Chapter 16: Raiju
May 14, 801 WG
Thousand Sunny wandered back into the area where Pluton had been. The debris in the water and the gory mess that was all that was left of their friend, Laboon, marked the area they had flown from to escape the blast. So little remained despite the size of the ship and its escort of fifteen battleships. It was both sobering and chilling.
Nami looked over the water biting her lip. Laboon hadn't made it. Brook's wailing emphasized the horror and despair of the moment. Lance and Luffy had been onboard the giant ship when it exploded. With so little left it didn't look possible for either man to have survived.
"There! I see him! Over there!" Carrot called from her perch atop the crow's nest.
Jinbei steered the ship in the direction she indicated. A large piece of debris bobbed in the waves like a raft. It took Nami a minute before she realized it had to have been the bottom hull of Pluton. Soon she saw the red shirt and straw hat of her captain collapsed on it near the edge.
He wasn't moving.
Law came up next to her then raised his hands and cried, "Shambles!"
Luffy materialized on the deck next to the pair. Chopper hurried over from where he had been on the main deck while Law knelt and checked for injuries.
There were no wounds visible and, between the two doctors, they could find nothing wrong internally. Law rolled him over and all three gasped.
Luffy's eyes were twitching as if they were trying to follow something that was moving quickly. Law recovered first and shined a light into the other captain's eyes.
No reaction. The pupils failed to acknowledge the brightness being shined into them, remaining dilated. Nami knew enough about medicine to know that was not a good sign.
"He's cold," noted Law as he placed a hand against Luffy's head. He moved his hand down to his brother's hands and hissed. He quickly checked the young man's pulse.
"He's cold but his pulse is elevated," Law added.
"It's just like before," gasped Chopper. "He's being dragged back over again!" Law looked confused at the reindeer; they hadn't informed Law of all the side effects Luffy had experienced from being revived.
Nami didn't think Luffy was being dragged back as much as whatever that strange new ability of his was bringing him too close to the threshold. Not because that was where the power was drawn from, but because Luffy was too weak to really be using it. If Luffy's mother had been able to use similar abilities without issue, it would reason that Luffy could too. But, like trying to lift too much at once, these new abilities were beyond what his body could handle. He needed time to regain his full strength without resorting to it. And training might help build his tolerance for it.
"Then we need to get him warm and get water and nutrients into him," said Nami. "He's burning through his reserves again and he never had much to start with."
"We should get back to Alabasta," said Law. "They have resources and can hide us, so we don't get into any unnecessary battles before we're ready."
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Fujitora would have been staring hard into the brig if he still had eyes to see. He only faced it now out of habit from his time with sight that he had never had reason to break. It was less unnerving for all, and felt more natural to him, if he turned his face toward whatever he was focused on.
He recognized the occupant of the cell. His aura, his voice, even his scent, despite being freshly pulled from the ocean, was the same.
After Pluton had exploded erasing all traces of itself and everything within one mile that remained above the waves, the surviving submarines had circled the area looking for survivors. There had been an alarming few. Only those that had been thrown into the water just before the main explosion and hadn't gotten back up to the surface had been spared. They picked up anyone they could find. This man included.
His lack of uniform had been the only reason the Marines had confiscated his weapon and put him in a cell. Otherwise they had no idea who he was. He didn't strike then as a pirate, though they could think of no explanation of why he was in the area at that time. Anyone from Pluton who might have been able to explain was unconscious at the time.
The submarines had then sailed over to Alabasta to rendezvous with the admiral and his fleet, they had lost their support ships in the explosion. They quickly submitted to his command. Even when the unconscious men awoke to explain that the one in the cell had attacked them, they did nothing because Fujitora ordered them not to.
Fujitora knew him. It was the man that had asked Fujitora to stay out of the fight with Pluton, the ex-Marine. He had never gotten around to introducing himself, merely explained his one-time connection.
The man sat in his cell, calm as if he were a guest and not a prisoner who faced an execution for his part in the attack on Pluton. Fujitora was relieved at his success and hated he had remained at Alabasta instead of doing the right thing. He wanted more than anything to open the cell and let the man walk out as a thank you for saving the Marines from committing a horrible sin.
But he couldn't. The Fleet Admiral had already received a report from the submarine commander about the prisoner they had picked up. Fujitora couldn't pretend there wasn't anyone here.
"What am I going to do with you?" whispered Fujitora. Sakazuki would want the man brought back so he could be interrogated then executed for his crimes. The admiral clenched his staff in frustration.
"That is the question," said the man. "A more important one you should be thinking is, what is the World Government going to do to Alabasta now that their great weapon has been destroyed?"
Fujitora felt his heart skip a beat. If the Gorosei wanted the island destroyed there was an alternative. Would he be ordered to bombard the desert kingdom now that Pluton was gone?
The answer came sooner than he wished. An attendant appeared at his elbow with a Den Den Mushi in hand.
"It's the Fleet Admiral, sir," the young man said with a salute.
Fujitora took it, aware that the man in the cell had tensed and was focusing on him. The admiral didn't bother to move away from the cell door. It wouldn't make a bit of difference if he heard whatever Sakazuki had to say.
"Fujitora, here."
"Fujitora," came the Fleet Admiral's disagreeable voice. "You are to commence a Buster Call on Alabasta at once with the ships you have there."
Feign ignorance. You have no knowledge of Pluton or the World Government's intentions toward Alabasta, thought the blind man even as he sensed alarm from his men at the order.
"Why? I thought we were preventing an illegal immigration. Why must we perform an execution of Alabasta's innocent?"
Sakazuki snarled. "The orders are to destroy Alabasta. They have been asking too many questions. They have been judged to have become as dangerous as Ohara."
Fujitora felt himself grow cold. The only people capable of making that judgement were the Gorosei. Now he had to decide. Follow that order and condemn hundreds of thousands of men, women and children to an unjust death because their royals had dared to ask questions the Gorosei had no intention of answering. Or defy orders, possibly only succeeding in delaying that outcome, losing his position in the Marines and everything he had hoped to achieve. It was the same decision he had faced when he was told of Pluton's impending arrival and the man had given him an out. There was no out this time.
A hand reached out of the cell and snatched the receiver from his trembling grip.
"So this is what it comes to," the man said, speaking into the receiver. One of Fujitora's men reached to take the receiver back but the admiral stopped him. He was now curious to see what the man wanted to say to Sakazuki. It also gave him more time to decide what to do.
"Who is this?" demanded the Fleet Admiral, already angered.
The man ignored him. "The Nefetari Family asked questions that were provoked by what happened two years ago when Crocodile tried to usurp them. If those questions were inappropriate, then just don't answer them. It changes nothing about their potential threat when they don't learn anything new."
Sakazuki growled and said, "I demand to know who's speaking."
"When Ohara was destroyed for learning inappropriate things, there was tremendous backlash that rocked the foundation of the World Government. It took years to resolve and we are still feeling the aftershocks to this day. Or are you going to try to convince me the Death Warrant on your head, Akainu, is not still active in West Blue?"
Silence met that statement and what a shocking statement that was. The Fleet Admiral had a Death Warrant on him?
"Do you think the attitude of the West had improved? Do you think the World Government is in a stronger position now? Two Warlords turned on royalty, slandering their good name and inspired the people to revolt against them in order to take control of their nations. One was more successful than the other. The World Government failed to recognize that threat. And on the later one, I daresay they encouraged it."
Fujitora felt his heart skip a beat at the statement. Had the man suggested that World Government had encouraged Doflamingo's takeover of Dressrosa?
"You know nothing of what you're talking about!" cried the Fleet Admiral.
"I know what I'm talking about. I studied military tactics and strategies. I know all these games and I know how battles and wars can unfold. How do you think you were able to lose Pluton to two little pirate ships that aren't even suited to battle against fifteen warships and seventeen war submarines? I know how to maximize what resources I'm given to pull off impossible victories. I've done it dozens of times.
"Unlike you, Akainu, who only knows how to wave your almighty club of prehistoric vengeance while howling 'JUSTICE!' like a goddamn Neanderthal."
Fujitora just managed to keep a straight face as incomprehensible sputtering came over the line.
"If I was so inclined, I could take what was left of Dragon's little Revolutionary Army and tear your precious Marines to shreds."
"Are you making a threat?"
"I'm stating a fact. And here another fact. Ohara was one of the greatest screw ups in the Marines' military history. Not because Nico Robin escaped but the fact that something as grotesquely overpowered and unnecessary as a Buster Call was used to eliminate a small band of unarmed scholars that your men had already tracked down and herded into one area. A simple firing squad would have been far more effective and far less destructive. Instead you killed them, hundreds of uninvolved citizens, dozens of Marines and burned down a world treasure.
"The great Tree of Knowledge was an ancient relic that loyally protected the history of mankind for millennia, predating the World Government and the Void Century. No man living had the right to burn that down. No matter how much squawking you do about devils and uprisings it's never going to justify the destruction of that library. It will go down in history as one of the greatest tragedies of the ages and everyone involved in its destruction will be cursed for generations to come.
"This is the reason West Blue blew a gasket over it. This is the reason the World Government was nearly torn in two. This is the reason war almost happened. It was a fiasco, an embarrassment to the World Government, a black eye to their reputation that they will not be able to get rid of within our lifetime if ever.
"West Blue has not forgotten, nor has it forgiven. It simply allowed itself to be pacified for the time being because they had no one they could fall behind to lead them in an organized front against the World Government. The World Government's plan to keep the nations divided is still working. They were too distrustful of each other to fully commit. However, things are different. Dragon is a neutral military leader who offers alternatives. You piss them off again, they might just throw their lot in with him. If you thought Dragon was dangerous before when he was scrambling for resources, wait until he has the might of fully stocked kings at his back.
"And that's just that problem. There have been several screws up in the last three decades to place the World Government upon the cutting edge of a knife. You Buster Call Alabasta and the World Government will be destroyed within the year."
"You have-!" Whatever the Fleet Admiral had to say in response was cut off by another voice breaking into the line.
"You seem so certain of this, Vice-Admiral Raiju."