Unexpected Results
The wail of the sirens rang loudly in the air, signaling that somehow, the alarm had been given about our presence.
I watched dispassionately as Sanji finished off his fight while I tied a rough lump of bandages to stave off the bleeding from my side: the conflict between the Wolf-zoan and our cook was so interesting that I even pushed up my glasses on the bridge of my nose, observing with greed at all the stuff that Sanji could perform. Apparently, the idea of losing the Merry had been enough to ignite his soul, because he rained flaming kicks on his opponent, which eventually keeled over, insensate.
Without stopping, Sanji rained down one last kick, breaking the neck of the sturdy zoan-type with unyielding determination before he turned towards me. His mouth opened to speak, only for his eyes to dar beyond me and turn into hearts: "Mikita-chan, Rob..."
I immediately tuned him out, letting out a tired sigh as the two women that had come with us regrouped with me. A cursory glance informed me that while Mikita had a few difficulties, they had been nothing that her recently improved use of her powers couldn't overcome, while Robin's eyes held a newly discovered warmth as she lifted up a jute sack. Still, the smile that should have accompanied it wasn't there: "There are two Devil Fruits, but they're not on the Encyclopedia enriched with notes that I found in that office."
The others' shoulders slumped a bit, the disappointment weighing on them suddenly while I walked forward to take a peek myself, and I smiled: "That's a Giraffe-Zoan."
"It is?" our chocolatier's question was immediately followed by Sanji's, who had just managed to lit a new cigarette. "How do you know?"
"I read another version of that Encyclopedia, years ago." I bullshited my way easily in order to spare me the headache of the 'we're all in a manga'-revelation, only to leaf through the treasure trove that Robin had so easily delivered: "Is this..."
"How to make turn objects into their zoan-counterparts?" the Devil Child smiled as she tilted her head, "Why yes, yes it is." then her eyes darted around, and her expression became more serious: "But we don't have the time for it now, we'd better go."
"Let's pass by their kitchens." I decided, "Just in case the Wolf-Wolf fruit decided to pop up there: that one is clearly marked in this Encyclopedia." And it was: apparently, with his access to reserved information, Spandam had done his homework: both Lucci and Jabra' fruits were marked out among the pages, as were several others, all belonging to the Shichibukai: Moria, Crocodile, Kuma... they were all there, in pages that had been clearly added later, one next to the other, as if to keep together the info needed to strike at the government's dogs.
Of course, it was then that my eyes fell on the remarkable sword she had strapped on her back: "And what is this?"
"I believe it's called Funkfreed." she briefly showed the Elephant-saber, only to rise an eyebrow and gesturing towards it: "Why, thinking of picking up swordsmanship?"
"Zoro would never leave me alone then." I grinned, I made to comment further when the sirens blared again, as if with renewed intensity: "We'd better go. Anyone knows for the kitchens?"
"They're down that way." Mikita jabbed with her left thumb towards the hole in the wall she had made while clashing with her opponent, and I reluctantly returned the book to Robin, who flashed me an understanding smile before putting it away.
We began to run towards the hole in the wall and quickly descended, Mikita leading the charge by simply hopping down, followed by Sanji who jumped downward against the walls, and Robin that had a series of interlocked arms sprout from one wall to lower her to the ground floor. Without hesitating, I jumped down.
I pushed aside the exhilarating sensation of freefalling, only to kick downwards with my left, making use of all the knowledge that Fukurou had so easily granted me: my foot hardened to the point that my bones protested against the pull of the muscles and my tendon opposed the direction in which those were meant to contract, while all the other muscles in my leg distended explosively, discharging all the compressed energy into a single, kick.
The air, this time, offered much more resistance, maybe because I had been freefalling already, maybe because I was more focused and not in the middle of a battle, but it had the effect of my kick making me bounce off the air much sooner, and much more strongly than what I had calculated for: with a soft *pop* my failed Geppou sent me careening off into the nearest wall, which cracked as I instinctively contracted every muscle I had to the point of rupturing it.
"Good news, I'm getting better at it..." I touched out a piece of dusty debris that had somehow landed in my mouth: "Bad news... I'm stuck."
"Derishishishi!" Robin didn't bother holding back her laughter as she used her power to pop me free from my self-inflicted prison, lowering me to the ground where the others were expecting me while rolling their eyes in exasperation.
It was then that the transponder snail that Robin had been carrying, on account of being the most reliable of the group, began to ring: 'puru-puru-puru'
With the classic ka-lick, the Devil Fruit user lifted the microphone to answer, and the news delivered brought wide smiles to our faces.
"Well, we no longer strictly need to be covert." I concluded, still disbelieving of the news, only to turn towards the others: "We only need to reach the shore when they arrive on the new ship: incapacitating this island's ability to fend off a raid from the inside sounds like the way to go to throw an appropriate party for the Going Merry and our new vessel."
Surprisingly, Robin was the first to reply, and her smile was positively devilish as she spoke: "I had the time to do a very thorough sweep of that office, and I think there's a pair of giants who'd be interested in the story you told me about your party on Little Garden..."
The large office almost visibly shook with the rage of his owner, the faintest golden sheen blazing into his eyes as he finished reading once more the reports. Reports that simply couldn't be true, which brought him to summon the other three persons present.
Under a beam of sunlight that entered through the large windows that characterized that section of Marineford's headquarters of the Marines, front and center of the other two, stood the captain T-Bone, his gaunt face partially covered by pristine white bandages that stood out starkly against the dark of the heavy bags under his eyes. His posture was straight, and he didn't waver despite being clearly intimidated by the Fleet Admiral's tone of voice.
"Whatever Garp might have organized, captain, I assure you I do not appreciate practical jokes." the tone was positively frosty, and Sengoku already was thinking of one way or three to get back at the absurdly childish 'Hero of the Marines', who was the only possible candidate behind that absurdity.
"Sir?" the captain, however, apparently didn't quite understand how annoyed the Fleet Admiral was, and mantained his position, "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"You don't understand." the reply was given in a flat tone as 'The Buddha' brought his hands together over the scattered files on his desk.
"No, sir."
"You mean to tell me that you don't understand how co-opting two members of the CP-9 in a scheme to cover for the incompetence that brought to the deaths of several Chyper Pol agents, the defection of two of the most effective guard gates the Marines had in service, and the destruction of good part of Eines Lobby, will have you court-martialed?" each accusation rang heavier than the previous, and by the time he reached the end of the phrase, Sengoku's hands were clenched in rage: "I fail to see how you couldn't understand this much."
"Sir," the strawberry-blond woman adjusted her glasses as she spoke, "my colleague and I submitted complementary reports of our own free will."
The eyes of the Buddha shone a bit more intently when they shifted on Khalifa, only to drag themselves towards the white-haired form of a heavily bruised Kumadori: the fact that he hadn't used Life Return yet to restore his body to an uninjured state spoke heavily towards his theory of some prank: after all, the alternative was just... so much worse.
"Are you insinuating that what I've read is indeed correct?" the Fleet Admiral allowed himself to fully consider what had been told: "A bunch of rookies, under the command of 'Straw Hat' Luffy, a pirate that by all accounts survived a fight with Crocodile due to pure luck, and that ended up defeating him thanks to a dastardly sneak-attack from a pink-haired child that looks like he should be still hiding behind his mother's gowns, have not only burned an undercover operation that took years to organize and implement, they also proved themselves capable of besting, one on one, the entire Chyper Pol 9?"
Before Khalifa could answer, the Fleet Admiral landed both his hands flat on the table, smacking it lightly, with just enough strength to make the sound echo in the room over the, in comparison, feeble voice of the woman: "To top it off, this ragtag group of children turned two giants who have been serving faithfully for years, against the marines, raided the Tower of Justice for anything of value, or esoteric in nature, tearing apart the first island in the process, is that correct?"
"Not... completely, sir." T-Bone gulped nervously as Sengoku ordered him to talk, and he found that the words, despite him having written a concise report already, spun out on their own, his mind reliving those moments with disbelief coloring what wasn't buried under the exhaustion he had felt...
The sirens blared signaling the presence of intruders in the Tower of Justice, and captain T-Bone, who was detached to Enies Lobby only to provide support, if needed, to the Chyper Pol agents conducting their missions in the island easily reachable with the Puffing Tom. All considered, it was a cushy position: of everything one could think about those spooks, they tended to be competent.
So he organized the troops to contain those foolhardy enough to dare sneak into one of the three great fortresses of the Marines that dominated the last section of the first half of the Grand Line. Questioning would be long and unmerciful, as to uncover just how they had managed to pass through all the defenses put in place without alerting anyone, but that would come later.
On the first of the three islands that composed the complex called Eines Lobby, wolf-raiding, sabers-wielding marines had been placed in positions perfect for ambushes in case the small group of opponents revealed by one of the security Snail Transponders, snipers were placed both on top of the tallest buildings, and at the end of long stretches of wide roads that provided little to no cover, their flanks protected by designated battalions.
To remove a possible avenue of escape in case even one of the intruders managed to run beyond the marines, or had a Devil Fruit capable of letting him bypass them in some way, the Puffing Tom had been sent once more on its tracks, and the tall, iron gate leading to its tracks was slammed shut. The intruders would likely never make it out of the Tower of Justice, there was where the Chyper Pol agents had their barracks after all, but protocol existed for a reason, and captain T-Bone was no slacker.
When communications with the other deployed forces were cut off, the marine captain had hardly been worried. Worst case scenario, there would be a battle against a small count of exhausted individuals, and he was ready for it. He was not worried, nor he was nervous: with the patience that befitted his previous position as a knight, he awaited, virtue in his heart and determination sharpening his blade.
When the massive gate leading to the bridge over the first immense gap exploded, however, captain T-Bone was surprised, and when the dust cleared, he was terrified, if only for a moment.
Oimo and Kashi, the two giants that had served the marines since before T-Bone's grandfather was a spark in his own father's eye, were enraged. No, they were positively furious: with club and axe in their massive arms, they wore a furious expression on their faces, their teeth bared as fire burned in their eyes.
"COWARDS!" the shout of the first rattled the bones of the marine captain, and turning his head as if on a swivel, he saw the forms of many trembling fellow marines.
"Do not fold!" his voice rang feebly in comparison to the giant's, but it still held authority, and it was passed among the Transponder Snails set in every center of command, "We are marines! The white of your uniforms is as pristine as..."
His encouraging, rousing speech, was quickly submerged under the voice of the other giant, equally as furious as the first, who slapped a building down to its foundations as if only to make a point: "LIARS!"
The other swept his axe keeping the flat side perpendicular to the ground, and the building in front of him exploded in a rain of deadly debris: if not their voices, that was the element that broke the lines: nothing in the life of those soldiers had quite prepared them for a charge lead by two angry giants.
On the ground level, it was mayhem at its finest: somehow, the snipers were being silenced along with their guards, and T-Bone swore he saw eyes open randomly on buildings, only to disappear in a flutter of vanishing petals. The debris fell randomly, squashing those who hadn't been able to dodge, and...
With a snarl, T-Bone charged at the group of intruders, his sword held high: there was a blond man in elegant clothes, casually puffing on a cigarette as he kicked away both falling debris and soldiers faster than it could be easily followed with sight. At his side strolled a dark-haired statuary woman with cold, dark eyes and a faint, mocking smile while she carried a bulging jute sack with her.
More eye-catching however, were the other two: the first appeared like a yellow blur, and T-Bone was able to fully put her shape to focus only when she transitioned from one direction to another, while the other seemed to be basking in the attention, laughing rapturously. The slim, almost thin woman delivered kicks that shattered stone, dodged bullets with unconscious grace, and rocketed through open road and marines alike, sending them flying with uncaring, delighted bouts of sadistic laughter.
The one leading the charge, if possible, was the most eye-catching because he looked the least dangerous: with an atrocious pink shade of hair, he wore slightly askew glasses that he didn't seem to need as he made open use of Four of the Six Powers, laughing madly as he messed up one technique, only to perform it again and getting visibly better at it. Barechested, he sported a lithe, if corded musculature, while one leg of his marine-issued trousers was drenched red with his lifeblood, thanks to a wound hidden under makeshift bandages that didn't seem to be slowing him down at all.
The captain charged forward, an enraged scream leaving his lips as he lifted his blade, a scream that carried all of his outrages for being unable to stop such defilement of Eines Lobby, for witnessing such casual brutality against the honorable soldiers that dedicated themselves to justice, a scream that was caught short, and that died with a whimper as a blade the size of an elephant smacked him aside as if he was a gnat.
T-Bone was thrown off his feet by an attack that he hadn't even seen coming, and he felt his bones crack under the blow that sent him like a ragdoll to one side of the plaza that led towards the Puffing Tom's platform.
Unable to move, and suddenly unable to draw full breaths because of the agonizing pain caused by his broken ribs and legs, the only thing the marine captain could do was watch as the intruders walked forward, unmatched, only for one flag of the world government to fall, along with its post, not far from their path. The Pink-haired, laughing menace immediately grabbed it, and made a show of placing it safely just next to a small mound of rubble.
T-Bone was unable to see his face, but for a moment, his entire figure seemed tense, only for his laughter to explode even greater as he pointed at the horizon, causing cheer and laughter to spring even among his companions.
Not content with the mayhem caused to that point, the bespectacled criminal that couldn't have been older than fifteen-years-old jumped on the rubble and pissed on the white flag of the World Government.
"I rather hoped you were embellishing, captain." Sengoku's voice broke the flux of memories that T-Bone was lost in, only for the swordsman to shake his head.
"I wasn't sir."
"Very well, conclude this... report." the Fleet Admiral felt the incoming headache declare himself as if playing a war-drum, and he forced himself to not snap at the sequence of events that all the presents, and recordings, confirmed had happened.
"While the pink-haired kid was... busy, one of the two warships that is ready to be deployed at a moment's time in the waters under Eines Lobby's purview managed to make land..."
"Make land?" Sengoku interrupted him, lifting a single paper: "Here I read that the ship in question crashed against, and went through, the Puffing Tom's platform. Did you not say you weren't one to embellish?"
"Frankly sir," the captain took a deep breath despite the pain it caused, "in that situation, I would have welcomed a lifeboat with a seaman falling from the sky: the warship touched land, it meant that reinforcements were there."
"And yet..."
"The ship in question sported a circular hole that went clean through the hull, sir, and most of the soldiers on board were... already incapacitated."
"A yes, the child that threw around squads of trained men like they weighed nothing." Sengoku was quickly approaching the end of his thin patience, "Let's shelve that, there are odder things than a child with Devil Fruits powers in the Grand Line, although I'm demoting all those that were on that warship, and an inquiry will start, seeking to find out just how a ragtag bunch of children managed this mess."
Once his secretary was done jotting down what he commanded that would be done, he gestured towards the captain T-Bone, who dully continued his tale: "The pirates' ship was an odd cross between a frigate and a galleon, sir, it flew Straw Hat's jolly Roger. I lost consciousness when the broken warship began to be repaired by a steel-jawed man and a blue-haired one: I understand that the two giants sailed away on that one?"
Sengoku breathed deeply as the report was concluded, and with a gesture of his hand, he sent away the presents without answering that question, only for something to jump to his mind.
"Is there something else that you felt would be unproductive putting in your reports?"
His voice injected molten steel into the spines of the two spooks and the captain, only for them to all turn with a blank expression while the woman took half a step forward: "Sir, when visiting Water 7, Monkey D. Luffy repeatedly introduced himself as the man who will be 'King of Pirates', sir."
"Of course he did." Sengoku pinched the bridge of his nose while waving his hand once more: "Dismissed."
Once they were gone, the Fleet Admiral ordered his thoughts and dictated to the secretary who had managed to keep a perfectly professional behavior: "The captain and the two Chyper Pol agents will be keeping their ranks, for the time being, you may go."
When the subordinate left, Sengoku sighed again, took his glasses off once more, and folded them, neatly placing them over the stack of files he had organized while T-Bone completed his recount of the events.
It was good to know that he hadn't been the end of some sort of practical joke, on the other hand... all of this mess came down to one person. One person, that Sengoku already knew was somewhere eating rice-crackers instead of working, one person whose family was promising to be the source of many migraines for another generation still.
"GAAARP!" the Will of the Conqueror's King briefly slipped the control of the Fleet Admiral, and it was good that the captain and the two Chyper Pol agents had vacated his office just like his secretary, because they would have immediately lost their senses if exposed to that brief flash of golden rage.
Less than a minute later, as if nothing could go wrong in the world, the vice-admiral in question walked into Sengoku's office with a big smile on his face. "You called?"
"These will be the bounty posters for the next edition of the news coo." the Fleet Admiral refused to let himself fall prey to his justified emotions. Almost channeling his own, inner Buddha, he accepted the events and moved to address them: "But before you do, I'd like your help with one of these, he needs a monicker that will stick into the minds of the bounty hunters, and maybe we'll be lucky, and be rid of him sooner, rather than later."
The burly, carefree man lifted a bounty poster, flipping it to read the charges behind it, only to burst out laughing: "Oh, the balls on this one! Bwhahahahah"
"It's a serious matter, Garp." Sengoku's calm, while still present, was beginning to crack.
"I never got why this thing for titles was ever encouraged." uncaring of his own precarious situation, the vice-admiral ate a rice cracker that came out of nowhere.
"And where the bounties exposed only to Marines, we wouldn't bother with such a ridiculous thing as battle-names." Sengoku replied flatly, "But the bounty posters are meant to circulate among those willing to hunt those criminals for money, they must remain seared into the mind of civilians, so that they might spot our targets and inform the lawful authorities. In the same way, the monickers for the more distinguished marines are meant to infuse a sense of safety into the population, and fear into the pirates' hearts."
"Bah," Garp shrugged, incredibly bored by the situation: "Pissing Coby? Since it's what it did?"
"Battle-names either refer to a uniquely distinctive trait, or call to a specific historic event." Sengoku immediately denied that option, "We want him hunted, not revered by every enemy of the World Government, and the only thing of note he has truly done was to raid Enies Lobby, we can't reinforce that point."
Forcing himself to pay attention, since he already had occasion to celebrate his grandson's infamy despite the number of regulations and conduct codes it violated, Garp tossed up another name: "Pink-Hair Coby?"
Sengoku snorted dismissively, blocking that obvious option too: "There are a lot of pink-haired people around, but after Shanks, it is not prudent to give a name quite like that, denied."
"Just make up some bogus event, then." Garp was apparently done with the conversation, his eyes almost greedily falling onto his grandson's poster while he let out another peal of laughter: "Bwhahaha! Even if Luffy won't like having a bounty lower than that Coby's! Bwhahaha!"
"Of course," Sengoku shook his head, "captain or not, even your grandson wouldn't push himself that far."
Garp, perhaps for the first time in a decade, had a spark of wisdom elbow its way through the instincts that shaped the Hero's personality, and he refrained from pointing out the obvious: Luffy simply didn't have either the grievances be motivated towards such an act, or the brain to understand its meaning.
"A bogus charge... this will put a target on his head, even if there will be those that fear going against one of hers... Why not? Let's make it clear that he's an estranged son, he'll have everyone and their mother on his tail. There's even the possibility that some of hers might take offense and hunt him down." the Fleet Admiral's mind was used to playing political games and conning pirates into doing as his larger strategy demanded, "If it becomes a problem, we'll call it an exercise to stress test the answer of some department, and take away that name."
"You're a bastard, Sengoku." Garp looked at what had just be written down, laughter once more bubbling up in his belly: "Estranged Son, Charlotte Coby, eh? the boy will have New World bounty hunters with a grudge after his head. Although it's a bit obvious, call him an 'Estranged Menace' instead, it'll draw more attention. Bwahahaha! That's still hilarious! Bwahaha!"
While the vice admiral was laughing, a humongous shape knocked at the office's door, and at the Fleet Admiral's behest, it made his way in. Kuma was a behemoth of a man, with incredibly large shoulders, a non-negligible power, and the only thing that the other Shichibukai lacked: true loyalty to the World Government, and for extension, to the marines.
"Kuma." Sengoku greeted him curtly, handing over one of the few copies of the new bounty posters that had been discarded because the pictures depicting the targets hadn't been deemed striking enough. While they weren't going to be the offical ones, they were still enough to allow someone of the Shichibukai's experience to hunt, "The Straw Hats are en route for the Florian Triangle, you were tasked with offering aid to your colleague, Moria."
"Correct." the eater of the Paw-Paw fruit took in the bounty posters, quickly scanning them: "Dead or Alive, Straw Hat, Monkey D. Luffy: 295 million Beli."
His attention was briefly caught by the name on the bounty poster, and he immediately began to think of a way to find a loophole in the order that was undoubtedly about to be given, as he wasn't willing to harm Dragon's son. "Only alive, Black Kick, Vinsmoke Sanji: 195 million Beli. Dead or alive, Devil Woman, Nico Robin: 200 million Beli. Dead or alive, Men Crusher, Mikita: 175 million Beli. Dead or alive, Estranged Menace, Charlotte Coby: 330 million Beli."
Pushing hard against the programming that was slowly stealing his own mind from him, Kuma asked: "Charlotte?"
Sengoku waved the question away, "Merely a ruse in case he slips the net: after the Florian Triangle there's Sabaondy, and if they manage to get into the New World, he'll be crushed swiftly. If the opportunity presents itself, however, you must capture him, we can't allow someone to defile a flag of the World Government and get away with it."
Kuma processed the entire set of orders he received, nodded, and exited the office.
"Now that I think about it, however, I'm curious." Sengoku abandoned the irritation born of the work that the vice-admiral's grandson kept creating and snatched Luffy's new bounty from the other man: "You have a reasonable name: 'Garp'. What popped into your mind when you chose 'Dragon' for your son's name?"
"Ha! I wanted to give him a strong name, so that he could become a strong marine!" Garp nodded seriously, crossing his arms with an air of pride about him: "I almost named him Polar Bear, or Super Lion!" enthusiasm shone in the voice of the 'Hero of the Marines' as he spoke, only for him to scratch his chin, narrowing his eyes in thought, "If I remember it right, it was a toss-up with Eagle Storm Tiger, but it was just too long and impractical, so I went for Dragon."
Sangoku tiredly put down his glasses and proceeded to massage his temples, "And so we know why he'd be anything but a marine..."
"Bah, Sengoku, don't worry too much about it, soon his rebellious phase will end and he'll look for a proper job!" Garp genuinely thought that his words were as reassuring as he meant them, so it took a second or two to understand why he was flying out of the office, the echo of a crashed window feebly reaching his ears.
AN
Added a few of the changed bounties: I'll remind everyone that Robin, Mikita, Sanji, and Coby stormed Enies Lobby basically on their own, their bounties couldn't be any lower.
Don't worry y'all, I don't do prophecy-based bullshit! Coby isn't a Charlotte, that's only Sengoku screwing him up because he needed something to drag hunters of every kind on our MC's ass, he's plain old Coby, even if you've seen him become a 'player' instead than an 'observer'.
I hope I managed to close this upside-down arc in a satisfactory manner: these were a handful of chapters, true, but a lot of stuff happened since 'First Mate' back on Skypeia, and I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on the development of everyone, and of the crew as a whole.
The second part of the chapter is a bit odd, I admit it, but I wanted to wrap in a single block both the marines' reactions (exemplified in the persons of Sengoku and T-Bone), the mayhem Coby organized as a celebration of his saving (indirectly as it is) of the Merry, and setting up the bounties that I've been neglecting until now. I wanted Eines Lobby to have an impact on the story just as it did in canon, and I thought that having T-Bone's recounting of the events would serve this chapter well.
Also, I've always enjoyed Garp's snippets in the manga, as we get to see how a guy as moronic as Luffy would be if he was super powerful and in a clear hierarchy of command. Since I was there, I gave a reasonable explanation for the 'monicker' aspect of bounty posters. I just had fun writing Sengoku and Garp together.
We'll also see the reactions of the crew next chapter, as we're due a bonding moment with Franky and Merry on the new, for now, sill unnamed, ship. Opinions of names I could use instead of Thousand Sunny? I get the foreshadowing of the sun on Oda's part, but as I've mentioned repeatedly, I just plain dislike the prophetic tilt the story has taken since the timeskip.
I'll try to work through Thriller Bark in two chapters max, we'll see what happens!
