The Admiral

The Marine Admiral kicked his head back against the tower and kept a careful eye out on the sea. Most Marines were relaxing themselves, definitely none of them on as much of an edge as he was. But this was his day. The day he had decided to retire, many of the Marines saw this as a day of celebration, not many Marines retired, so this was a nice way to send him off. A man who had overseen a lot of their growths. And he was happy to do that for a few hours.

But he didn't join the Marines in this praise of him helping them out. The world was still in shambles and he had to wonder if the Marines didn't have their own hand to play in that matter. Or the World Government for that matter. While he had no desire to hand the world over to the Revolutionaries and their wolves, but was the World Government's dogs that much better?

There would be several years of fixing ahead of them and they couldn't have a war happen right now. That would only slow their progress, stick them in the mud that they seemed to just barely be dragging their feet out of. The Celestial Dragons were talking, slavery was slowly being bled out, things were changing, but a war now would just set them back. But the Revolutionaries, foolishly believed that they would create a perfect world if they just took over. Ignoring the millions of lives lost and the fact that the Marines had thought the same thing.

This was the endless wheel that the Revolutionaries just couldn't see...or just refused to. They kept thinking that with their ideals, with their supposedly purest of pure motives, that the world would suddenly turn into a less shit place than it already was. That somehow through some divine intervention power wouldn't corrupt, men wouldn't act like beasts to get what they want, and pirates would up and vanish. The world wouldn't become perfect, just cause the men on top got changed.

The Marine Admiral paused as he reached down and pulled out a telescope. Sliding it out the Admiral smiled as he pushed it against his eyes, keeping a careful eye out on the sea. There was no shortage of ships, but most of the ones he spotted were Marine ships, which was fair.

No pirates would dare to sail this close to this island at this point in time. He was here, two other Marine Admiral were around, not to mention another glorious numbers of Marines. A single pirate got spotted near here and a million guns would be pointed at him before he even had enough time to suck air into his lungs.

Which was probably why he was here. It was a tall four or five story spire in the middle of the town square. There was a small ring around the very top forming a nice bench, that most Marines and men would never even think of sitting on it, nor would they ever attract their gaze up here. He would be all alone as he scanned the seas for this pirate ship.

Victoria's ship would be easy enough to spot, the other ship, not so much so. He knew the name, Infinity Pirates. He wouldn't have even had tried to jerk around Victoria with this plan without at least knowing the name of this pirate. While he was definitely did not care for this poor pirate who suddenly had the fate of the world thrust upon he had to admit he had his sympathies.

Carrying the new world on your back was not something he wanted to do. Then again most people would probably state that his job as the sacrificial lamb to the big bad wolf was the worst job, but he didn't agree with that assessment. He was old.

He had never married. He had a few girlfriends, but it was hard to explain to them why he wanted to risk his life for complete strangers. Most people weren't fine with that idea. Most people wanted their husband, their family members to stay around with them. Be with them when the hard times hit, not on the front lines. A few of them understood, hell, a few of the women he had dated were even Marines themselves, but the strain of being gone for too long or coming home with too many injuries wasn't good for any relationship. And a few of the Marines he dated, weren't too lucky with just a few injuries.

Indeed, he had donated his entire life to Justice and his ideals. Maybe now would be a good time to take the last leap...it would be another ten years if he was being hopeful. He doubted he would live that long though regardless of how he acted.

In the midst of these thoughts was when he saw the two ship begin to stretch over and onto the horizon. They were being careful of their approach, which made sense. He wasn't going to get annoyed at people being careful. He would be if they weren't though.

He stood up and pressed his legs against the tower. Old age was definitely getting to him. His bones ached and creaked a little as he pushed against it. But he just needed one good jump. And he got it. He rocketed off of the tower and into the air. His body slowly disintegrating into a fine black powder as it glided across the wind.

(-With Victoria and Mikoto-)

A small group of Victoria's crew jumped off of their ship and onto Mikoto's ship, immediately throwing themselves to work. Victoria shuffled herself over to the side of the ship, "we need to disguise your ship and that includes taking down your flag and sail, both of which proudly shows your Jolly Roger. But we are going to arrive on an island filled to the gills with Marines."

"Its fine," muttered Mikoto as he walked over to the helm of the ship and looked out over the ship. A bit of shiver coming down his spine. His own crew was already there and risking their lives, but landing there was a huge problem. Especially without any Marine or Shichibukai support to guide them in and make it look like they belonged there. The blank sails would do something for them and Mikoto had a guess Victoria's massive crew probably had one or two bounty-less people who could sweet-talk the guards and let them dock posing as a simple merchant ship, but he was probably being optimistic as per usual.

"The crew is there," stated Zesiro as he walked up and sat down next to Mikoto as they eyed the island. Victoria's crew was all shuffling around, putting some stuff here and there, trying to make the ship seem as little suspicious as possible. The cannons were covered up, the flag taken down and replaced with a common merchant ship symbol and tons of various junk was strung around with price tags written all over them.

It made sense as a disguise, but Mikoto had no idea if it would work. The Marines were undoubtedly on edge. The Revolutionaries were going to be going crazy soon enough. And this would be a prime area to make some real estate. Make some noise here and the Marines would probably start running. The Marines are probably going to try and prevent that.

Which was why they were already beginning to cover up. Victoria had already headed in, just in case a few Marines were out and with telescopes. And, of course, a few of her men and women were currently urging Mikoto to head down. A bunch of non-suspicious people were beginning to flood onto the ship. A bunch of people were beginning to get on their ship and flow around, taking up specific places, a few of them already crawling up to the top of the crow's nest to make sure it looked 'real'. To make it look like it wasn't the ship of a pirate.

The men and women, navigators, swordsmen, merchants with big pot bellies, Victoria's crew was really diverse and soon enough Mikoto was indeed being shooed off and towards one of the doors. Ready to lock him up beneath the deck of the ship for the charade to finally be made true.

Zesiro and Ridley had already moved to beneath the ship and Mikoto was going to go down sooner or later, but he just wasn't ready yet. And indeed he was definitely not going to jump inside. He'd rather spend a few more minutes out here. If he had to venture a guess, it was his own animal instincts telling him exactly what he had to worry.

And he was proven right. A swirl of black powder suddenly began to materialize onto the deck of the ship. A human being soon being made out of it and soon enough his white coat flopped out of the black dust, revealing the lettering for Justice on its back. But was even more worrisome was the sword at his waist. It was a scary thing to see. A Marine with a sword.

Not exactly the friendly welcome with the red carpet and the delicious appetizers that he desired. But it was what he expected. A Marine Admiral with a long sword and probably a Devil Fruit, and while Mikoto had no idea what it was, but Mikoto was pretty much certain that it was a Logia-Type. Which wasn't exactly something that he wanted to smack his fists against.

But if it meant protecting his crew he would do it. Mikoto lowered all of his weight down, pressing against the floor. His feet were already beginning to solidify with Haki. He was far from an expert on it. Colors of Armaments Haki was useful, but he wasn't well-trained in it. Colors of Observation was much more simple to him. It was just like listening to his instincts, but Colors of Armaments Haki was a bit different. It was due to that that he wasn't certain if he could take this man out.

But still Mikoto was certain that he could go straight into a mess. His leg muscles tensed and he sunk into the ground a good couple of inches as he leaned forward, putting a lot of his weight onto his arms as his entire body shifted into his hybrid form.

His entire body rared up and was ready to go and the Marine seemed to welcome it. He spun to face Mikoto, using one hand to immediately knock back the one or two of Victoria's men that were brave enough to not just stand there with their jaws on the floor. He sent them flying with little trouble. He was still a Marine Admiral and Mikoto was just beginning to understand the vast difference between the two of them.

"You're a dangerous opponent," Mikoto growled, the corners of lips being pulled back to reveal a full row of sharp teeth. Suddenly he began to get riled up and really wanting to slug this man one.

"So you're the man who thinks he is good enough to take my head," the Marine Admiral swept his sword around in the air, aiming it at his opponent and tightening his teeth. He could see why this guy was becoming a big deal, several Shichibukais down and under his belt and now the guts to take on a Marine Admiral. Such bravado was a mixture of stupid and dangerous.