Last time, Marco converses briefly with Aokiji, who's taking him to Impel Down, meanwhile, Luffy and Shanks have a long overdue conversation.
The meeting room, a low table, and some pillow seats haphazardly arranged in the middle of Admiral Sengoku's office, is light-filled and cheery. The open sliding doors invite in the mid-afternoon sea breeze and offer the officers a mesmerizing view of the ocean, almost too bright to look at. It's a valid meeting spot. With the Fleet Admiral's office located on its own wing, Sengoku gets away with having crucial tactical reunions without sacrificing his view.
Too bad the purpose of the meeting ruins any pleasant ambiance it might have.
Aokiji generally dislikes Admiral meetings. He's not a fan of bureaucracy by itself, something he gets constantly hounded about, but the company of the sessions... that's where he and the Fleet Admiral agree the problem lies. For all the respect Aokiji has for him, Admiral Garp (I'm not getting a silly animal nickname!) is boisterous and difficult. His attention span is nonexistent unless he is personally interested in the subject matter, a rare occurrence on the good days. On the other hand, Kizaru is prone to nitpicking every piece of information they are granted, questioning the Fleet Admiral intensely. Additionally, being quick to antagonize his superiors when he disagrees with the course of action being taken. Aokiji respect the other man's zealousness when it comes to commitment to his station, but there is such a thing as a meeting going on too long.
Regularly, Aokiji arrives on the dot with a strong sense of wanting to leave and leaves grateful with his god that it's over.
The plan to capture Monkey D. Luffy is exhausting to decipher; Garp refuses to accept any of his grandson's guilt despite climbing evidence. Sakazuki's return and predominant involvement coat the experience in a whole new level of unpleasantness.
"This is stupid," Garp complains, nibbling on a cookie he swipes from under Sengoku's nose. The Fleet Admiral ignores the petty gesture, probably aware of how much arguing there's ahead already.
"Garp, we've been over this; we have a duty to verify whether the allegations are true or not."
"They are," Sakazuki presses, "the Warlord has no reason to lie." Aokiji frowns, "Need I remind you that the brat is the reason Enies Lobby burn down?" Before Aokiji can comment, Kizaru beats him to it
"According to you," the older Admiral refutes, "every single marine that has returned to us has a different story to tell, Luffy included."
"As previously stated, Sakazuki, your memories -along with everyone else's- are unreliable and cannot be used as evidence."
"Besides, Doflamingo does have reason to lie," Kizaru shrugs, sharp eyes roaming the men in the room. Aokiji has no idea how he feels about Monkey D. Luffy, but Aokiji believes he might be the most neutral party present. "The Rear-Admiral just arrested him."
"Pirates will say anything to get themselves out of trouble," Garp supports, shooting Kizaru a glance.
(My apologies, Admiral Aokiji, the Rear-Admiral is having a... rough day.
Sure, Aokiji had thought, but what type of bad day made the brainless ray of sunshine that is Monkey D. Luffy look like that.)
"The Rear-Admiral visited Impel Down when delivering Doflamingo; reports indicate that he left the premises...upset." He hums, garnering their attention. "All of this happened before any allegations were made."
"Correlation does not mean causation," Sengoku points out.
"The brat has been making a mockery of the marines since day one!"
Akainu explodes, as always, disproportionately angry about everything. Ever since returning from captivity, his temper has only gotten worst.
"He has not," Garp growls out, "you've had it out for him since day one."
"Maa, maa, let's look at this factually speaking, please," Aokiji proposes.
"I'll start," Kizaru concurs, pulling out the tiny blue notebook that he carries on hand. Did he... prepare notes for this? Aokiji has an overwhelming urge to facepalm. "Monkey D. Luffy is the son of the World's Worst Criminal, Revolutionary Dragon. Paradoxically, he's simultaneously the grandson of decorated Marine Hero, Garp the Fist. He went through basic marine training at 16, where he served under Vice-Admiral Garp for under two years. Later upon evaluation, he was delegated for Cypher Pol. The criteria were 'so innocent no one will ever suspect a spy.' Off the record, he had a public argument with Admiral Sakazuki, and their ongoing feud caused Straw Hat to be taken out of HQ."
"Spoilt brat," by his glare, it wasn't hard to pinpoint who Garp is referring to. Kizaru continues without pause.
"Under Cypher Pol's guidance, Straw Hat worked mostly solo. Notably spearheading the liberation of the now-renamed Sakura Kingdom, the apprehension of former Warlord Crocodile and dismantling of Baroque Works, and the only successful infiltration into Big Mom territory, before eventually going missing at the Disaster of Enies Lobby. During his service, Monkey was well-known for being cheerful and upfront and an aggressive fighter with a strong sense of Justice, which allowed him to reach the rank of Commodore before joining CP9. He also had a tendency of recruiting unique individuals into his missions, many of them still notably marines."
"Do not forget to mention that he was followed by a string of accusations of abuse of power, collusion with known criminals, negligence, and a downright criminal inability of sticking to proper procedure," Akainu bites out. Neither said anything untrue, but Aokiji wonders if maybe Kizaru isn't as objective as he'd first thought.
"None of which have any evidence or were ever proven," Garp argues back.
"Men are innocent until proven guilty," Aokiji agrees, "but we do have corroboration from a pirate about the Rear Admiral's fraternization with wanted criminals, which matches some of the accusations with his record. Some of Baroque Words bounty hunters assured that when their ships were taken down, the CP9 squad in charge was aided by Fire Fist Ace. Notably, he belongs to the same crew as Marco the Phoenix."
"Are we valuing the word of criminals now?"
"It's not about that, Admiral Garp," Kizaru argues, "but how many coincidences is a man allowed to have? The background checks on many of his allies leave a lot to be desired. All of them have been connected to the underworld at some point."
"Turning to the marines after petty crime isn't unheard of." Human beings often oscillate between extremes, after all.
"Yes, but amongst Straw Hat's crew, there is criminal royalty and former mafia."
"And they have saved hundreds of lives, many of them more honorable than plenty of men I know."
"All of this speculation is productive, but there's one thing that cannot be discussed, I've had Marine Human Resources Branch 13 recalled to base," Sengoku mutters, arms crossed and eyes pensive. His frown makes him look even older than he is, and the gaze he gives Garp warns his friend he will not like what'll come out of his mouth. "But HQ hasn't been able to make contact with the Thousand Sunny in over 48 hours."
When he does meet Luffy face to face, he has a question:
"What happened to Nico Robin?"
This chapter was a little hard to write, I never thought this story would get so far, it's mindblowing. Thank you for tagging along for the ride :D
