Alexander's Choice...
Rumors of the Next Island?
Alexander was still debating at telling the rest of his crew. He was in the male soldier's quarters all by himself. His two crew mates were off doing something else. They had told him what they were going to do if he needed them, but he didn't really listen to either one of them. He wanted to tell them about being a target for assassination, but was that such a smart decision? Specter was still ignorant to the why. Specter still believed him to be a normal human, not one that was made in the lab using an iron mace and a Devil Fruit. Chances are if he told Specter about being the target, he would also have to tell him about being a homunculus. A tightly kept secret amongst the Marines, only a few of the Vice Admirals knew about it and Veri Fresh was the only Rear Admiral.
Alexander pushed that thought out of his mind. The other secret he was keeping was about their current destination. He gave Rina the coordinates and left it up to her, but he didn't tell her that they were going off to witness an interrogation of someone they caught. Rina also seemed to have an interest in her other then the Taka organization...if Alexander told her what kind of questions would that raise for her? Would kind of mood would it put her in? Would she be anxious to see the person get interrogated and examined for all possible clues? If she was then that would definitely be a problem for them...it would have to be filed, not to mention the reason why would also have to be uncovered and Alexander didn't want to delve into her past any more then necessary. The further he delved into her past, the further they'd delve into his.
Then there was also the case of his own assassination being ordered. His nerves were already being overworked just trying to figure out how much information to divulge to his subordinates, but having to worry about being killed was another problem. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have been worried in the slightest. He took on one pirate captain, a gang leader, two assassins, and a Devil Fruit wielding Mountain Bandit and he was still alive. But his survival was due to his artificial metal body, his opponent took down another person with the same body type as him, so he was in trouble.
The person they took out was Mrs. C...Alexander really wished he would've asked Veri Fresh for more information about her and the assassin. The only information Alexander garnered from Veri Fresh was another one of his kind died, they don't know who did it, and whoever it was was coming after him, too. He didn't even know the name of the person who died or how she died. Was it a sniping? A surprise attack? Did she fall into the water and die? Did she eat a Devil Fruit? Alexander was racking his brain trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, to calm down and find an answer to any of the questions he came up with. Or how to get those answers.
The mail bird with the finishing papers for Specter's transfer already came and gone, he was an official member of Team Alexander. In other words, it would be awhile until they came across another mail bird who could get the message out to Veri Fresh. Then Alexander would have to wait for Veri Fresh to get the message, have time to respond to it, and then get the mail bird to deliver to back to him. Alexander's head hung between his shoulders.
Outside the door, both Rina and Specter stood. They had just finished making a quick meal for lunch and neither have seen Alexander since breakfast. They had waited for Alexander to come down and eat lunch for awhile, figuring he would just come down on his own, but it was hours past Alexander's lunchtime. Most military people had some sort of schedule, Alexander had a morning routine as well as time set aside for meals. When he missed it they originally shrugged it off, until about two hours after his scheduled lunch break they came back and found his portion of the lunch was still tucked away untouched.
Now, though, neither of them could open the doors. They both stood outside staring at the door like two idiots. There was a weird sort of pressure around the room. It was similar to the sort of pressure that was present during a meeting. It made people keep quiet, unless spoken to. It was if they did anything from talking to sneezing to just dropping a pin they would be interrupting something of extreme importance.
Specter snapped out of the hypnotic effects that was present and began to walk away. Rina reached out and grabbed onto his coat and pointed back at the door. She was holding Alexander's meal in her hands. She had intended to bring it to him and remind him not to skip a meal, he probably still hadn't recovered from the line of skipped meals when he was held hostage in the mountains, but she was frozen out in the hallway afraid to knock on the door and disturb Alexander. He wasn't the kind for heavy thinking and this pressure was almost impossible for him, so that just diverted her further.
Specter frowned as he looked at the door. He snapped his fingers and produced his Pop Grenade Launcher along with a Pop Grenade and loaded it. He aimed at the door, Rina punched him and knocked him down. Specter fell to the floor and there was a loud smash as he hit the floorboards. Both Rina and Specter flinched as the pressure around them broke. The door swung open slowly as Alexander stepped out.
"Uhm...you forgot to eat lunch," said Rina as she held out the small meal. Alexander looked around for the time and sighed as he noticed she was right. He accepted the meal. Alexander paused and then began to speak again, "I have something to tell you all, I'll see you in the kitchen in twenty minutes." Alexander went back into the room to eat.
Rina and Specter both looked at each other as they thought about what it was that Alexander wanted to talk about. The intense pressure worried them, it made them really freak out about what he had to talk about. He missed lunch by such a long period that whatever it was that he was thinking about it must've been something very serious.
They both assumed it had something to do with Veri Fresh's talk. They knew nothing about the talk, but they both knew something had happened. If it was nothing then the fight against Yuuki would've been finished with the first blow. Rina knew Alexander was going to tell them about it eventually. She expected it would be by a total accident, rather then in such a serious conversation. She looked over at Specter, his first time on the ship and already there is going to be a problem.
Come to think of it, Specter had no idea about Alexander's 'condition'. Was that what the conversation was going to be about? She didn't think that was a good idea. Specter didn't seem like someone who could keep a secret. It seemed like he would end up blabbing the secret right off the back to the first Marine he saw. But that wasn't what the news was, Veri Fresh wanted to talk to Alexander alone even before he mentioned Specter joining the crew. Rina was growing more and more anxious waiting to here what Alexander had on his mind.
Specter was even more nervous. If Veri Fresh's conversation had included him then Veri Fresh would've asked for him to come in as well, so Specter didn't have to worry about any topics revolving around that subject, the problem would be if it was anything else. If it did, then Specter was definitely in trouble. He bit his lip. He knew any complaints would be aimed directly at him, he was the newest member of the crew and as much to his dislike he was also the lowest rank amongst them. He didn't think he would be the crew's punching bag, he had expected someone like a shy cabin boy to be amongst them, someone he could push around and have under him, but no...his two crew members were Alexander and Rina, and they were both more then capable at handling themselves around him. With his low rank and seniority on the crew, he was the bottom dog.
Rina and Specter were both nervously awaiting Alexander to finish. Sure enough when the twenty minutes were up and Alexander gathered them, both of them were sweating. The pressure from before had returned and this time it was aimed at both Specter and Rina. Neither of them felt too safe right now as they took their seats opposite from Alexander. Rina glanced down at Hayate who was down at her feet like always. The intensity of the situation hadn't slipped by him either, and he let loose a quiet whine to let Rina know.
"Well," began Alexander breaking the silence of the room with that word. "I should start off by telling you about our next destination. On our last mission we captured a member of Taka, Pura Pupuran, they have taken her into a close-by Marine Base for quest-" Alexander's words were cut off as Rina shouted.
"We're g-going to be interrogating her?" repeated Rina, "are we going to be allowed to ask her our own questions?" Her mind had already ignored the tension as she thought about meeting with Kano again. The last time she said that he was off in the New World, but there was twelve of those jewels that he stole from her family, who knew if all of them were still in his possession. The last time she met with Pura Pupuran she just asked about Kano, this time she would ask about the jewels of the zodiac. She needed to get as much information as possible from her during the interrogation.
Alexander shrugged. "We are going to be allowed to sit in and watch the interrogation, but I'm not sure..." Alexander's words wandered off. Specter had a dead serious look on his face as he stared across the table at Alexander. "What?"
"I thought we were heading in that direction toward Itoko Island...but if we are going there to witness an interrogation there's no doubt," said Specter as he sunk down into his chair. "On that island is the son of demon...if you want to talk about fear...interrogation...torture...he's the number one in the world. Thirty eight days...he tortured someone for thirty eight nonstop days."
"That's just impossible," stated Alexander, "the Marines aren't like that. There is no way the higher-ups in the government would allow a prisoner to be tortured for twenty eight days before letting him go."
"Nope..." corrected Specter as he adjusted his view down to his feet, "the prisoner wasn't let go. He didn't even die from the torture, HE wouldn't allow that...after thirty eight days one of the officers overseeing the interrogation took pity on the prisoner and shot him. He is one of the dirty secrets amongst the Marines. A master at interrogation and torture...he was born an orphan and made into a slave...his 'master' disappeared and for some reason he was allowed to join the Marines."
"Those are just rumors," said Alexander trying to change the tone of the conversation. "No human is possible of being that cruel. Its just a rumor. When something or someone becomes famous rumors like these spread. Its just not true..."
"Maybe, but its a pretty popular rumor and it is believable too. Prisoners don't just talk about their old connections. Torturing exists and if it exists then someone somewhere will take it to extremes, and that guy is Dante Fumes."
Alexander paused. The name was familiar. He probably did hear about him entering the Marines through some weird process, so he was famous. Rumors would start, but would the Marines actually allow the torture of a single prisoner to go on that long? Alexander was already starting to dread the upcoming weeks.
"Is that all, A-Alexander?" asked Rina finally managing to calm down her thoughts about Kano. She was still fidgeting a bit with nervous anticipation of gathering more information, but she was capable of holding it in now.
Alexander looked up at her and paused. He hadn't decided on whether or not to tell them about his hunters...if he was going to, now would be the time. He looked up at his two crew members. Specter was still looking down at his shoes, his thoughts focused on the upcoming psychopathic torturer they were going to meet and Rina, who was busy thinking about the person who was going to be tortured. Neither of them looked like they were mentally ready to hear about the people out to kill them, Alexander sighed and muttered, "no, that's all."
Just a chapter to build up suspense for the next Arc. We also see the crews' thoughts regarding the next arc and the interrogation that's coming up. Other then that just keep calm and prepare for the upcoming.