Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
When Robin and her nakama first set foot on the island of Elysia, her senses told her they had to be cautious here, and there was something up. There was an almost unnatural feel around the citizens, even if they were all extraordinarily enthusiastic about the arrival of the Straw Hats. They had cheered wholeheartedly, congratulating them on surviving through the tough challenges of the first half of Grand Line, and passing Fishman Island into the New World. Yet she picked out a few individuals who seemed strangely awkward among the people, standing out clearly to her despite melding in so perfectly with the crowd. These people exuded hostility and a strong killing intent that unnerved her. Elysia was supposed to be a peaceful island fully supportive of pirates.
She arrived at the only plausible explanation; they were undercover from the government, perhaps not the CP9. They did not openly attack, as they would know it would cause casualties in such a fashion. And true to her suspicions, she tracked the people as the crowd slowly dispersed, and sure enough after several detours they convened in a single location. She had gained enough information and returned her focus back to her separating nakama.
The raven-haired woman decided to simply ignore them and observe for awhile before it became absolutely necessary to tell her captain; Luffy was not known for discretion. Until they truly proved themselves to be a real threat, she wouldn't take any action. She doubted they were really targeting the crew. They were probably simply a scouting group. Putting the thought deeper in her mind, she nodded and smiled as she listened to Nami rant. The younger was busy fuming over the antics of their captain again, as well as the swordsman's irresponsibility and Sanji's endless flirting attempts.
Whilst she accompanied the orange-haired girl on a shopping spree, she once again picked out the same people who had taken on a sense of urgency. There were small, nearly undetectable bulges in their pockets that she assumed as baby snail transponders as she could pick out movement of their lips, forming military phrases such as "Yes sir!". They must be planning something.
This unsettling thought didn't unnerve her though, as she continued to follow Nami like nothing had occurred. The younger hadn't picked up anything and chatted meaninglessly on, unaware to the plot that was forming under their noses.
As they were about to head back to where the rest of their crew would surely be waiting for them, she excused herself, claiming she wanted to take a longer look of the island tonight. The other noted a slight unnaturalness to her tone but didn't pry, knowing not to meddle with any of Robin's affairs. With a short nod, the navigator took off on her own towards the dock as Robin turned to another direction. She simply wanted to identify all of the undercover soldiers and nothing else, as their meeting would've long disbanded at this time. Just knowing who they were would be key to battles later on; at this point she firmly believed confrontation was inevitable.
Wandering around the island had led her to come to the conclusion that there were a grand total of fourteen soldiers including their commander, though it struck her odd as marines had a tendency to meticulously dispatch a nice, round number of fives and tens. Perhaps there was a fifteenth member she had carelessly left out, but the raven-haired woman had made sure there were fourteen and only fourteen.
She wound up at a small beach in a secluded section of the island, unoccupied by all but one. The man's posture was relaxed, a cap covering locks of black hair, and it shadowed his face from the low afternoon sun. He did not have seemed to realize her presence, mesmerized by the gentle lapping of ocean waves.
"It's a nice view, isn't it?" she had stated, intrigued by his fascination with the ocean, which she knew was not just because of the simplistic yet beautiful scenery.
She smiled slightly when he jolted in surprise but didn't turn back, gaze fixed on the waves. His fingers were deeply buried in the sand, searching. "Yeah, I guess." His reply was calm and composed when he answered.
Sitting down comfortably in the fine sand, she continued a bit of small talk. Her interest was further piqued when he had said, "Must be nice to be able to go about the ocean so freely," the words coated heavily with longing. It was strange for a normal civilian to connect the ocean with freedom. They had nothing to do with traveling, content with the lives they led in their home island. His response had reminded her oddly of her captain. Luffy once said something very similar. Now that she thought about it, this man did seem to share a few outlandish traits with her captain though one would not see the resemblance unless they knew Luffy very well, even further into his simple and childish nature.
She politely responded, "What an interesting way you put it. I wholeheartedly agree." And as the sun began to set, she quietly left the man who appeared to be lost in his thoughts, and returned to the Thousand Sunny, keeping the afternoon adventures to herself.
After dinner, however, she mulled over those words over again. The man was obviously not an inhabitant of Elysia, she could assume that much. But Elysia did not have an abundance of strangers either due to the aversion of pirates people generally held, which means…
Was he the fifteenth member she had left out?
"Robin-chwan~!" the flirtatious voice of Sanji distracted her as he did a twirl and glided over to her, carrying a slice of strawberry cheesecake with a dessert fork. "Here's your share that I made with all my heart! And you bastards, be glad I was kind enough to use the leftovers to make some for you, too!"
She graciously accepted the cake, still following her train of thought.
It was strange that none mentioned their fifteenth member in their conversations with each other, almost as if unwilling to do so. The soldiers had operated in pairs except this one. Maybe the man purposely ostracized himself from the others, and so in turn his co-workers refused to acknowledge him properly.
Speculation upon speculation.
Taking a delicate bite of the cheesecake, she called out a brief thanks to Sanji for once more outdoing himself in baking the desert.
There was definitely something stirring within the marines, she knew from the strange lack of activity. Being in the Revolutionary Army had given her even more knowledge of the government than from before, and it was shown that during these past two years the marines' activity had lessened, only by a barely noticeable amount. Mysterious but well covered-up assassinations and dirty work was ten times more frequent than two years ago, coinciding with the day Sakazuki became Fleet Admiral. The marines were definitely working on something behind the scenes that few knew of, and she couldn't help but feel as if this secret operation was related to the man at the beach. Her gut feeling had never failed her all the years she spent on the run and Robin profoundly doubted it would now.
The Straw Hats were in for more than what she originally thought, then. Swallowing the last bit of cake, she said, "Captain, I believe I have something of great importance to tell you."
The sound of retching filled Ace's room as he emptied his already vacant stomach, leaving a bitter taste at the back of his mouth and an awful burn in his throat. He groaned tiredly, leaning against the wall as he fought down another wave of nausea. He woke up some hours ago after midnight and the puking episode had begun, leaving him with no choice but to stay by the toilet as his stomach refused to stop churning. The freckled man was pretty damn sure he didn't eat anything suspicious at night, so it couldn't be food poisoning.
With a sinking feeling he realized if this problem persisted in the morning, he would be unable to carry out the mission properly. Stomach bugs weren't known for going away within a few hours either. Then he bent over again and clamped a hand against his mouth, fighting to keep the acid in his body. Take deep breaths, he told himself. Deep breaths.
He floated in and out of consciousness all the way until morning, occasionally puking more substance out. It was only when bright sunlight had streamed in the dank room when he finally hauled himself out and collapsed onto the bed, feeling that the worst was gone – at least he hoped so. He lied on the bed, trying to just get one hour of sleep before he had to leave again…
Darkness. Musty, dank air. The rustling and clinking of chain links. He could smell the sharp tang of his own blood so strongly here in a room he was all too familiar with, hear his labored breath clearly in his ears, amplified in the chamber lit only by scarce lamps. But he would rather not see how much of his blood was spilled, or what had awaited him. The pain in his back had dulled, but it was only a matter of time before it was restored.
He twisted, attempting to get into a position that would temporarily relive the pain in his wrists but to no avail. An ankle was broken, and all he could do was to put all the weight on the other bruised foot. His fingers were numb from the long time they were cut off circulation, and he moved them, hoping to get a little bit feeling. Nothing happened.
Blinking, he made out the shadowy form of a leather whip curled neatly together, stains covering the material. "So that's what it was, huh?" he muttered through a coarse throat.
"Would you like more?" An amused voice cut through the silence.
Ace froze, fists clenching together. If there was one man he feared more than Akainu, it would be him. His name was never mentioned, but Ace had subconsciously named him as the "Tormentor", as he knew every trick in the book to make a person sing like a bird.
His footsteps echoed loudly on the dirty cement floor as he walked over with a sardonic smirk, clean-shaven as usual. His bright green eyes almost glowed in the darkness as they bore into Ace's soul, eerily like a cat. However, Ace's gaze was focused nervously on the small syringe he brandished in his gloved hands, a finger stroking the needle lovingly. "You should look at yourself," he said, cruel delight bleeding through the simple words. "You seem scared of it."
It was true. Ace didn't want to know what was in there. It could be anything, and he had being subjected to all kinds of strange injections already to know that the experience was not going to be pleasant. Before he had a chance to open his mouth, the man stabbed into his arm. Ace nearly cried out as the thick needle ripped through his tense muscle, sending shockwaves of pain to his nerves. He gritted his teeth before a sound was uttered, not wanting to give the other satisfaction as the ice-cold liquid was injected into his vein. It was all over within seconds, but this time he was not met with the usual dizzying feeling all the serums caused.
In fact, he felt nothing at all.
As if the man read his mind, he smirked impossibly wider. "Think of it as a parting gift from me before you leave for Paradise. You're overdue anyways, and the effect doesn't kick in immediately."
He woke fully this time, though not well rested as the memory disturbed him. Ace hoped to whatever deities existed in this world that this sickness wasn't the aftereffect of the liquid, since absolutely nothing had happened before. Ace wished he hadn't remembered this particular bit; it now disturbed him to no ends of what he'd have to go through because of it and from previous experiences they were never good. Once it had enhanced his fighting ability by tenfold but at the cost of his humane mind, reducing him to a mindless and primitive animal with a strong blood thirst.
Redirecting mentally to another topic before he freaked himself out too much, he decided to contemplate over something that was bothering him yesterday.
… And for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was about. He dismissed it as nothing important and instead focused on battle techniques in capturing the Straw Hats. They weren't looking for kills, simply incapacitate them and take them back. They would be brought to Impel Down, apparently to be scheduled for execution soon after by the orders of the fleet admiral. Pirates usually didn't receive the death sentence except rare cases, one of Roger and the other that took place two years ago, during the Marineford War and the death of Whitebeard that all avoided talking about. It was just another one of the topics that he heard often in whispers but never anything specific, as if he wasn't allowed to hear it.
But none of that mattered to him as he headed out the door, his cap once again tilted so it hid his face. All that was important now was not messing anything up.
Little did he know that as he left the inn, someone gasped out in shock several buildings away, horrified by the glimpse she caught of his face. A tiny blue eye protruding from the wall burst into sakura petals and dissipated from sight. "How should I tell this to Captain?"
Within moments Ace had arrived back in the commander's room, ignoring the raised eyebrow the innkeeper gave him as he headed towards that direction, no doubt wondering why so many people were gathering at one place repeatedly. The moment he stepped in, Shigeru had an appalled look on his face. "A measly cap is not enough!" he said dramatically, pointing a finger to said hat.
Ace fought the urge to roll his eyes as he swept his gaze around the room, finding all of his teammates cleverly disguised in different outfits and wigs, along with color contacts and light makeup.
"Did you encounter any Straw Hats on your way?" he pressed on with a strange urgency.
He nearly said yes, a reflexive response to always say the truth when he realized that apparently, it was taboo to meet any of them yet. "No," he said curtly.
The room's occupants let out a collective sigh of relief, making the situation fishier. He didn't think they were worried about him being recognized, considering the fact that they didn't know him in the first place or at least he thought.
After an awkward pause of silence, Shigeru cleared his throat authoritatively and rapped the wooden walls sharply to get their attention. "As discussed," he said, now more serious than before, "we are to issue a challenge to the Straw Hat Pirates today, and if all goes well the battle will take place three hours after in the forest clearing north of the island. I would like to stress the importance of keeping your identities covered. Most of you showed up properly disguised, and hopefully it will hold during the battle."
A tentative hand was raised. "What if it doesn't? The Straw Hats are strong."
Shigeru snorted derisively. "Our abilities far outstrip that of the pirate scum. We will easily defeat them without a problem, I am sure of that."
You can't know that, Ace contradicted silently in his head. If they're strong enough to arrive at the New World, then they've got to be powerful.
The commander drew out several different notes, meticulously folded into small squares and attached to a small, sharp dart. "Send these out. You're all paired up, except you three will go together." He pointed to the occupants, using hand gestures to make his point. "But you." A finger was pointed to Ace. "I trust you to go off on your own. You're after Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, the swordsman of the group." He tossed a rolled-up wanted poster and the dart to Ace. "Everyone got that? Now off you go!"
With the hurried dismissal, Ace was once again the first out the door as others clamored around their leader to retrieve their respective papers, striding down the hall and out the inn. Pocketing the challenge note, he unfurled the wanted poster. "Hmmm…"
This chapter felt so suckish… must be because it's chapter four. e_e I am seriously believing the Chinese superstitions right now… Anyhow! Have you picked up all the little bits and pieces left in this chapter? The first part was in Robin's POV to show that the Straw Hats have more knowledge than the Marines think they do, which plays to their advantage. However, what they don't know is that one of the Marines is Ace, but that fact will be changed soon.
Leave a review, please! Put any questions in there and I'll do my best to answer them. Also, in the very first chapter I mentioned that this was going to be yaoi, but to be honest I'm currently at loss of what couple I should go with because I support quite a lot. I don't mind incorporating several either, so leave any suggestions in the review as well! And I'm out now, I should go to sleep.
~Shen