Chapter 9: The Aftermath
-What's going on? Smoker walked into the meeting room where the rest of SWORD were gathered.
-Hina received a call from her mother; she's in grave danger. The Cassho family has realized that someone is targeting the families, and they're preparing for an attack. I want to leave for Valentina.
-We can't leave; we're still needed here, Drake spoke up.
-I've sent a message to the nearest safe navy base to come pick up the Von Sally's, but they're still three days away. Smoker, you need to stay behind and lead your men in helping the town.
-I need Smoker's assistance; why can't you do that? Hina asked.
-These men distrust me because of my…background. Our strained relationship could interfere with the operation.
-Well, I'm a pretty good diplomat, Helmeppo said.
-I usually take care of communication when I travel with Koby! Sooo, I can communicate with the men and Smoker can go with Hina! He carefully left out the detail that he just wanted to relax away from the action.
-Hmmmm, Hina doesn't know, she could use a diplomat on my mission… Hina stroked her chin. Helmeppo thought fast.
-Well, in any case reinforcements should be here in a measly three days so really we should be able to join you soon, in any case! With a wide smile Helmeppo sealed the deal.
-Even so, there is one more problem, X Drake spoke up.
-I guess you're talking about the Gigante family, Hina answered.
-Oh, so what? We should be able to take down one measly family, Helmeppo started blabbering.
-They're giants, so I wouldn't put my bets on it.
-...What?
Helmeppo turned pale.
-Drake doesn't have to worry. The Gigante's are bandits, not gangsters. They aren't interested in selling drugs or weapons; they're after hard cash. And since they live on boats, they don't have access to newspapers, Hina explained. Helmeppo sighed in relief.
-Now, who's going with Hina and who's going with Drake?
-I mean, if Helmeppo is here, then I'll have to stay! Koby declared. Helmeppo put a hand on Koby's shoulder.
-I think you'll see that I can handle myself, whatever happens! The extremely impressed look in Koby's eyes made Helmeppo feel pretty bad; all he was planning to do was give out some orders and slack in the sun.
Sadly (for them) Jango and Fullbody's faces had been caught in the newspaper, so they stayed behind to not be recognized. Bawling their eyes out they said farewell to Hina, Koby, Smoker and Tashigi as they boarded a small, rented ship and set off to Valentina.
With those words in mind Helmeppo gathered the G-5 men on the deck of SWORD's ship to give out orders; soon they were spread out across town helping the town recover from the Von Sally influence.
-You're staying behind here? Helmeppo asked Drake as he opened the door to his quarters.
-Yes, yes, there is still a chance of me being recognized. Can't afford to take it.
-I mean, if you take off your mask and change clothes, I don't think anyone would immediately recognize…
-No, there would still be complications, Drake abruptly interrupted.
-Go out and check on the men. That's an order! Drake's stare sent Helmeppo running off the ship.
Wandering near the Al Duck company warehouse Helmeppo could sense upset auras. Rushing near he discovered Al and Co. workers arguing with some marines.
-Get out of here, Navy jackasses! One of the workers shouted.
-Ey, we're trying to help ya, ungrateful jerks! A marine shouted back.
-That's what all the other's said before they got their damn pockets lined by the Von Sally's! Why would we trust you now?
The worker raised his fists ready to throw down and the marines started reaching for their swords.
-Oooookay, we're stopping there! Helmeppo interfered.
-I'm sorry, we understand that Bon Lisse just wants to be left alone to heal. In three days another Navy squad will appear and take away the arrested gangsters. After that we will leave and your lives can resume as normal.
The workers and the marines looked at each other, before quietly nodding and leaving each other alone. Helmeppo let out a deep sigh.
Walking through the harbor he found a large crowd gathered around a podium. Standing on it was a short, plump man whose bald head glistened with sweat. He seemed to be the mayor.
-Ehm, dear citizens, I regret to inform you… He stood still for a second, choosing his words.
-Even though we've recently been liberated from the terror of the Von Sally family, I've received a disturbing message. Early this morning the nine giants of the Gigante family went ashore around Bon Lisse, and around five o'clock a ship filled with mercenaries is set to enter port.
The crowd was silent for a moment, taking in the mayor's words before panic spread. Parents comforted crying children. People screamed for an explanation. The mayor, desperately trying to not buckle under pressure, found Helmeppo in the nick of time.
-W-well! A navy representative! Perhaps he could share the planned course of action.
Before Helmeppo could react he was pushed up to the stage. Seeing the amount of vitriol steaming up from the crowd Helmeppo gulped.
-Ehm, well, I think the first question is the demands of the Gigante family, Helmeppo turned to the mayor.
-Oh! They want the entirety of the Von Sally's old resources. The weapons and the d-drugs,
-W-what? But that goes directly against what Hina said! Helmeppo started to think while the crowd got more and more riled up.
- They must be working for some other force, and if that's true, we need to gain more intel before going through with a deal! But we also promised the civilians to leave as soon as possible. The tension is already fraught, we can't risk…
Helmeppo's thought was interrupted as he was pushed to the side.
-We can't risk disclosing any more information to the public at the moment, but we will not bend to tyranny. As long as no civilians don't end up in the crossfire, the navy will stand up to the Gigante family, X Drake declared.
Seeing a famous pirate speak for the Navy, the crowd was confused. Confusion turned into fear, and fear turned into fury.
-Get out of here! We don't want freaks like you in town! What makes you any better than the giants!? Drake bowed his head, hiding his eyes in the shadow of his hat.
-Hey, Helmeppo put a hand on Drake's shoulder.
-Let's get out of here. We've got an operation to plan!
As soon as they got back to the ship, Drake found Hina's notes on the Gigantes and they started working together with Jango and Fullbody.
-So, the Gigante fleet consists of ten ships; nine for the giant family members and one with an entirely human crew working as mercenaries. The giant crew members are the ones currently on this island, Drake said.
-Before we can take any action against the Gigante, we need to know why they've decided to go after the drugs and weapons. So I'm sending you, Helmeppo, on to the mercenaries ship to go after this man, Drake threw a picture onto the table. It was of a fat, clownfish-man sporting a mullet grabbing handfuls of money from a vault.
-Malveen Kreutz. According to former associates, his habit of taking things for himself has made him clash with the Gigantes multiple times. Find him and try to pressure…
-Wait! That's perfect! Helmeppo grinned a most shit-eating grin.
-Hey, Jango!
-What? Jango raised an eyebrow.
-Do you want to become a certified Navy hero?
-I don't know, not if it's anything dangerous, Jango tugged his weird mushroom-beard.
-Do you want Hina to become impressed by you?
-Absolutely!
-Okay then, I have a plan! Listen here…
Drake stared at Helmeppo after having heard his pitch.
-Aside from being completely insane, that would require us to gain the support of the harbor workers, which I wouldn't put my bets on…
-Which is why you'll go and find the nearest Gigante and defeat them as publicly as possible! If this goes through, we can safely defeat all of the Gigante's in one fell swoop! And even if we fail, the town can take care of the deal!
-Big fat objection! Fullbody and Jango exclaimed in chorus.
-This is practically suicide! It's insane! It's…
-We're doing it, Drake spoke up. Jango and Fullboy's jaws hit the ground.
-We're here to protect people and that's damn well what we're going to do!
At three o'clock Helmeppo and Jango reached Nemo; the ship carrying seventy mercenaries set to anchor in Bon Lisse's port at five o'clock. With an acrobatic jump and an arduous climb respectively they boarded the Nemo. Unfortunately, right in front of two mercenaries, which after a…peaceful argument were knocked out and had their clothes stolen.
Meanwhile, Drake, Fullbody and the G-5 men approached Bino, third son of the gigante family. He was sitting on a shore right next to the main town, playing with his beach-ball sized belly button.
-Giant! Drake shouted. Bino looked up.
-Huh? Who are you?
-We come from the Navy! We are here to stop your invasion of Bon Lisse!
-Oh, okay. The giant promptly started drawing in the sand.
-He won't even listen to what you're saying! Before anyone could stop him, a man from the G-5 threw a rock at the giant. It flew through the air, landing straight in his forehead.
-O-ouch! Ouch! Ooooooooooooouch!
Shocked by the very rare sensation of pain, Bino started crying. His wail knocked the squad to the ground and his tears formed literal rivers. When he was done a human woman came rushing out of the ship next to him.
-Oh, oh no! What happened? Did you hurt yourself? The childish sadness in the giant's eyes was replaced by burning rage.
-D-did you do this? Did you hurt me? Ignoring her protests, Bino grabbed her in his humongous hand and raised her off the ground. Before he could do anything, he dropped the woman as his hand recoiled in pain. Blood came gushing out of a wound on his wrist.
-No, I did that! A voice boomed. Gasps of awe rose from the G-5 as Drake turned around, revealing his full dinosaur-form.
And with that, both Drake and Helmeppo get their own focus arc at the same time! Also sorry to all the readers that read the intro to this chapter and were like "Wow, I guess the Gigante family won't show up, guess I can stop reading!" and are going to feel betrayed next week.
