No one liked celestial dragons.
This was not a matter of opinion but rather a universally acknowledged fact. And nowhere was that sentiment more evident than in Saboady.
Staring at the colourful streets and fanciful attractions, Ace couldn't help but notice the uneasy fear and barely hidden tension in most of the islands residents.
A sharp poke to the side startled the teen out of his thoughts, turning to face the temporarily borrowed first division commander, Ace let out a small smile of anticipation.
"You sure you want to do this kid?" The freckled teen grinned at the older pirate "I'm sure. Why, you having second thoughts old man?" The phoenix let out a small snort of amusement "Of course not brat, I just figured I'd give you the option. If you fuck this up you're going to be painting a very large target on your back. And trust me when I say you're not prepared to handle that just yet."
Ace smiled reassuringly "Don't worry Birdy I have a plan." the smile morphed into an evil grin "And more importantly by this time tomorrow I'm going to have an alibi as well." The blonde let out an amused chuckle "In that case, lead the way yoi."
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Sabo was going to kill his brother. He was a revolutionary and aiding his brother in mischief to help give him an alibi was not in his job description. Even if it was for a very good cause.
Sabo ignored Koala's poorly stifled giggles and instead attempted to focus on his current job, whilst doing his level best to ignore the itchy wig and the mountain of concealor currently plastered on his skin.
After hearing Ace's plan, Koala had jumped on the opportunity to help out in anyway she could, she acheived this by happily ignoring Sabo's suggestions for less risky distractions and throwing herself into Ace's scheming.
Knowing he was outnumbered the blonde revolutionary had given into the inevitable and agreed to join the plan. (Silently regretting the circumstances that lead his best friend and brother to ever meet)
As such the two revolutionaries had spent the last few days hopping from island to island making preparations for their plan and were now taking their final steps to invade a heavily secured Marine base. The fact that Sabo had heavily protested against this part of the scheme had been promptly ignored by both his brother and partner.
Turning to face Koala, Sabo let out another resigned sigh "Let's get this over with." The former Sun pirate grinned in the face of her best friend's misery "C'mon Sabo stop looking so gloomy. This is gonna be fun and you know it, besides Ace's crew is gonna need the alibi if they want to pull this off."
Sabo let a small smile slip "You're right about that. This is definitely gonna be worth it if they can pull it off. Just as long as we're far FAR away for the fallout." Koala grinned. "That's the spirit! besides there's no use letting your disguise go to waste so let's do this!"
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Sengoku was having a good day.
There had been no Spade related nonsense for the past day or so, Garp had finally quieted down after the fleet commanders 'mandatory officer training sessions' and a group of marines had just reported back a successful mission in North Blue. All in all, life was finally starting to look up for the old Marine.
And then came the knock on the door.
A sense of unease overcame the Fleet commander upon realising that he wasn't meant to have any appointments for the next hour.
Shaking off his apprehension the old man yelled a quick "Come in." Only to feel dread curl in his stomach at the uneasy look on the lower ranked Lieutenant's face. Giving a hasty salute the younger marine stared at his superior officer in worry "Fleet Commander, I'm afraid we have something of a... situation."
Mentally preparing himself for a headache that was sure to come, the Old Marine gestured for the yoinger man to elaborate. "Well...you see..." The marine trailed off as if unsure of how to continue "For god's sake man, spit it out already!"
The Lieutenant swallowed nervously "We're being invaded Sir." The fleet Commander was on his feet in an instance, steely anger visible in his eyes "Who by, and how far through the base are they?"
The Lieutenant gave a nervous swallow "By senior citizens sir." Sengoku paused in his anger and turned to stare at the man in slow disbelief "I'm sorry what?"
The Lieutenant continued on, a clearly reluctant look on his face "According to recently provided descriptions, the Spade pirates have spent the past few days spreading leaflets to every retired marine or pirate in the nearby vicinity, advertising a free bingo session at Marineford today."
The fleet Commander silently gestured for the Lieutenant to hand over the leaflet the younger man had brought with him. Staring in dismay a small part of sengoku couldn't help but notice that the leaflet was the same obnoxious shade of orange that the Spades enjoyed spray painting everywhere they went.
The Lieutenant continued on "Security footage shows Lady Spade and a woman currently presumed to be the Queen of hearts subduing the guards this morning and as a result the seniors have now broken through the lower ranks and are currently holding the base's coffee supply as captive until we agree to meet their demands."
Sengoku let out a short growl. "Are you telling me that a group of senior citizens who have been minimally aided by a rookie pirate crew are currently overwhelming the Marine's best and brightest? Where the fuck is Garp and what the hell has he been doing up till now?!"
The Lieutenant let out a nervous cough "Vice Admiral Garp seems to have joined the protesters sir." Sengoku let out a growl of wordless rage. "I don't care what they've been promised. Get. Them. Out."
The younger man seemed to resist the urge to turn and flee "I'm afraid there's still one more problem left to deal with sir. Unfortunately a pack of reporters heard about the issue and have now joined the seniors in their so called 'quest for justice'. Any move you make is going to be shoved straight into the public eye."
Sengoku pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling an upcoming headache "Do we know if the Spades are still in the nearby vicinity?" The younger Marine shook his head "I'm afraid not Fleet Commander. Our last reported sighting of Lady Spade was a full hour ago."
The leader of the Marines barely resisted the urge to scream. "Lieutenant I'm placing you in charge of organising bingo, I'm giving you free permission to involve any Marine ranked below a petty officer. There's nothing to be done about the seniors as long as the reporters are involved so I expect this to be turned into good press for the Marines."
The Lieutenant nodded in acceptance "And one more thing Lieutenant, tell Garp to come to my office. Now." Giving a hurried salute the young Marine ran out the room to fulfill his orders.
Letting out a heavy sigh Sengoku regretted getting out of bed that morning. At least things couldn't get any worse…..
Suddenly the Den Den Mushi connected to the Elder stars began to ring.
Exploding into a series of curses Sengoku wondered (not for the first time) if it was maybe time to consider retirement after all.
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Monkey D Dragon was, by nature, a very stoic man. After a lifetime devoted to defying the world government and all that it stood for, there were very few things in the world that merited a change in response from the famously straight faced man.
So really none of the revolutionaries could have been blamed for shifting to apocalypse protocals at the sudden sound of the man cackling at the papers the next morning.
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Shanks stared at the paper in amused horror "Benn. I know you complain about me, but even you can't deny I'm nowhere near as bad as Ace is." The first mate of the Red haired pirates stared at the paper in mute shock and gave a slow nod of reluctant agreement, disbelief evident on every line of his face.
"Can't argue with you on that Captain. Are we sure it's the kid's fault though? According to the papers the Spades were busy causing the invasion of Marineford with the whole bingo thing at the time."
Shanks snorted (as hard as they'd tried the Marines hadn't quite managed to hide who was responsible for that particular fiasco).
"The kid probably recruited someone to help out. Besides it's not like there's anyone else crazy enough to pick a fight with a celestial dragon. I mean except maybe Thatch or Haruta from old man Newgate's lot, but I doubt they'd bother to do something like this and then not claim the credit."
Benn nodded in reluctant agreement, still staring in shock at the title and its accompanying picture.
Clear on the front page of every newspaper in the Grand line was the image of a celestial dragon covered in tar and feathers and tied to the tallest tree on the island with the words 'Celestial chicken' written across his forehead. Accompanying the picture was information on how the human auction house had been raised to rubble and all its occupants released.
Benn shook his head in wonderment "My question is how the hell they pulled it off without getting every higher up Marine that side of the Grand Line involved?" Shanks let slip a small grin.
"Well for the Celestial dragon that's a simple enough answer. They never have that much immediate security because according to common sense there's no one dumb enough to attack them anyway. Not to mention that I've not heard anything about Marco going back to his old man yet, so chances are he's still with the kid. And that man can be a vindictive turkey when he wants to be."
Shanks paused a minute to consider "As for the slaves I suppose as long as Ace and Marco cut communications first and set up a perimeter it wouldn't be too hard to stop the Marines being called in. After that it would just be a matter of threatening the guards to get the keys to the explosive slave collars, destroying the building and getting the fuck out of there. The real question is what happened to the slaves afterwards, there's no way the kid left them to fend for themselves."
Benn shook his head, a rueful grin on his clear on his face, "I suppose we'll have to wait and find out, might be worth giving the kid a call. But I mean however mad the kid may be, no one can accuse him of thinking small."
The Emperor grinned in agreement before turning the next page of the paper and letting out a cry of horror "That little Brat!!!" Benn raised an eyebrow inquisitively "What's he done now. Can't get much worse than messing with a Celestial dragon?"
Worldlessly Shanks lifted the page only for Benn to howl in amusement "Well I guess the kid was at least smart enough to doubly cement his alibi."
Grinning at his Captain, Benn decided that as first mate of the red haired pirates it was his solemn duty to frame the article and place it somewhere the crew could enjoy it.
Afterall according to new information (overheard in a supposedly secret meeting between Buggy the clown and Lady Spade) the Red Emperor Shanks had been hopelessly in love with Portgas D Shanksessa for over twenty years but had never told her, due to the pirate's forbidden love of Vice Admiral Garp.
Shanks glared at the paper "I'm offended on so many levels. I know it's not a real person but who the hell would choose a Marine over me?!?!? And Garp at that?!?" Benn burst out laughing.
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Garp glared at the paper once more.
That. Damn. Brat.
Not only was the old Marine sore from the extra 'mandatory officer training' that Sengoku had subjected him to after the whole bingo affair, but now Garp was being accused of a relationship with a made up pirate who was actually the Red Emperor's bad attempt at crossdressing.
Letting out a savage grin, Garp couldn't help but laugh. With the recent attack of a Celestial Dragon every high ranked Marine in the area was currently being called to Saboady to investigate. And while the Elder stars might be baying for blood Garp was excited for an entirely different reason.
The Vice Admiral had held off visiting his grandson up till now for fear of drawing attention to him. But at this point not only was Ace's family tree stupidly convoluted, but the teen was probably the most famous rookie of the ages. Meaning that Garp would probably be fine to give the Brat a visit.
The elderly Marine let out an evil laugh. Soon he would have his revenge! (sailing away from Saboady Ace felt a shiver of unease)
Amongst his cackling Garp never noticed the two revolutionaries sneaking onto his boat to catch a lift.
Author's note
Hi guys! Thank you all for being so patient as well as so amazing with your reviews and follows, it really motivates me to keep writing!!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, it's a little bit rough and I'm not quite happy with it but I wanted to try and post something before Christmas so here it is!!!! Unfortunately I didn't quite get round to writing the reunion scene I wanted but needless to say it'll nake its appearance in the next chapter!
I'd like to say that I'm almost finished with the main plot of the story but am considering adding a series of drabbles called Spade Shenanigans when I'm done either as a seperate fic or just added onto the end of this one so feel free to leave a comment about what you'd prefer! :D
Merry Christmas everyone and thank you all so much for your support!!!!