Interviews
It didn't even take a full day for the news to break. The newspaper and the Den-Den Mushis were rapidly flashing with the news. The latest Pirate Alliance was forged...the Infinity Pirates and the 'Dark Knight' Pirates were teaming up...and they were accepting all other applicants only one condition they had to follow. 'They had to be ready to take on the Shichibukais'. Such news was unrivaled for the day and with the world still reeling from the Revolutionaries' move, everybody and I mean EVERYBODY was in a state of panic. Even the Admirals from the Marine headquarters were currently on the heels of their feet spinning around! They had suffered disastrous blow and disastrous blow, again and again, from the hands of the Infinity Pirates, Revolutionaries, and even the Dark Knight Pirates...and now a union was being formed. They already had their growing ideas that Mikoto and the Revolutionaries were in cahoots, but since they brought in the Dark Knight pirates things were definitely going from bad to worse...they were just wondering how much further could they fall?
"How did we let this happen?" shouted Nicholas, arguably the strongest physically amongest three of them. As if to prove this point, he sank his fist straight through a wall, completely controlled to the point that no excess damage occurred and not a single crack in the wall appeared. "We should've just crushed them with all of our might the very first time they reared their ugly little heads and now look at them!" He smashed his hand onto the wall again, slapping the wanted posters of the duo as well as one of Jugo's, the ex-leader of the Marines. "They are growing, becoming stronger than we predicted." He growled loudly, showing off his extreme disdain for the current state of their affairs. "The Revolutionaries have been gathering more and more forces due to the Celestial Dragon that joined them, now even people who were loyal to the World Government are defecting! Not only that, but because he's the leader Jugo has been given more and more time to make his own moves! The entire world is being thrown into a state of chaos and nothing else."
"Relax, Nicky," sung a much younger man from behind him, "we tried our best...but we were just outmaneuvered in the beginning...we can still make it up in the mid-game and in the endgame. Victory will be ours, we just got to outplay them starting now." He was dressed a little more formally in a suit and tie, his Marine jacket fluttering behind him like a cape. He was considered 'gifted'. Unlike Nicholas who relied on pure strength, he seemed to have pure unnatural talent. Whatever he tried, he excelled at. He had an inhuman memory and learning capabilities, he was a god compared to the common man. "In chess, just cause White moved first doesn't mean that White will win. As a matter of fact I welcome them to send their rook to their death. Our Shichibukais will win."
"Our Shichibukai!" shouted Nicholas, charging the young man with a fierce growl. He practically lifted the man into the air while growling at him and gnashing his teeth, "THEY ARE NOT OUR SHICHIBUKAI! THEY ARE BLOODY PIRATES!" Nicholas tossed the man through the air, but he seemed no worst for the wear...as a matter of fact he looked bored as he easily landed on his own two feet gracefully, wiping his hair clean of dust particles that may have gotten into it. "They could very well be deciding to join this pirate alliance, sensing a change in the balance! At the slightest movement, the slightest bump could wedge them free of any slight grasp we have on them! Its impossible for us to firmly plant them under our thumb, a shaky truce is the best we can amount to at this point in time! AND NOW EVEN THAT IS UNDER FIRE!" His partner nodded, a smug smirk still plastered on his face. True.
"You seem to be forgetting something simple, my dear Nicky boy," laughed the other man, "we are still on the winning side. Me, you, and him," he said indicating the third man in the room, who remained in the shadows, silent. "Right now we amount to at least ten Shichibukais...let them knock them one or two down, we still remain as the apex of power in this world." Nicholas grumbled, still not pleased with this way of looking at things either. The Shichibukais were just cowards, hedging their bets...no, Nicholas knew better of them...they weren't hedging their bets they were plotting just like they were. The goal was to either eliminate Marines in the world ensuring complete freedom or to eliminate pirates in the world ensuring complete justice. There was no halfway point in these things any more and he knew the Revolutionaries were selling the shame drug to the masses. Freedom or justice. Pirate or Marine...everyday it looked like they were losing that fight more and more.
"Don't get me wrong," continued the man as he pulled his Marine jacket off of him, examining it for dirt as well. "I'm not saying we'll just sit holed up in this base...I say we go on the offensive and remind those Shichibukais and all other pirates of their place." Nicholas grinned, wildly almost whooping like a hyena. Finally something he could get behind. "If they want anarchy let's take it to them."
(-With the Revolutionaries-)
"Ka ha ha ha!" laughed Renvont kicking his boots up and onto the table of their base. Trevor was busy doing his own things...namely killing any remaining Marines he could find. They had taken over a small Marine Base for the time being, they, too, were on the offense as well. Taking the Marines down a peg, bolstering their numbers with some new recruits. A lot of people would be swayed by a show of power, that was their goal. Get those people with extravagant shows like this and get the other people with the smooth words of their newest leader, Michael. Of course, you can easily imagine which side Trevor and Renvont were on.
Gan walked into the room. He, too, for some reason preferred a show of power to smooth words, probably because he was all about control and too many people were fickle with their words, maybe he didn't want to be aware of the lies they were feeding the masses, or perhaps he wanted to team up with Renvont. The two seemed to have formed an odd truce. Renvont being an incredibly strong man in the Revolutionaries and Gan being incredibly smart...such a combination was to be feared and they knew it. "Its amazing how their actions reflect our plans, its almost as if they were listening in on us while we plotted things out." They too were planning on taking on the Shichibukais soon, surely having Trevor and Renvont, two men whose fighting strength easily rivaled of any one Shichibukai would allow them to overtake anyone of their choice. "It looks like it is time to make our move soon. I suggest we move out as soon as possible." He heard a quiet click behind him. Renvont had produced his gun and took aim at Gan.
"Don't you go telling me what to do," Renvont sputtered at his temporary truce mate. Gan laughed, he wondered if Renvont had finally put it together. The Revolutionaries weren't aiming for an age when murderers like him and Trevor would be able to roam free, but a different kind of government...one in which Renvont and Trevor would surely be locked up again. Such a thought had to be bad for him. Renvont smiled uneasily as he looked at him.
Gan gave him the creeps. Gan wasn't like anyone else...his entire body was holed up beneath hundreds of layers of blankets. The only thing Gan showed people were his dead eyes...it was as if he didn't care anymore about his life. Renvont had pulled his gun on Gan many times, he had seen Trevor do the same, all of them went forward trying to killing him and each time. Gan would laugh, look at them with his dead eyes and wait to see what they did...if they would actually follow through with it this time. There was nothing that annoyed Renvont or Trevor more...people who took pleasure from killing. Meeting someone who could laugh when you pulled your gun on them...it didn't make any sense, it was so far from the norm.
"Going to shoot?" asked Gan, apparently growing impatient. Renvont shrugged and returned his gun to his holster. Gan sighed. The instant he gave them the tiniest bit of satisfaction was the day he died. He would be shot or beheaded because he was afraid to be...not because he ticked them off, but because they could finally enjoy it. "Anyways, let's set sail," muttered Gan, "maybe one of those Shichibukais will cry and beg for your life when you pull your gun on them." Renvont groaned and quickly ran in front of Gan using a modified version of Soru. Renvont smirked as he saw Gan look surprised, not afraid. He just didn't know that Renvont was trying to learn to grow stronger...Renvont was a man who deserved fear already, but in that instant Gan realized that the current Renvont was nothing...the Renvont to fear was the one that tomorrow would bring.
"Listen, 'nakama'," Renvont said 'nakama' with particular vehemence and a particular effect to it, as if he was uncertain if Gan was or not. "I know you guys are trying to make a better world...and to be honest such a world doesn't benefit me none. I desire a worse world, a world that brings out the worst in people...such a world would be great for me...I could stand on top of it, finally cementing to the world that I am the best...do you understand what I'm saying?" Gan smirked beneath his blankets understanding perfectly. "You guys are fighting for the future...I'm just here to enjoy the present! And all the bloodshed it will bring me."
Armani was closer than he could ever imagine when he said they were heading to a new age. Forget about the Age of Pirates, Age of Justice...at this point forget about the Age of Revolutionaries...this was the Age of Anarchy!
(-With Mikoto-)
Mikoto sighed. Shane handled delivernig the message, he admitted it made sense considering that Shane had better charisma and he was the least likely of the two to make the mistake, but he felt like he had taken a backseat to his ally and he didn't really like that feeling. It made it seem as if Shane was in charge of how the alliance would conduct themselves. The next problem was, of course, conducting the interviews. A lot of pirates would want to ally themselves with Mikoto and Shane. They may not want to take down the Shichibukais, but such an alliance meant protection...or give them a perfect chance to back stab Mikoto or Shane and collect their bounty. And as a result the interrogation process was long and boring. Especially when you got stuck with some lengthy bean pole who wouldn't shut up like Mikoto was now. "Hey," Mikoto said, picking his head off of the table and looking at his interviewee. "Let me punch you." The interviewee looked a little taken back. "Come on," Mikoto said suddenly getting into the idea, a good way to pass time as well as make his day a little more exciting. "You'll be in a bunch of trouble if you can't even take a punch, come on! Something simple like this shouldn't be a problem for a pirate." The beanpole eagerly nodded.
Anybody who was anybody had heard of the physically weak 'Kid Coyote' a pirate who relied more on speed than brutal strength. So, of course, he had accepted. It made sense...why wouldn't he? Such an offer to be on his team was worth an icebag on the face for a few days. "Okay, tighten that cheek!" shouted Mikoto as he wound, standing on top of the deck, readying a punch and attracting a lot of attention. Mikoto's punch soared through the air, he easily achieved a Rapid-Fire x 25, blowing the beanpole out of the chair and into the nearby wall, knocking him out with ease. Mikoto smiled as he sat back down. "Okay, from now on, anyone who wants to join our alliance has got to take a punch from me!" This easily quelled the majority of the applicants. The weaker pirates looked away and some even got up and left. Even the strongest pirates seemed to hesitate for a second...only one seemed to move. A giant wotan headed up to Mikoto, laughing at him.
"Give me your best shot, Miko-Chan," laughed the wotan pleased at himself for making a funny joke about the pirate's name...and, of course, Mikoto did...and, of course, the idiot went flying like the beanpole...perhaps even farther due to Mikoto's anger at being called Miko-Chan. Mikoto shot down, propped his legs up on the desk as if proudly declaring 'NEXT!' Of course, at this point there was a large out-pouring as pirates began to leave. Nobody wanted to be the next lamb for the slaughter. A nearly 200 million belie bounty punch wasn't worth it. Mikoto moaned, realizing that he just cut their forces in half.
"I'll do it," said a man as he walked up to Mikoto. He looked a little bit too 'confident' as he moved towards them. He was a big man with a proud square jaw...almost too big for his face. He plopped down in the chair leaned forward and added with a cocky jab of his finger, "but only if I get to punch you back." Mikoto was admittedly a little bit taken back at first and why wouldn't he be, but after the initial shock died down. Mikoto nodded. Heck, if the interviewee couldn't even hurt him...he didn't particularly want him around. The two both reeled back ready to fire simultaneous punches. Their two fists shot forward, simultaneously crossing over each other and slugging them both back a few inches, nearly knocking them both back and on their butts, but they held on. Mikoto grinned wildly at his new friend, who had similar sentiments. "Well, that was fun," he laughed loudly, pitching his head back as he did so. "So which sorry son of a Shichibukai are we going up against first, eh?" Mikoto nodded, third team member confirmed. However, that still left a large chunk of people to go through. And while Mikoto had to admit his punches were something fierce, he doubted Shane would think so. Shame, Mikoto still had to go through the rest of the applicants...you know what he had an idea.
(-With Shane-)
Shane smirked walking forward and soon reaching the bar he had Mikoto stationed at to go through the applicants at. Unfortunately, however, Shane hadn't known Mikoto very well, but he was about to find out how seriously Mikoto was handling this assignment. Shane was only a few feet away when one of the walls broke and a large man was thrown through the hole. Shane paused for a second watching as the man came smashing onto the floor. Something immediately told Shane that he would not like what he was about to see. Nevertheless, he stepped forward, bracing himself on the door for a few seconds before sighing and pushing forward, opening it up for him to walk on he saw shouldn't have surprised him, but admittedly even after all of his years of pirating...he was still a little amazed. Forget about the interviews...it was an all out brawl.
"I think the interviews are going pretty dang well," laughed Ridley, who was standing next to the door, with a bottle of alcohol in his hand.
Shane hefted his large weapon around in a circle, uttering a low huff as he scanned the room in search of his 'partner'. He didn't quite know what to do, it was decided that this was only fair, of course, Shane had agreed to come back and help with the interviews knowing full well that it would be boring and also that Mikoto would screw it up. He had come too far now to let Mikoto screw it up. They had used some of Kraven's Shichibukai prowess to set the stage including the press conference which was supposed to be for Kraven, but the press were surprised when Shane had stepped around the corner confessing to him and Mikoto 'teaming up' to beat him, hoping that such a lie would allow Kraven to leave with his honor and status still intact. Shane took in a deep breath about to yell 'Cut it out', only to find that instead...a punch connected with his own cheek. Shane twisted around, grabbing a hold of his assailant...a pirate who instantly recognized Shane as someone to not punch...even by accident and prompty paid the punishment for it...getting thrown through a nearby wall and inciting Shane to join the horrible messy fray.
A Hefty Sacrifice
Okay, first things first. Many of you who also read Iron Hammer may notice I mentioned switching around updates for this and that. There is an official poll up on my profile. I will allow you readers to decide for the time being, BUT! if Saga does begin to drop in writing (which is unlikely as I'm trying to keep up with it and I still got more than enough backlog for a month or so) I will do what I think is best/easiest regardless of votes. Please note the main reason why Saga writing has dropped down so drastically is because Iron Hammer and Sights are at much more exciting arcs than Saga is and there's a slight problem with Saga's next arc (which I am working through its just not exciting for me.)