Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
"DIE YOU SCUM!"
BOOM
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"RUUUUN!"
"STOOOP! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS GOING?! DON'T LET THEM THROUGH!"
CRASH
"PUT OUT THE FLAMES!"
In the depths of the information facilities underground, crashes of large machinery and the panicked screams of fear and pain of what could only be their comrade's desperate attempts at fleeing or stopping whoever it was that had the audacity to infiltrate a Marine Base via the front door could be heard. It pierced the silence, leaving the Marines, in the safety of the underground and its triple solid steel doors, gulping and wondering just what the hell was happening up there. None of them spoke, afraid if they did that they'd somehow be heard even in confinement. Their lieutenant had been trying to contact the upper floor for the past ten minutes, but to no avail.
From their mini snail cameras they had seen the giant steel plated front doors of the facility come flying in. Incidentally, flying right at their visual communication and security system, so after everything went off all that was left were the screams of their comrades through the intercoms. Which was useless, because even without the intercoms they could still hear their desperate pleas all the way from their secure little area below the buildings surface. All it did was leave them even more on edge.
The big lieutenant slammed his hand on his table.
"Just what are those useless men doing?! Letting intruders in so casually!"
Purupurupurupuru…
All the marines there looked towards the emergency snail quietly ringing.
Purupurupurupuru…
"What's going on there? Hello?! Hello?! ANSWER ME!" The Marine Lieutenant, and currently most high ranked officer in the building, yelled into the receiver of the white clad transponder snail.
"SIR!" Some random marine yelled into the receiver from his end, he was out of breath and was obviously scared shitless, "PIRATES! THEY'VE COME TO STEAL INFORMATION!"
"What?! Who?! Don't let them find this place!"
"BUT SIR, YOU HAVE TO TAKE ALL THE VALUABLE INFORMATION AND RUN! WE CAN'T CONTACT OUTSIDE THE ISLAND FOR BACKUP!"
"Are you telling me to abandon my post soldier? HUH?!" The burly man yelled, voice steadily growing angrier at his subordinates audacity. "I'M NOT LEAVING THIS PLACE BECAUSE OF MERE PIRATES!"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND SIR! THEY'RE-"
CRACK
A sickening crack of what could only be multiple bones breaking could be heard before the kacha sound of the DenDen Mushi sounded, signaling that the conversation was over, whether he liked it or not. Suddenly, all the screams of their comrades stopped and there was silence once again, the only thing left signaling there was an emergency was the steady flashing of red lights all around their little room.
Then there was the sound of footsteps descending to where they were. There was only one pair of footsteps though, had only one person invaded? No, that was impossible, for only one person to take out all those men. It was probably just a random pirate trying to see what he could loot from down here, well, whatever the reason and whoever it was, this wasn't his lucky day. They'd jump the idiot and squeeze out information or use them as a hostage. Most pirate crews never left their nakama behind, hopefully this crew was one of them.
The lieutenant steadied his sword at his side, before calling out to his men.
"Prepare to make a stand here! We won't let those pirate scum have any information! Information from islands all over the Grand Line runs through this facility, we're going to make them pay! There is no way we'd let scum like that make fools of the government!" He clenched his fists, "Our dignity as Marines of Lowe Town is on the line!"
"YES SIR!" All the Marines saluted to their superior in acknowledgement of the man's orders.
Aiko stepped on some random marines hand with her heel, effectively breaking his bones as she hung up the DenDen Mushi he had just been talking through.
"Hey, kid." The Marine looked at her with tears welling in his eyes, she could so clearly see the hate directed at her even through all the pain. "Who were you talkin to?"
"DIE YOU SCU-"
With a swift kick to the head, she knocked him out cold. He'd probably suffer amnesia, but that wasn't her problem.
She carefully took a few steps towards a large staircase leading down to probably where they kept all the juicy secrets. She grinned, maybe she'd find something nice to tell Shanks and the crew. Like a devil fruit maybe? Or even some place with super good sake or better yet, a paradise island! They'd definitely love it. Maybe they'd even have like a compilation of pirate pictures that they kept just for their tabloid articles! She hoped they did, it would be like a photo album that she could use as blackmail. Maybe they had one for each of the Yonko! Before going down she suddenly felt Marco's presence from above her and let out a smile as she turned to face the blonde man.
"Hahahaha!" Aiko laughed loudly, the sound ringing in Marco's ears as he smoothly descended to where she was standing in front of the large staircase leading underneath the Marine base. He landed effortlessly next to her in a crouch, flames still dancing all over his body. "I win, phoenix." She gave him a triumphant smirk.
He flashed her a few papers in his hands, "Because I actually got some useful info, yoi."
She stuck out her tongue at him.
"Excuses, excuses." She shrugged her shoulders, "Besides there was nothing useful on my end. Just a bunch of talk about a few islands outside the Grand Line and some old newspapers, nothin' interesting. Not even anything about pirates."
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Were not here to have fun, yoi." His eyes looked down the long flight of stairs. "Just what exactly do you want to find anyway?"
"You're the one with the sadistic grin." She muttered under her breath, but his trained ears still picked it up as he flared up his flames once more to highlight the contours of his body in what she always described as 'creepy'. "Stop that."
She frowned cutely at him. He didn't know how a woman in her age could still be described as cute, or maybe it was only in his eyes she was? Whatever the reason, he couldn't think of any other word to describe the expression she had on her face.
"And here I thought you liked my flames." He teased.
"Yes. The flames. Not the way it lights up your body." She motioned with one gauntlet clad hand to, just… all of him.
"I like the way it lights up yours." He shot back right away.
"Were not here to have fun, yoi." She mimicked his words, making him frown.
"Oi, oi." His eyes looked annoyed to her, "That's my thing, yoi."
"Li-ar." She said slowly, clearly pronouncing each syllable and letting the word roll off her tongue.
He rolled his eyes at her, an action that was unfortunately starting to become a norm for him. He was about to throw back a response to her nonsense, but she interrupted him.
"I don't really want to find anything in particular." She then said, answering his previous question in her usual naturally alluring tone, he could tell right away she was lying, because she had a mischievous grin on her face.
"Liar."
Her grin stretched from ear to ear at his remark, it was fun like this. When all they did was throw words back at each other. She hoped it could always be like this because he was getting a lot more playful recently, probably because he didn't have to constantly worry about his mates and the fact that their crews were enemies. But… this would have to end someday, it wasn't really a day she was all that looking forward to.
"Whatever you say, phoenix." Aiko looked down the long flight of stairs, "I wish Captain were here." She muttered, catching the Whitebeard commander's attention, "I could really use a drink."
He shook his head at her, no, not just her, the entire Red-haired crew's devil may care, party loving attitude. Then again, that little laidback habit of hers was probably the reason he met her in that third-rate excuse for a bar in the first place, so he wasn't too upset about it. If anything, he was glad he hadn't chosen a better looking place, because that was a very lucky night. For the both of them.
"Marco." His eyes instantly, as if on instinct, went to meet hers at the rare sound of his name leaving her lips, she couldn't just call him that out of nowhere with no warning whatsoever, just how did she expect him to focus on his duties? "What's the plan?"
'For Roger's sake...' Marco thought, 'Which God did I piss off to deserve this kind of torture?'
He felt as if his soul was slowly committing suicide as he looked at her honey colored eyes, asking what he wanted to do next.
All the Marines were on edge as they shook with anticipation due to the sounds of footsteps steadily coming closer and closer. Then in a flash, the footsteps were gone and instead, the sound of the metal door, that they thought would at least give them a few minutes of preparation, snapped with an ear piercing screech as it came flying straight at one unfortunate Marine, completely flattening him against the wall.
They all gulped once more, the Lieutenant though, unfazed and kept his gaze unnervingly straight at the woman who had just walked into view with a hand on her hip and a smirk adorning her features.
Everyone's eyes widened at their guest.
"Ah!" She suddenly gave an apologetic at the same time bashful face that looked a lot like the kind Red-haired Shanks would suddenly give in the stupidest of times. One gauntlet covered hand rose to scratch at a slightly blushing cheek. "I knocked too hard."
"EHHHHH?!" The marines yelled.
"Killer Punch Aiko, huh?" The lieutenant said clearly, making her attention shift to him. She didn't look too troubled about the fact that she was only one person. His subordinates' faces were all surprised at the big shot pirate in front of them, what the hell was she doing here? If she was here then was it really possible that she took down the entire base on her own? But, no, wasn't she supposedly travelling with the renowned Whitebeard First Division Commander? It was all over the news. Hopefully, they had split up. It would be a problem if two of them were here.
"MEN!" He yelled in a commanding voice, "Don't be fooled by her appearance! She's a high ranking criminal, but in the end she's only one person! Don't let her escape!"
"AHHH!" They roared out a battle cry and all simultaneously loaded their guns and took out an array of weapons, even their bulky, completely ripped superior drew out his overly large sword from its sheath in a sluggish movement that had Aiko wondering how slow this big guy was. She had almost forgotten the huge, almost unreal, difference between the Marines in Paradise and the ones in G-5. She sighed to herself, she really missed the New World. There was just no other place like it. There was a reason after all, why Shanks who loved to travel all the seas usually stayed in the New World. It was just, so much more fun there. As her mind wandered for a bit, the three men closest to Aiko were the first to move, quickly charging at her with swords drawn and fully prepared to seriously injure the unmoving, carefree woman.
She surveyed around her with a quick scan of her eyes, but in the end didn't bother with moving because just at the last second when the three were about to hit her with their blades, Marco appeared in beautiful blue flames, hands landing on her shoulders as he did a perfect hand stand on her that made her crouch down, making the three Marines swords effectively slice through his hybrid phoenix body. Where even after the clean cut, there wasn't even a mark on his tanned skin.
"Just who do you think you were about to cut, yoi?" Marco said menacingly to the three, his bored eyes flashing with an unspoken threat, before pushing off of Aiko's shoulders and giving the three a barrage of talon enhanced kicks.
All the Marines seemed to have forgotten how to move when they caught sight of the infamous duo. None had thought that they'd actually see the two pirates that just by travelling together made headlines all over the world. Made the government and Yonko edgy enough to think something huge was happening. At least, not in this lifetime they didn't.
Aiko slowly stood up from her forced crouch due to Marco's flashy entrance, dusting off her shoulders and tightening her gauntlets.
"You okay?" Marco asked, lethargic eyes not leaving the Marines gaping around him.
"Peachy." She replied, sarcasm oozing from her voice. "Let's finish up here, phoenix. I've got a date."
His sadistic grin immediately flew back into place.
"PHOENIX MARCO! YOUR HEAD IS MINE!"
Suddenly, the bulky lieutenant came charging towards Marco, who Aiko saw was actually pretty quick on his feet, maybe his hands were just slow? The man's intent to kill was aimed right at Marco. Not that the man's aura or weapon raised in the air meant to cut his head clean in two bothered him, the blonde haired commander had his hands in his pockets and was even smirking smugly at the man, as if just amused at him even attempting. As the man let out another battle cry and was about to bring his sharp weapon down on the overconfident phoenix commander, he stopped. The top of his head suddenly bleeding, Marco looked up to see Aiko crouched down on the large man's big head. Getting a rather sickening view of her fist covered in Armament Haki effectively collided with the top of the man's what was once round skull, before she jumped off as gravity brought the lifeless lieutenant's body down.
She turned and looked back at him with a smirk on her face.
His sadistic grin grew.
He'd definitely have to arrange a rematch soon.
"AHHHHH!"
"LIEUTENANT!"
Then, there was chaos once more.
Marco and Aiko were currently racing each other across the town and back to the docks at full speed. Aiko, jumping on rooftops while Marco flew in his hybrid form in the beautiful night sky. His flames were more beautiful than the stars as he practically shone in the dark. Some citizens, who were still out that is, saw the two happily running by with huge grins on their faces. They only saw them for a moment, just a fleeting glimpse at their amused expressions before their inhumane speeds propelled them away from their visions. In the background, yells could be heard and there was a panic because the Marine base centered on the island had apparently caught fire and was supposedly trashed by some robbers on the island. But none assumed it was them, at least Aiko didn't think they did, because right now the two looked like any other couple having a late night out of fun and grinning wildly.
No one would know they had totaled the place until they were long gone.
Lyka who had had her nose stuck in a book caught a brief glimpse of the two as they passed the dingy antique shop, her eyes instinctively following the trail of blue flames that seemed to be succeeding the two in a wave. Or was that just her imagination? She quickly ran and tried to keep up with the two, noticing that Marco was flying and that the blue flames were not her imagination. At all. The two seemed to be bickering about something as they kept their steady pace, she tried calling out their names to grab their attention away from each other but to no avail. Lyka noticed though that they were heading for the docks and so she ran with all her might there. Eyes never leaving their trail even as they left her line of sight. Those two were like a completely different species of human, there was no way she believed that they just ran some small time pub, like Aiko-san had said. Not when she had just seen Marco flying through the air and her jumping on rooftops as if that were normal.
She had never in all her eighteen years, met two people who seemed so… free. She couldn't really explain it, they just moved a certain way that made you interested in them. There was a certain appealing aura to the two, though each was very different and alluring in their own ways, but when they were together things just seemed to get brighter. Like two stars had come into proximity. Aiko-san's presence even without meaning or even willing to, demanded your full attention, your eyes would just naturally follow her. It was something Lyka was a little envious of, because no one seemed to be exempt from it, not even Marco. Not even her. While Marco's presence on the other hand… She clenched her fist, cheeks burning profusely at the thought of her first love. Shaking her head and pushing her legs to run even faster towards the docks, it felt as if this would be the last time she'd get to see the two. She didn't know why, usually people wouldn't leave so late in the night, right? But when she got there, the only ship tied up was a small rowboat used by the local fishermen. The duo nowhere to be found. If they had a ship, then no doubt they would be at the docks, right?
Realization suddenly dawned on her. The tension in the pub, the yells she was hearing in the distance that she mistook for a passing troupe, the tattoos and the fact that the ship they had supposedly arrived on wasn't in the docks where it could so easily be seen. She quickly turned, dropping her book in the process and running towards a small rocky coast west of the island. Not ideal for a merchant ship, but the perfect place to hide a pirate one. When she arrived there, panting and out of breath with shaky and unbelievably tired legs, there it was. A medium sized ship and the voices of the two people she was chasing so relentlessly after.
"Y'know Tofu is so tiny, it's annoyed me since day one. Especially compared to our main ships." Aiko said loudly, two large sake bottles already in hand, preparing for their little banquet as she walked jovially on the deck of the ship and unfurled its main sail with the simple pull of a rope. "But it's a good ship." She said the last part fondly, smoothing her hands over the rails with care.
"Tofu?" Marco questioned, "Hon, are you really naming our ship Tofu?" He was seriously questioning her taste in names.
"Got a problem?" She looked down at him with an eyebrow raised, he was standing on the coast getting ready to push the ship out into the ocean.
He just grinned in return, before giving Tofu a firm push. Aiko could clearly see his muscles flexing in his open jacket as he effortlessly pushed the whole ship back into the ocean, his sandaled feet getting wet by the small waves. He took a moment to enjoy the feel of the sea, even if it somewhat drained his energy, being away from the ocean for the entire day was too long of a damn time. Living freely surrounded by nothing but the constant push and pull of the waves –even if it could potentially kill him- had always been a dream of his, he looked at Aiko who was motioning for him to get up there with her already by teasingly dangling the two large sake bottles at him with an excited grin on her face.
Things really were better when she was around.
As he was about to fly up to her and have their promised and hard-earned drink, he turned abruptly when he sensed someone.
"Marco! Aiko-san!" Lyka called, blonde head coming out from behind an oversized tree. She was out of breath and upon closer inspection had been running in fuzzy green slippers. "Please wait!"
"What are you doing here, yoi?"
She seemed to be struggling to catch her breath, as she brought her hands to her knees and panted loudly, before saying in the loudest voice she could muster, "I'm sorry about what I said! I'm not afraid of pirates anymore!"
Aiko and Marco grinned at her words. Both wondering what her expression would be when she found out just who they actually were and what they had done there in their short visit. "You two are really amazing, please come visit me again! GOODBYE!"
"It's not goodbye, yoi." Marco said with a grin.
"Eh?" She asked.
"It's see you soon!" Aiko clarified beaming, raising the bottles in her hand to the young girl who smiled brightly back. Lyka could see probably one of the many reasons why Marco's eyes always followed her now, Aiko's smile was dazzling as it stretched from ear to ear. The kind that made you want to be the reason for it.
"Yes!" Lyka exclaimed with tears in her eyes. Without thinking, she quickly ran up to Marco who was still on the shore and grinning charmingly at her and all in one swift movement. Pulled him down by his purple jacket and pressed her lips firmly against his in an unexpected kiss.
EH?
Marco's eyes widened, for once –in a long time- not because of a certain Red-haired pirate, as he instinctively moved to push the way too young for him girl away, but she kept her hands firmly on the lapels of his jacket, obviously very into the surprise kiss and wanting him to respond, it was probably her first. Only one thought seemed to run through his mind though and at an alarmingly fast rate at that, he didn't question as to why it did, he didn't want to have to deal with those kinds of extra thoughts plus the young teen currently holding his lips hostage.
Why in front of Aiko, yoi?!
Just when he was about to use more force to push her away, he felt the extremely painful sting of a bottle shattering on his head. The sudden impact made Lyka pull away from the phoenix commander with blushing cheeks and wide eyes. Marco could smell, even taste, the sake running down his face and drenching his clothes and bare skin. The pair's eyes immediately going up to a grinning Aiko with her chin in one hand and in the other only one bottle of sake.
"Oops." She said innocently, grin still forever glued to her face, though, to Marco at least, it looked way too threatening to be real. "My hand slipped."
"A-Ah!" Lyka's face exploded in red before she bowed to Marco. "I'm so sorry!"
"Eh?" Marco removed the shards of glass and sake from his head and now soaked hair, running his blue flames across the top just in case the bottle had cut him. "Ah, don't worry about it, yoi." He looked up at Aiko, who narrowed her eyes slightly at him before closing them completely and turning her head away.
He grinned slightly.
Something Lyka's eyes caught as the man before her stared after the pouting woman on the ship, her dark hair spilling over in waves. She really didn't mean to get her mad at him, she just saw the chance and took it. She doubted she'd be able to see the man again anytime soon, and by then she might even be married. Marco, before her eyes let out a mixture of beautiful blue and red flames that could only be from a Devil's Fruit. So he ate one of those cursed fruits, huh? She wondered if Aiko did too, maybe that's how she kept herself looking so young.
The blonde haired commander landed gracefully next to the woman, who blatantly ignored his presence.
"We'll see you again!" Aiko was the first to call, grin back in place and waving at Lyka.
"I'll see you soon!" She correctly yelled this time. The two waved at her as the strong wind brought them further and further away from Lowe Town. When they were a good distance off, they stayed quiet. None wanting to break the serene silence that had settled. The ship was peacefully rocking back and forth, Paradise was calm tonight. It was just one of those nights, even after all the events, where you'd sit down, have a drink, stare at the ocean and talk about trivial things that meant the world.
Aiko thought briefly of her Captain and crew. How they'd all be partying until they were completely shit faced and woke up with terrible hangovers that they'd just get rid of with more booze. How Benn would be scolding the Captain for his random whims, how Roux would be offering her plates upon plates of meat, how Yasopp would be going on and on about his son and how her Captain would have his arm around her shoulders as he ruffled her hair and made her chug bottle after bottle of sake with him. Her honey colored irises shone with unshed tears, when was the last time she'd been separated from them for such an extended period of time? It was like a piece of her was missing.
Family… huh?
Aiko shook her head, before turning to the phoenix commander next to her who also seemed to be lost in thought. No doubt thinking about his own crew, being separated, really wasn't a good feeling.
"Cheating on me right in my face, phoenix?" Aiko suddenly mumbled with one questioning eyebrow raised at him, he could see the stars illuminating her pale skin coupled with the sparkling ocean, making him let out a sigh as he momentarily forgot thoughts about his crew and willingly let his head be consumed by her.
At least they weren't alone on this mission.
He met her eyes, thinking, just what kind of shitty luck did he have that something like that had to happen in front of her?
"Never, yoi." He replied seriously.
"Hmm…" She stared out at the deep blue sea, before popping open the sake bottle and taking a hearty swig. "You hurt my feelings." She pouted at him, tossing him the sake bottle which he caught effortlessly.
"If I was able to hurt you, then it's probably love right?" He responded instantly before taking a few gulps of hot sake, this was good stuff. He noticed that it was colder than usual out tonight. He could feel the cool evening wind biting mercilessly against his exposed skin.
"Please, Phoenix. Love is a lottery for pirates." She grinned at him as he tossed her back the bottle.
"Then I can't wait to draw your name."
'What are you doing, dumbass?' His inner self reprimanded.
And for once, she didn't have a snarky remark for him. She gave him a grin, the kind she once gave him a life time ago when he first approached her in that bar, looking for nothing but a good time with a woman. Any woman would've done. But then he saw her there, presence too alluring to ignore. She interested him and so he singled her out and quickly made his move.
If only he could still do that now.
'You're stunning.' He said as he walked up to a slender woman with a bottle of sake in one hand and her delicate face resting in the other. Her honey colored irises looked at him as if she were sizing him up and when she finished up her once over and mentally approved, only then did she reply to his words.
'Wow. Because I'm the only one you've ever said that to.' She replied sarcastically back at him, all bite.
'I've never actually meant it before.' He grinned at her. He was having second thoughts about this dingy back alley bar, but it seemed it was a good idea after all.
'So you admit you're a liar?' She raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
'I wouldn't want to lie to you, better to get it out early, yoi.'
He flashed her a grin in response to hers and motioned for the bottle which she casually threw back.
"Alright, Phoenix." She stretched her arms above her head. "Shall we go over the info we got?"
He sighed, they were out here for Ace after all, he couldn't really just say no. Well, then again, they were treading on dangerous territory, so maybe this work distraction would be good. Yea, planning their next course of action over a drink would do them both good. And in the end, it would cool their heads. Saving them from going head first into the gutter.
"I'll go grab another bottle first." He replied with a lopsided grin.
A/N: Hey, this chappie's pretty long, so anyway, what did you guys think, huh? :D
Alice: Welp, you were right about her showing up again :D
Please review.