Hi, I had some time over to write this chapter. And I am kind of happy with it!
I feel bad for Smoker, hating myself for what I do to him, but it was needed and it moves the story along. And I know that the chapter isn't the longest, but I hope you survive.
And I loved writing Smoker and Ace's parts, I just love them together!
Hm besides that, I don't have much more to say. Next chapter is going to focus a bit on them arriving at the base and then more on Cora-San and Law's backstory. Or that is the plan at least, I have to see if I get there. Anyway can't promise when that will be.
The whole Devil Fruit thing, well I will change somethings there, and use an already existing fruit, but yeah you will see more in the next chapter.
Also I am trying to find a way I like to create the paragraphs. So hope you survive that it looks different in the different chapters. Let me know if it looks good or not.
Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing!
And enjoy!
Smoker could see the base in the distance when the explosion occurred, knocking him off his feet. He watched as the smoke raised towards the sky and it took him a few seconds to understand that the explosion came from his base, and the weaponry.
He swore as he stood up, covered in mud, something he didn't cared about as he started running, pasting a few people who had walked out into the streets. He heard a few people muttering that they hoped this would mean the end of the marines, others who prayed for their life. Smoker only hoped that his men hadn't died!
He had no clue to how the armoury had caught on fire, it was well guarded, the only explanation was one he preferred not to think off, that someone had done it deliberately, but would do such a thing? That thought almost had him laughing, anyone of his men could, but he saw no reason for them to do so now.
He reached the base when another explosion happened, making a few of the stones above him crumble and he had to jump out of the way.
"Admiral!" One of his men approached him and he nodded.
"How bad is the situation?" It took the man a few seconds to answer, unsure of what to inform him.
"Unclear. The armoury is engulfed in flames, we are trying to put out the fire."
"Do what you can, but don't risk your lives," he instructed the man who nodded.
"We lost four men in the explosions. We are unsure of where captain Tashigi is!" Those words worried him, had his friend died as well?
"How did the fire start?"
"Unclear sir," Smoker only nodded and waved him along and the man rushed of, back towards the fire while he was left to try to find his friends.
Navigating the base was more difficult than he thought it would be, some of the corridors had been damaged by the explosion, and others were on fire. It was the first time he could remember wishing that he had the old flying machines to his disposal, but they were long gone and forbidden, due to the impact they had on the environment. But to be honest, he rather broke those laws than losing his base.
Yet it was just wishful thinking, like the wish that the fire brigade still was a functioning organisation. But after the city went to hell, all the fire stations disappeared, and he hadn't cared to build one for his base, knowing that his men could handle a fire, just not one at this scale, but to be honest he wasn't sure that the fire brigade would have been able either.
"Smoker, you are alive, thank God," Coby come rushing towards him, covered in soot and blood, followed by Helmeppo, who looked even worse.
"I am," Smoker stated suddenly feeling how the younger man hugged him, something he had never done before and Smoker carefully patted his back.
"I tried to make them stay, unsuccessful, more than half of the men has deserted," at the moment Smoker didn't care, he had bigger problems.
"We can't do anything about it now," he looked at the younger men. "Have either of you seen Tashigi?"
"No, we hoped you would know where she is," Helmeppo answered and Smoker swore again, to the others surprise.
"I need your help to find her!" Both men nodded at once. "Coby, I need you to search the west part, and you Helmeppo take the east. I will take this part, avoid the fire and radio me if you find anything!"
"Yes sir!" Both men rushed of at once and he picked up his den den trying to reach Tashigi, as he had tried since the explosion, without any success.
Tashigi's chambers had been empty, though it looked as it had been disturbed. Normally it well organized, almost on the level that could drive one crazy, because nothing was out of place. Seeing the state, the chamber was in now, worried him, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.
Neither Coby or Helmeppo had reported that they had found her, and Smoker decided to head for his own chambers, being connected to the main office in the base, therefore it was logical that his friend had gone there, in an attempt to take control over the situation.
Yet getting there were more than difficult, the way was blocked by fire and walls who had collapsed, forcing him to take the way throughout the basement. It was a way he normally never used, Vegapunk always did when he had been working down there, but since his disappearance, Smoker and everyone else stopped using it. He even doubted that the new recruits knew it existed.
He felt how the base rumbled again, and he guessed it was due to another explosion, and he feared that the base couldn't take much more. It had been built to withstand most attacks back in the days, however, those times were long gone and the base were in desperate need of reparation.
Smoker turned down the corner not expecting to see some his men, dead on the floor. He hadn't expected to see them at all, hearing more than half of them had fled, maybe these hadn't had the chance.
They were both executed with a bullet between their eyes and it made him stop. Who could have done such a thing? Had they tried to prevent some of the men from fleeing and because they were stopped, they killed them? The bodies gave him no answers and he sighed, all he could do for them at the moment was closing their eyes before he continued towards his office. He radioed the two others, informing them but also warning them as he started climbing the stairs.
He was coughing dust when he opened the door, outside his office, he expected the corridor to be as bad as the rest of the base, but it looked as it always did, almost being surrealistic when he knew how chaotic it was elsewhere.
He walked over to his office, almost expecting it to be empty, seeing that the corridor was untouched, but the reality was far off. He shouldn't be as effected by the blood as he was, but it was difficult not to.
It covered most of the room, and he doubted that the three bodies on the floor had any blood left in them. He watched the skinned people, getting reminded off Kyansaat once and what Kizaru had done to him. If he hadn't known better he had thought that the former admiral had returned, for some unexplainable reason. He had to repress the memories, forcing himself to continue to function, as he walked inside.
His office looked similar to Tashigi's chambers, even if it never was as well organised as hers, it wasn't this bad. His books, documents, folders, everything was torn from the shelfs, now decorating the bloody floor. It started to become clear that someone had gone through their room, searching for something, killing the men in the basement as they walked here, torturing these men in hope of information.
Smoker's hands were on his weapons when he heard a sound coming from behind his desk and he slowly walked there, prepared to fire whoever hid from him.
Her hair was more red than black coloured by the blood, covering the floor and the body was missing part of the skin, yet she was alive and Tashigi looked at him with her brown eyes, and he sat down next to her, in the blood.
"Try not to speak," he said when she tried, without managing. He needed to take her to a doctor, he couldn't do much to help her, but he had to do something, otherwise she would die, here on the floor. He reached for the med kit he had on him, needing to prevent her from bleeding out.
"Caes…"
"Whatever it is, we can talk about it later, save your energy" he assured her as he started to bandaging her arms and hands. If he had time he would have cleaned the wounds, as it was now he just wanted to stop the bleeding anyway he could, so he could move her.
"No," she whispered between her broken lips and he turned towards her, giving her what he hoped was a comforting smile. "Caesar…"
Smoker stopped, understanding what she wanted to say at once.
"He's here?" He heard himself whisper and she nodded.
"He is the one that did this," she informed him and Smoker almost cursed himself, he had never thought that Caesar would return here. "Joker…"
"I know," was all he answered her and she seemed relieved and closed her eyes. "Don't you dare die on me."
She gave him a weak chuckle in response opening her eyes once more and he nodded as he bandaged the last of her wounds, then helping her into a sitting position.
"Oh already back?" Smoker turned when he heard Caesar's voice, grabbing his gun as the tall man walked forward, smirking.
"So are you Doflamingo's errand boy now?" Smoker asked in a cold voice making the other one laugh.
"Did Vegapunk inform you, or maybe it was Aokiji?" He took a step closer but stopped when Smoker raised his gun. "You don't have Vegapunk with you, do you?"
"No, because he died. Apparently, if you torture someone, their body breaks down, and sometimes you don't recover," he spitted out with bitterness, he was unsure if Caesar believed him or not, but he wouldn't tell him the truth.
"Joker isn't going to be happy to hear it, but I would say attacking the base twice would show to be problematic, even for him."
"What does he want?"
"Well he wanted Vegapunk back and I tried to find information on where you could have hidden him, but you left no notes and turns out that none of your men knew about him, not even Tashigi. Which is a shame, she could have been given a clean easy death if I had believed her," he laughed again. "But if the man is dead, there nothing else to do than to destroy the marines."
Smoker fired towards him without hesitation, catching Caesar off guard, and he had barely time to take cover in order to avoid being killed. The bullet hit Caesar's shoulder instead of heart and the man laughed again.
"Never thought you would go for the killing blow, I am almost proud," Smoker ignored the other man's word, while he continued firing, pleased that his weapon held more bullets than a normal one did. He gave the former scientist no time to fire back or progress further and after a few attempt Caesar understood that, just as his phone rang.
"I am in Smoker's office, with him. He states that Vegapunk is dead," Caesar avoided another bullet, and gave Smoker an irritated look, as he founded it impolite of him to fire at him while he was at the phone. "Yes I understand, give me a few minutes and I will meet you there."
Smoker fired once more, hitting Caesar in the leg and he cursed him before rushing out of the room, not without struggle.
"Coby, Helmeppo," he called for them on the radio, soon receiving an answer. "Tashigi is badly hurt and Caesar is here. If you see Caesar try to take him down, without risking your own lives. Joker will attack, be prepared!"
"Where are you?" Coby asked.
"At my office, I need to try to get Tashigi out from here."
"We will work our way over, try to stay put," Coby asked him before both of them ended the line. Smoker glanced at the wounded woman, she was still bleeding, not as much as before, but he knew he couldn't wait much longer, yet if the two other men arrived, they would be better off, at least when it comes to fending of enemies.
He threw another glance at Tashigi before he started searching his chambers and office for things he wished to save and bring with him. It wasn't much, a few personal belongings, some historic files and files that could be important for the future.
The last one was just a guess, he had no idea what would be needed for the future, and what he chose also depended on what wasn't destroyed. He always kept an eye on Tashigi and the door, trying to decide for how long they could wait.
He wasn't sure how the men managed to reach him, but it looked like both Coby and Helmeppo had worked their way through the fire and collapsed corridors. Both looked like they were ready to fall down any second, yet none of them complained when they stood in front of him.
"How is she?" Coby looked at Tashigi with eyes full of worry.
"Bad, she need medical attention to survive."
"What can we do?" Helmeppo asked, ready to follow his commands.
"We need to evacuate the base."
"But…" the purple haired man started.
"There is no but, we don't have the manpower to held it or save it. Besides our lives are more important than this place!"
"But without the army, the city will fall in to chaos," Helmeppo insisted and Smoker sighed.
"At the moment I don't give a fuck about the city," that surprised the other two. "At the moment I only care about getting Tashigi out here alive."
The other two slowly nodded, understanding that there was nothing they could do, and it was more important to save lives than the base.
"Did Caesar do all this? Why?" Coby tried to understand and Smoker sighed once more.
"Because I saved someone and pissed of Jokerin the process," he raised his hand to prevent them from asking question "We don't have time with questions, we need to go!"
"Which way, sir?" They asked instead.
"If she had been in better condition I would have said the roof, but as it is now, I would say the basement," the men nodded, while they took the bags Smoker had packed and he carefully took Tashigi into his arms. He had changed out of his dirty uniform into a clean one, which soon became bloody, but at least Tashigi wouldn't get more dirt into the wounds. "Be observant towards everyone we meet, if they don't attack us, tell them to flee, otherwise kill them. Are you prepared to do that?"
"Yes," the men sounded sure and he hoped they would be as sure later on, when they met people who may have been their friends. He didn't raise his concern, only nodded and Coby placed himself in front of him, and Helmeppo behind as they started walking.
Smoker almost didn't have time to stop the other two men and hide them all, as Caesar walked past with two men by his side, Smoker couldn't say whom among Doflamingo's men they were. He could feel the anger from the men beside him men but he prevented them from attacking the former captain, knowing that it would lead to a fight they may lose.
"So you have found nothing?" The man with spikes on his shoulders said.
"I didn't say I hadn't found nothing, what I said was that I hadn't found anything about Vegapunk. Smoker didn't told anyone about him when he left," Caesar corrected him.
"It's basically the same as nothing!"
"What I did find was some old information about Corazan."
"About Rosinante? Here?" The man with a red cape and some sort of native hat on his head said.
"Isn't that surprising," Smoker could almost hear Caesar smirk. "Who had thought that Corazan had worked for the army?"
So Rosinante had been a part of Joker's gang, at least he got it confirmed, not that it helped him at the moment, and he couldn't hear what the others answered as they disappeared down the corridor.
"Who is Corazan?"
"Rosinante is Sengoku's son," Smoker simply answered looking at the other two. "There is much you don't know."
He had no interest in revealing too much, at least not now. Being neither the place or the time to tell the story.
Smoker stepped over a few bodies, not knowing if they had been killed by Joker's men, trying to defend the base or if they were corrupted men being killed by loyal soldiers, and at the moment it didn't mattered.
The courtyard was covered in blood and dead bodies, fire spreading around them and collapsed walls. He knew that without rain, there was no chance of stopping the fire, luckily the rain was never far away, so at least the town wouldn't burn down, or maybe it was better if it had, killed them all, ending this pointless war.
Smoker heard screams from one of the rooms and he looked at the other two. A scream could mean many things, and he was unsure of if he wished to explore it. It could be one of his men needing help, but it could also be a trap, and he needed to get Tashigi out of here, feeling that ignoring it would be the best cause of action, yet if it was one of his men he couldn't leave them behind.
"Take her and leave," he instructed the two other men, hoping he could entrust her with them, but he didn't had much choice, knowing he couldn't bring her along.
"You can't go on your own!" Coby protested.
"I can and I will. She needs to get out of here! Go, and don't tell me your position unless I ask for it," he gave them a firm look, needing to make sure that they understood, not wishing for the enemy to know their position. The two men nodded and Helmeppo carefully took Tashigi in his arms as they walked away.
Smoker grabbed his gun and sword as he carefully walked closer to the building, throwing a glance at the fire that drove closer, it had now spread to his old chambers and office, engulfing it in flames. It all felt bittersweet, he had already lost the fight of the city, but was never willing to give up, and now his whole base was going down in flames.
He silently sighed as he arrived in front of the door to the building where the scream had come from, the cafeteria. He opened the door just enough for him to get a glimpse of the room, seeing some soldiers keeping others captured, torturing them. He wasn't sure if all of the soldiers worked for Joker or if they belonged to someone else.
He glanced at them, knowing that he needed to kill them all to free his men. Another day he may have thought of giving them a chance, trying to do right, but after what Caesar had done to Aloya and his base, he didn't care. If these men chose to betray the army, the punishment would have been death anyway.
He glanced at his pistol, counting the bullets, he had enough, if he could hit all the men, he needed to act fast, he was aware of that. He felt like the last days made his hands bloodier than they had ever been before, but what choice did he have?
Smoker opened the door, sneaking inside before he fired the first shoot, taking the captures by surprise. Someone screamed when a fire went off, out of fear, but Smoker didn't reflect over it as he only focused on firing and hiding so he wouldn't get hit. His shoulder wound has yet to heal fully, so he hoped he didn't need to use his sword.
He worked his way through the men who had reacted and started fire back, and executing the hostile. He knew that was always a s risk, something he always would try to avoid, but time wasn't on his side. Either the fire would spread here or Joker's men would arrive and kill them all anyway. Smoker fired towards the last of the men, killing them, and he walked over to the seven men who were still alive and freed them.
"Sir!" One of them said and he just raised his hand.
"I am disbanding the marines, no more Sir. You are free to do whatever you want. But I would recommend leaving this place as fast as you can."
"What are you going to do sir?" Smoker guessed it was difficult for them not to call him sir, and that there was no point at mentioning it again.
"Leaving," was all he answered.
"Then we will accompany you Sir!" Smoker didn't have the time or energy to protest so he only nodded and left through the door, with the alive men following him as well as they could. They all needed a doctor as well, not as urgent as Tashigi, but it was necessary for them to survive.
"Where is your location?" He radioed the men.
"In a building northwest of the base, it was once a café," Coby answered and Smoker only confirmed, knowing which building it was, being near the neutral district. He decided that walking into Law's district before attempting to reach the café was safer, giving him a chance to make sure that none of Joker's men were following him.
He hoped that none of them men behind him belonged to the gang leader. For a second he thought about killing them all just to be sure, but realising how much it would make him resemble Akainu he stopped himself, never wishing to be like him.
Yet for the moment he could understand his paranoia, being unsure of who you could trust or not. The only difference was that the people he had feared was the one that aimed to save the city, this people would destroy it and kill everyone they could without a doubt.
He simply walked out through one of the collapsed walls which had fallen, he didn't care to search for a better exit, leaving when he could before the fire cut him off.
He climbed over the unstable rocks, helping his former men in any way he could, not willing to lose anyone else. He heard shots in the distance and a few of the men around him jumped, not that he could blame them, he was just too angry to be scared.
More shots were fired as another explosion happened, almost making them all fall. This time coming from Vegapunk's old laboratory. Smoker saw the smoke turning green for a few seconds and he hoped it wouldn't make it more dangerous. Entering Law's territory, he started moving away from the base, towards northeast, hoping it was a somewhat safe way to get to the old café, one that wasn't destroyed or guarded. More shots were fired as they hurried along the streets, being relieved when he saw the neutral district in the distance.
Smoker feel to the ground when someone suddenly tackled him from above, making him fall into the mud once more, face down as someone pressed him to the ground.
"Where is Smoker?" He know that voice, Ace, even if he was growling in a low dangerous way.
"Here, brat," he muttered when he managed to lift his face. Ace removed the pressure at once and Smoker turned around to face the younger man who was grinning as bright as the sun before hugging him. Smoker couldn't stop himself from smiling, the first smile in hours.
"I have tried to call you, you could have answered," Ace stated in an angry voice a few seconds later and Smoker gave him a cold look.
"I have been a bit busy," he answered coldly, looking at his men who were staring at them, unsure about the situation, a few of them had their hands on their weapons, but seeing that Ace wasn't alone, none of them dared to act. "It's alright."
His men seemed unsure about what to believe, almost looking at him like he had betrayed them, something he didn't give a fuck about.
"Are you hurt?" Smoker looked at him and how bloody he was.
"Not my blood, and if I was I wouldn't have time for it anyway, I need to return to Tashigi, before she dies," he simply said and Ace nodded at once.
"Let me help you get there," the man turned towards his brothers who nodded at once, it was clear that Whitebeard had told them to assist him, and at that moment he was actually pleased with it, knowing that if he met any of Doflamingo's men he would be killed.
"Just be aware, Joker's men may still be around here," he informed them as they started walking towards the café.
Smoker was right, he would have been dead now without Whitebeard's men, and his own men would have been even more so. Two of them had been killed, and there had been nothing none of them could do besides watch and kill some of Joker's men. He had hoped they would have run into Caesar again, giving him a chance to kill the other men, but they only met the foot soldiers, and none of the leaders.
But their numbers were larger than he thought they would be, and it was almost frightening to think about how one person could have such a large number of men without anyone knowing about it.
"We are approaching you, don't shoot Whitebeard's men, they are with me," he instructed Coby and Helmeppo, not wishing for them to try to fend for themselves, hurting someone.
"Yes, sir!" they answered even if he could her the questions lingering behind that answer.
They soon entered the abounded building, which almost were falling apart. He glanced at the younger one, seeing that they seemed to be without new wounds, making him walk over to Tashigi.
"How is she?"
"The same, she has asked for a you a few time sir," Coby said without taking his eyes off Whitebeard's men. Smoker didn't comment on it as he looked at Tashigi, trying to think of a way to save her.
"You thinking about the Law isn't you?" Ace asked, voice full of hate.
"You know anyone else who could save her?" Smoker was almost begging, like he hoped that Ace would have a solution, fixing all his problem.
"He may kill her instead."
"Fully aware of that, but after the whole Vinsmoke shit, he owns me a favour!"
"Say that and he will kill you!"
"Then give me a fucking solution brat, and not answers that are to no help," he snapped and Ace was taken back a bit but then softened, understanding how worried Smoker was.
"Pop may have a devil fruit that she can eat that will help her," Thatch sounded far from sure, but Smoker rather risk that then take her to Law.
"You can't trust them. It's all their fault that the city has gone to hell!" Smoker barely looked at the man.
"The one that made the city go to hell was Akainu," he bluntly said before turning back to Tashigi once more.
"If you believe that, why are you hesitating?" Thatch asked.
"Because I don't know what she want. She has nothing against devil users, but I don't know if she wants to eat on herself."
"You rather see her die?"
"Than force her to become something she may not want, yes!" It was simple, he would hate if someone forced him to turn into something he didn't wish for.
"It's okay," Tashigi whispered and he turned towards her and nodded, it was all he needed to know to be alright with it, and he nodded towards Thatch.
"We need to take her to the palace, ," the chef said and Smoker nodded, hoping that the old man would have a fruit that could help his friend.
"You are just going to walk in there?" One of the men sounded worried.
"You can't, they are a gang, what if they kill you?"
"What will we do then?"
"Nothing! I told you that I disbanding the marines, meaning that if they kill me you should do nothing."
"We will not kill him!" Ace glared at them men as he thought they were stupid, making Smoker smile once more.
"Hard for them to believe brat."
"But sir what are we going to do?"
"Whatever you like," Smoker bluntly answered.
"Are you going to join a gang?" Those words made Whitebeard's men laugh and he understood them, it was such a ridicules question.
"No I am going to try to save my friend."
"With the help of a gang?"
"We are alive thanks to them," he only muttered as he went over to Tashigi and carefully took her into his arms. She grunted out of pain and he apologised.
"Are we free to come as well?" Coby wondered.
"Not my district, not my home so can't answer you," Smoker simply answered and Coby turned towards Whitebeard's men.
"As long as you don't try to kill us, you are welcome. We will ask you to leave your weapons at the border though," Thatch answered and Coby simply nodded, prepared to follow Smoker wherever he went, without hesitation and protest. Helmeppo was the same, the rest of the men hesitated and he didn't care, they could do whatever they wanted.
"Let's go," he walked over towards Thatch who looked down at the badly hurt woman.
"You want me to go ahead with her?"
"Can you do so without risk, and without hurting her further?" The man seemed to think about it.
"I will go with him, protecting them both," Vista stated and Fairin turned towards the other swordsman and nodded.
"I can rush forward without hurting her, at least not more," Thatch finally answered and Smoker nodded, carefully handing her over to the cat. "I will take good care of her."
"I know you will," Smoker answered as the two men left the building and he hoped they would get there in time, being able to save Tashigi.
"Come on," Ace took Smoker's hand, in an attempt to comfort him, a jester that made some of his former men mutter something. "I promise everything will be alright."
"Dangerous thing to promise in a town like this brat," he answered as he lit his cigars, feeling how his nerves was starting to affect him.
"Maybe, but have I ever lied to you?" Smoker didn't answer him as they started walking towards the palace with the two younger men close behind. A few of the others followed while some stayed, and Smoker picked up his den den, needing to call Aokiji to both warn him and know if they were okay.
Ace walked by his side the whole time, refusing to let go of his hand, not that Smoker complained, being to shaken for it, glad to have something to hold on to, while he went over what had happened once more, informing Aokiji.