Last time, Luffy recalls the inspiration for his crew while Coby asks Zoro about Luffy's strange relationship with the Navy. Half an ocean away, one of Whitebeard's newest sons readies himself to tell the commanders the story of when he met the new marines at Sabaody.

It was a crips day. Captain David Merka and the Bellagio crew are in high spirits as their dreams near the sight of the Sabaody Archipelago. David -Dave to anyone who really knows him- isn't looking for neither fame nor piracy, but somehow, on his way towards the New World, he's managed both. He knows from the rumors that a bounty of 80 million means nothing after crossing the Red Line, but it's caused him enough trouble in the so-called Paradise. He jokes with his crewmates that once they reach the big leagues, Dave will enjoy his anonymity.

The first indication that something is wrong is the air of Sabaody when they disembark. Before an accidental pirate, Dave had been a traveling journalist, and Sabaody does not look like an island of rampant piracy and illegal human trafficking. The locals are happy, and commerce is thriving. Despite his suspicions, the ambiance brings a smile to Dave's face before he realizes it. He knows Sabaody is huge and chalks it up to this being a grove that is well-off.

His old connections know better, though, and he's glad to have done some reckon.

He learns that the marines, whom he has caught no sight of whatsoever, have an iron-fist control over the island's coating industry. A coating license has recently been issued, and only those vetted by the marines on the island can earn it. Coating without a permit is illegal now. Beyond that, having a permit means that marines may stop by the shop at any time, and if they find his boat, Dave will be shipless. That leaves only three options, well, four. It is said that a man connected to a nearby bar is an excellent and discreet coater, but that he's been known to travel and he's there as often as he isn't. Then there's one coating system in three other groves. There is also one in #76, but they usually sell out wanted pirates to the marines, so Dave takes the smart choice of staying as far away from there as he can.

As Dave transverse the Archipelago, crime seems to be either incredibly inconspicuous or nonexistent even as he enters the shadier areas. Not that he wishes the island harm, but it clashes so wholly with the information he'd received that it sets him on edge. The coater of their chosen grove is -surprisingly enough- a woman by the name of Madela. After bargaining, Dave hands over significantly more money than needed to have his ship ready in half the time. Before he leaves, Madela calls out to him, carelessly filing her neon purple nails. They somehow match her equally bright, mint-colored bob. Dave has no words as to how to describe her makeup other than… Well, alien seems to do the trick. He knows the world is an unfair place when the woman looks ethereal and beautiful anyway.

"Yes?"

"How come a guy like you is a pirate?" It's not the first time Dave gets asked that question, though it's usually after people realize he's a college-educated journalist. He figures she might've picked up on something in his speech and shrugs.

"It was kind of an accident." Her eyes seem amused and curious, but she asks no more questions. Considering the conversation over, the pirate departs.

For the following days, Dave has a constant feeling of being watched. However, no matter how many times the pirates check, no one appears to be following them. By the time his ship is ready, it's been a little less than two days, and his crew is itching to depart. Not that Dave can blame them, something is happening in Sabaody, and Dave wants to be long gone when that shit hits the fan. Despite witnessing no misdeeds during their stay, Dave still has caught no glimpse of marines on the island. And don't those guys need to patrol or something? How are the islands not falling apart?

His crew rendezvous at the meeting point set by Madela and Dave cradles the letter with instructions in his hand. Trouble starts as soon as they catch sight of his ship.

This part of the Archipelago is dense with Mangroves, and light barely sneaks past. Tied to the coast are two galleons. Dave immediately recognizes the hand-painted sails of the Bellagio. Aaron, their resident artist, had painstakingly painted a terracotta-colored city and sky in their sails. It's a distinguishable ship, which had Dave worried. Just as coated as the Bellagio, the second ship is a bright electric blue with white sails. It's smaller than their own ship, but not significantly so, and it does appear to be brand new.

The second vessel is vaguely puzzling, but it's the people downhill from them, standing directly between Dave's crew and the sea, which causes worry. A group of men stands in a half-circle. By the violence in their stands and attires, Dave's going to go out on a limb and categorize them as pirates. Their yells about reaching their ship, which like the Bellagio, sports a Jolly Roger, is also a pretty damning clue.

The pirates also take a back seat in his worries.

It's the man blocking the way to their ship that draws his focus.

He wears a deep green yukata with a red sash, and loosely draped over his shoulder is the glistening white of a marine officer's coat. Dave takes the figure in, a man of average height but significant build with bright green hair and tanned skin. His attire should emanate righteousness and justice, but his face is that of a demon. His hand never leaves his sword guard, and from a distance, Dave can tell he wields more than one. The marine stands annoyed at the pirates yelling, and Dave tries to scurry his way through.

"...You're not going anywhere until I know which of these ships I'm supposed to cut down, so shut up!" Well, that is concerning.

"Are you cookoo? No way you're going to damage the ships with a sword."

"Yeah, and who the fuck said we'll let you do what you want anyway?"

"Hah?!"

The man glares, and it's sobering when the pirates actually take a step back. The situation is so baffling; Dave's first two plans are honestly just walking by the distracted crowd and heading to his ship or just straight up asking is it's his ship the one meant to be destroyed.

"Captain?" the first mate asks, jaw open as he too tries to take in the situation.

"We will wait and see."

And wait and see turns out to be a brilliant idea when the green-haired man demolishes the other crew with barely a sweat. He is left standing alone in the clearing downhill amongst at least over thirty corpses, and his glare is just as fierce when he raises his head, and a single, black eye meets Dave's own. A sword, dripping red in blood, raises to point at him.

Do you want to try next? it seems to whisper, but the man is too far away, and the threat is only in Dave's head. Dave raises his palms in the air, feeling vulnerable in ways he had forgotten since he left the West Blue for the first time when liberating some slaves threw him into a life of crime. Back then, Dave had had no crew, no strength, and not guts, the world had crammed them into him through the years, but it was poorly matched against the bloodthirsty grin of the marine.

"Oiiii Zoroooooo!" A voice emerges into the clearing, male but young as another marine runs into the scene. He stands but a couple of feet away from Dave, whose crew is on edge already and now looks downright hostile. This man is a stark contrast to the swordsman, shorter and slimmer, wearing bright red but with an equally intimidating coat.

"Rear-admiral!" Another voice follows, and Dave has to wonder if the Death God in the yukata slew him when Dave wasn't looking because Dave is looking at a walking, talking skeleton that's rushing onto the scene. He shares a look with his men, all of them frozen, casualties in the new arrivals' interactions.

"Luffy!" the Death God replies calmly, crossing the distance in a stride that seems to shorten the earth he walks upon.

"Zoro! What happened to all these guys? Shishishi. We said to take out the ship! They're gonna be a pain to carry!"

"...Which ship was it I needed to sink?" He forgot, Dave thinks hysterically.

"Yohohoho, Mister Zoro, I believe it's the blue one," the skeleton raises his voice so that it reaches downhill, where now the Death God and the Rear Amiral have encountered each other halfway. As he says so, he looks upon Dave with hollowed eyes. "Who is your captain?" Dave feels almost betrayed by how quickly his crew steps back and feeds him to the wolves.

"I'm David," he offers lamely. The skeleton nods simply, unperturbed by the evident wariness the men demonstrate in his presence.

"Rear-Admiral, this is Mister David, he's the one up for audit." The youngest man turns around, where he's been distracted by the moaning corpses. As they begin stirring, Dave notices than most - if not all of them - appear to be injured but alive. He thinks about the short work the swordsman did of them and is once more blown away at the skill. His surprise is dwarfed when the man swings his blade, and a pure green ray sinks the other pirate ship. Dave sends a longing look towards the Bellagio and prays to his god that his own home does not meet the same fate.

"Zoro, it's cool! You beat up the right ones!" The swordsman, resheathing his blade in one easy, practiced motion, doesn't even turn around and just raises a thumbs up in acknowledgment, kicking one of the men trying to crawl away. The raven-haired man, the elusive Rear-Admiral of Sabaody, Dave realizes, suddenly focuses on him.

"Okay, pirate captain guy, we need to talk."

"...If I refuse?" Now, why would he say that?!

"Shishishishi, you're funny!" the marine informs him, "well, if you don't want to, then I'll arrest you, and Zoro will sink your ship."

"...I'm all ears."

"Great!" And just like that, he plops down on the ground and signals Dave to do the same. Meanwhile, the skeleton bows and goes on to help the swordsman - Zoro - with arresting the other pirates. Slowly, the pirate captain lowers himself as requested and waits as to what a marine could possibly want to ask him of all people.

He tries to forget he has his crew's eyes on him as they shuffle nervously behind him.

"So, I'm Monkey D. Luffy," the younger man begins, "I want you to tell me why you're a pirate."

"Why I'm a pirate?" Dave repeats, befuddled. He wonders at the odds of being asked that question for the second time in as many days. "Excuse me, but I'm sorry... why?"

"Hmm, 'cause I wanna know." Is he... picking his nose?!

"Yes, naturally, but, my question is regarding..." big, wide eyes glaze over, and Dave has enough experience questioning people to know when he's being ignored. He sighs. "I... it was an accident."

Luffy wrinkles his nose in confusion, leaning back on his hands against the gooey grass.

"Becoming a pirate by accident seems pretty dumb."

"...You can say that," Dave agrees, self-preservation kicking in. "I used to be an investigative journalist."

"Huh?"

"A reporter?"

"Like, for the newspaper?"

"Yes, exactly, and uh, my work took me all around the world. I worked in crime, specifically, which means that I followed stories about bad people and tried to uncover the bad things they did." At this, the Rear-Admiral's eyes shine.

"Like a detective superhero?"

"N-nothing that exciting, but... eh, kind of?"

"Cool!" Luffy decides. "Then, what happened?"

"Well, one of my stories was about a series of disappearances in an Archipelago in West Blue, they were widely attributed to a famous crime-lord of the West, a man called Capone Bege." This fact does spark some recognition in Luffy, apparently.

"Oh! Mafia Tank Guy!" If one stretched a little their imagination, that could be a nickname borne from Bege's rumored Devil Fruit powers, and so, Dave finds it reasonable to agree.

"Yes, but well, it... wasn't him. The marine base of the center archipelago island was engaging in slave trading, which is illegal for non-nobles in the West Blue. They caught me when I was copying evidence and put a bounty on my head to discredit me. So, I ended up becoming a pirate to survive."

"Hmmm, I guess it's not that dumb." Well, that was a pleasant way to sum up Dave's life story. "Why sail the Gran Line if you don't really wanna be a pirate?"

"Well, in the Blues, Marines are pretty proactive. Because there are not many pirates, criminals are hunted down plenty, without bringing up bounty hunters. But in the Grand Line, pirates are a dime a dozen. My men and I hope to settle down soon, which is why we're crossing over to the New World."

Dave would've never thought that he'd be explaining his goals and way of life to a marine in a million years. He wonders at the situation. Obviously, both the other crew and Dave's own were set up by the coater. Otherwise, the marines wouldn't know to wait for them. Madela ratted them out, but...

How come a guy like you is a pirate?

He wonders. The blue ship was sunk on sight -mostly- and its crew swiftly beat down and arrested. On the other hand, the Bellagio lies in wait for her crew, immaculately coated and eager for adventure. Dave himself has yet to be charged with anything. In fact, his ship's safety and the freedom the pirates seem to be still up for debate, hinging on his cooperation. Just.. what the hell is happening?

The Rear-Admiral interrupts his thoughts, leaning back lazily on his hands.

"You have a bounty, right?" What would happen if Dave said no, he wonders, and then the image of the green demon comes back to mind, and he nods rapidly.

"Yes."

"Hmmm, okay, that's cool, enjoy Fishman Island then." Luffy dismisses him as no big deal, like a schedule reunion over and done with. Dave feels like he missed an entire piece of conversation. "Don't do anything stupid like turn really evil and stuff," Luffy warns. The marine is dusting off his pants and stretching out the kinks in his back.

"...What?"

"You can leave," he clarifies, his eyes clearly questioning the workings of Dave's mind. (That makes two of them really.)

"Why?" Dave is a little horrified at the question that comes out of his mouth, but he cannot curve the curiosity that hits him.

"Are you slow?" The Rear-Admiral tilts his head, "you're just like Coby!" He laughs and explains, anyway. "You're only a pirate 'cause you wanna be free," Luffy tells him, eyes the most serious he's seen them, "and being free isn't a crime."

(There's nothing to it, and the detail is so small that it escapes Dave's retelling. When the Rear-Admiral states his belief, a single hand reaches for his head, curls amidst black locks, and eventually lowers to rub at the tattoo chocking the Rear-Admiral's throat. The ink is black, and it seems to shine over the skin.)

"But..." The Bellagio's captain begins again until Anya, their shipwright, kicks him in the back of the knee. Dave gets the message to shut up loud and clear. What is he even doing? Here is the marine letting them go, and Dave is trying to get them arrested. "What about them?"

"Oh, they kidnap the daughter of my friend so that he would coat their ship without permission," Luffy's eyes flash, "they don't value others' freedom, so they've given up on theirs."

As his brother's story wraps up, the Bellagio pirates leaving Sabaody with no further interference, Marco cannot believe Ace is still not awake for this (he needs to have the nurses recheck his narcolepsy cycle, this is getting ridiculous). A marine that lets pirates go? What in the world...?

Monkey D. Luffy, huh? the first mate wonders, a marine worth keeping an eye on. He's got a strong suspicion of what's been keeping Paradise Rookies out of the New World now.

Explaining what happens to the pirates in Sabaody is one of those things that was on my mind for a long time when starting WoSA. I'm... pretty please with this take to be honest, though I'm not sure about the pacing. What did you guys feel?