, Garp decided to go do something about it.
No one knew how he did it, but after leaving the palace in the morning and coming back in the evening, Garp was holding a bloody and beaten fishman who no longer had arms, which without, his powers would no longer work. Being that he was already under investigation for the murder of Hoady and a few of his top commanders, Garp had done his best to keep Vander Decken alive, though now he wasn't much of a threat to anyone.
King Neptune, upon finding out what Garp had done, had dismissed the charges against him and actually thanked him, for now his daughter would be able to leave the palace, something she hadn't been able to do for so long. As a special thanks, King Neptune hosted a celebration in Garp's honor, something that drove Sengoku to drink.
By the time they set out, all of the royal family were there to send them off, even Princess Shirahoshi. "Good-bye Mr. Garp, sir! Thank you for all you've done for me!" Princess Shirahoshi had called out to him, sounding completely different from when they had first met. Garp rather enjoyed his time on Fishman Island, even if they had been detained for a while, it was much better than where they ended up next.
Foodvalten was an island under Whitebeard's control, and it wasn't a big deal for them to be passing through, however given how they arrived at the island just after it had been attacked was a whole other matter altogether. Worse yet, those who attacked had claimed to be part of The Order, Jack Sparrow's organization. Garp didn't believe for even a second that it had been The Order to attack, or that the people attacking had ever even seen Jack Sparrow in person, however he wasn't the one that needed convincing of that. Whitebeard had already gotten word of the attack and he wasn't happy.
They had travelled to two other islands in Whitebeard's territory, both of which had been attacked by "The Order" and word had it that more were being raided even now. "We need to find Whitebeard and tell him the truth. If he thinks this was Sparrow's doing, he's libel to try and find that monster, and who knows what kind of catastrophes they're going to cause." Sengoku said, realizing the ramifications of the two powerhouses meeting would be quite dire.
There was also the matter that if either of the two ever bothered to discuss what was going on with each other, they would no doubt come to the conclusion that the whole thing was a setup, and then the Marines would have both groups out for them.
*****
Inside the commander's office on Garp's ship, Sengoku was going over every map of the New World, circling every island that he knew was under Whitebeard's control. So far two of the three islands that had been attacked were relatively close together, however the third island was a bit out of the way from the second, and based on the map it would have been quicker to move towards the island of Gartel, however they skipped over it in favor of attacking Taravene, an island quite a bit further away.
Looking over the map, Sengoku made an educated guess based on the three previous attacks where the next attack would take place, so with all due haste, the group set a course for Sphinx, the birthplace of Whitebeard himself.
It took them a little over nine days before Sphinx came into view, and sure enough, just as Sengoku had predicted, three battleships were laying siege to the island, and what's more, all three ships had a shield with wings painted on the sails. "Don't you think you should call Sparrow and see if those are his ships before you destroy them?" Bogard asked Garp who was already instructing his men to bring him cannon balls.
"Stop trying to be sensible, Bogard. These dumbasses are attacking innocent people, and if that's Sparrow's doing, he can go and fuck himself! I may have agreed to quit the Marines, but I didn't agree to turn a blind eye to senseless slaughter." Garp said simply, then without further ado, he proceeded to sink the three ships before moving on to the island.
It took him less than an hour to dispose of most of the attackers, although Bogard and a few of his men had managed to apprehend four of them, however two of the captives killed themselves before they could be properly restrained. "I know him. I've seen him in Marie Geoise. He's with Cipher Pol." Sengoku said after seeing the faces of one of the dead men laying around. "See? And you were worried it was Sparrow." Garp said to Bogard, who rolled his eyes before looking to what was left of the town. Almost half of the island's residents had been killed, and a majority of the homes had been destroyed.
"What do we do now?" Garp asked Sengoku, who was actually stumped. On one hand, they had just gone against the World Government by saving these people. Whitebeard was still no doubt hunting whoever it was who was attacking, and once he realized Sphinx had been attacked he would be on the move for sure, not to mention whatever Sparrow would do once he found out that someone was tarnishing the name of his organization.
"I say we inform these people of the real attackers, then get the hell out of here before Whitebeard shows up. Even if we were the ones that saved the town, I'd rather not deal with him when he's already pissed off." Sengoku said, however, his plan went out the window when Bogard pointed out to sea at an approaching ship.
Looking through a pair of binoculars, Sengoku was relieved to see that it wasn't Whitebeard himself, but rather one of his crew members. It still wasn't ideal by any means, but it was better than the alternative. "This is bad. If he reports to Whitebeard, we're going to have some explaining to do." Sengoku said as he rubbed his temples.
"Wasn't the whole point of coming here to stop the attacks so you could tell Whitebeard what was actually happening?" Bogard asked curiously. "Didn't you hear what I said? This is his hometown! The place where he was born! Do you really think he's going to want us sticking around when he finds out all of these people were killed by the Government?!" Sengoku shouted in annoyance.
"If you think he's going to be annoyed about this town, how annoyed do you think he's going to be when he finds out we've captured one of his crew members?" Bogard asked curiously. Wondering what he was talking about, Sengoku looked over to where the approaching ship had been, only to see it sinking beneath the ocean's surface, while all of the pirates who had been on board the ship were now swimming as quickly as they could towards the island. Already at the shoreline, Garp was holding a pirate that Sengoku recognized as Whitebeard's 4th Division Commander, Thatch.
"Alright you losers, line up single-file! No sudden movements or your asses are going to get rather intimate with my shoe!" Garp shouted in warning to the pirates. Feeling as if the situation had just gone from bad to worse, Sengoku marched towards Garp before grabbing him by his shirt and began violently shaking him.
"Damn it, Garp! What's wrong with you?! We already have enough problems with Whitebeard!" Sengoku shouted angrily, sounding as though he was on the verge of a breakdown. "Calm down, Sengoku, I've got it all figured out. We take Jr here and his crew with us, and we use them as leverage to make sure Whitebeard doesn't go on a rampage. Once we explain in full detail everything that happened, I'm sure he'll see reason." Garp said as if the idea was fool proof.
Words having failed him, Sengoku merely turned and walked away, knowing that if he had to deal with Garp any longer than he was going to kill someone, and right now he didn't care who. 'Its okay. It's okay.' Sengoku repeated to himself inside his head, trying to calm himself down, however he soon found that he was repeating, 'It's not okay. It's not okay. We're all going to die, and it's Garp's fault.'
So close was he to having a mental breakdown, that he hadn't even registered the ship's departure, nor did he pay attention to when someone brought some food into his room and set it on his bedside table. He didn't know how much time had passed before he suddenly snapped back to the present when an idea came to mind. Not giving himself time to think it through, he grabbed his Transponder Snail and called Tsuru, and of course Soran was the one to answer.
"Grandpa Goku, it's been awhile! How have you been?" Soran asked cheerfully. "Not well, I'm afraid. Something terrible happened in the New World, and it has to do with your brother. Some bad people did some bad things and made it look like it was him, so Garp and I had to stop them, but everyone still thinks it was your brother. I wanted to tell him about it, so I was hoping you could have him call me right away." Sengoku said seriously.
"That's horrible! I'll call him right now!" Soran said quickly, then ended the call with him. The fact that she hadn't tried to get any money out of him was good, as Sengoku hadn't expected to get out of this without paying, but he guessed even the little devil knew there was a time and place to extort people.
Less than a minute after Soran ended the call, Sengoku's Transponder Snail rang, and upon answering it, he heard Jack's familiar voice, and for once, he was glad to hear it. "What's the problem, Sengoku? I'm in the process of reshaping an island, and I'm damn near finished." Jack said simply. "Here's the thing." Sengoku said, then went on to tell Jack everything, from how they had happened upon the islands that were attacked by "The Order" in Whitebeard's territory, and how the man was out for blood.
Sengoku even went so far as to remind him that he had warned him the last time they spoke about how the Government was planning to do something stupid against him, and apparently this was it. "I see. Thanks for dealing with the imposters claiming to be us, and for letting me know. I owe you one." Jack said sincerely, saying exactly what Sengoku was hoping to hear.
"Any chance you're going to let Whitebeard know that it wasn't you, or do you plan to go against him in the future as well?" Sengoku asked curiously. "I'm on the fence about that, actually. On one hand, he is a pirate, but on the other hand, he has done more good for this world than the Marines. He's a protector more than anything, and I can't help but respect the man. So long as he doesn't cause me problems, I'm willing to consider him and his crew their own guild. As for resolving this problem that the Government caused, they're going to learn very quickly why this was a bad idea. Give me… three days. I should be done here in Water-7 in about two days, then it's off to Sabaody Archipelago. I'm sure that after Whitebeard sees what I've done, there won't be any room for doubt that we weren't the instigators." Jack said without revealing too much of his plan.
"I can work with that. We're close to the island of Secon, so we'll probably deal with Whitebeard there. I'll call you about that favor when I think of something." Sengoku said, then ended the call feeling a lot more hopeful for the future than he had a few minutes ago. Even though he was curious what Jack had planned for the World Government, he couldn't be bothered to care about them, after all they had done this to themselves.
With a skip in his step, he grabbed his food before he headed off to the mess hall to eat his food. He also felt as if a nice tall drink would be rather pleasant, and the cook had the best whiskey on the ship.
*****
It took two days of sailing with the ship going full throttle before they arrived on Secon, which wasn't soon enough for Sengoku. Already Garp had contacted Whitebeard and informed him about everything that happened, however Garp wasn't exactly known for his diplomatic personality, and had somehow made it sound as if Whitebeard wanted his crew members back, he had best hurry up and come and get them on Secon.
Upon arriving on the island, Sengoku looked pointedly at Garp before speaking slowly enough for him to follow, "I'm going to the resort. You stay here. Don't call me. Don't send someone for me. Don't even think of me. As far as you're concerned, I'm not even here. This is all your problem, so you're going to stay here and wait for Whitebeard to show up. When he does, offer him your life, because $3 Billion should be enough to make him happy. Again, me go. You stay. You suffer horribly. Me, live happily."
With that, Sengoku disembarked from the ship with his suitcase in hand, having all the faith in the world that something was going to go wrong. "You know, Sengoku, if I thought you were serious I might be a little offended!" Garp called after him, however Sengoku simply pretended not to hear him. The resort was calling his name, and he wanted no part of what was coming.
*****
(Location: Secon)
(Garp POV)
After Sengoku left for the resort, Garp dragged Thatch and the other Whitebeard pirates he had captured to the kitchen of his ship. "Alright, start cooking. I want a feast fit for an Emperor." Garp instructed them. "Excuse you? Why are we supposed to cook for you?" Thatch asked in annoyance. "Technically it's for me and Whitebeard. If you don't think the old man is going to be hungry when he gets here, then that's on you." Garp said simply. "Hold on a minute. You want us to prepare a feast for Pops? Didn't you capture us to lure him here?" Thatch asked in confusion.
"Stick with the program, brat! We only took you so Whitebeard wouldn't do anything reckless. Just don't ask questions and do what I tell you. Considering the fact that he already had his fleet gathered before we captured you, it's safe to say he'll be arriving in the next few hours, so make enough for him and all of his allies. I'll go and get more supplies." Garp explained without actually explaining, then without further words he took off towards the town with more than a dozen of his own crew members with him.
It took a few hours of running around and organizing things, but by the time the fleet of ships could be seen off in the distance, the deck of Garp's ship and most of the harbor was set up for a true banquet. Garp had even set out torches for lighting, given how the sun was nearly about to set over the horizon. "How likely is he to attack before he finds out what we're doing here?" Garp asked Thatch, who merely shrugged his shoulders. As far as he knew, no one had been stupid enough to do something like this to the old man before, so this would be new information for even him. "I should have gone with Sengoku." Bogard mumbled from beside them, however Garp merely ignored him.
With an idea in mind, he grabbed one of Thatch's crew members, then as if he were throwing a javelin, Garp threw him as accurately as he could at Whitebeard's ship. "I sure hope-" Garp began, however his words died in his throat when the pirate he had thrown smacked into the side of Whitebeard's ship. "A little higher." He said to himself, then grabbed another pirate before throwing him as well.
"Would you stop that?! You didn't even give them a message to tell Pops!" Thatch shouted at Garp, who finally realized he had forgotten that important piece of information. "That one at least landed on the deck of the ship. Anyone else feel like going for a ride?" Garp asked the other pirates, all of whom took a step back from him.
"Look, if you give me a boat, I'll go over and tell Pops what's going on, and I'm sure we can get this all sorted out. But throwing people is not helping anything." Thatch said seriously, trying to get Garp to see reason. Said reason went right out the window when Garp grabbed Thatch and threw him before he even had the chance to register he was being used as a delivery message. "Fuuuuuck Yoooouuuuu!" Thatch shouted as he flew through the air, then landed hard on the deck of the Moby Dick, Whitebeard's ship. "That's it, I'm going to have a drink. If Whitebeard wants to kill you, tell him I had nothing to do with it." Bogard said, then without another word, he walked off of the ship in search of the nearest bar.
Ignoring everyone's lack of faith in his plan, Garp waited patiently for Whitebeard to approach, which thankfully only took about ten minutes. By the time Whitebeard pulled his ship into the harbor, him and all of his allies were dumbfounded at what awaited them. Rather than a trap or a fleet of Marines, they sailed into a feast, one that completely confused them to no end.
"What are you playing at Garp?" Whitebeard asked from less than twenty feet away. "Didn't Jr tell you I prepared a feast?" Garp asked, then looked over to Thatch who was sitting down on a crate with a bag of ice on his head and giving him the middle finger.
Seeing the rude action, Garp decided to explain things as best he could. "Sengoku and I quit the Marines, but we also sort of pissed off the World Government when we did it. Anyway, they kind of hinted at the fact that they were going to try and pit one of the four Emperors against Jack Sparrow, so when we got here and saw that some islands were being attacked by The Order, we figured this was their master plan. We tracked the attackers to Sphinx, but after stopping them we ran into Jr over there. Anyway, long story short, it was the World Government who was attacking your islands. As for Jack Sparrow, he had nothing to do with attacking you, and if you did try to attack him, you'd be playing right into the hands of the Government. You'd also probably get killed." Garp explained, giving Whitebeard and everyone else who had been listening a lot to process.
"So why capture my son and- what, prepare a feast?" Whitebeard asked with narrowed eyes. "Insurance so you wouldn't attack us without hearing us out, and because everyone likes a feast. At the very least, you and your allies can get drunk before you go out and wage war on the World Government." Garp answered as if it was the most simple thing in the world. It would take a bit more explaining before Whitebeard was entirely convinced, but at the very least he seemed willing enough to hear Garp out. In the meantime, he and his allies moved about the harbor and Garp's ship to enjoy the party he had prepared for them.
It was while they were all drinking and having a good time that Garp showed Whitebeard his WANTED poster, exclaiming to everyone how proud he was of it. "We all saw it when they first came out. I'll admit I thought it was a joke until I saw the body of a Marine disappear and a pile of money appear in its place. It had to be one of the creepiest things I've ever seen." Whitebeard honestly admitted from the large throne-like chair Garp had supplied specifically for him.
"What's even more creepy is how well-informed the man is." Garp said, slightly shuddering at how Jack Sparrow knew pretty much everything there was to know about the Marines. He even knew all of their undercover operatives, even the ones that not even Sengoku knew about, and he was the Fleet-Admiral at the time.
"What do you mean?" Whitebeard asked curiously. "What he means-" Came Sengoku's voice from the ramp leading up onto the ship. "-is that he knows things that no one else should know, and he knows about certain events before they've even happened. He is so well-informed, I daresay the man knows everything about you and every one of your crew members. He's a terrifying existence." Sengoku finished with a frown as he surveyed the crowd of pirates, then as if brushing them off, he moved over to a nearby table full of food and pulled up a chair. "What he said." Garp told Whitebeard, having agreed with everything Sengoku had said.
With a frown on his face, Whitebeard got Marco to go and get something from his ship, and a minute later he was holding up another WANTED poster that was very similar to the one Garp had shown them, only it was of someone else entirely. "If this guy knows so much, what do you think this means?" Whitebeard asked, then handed the paper over to Garp.
==========
WANTED
The Black-Haired Snake (Marshall D. Teach)
$100,000,000
Dead Only
Reward Delivered Upon kill
Warning: Hide your pies and children, the backstabbing coward is at large! The power hungry creeper awaits in the shadows of a titan, biding his time for the right moment to attack and claim what is not his own. Can be found on Whitebeard's ship or wherever there is pie, no surprise there given his figure.
==========
After reading the paper, Garp had a thoughtful look as he tried to piece what he could together, but he couldn't make sense of it either. Not even Sengoku gleaned anything from it, and if he couldn't, there was probably only one person in the world who had the answers to it. Jack Sparrow himself.
Just as Garp was going to suggest having Whitebeard contact Sparrow, alarms all across the city came to life, drawing the attention of everyone around as they looked to the point where a giant screen had suddenly come to life. Garp recognized that screen, or at the very least, he knew what it represented, and whatever was happening, he knew it wouldn't be good.
Looking over at Sengoku, Garp saw that he too had come to the same realization as he had, and just like him, there was nothing either of them could do about. Letting out a sigh, Garp grumbled, "What's that monster up to now?"