Author's Note: Well, this one took forever lol XD Thanks for your patience and I hope ya'll enjoy the update~
To random user: I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
To Aquarica: They are indeed adorable and 'snarky' Law XD, love it! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
To too addicted to fiction: Yes, finally! Thank you so much for the compliments, this world is fun to build up ;) I hope you enjoy the new chapter~
To robingaeblack: Lol yep XD
To Jeweleyes12: Here's an update for you, sorry for the wait!
To jupimako: Aw, thanks for reading!
To Abehsi: Luffy is definitely cute and their little family is developing very well ;) ASL WILL be involved a bit in the action, so look forward to the chaos lol.
To 70489aycb: Thank you so much for the compliments! I'm so glad you're enjoying it enough to re-read it multiple times :) It makes me very happy! Enjoy the update~
To jovanni0427: Haha maybe a little ;) When I was first coming up with this story's plot, I had just watched that movie with my young family members so it was fresh in my brain lol. Definitely took some inspiration from it.
WARNINGS:
- Blood/violence
- Action
- Humans in bad conditions...
- Mentions of slavery/kidnapping
Entering the forbidden lab was a bit surreal for Smoker. During his time on G5, he'd only ever been allowed on the outskirts of the main building due to the 'secrecy' of the project. He and his crew were lodged in a separate area to maintain the confidential nature of the lab. Only Vergo and a few others were allowed in the lab itself.
Now that he knew more about the foreboding place, Smoker decided those 'rules' must've been created to keep him from sniffing around.
He ducked behind a wall when yet another guard (dressed in a hideous yellow uniform) walked down a nearby hallway, Law right behind him. Given the mannerisms of those patrolling the lab, Smoker questioned their background…they clearly weren't Alliance soldiers. Maybe pirates or hired goons? Their weapons seemed high tech and each guard also carried a long-range stun rod, which was an odd choice.
Unless they needed to wrangle unruly humans.
"Which way?" Law asked in a whisper when the guard moved away from them. Smoker ground his teeth together and tried to picture the lab's outdoor walls in his mind. If they were holding a good number of humans, it would have to be a fairly large area…
"There was a hangar or something on the east side." Smoker replied as he moved into a crouched position, "Let's try that first."
Law nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. As quietly as he could, Smoker rushed down the hall and through an open door that he hoped would take them to their destination. Given his lack of experience inside the lab, he wasn't terribly confident they were going in the right direction, but he supposed he had more knowledge than Trafalgar who'd never been to the planet at all.
Eventually, they reached a promising set of double doors that were unfortunately guarded by two individuals in gray armor similar to Law's crew but with a different symbol on the right side of their chest. He didn't recognize it, but Trafalgar seemed to. They were different than the others they'd come across…seemed more capable.
"Who're these guys?" Smoker asked from their hiding place as Law reached for his sword.
"Vergo's men. He would only let those he trusted guard the humans."
"Then who were the other guards? The ones in yellow."
"I'm not entirely sure…probably someone else's subordinates." Law answered, eyes never leaving the two armored guards blocking their way. "We'll need to take them out to get inside. Are you ready, White Chase-ya?"
Smoker nodded and readied his jutte. They'd both agreed prior to entering the lab to avoid using guns if possible as the energy signature from a shot could be picked up on radar (or heard if someone was close enough). He examined the hallway that ended in those ominous double doors. Did Law want them to just charge at the guards? Surely that would be too risky.
The pirate answered his unsaid question when he pressed a button on his still white suit and began to climb the wall, as quiet as a ghost. Smoker leaned up against the same wall and waited, watching as Law reached the ceiling. Those suits of theirs sure were handy. The smooth ceiling was fairly high so the two guards didn't even think to look up, unaware of the danger looming above them.
With a glance to Smoker, Law dropped down onto the two men, knocking one out instantly with a well-aimed hit to the head. The other let out a shocked gasp and attempted to aim his weapon at the pirate, but Smoker was too quick. In a second he had the second guard in a head lock and didn't release him until he'd silently passed out, weapon dropping to the floor.
"Not bad." Law whispered, smirking at him as they hid the bodies in a nearby storage room, "I see you haven't lost your edge."
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, not liking the dismissive shrug.
"Oh nothing…I was just thinking you might have gone soft taking care of a bunch of kids." Smoker growled at him and shut the door on the two unconscious guards.
"I would never let myself go. Someone has to protect those three."
Law didn't verbally respond and simply nodded, acknowledging him.
Wasting no time, they sidled up to the door. While Trafalgar messed with the keypad that would gain them entrance, Smoker took a deep, quiet breath. He wasn't sure what they would find beyond the threshold…but it likely wasn't anything good.
"Got it." Law whispered, pushing one last button and causing the lock to disengage. Without a word, they both slipped inside and gently allowed the door to close behind them. The space was dimly lit so it took his eyes a moment to adjust, but what he saw caused his stomach to drop.
Cages. Rows and rows of cages.
Built into the wall to allow a walkway in between, they were stacked up to four high in some places and came in all sizes. Smoker swallowed hard as he tried to take it all in…the soft sounds of whimpering and growling, the smell of blood and feces. Along the wall closest to the door was a cabinet of what smelled like chemicals and disposal bins full of contaminated sharps, syringes, and other unsavory things. Chains and collars hung from hooks throughout the room, some tinged red.
"Yeah…this is it." Trafalgar stated in a cold voice, "There are less than I was expecting."
"Really?" Smoker replied as they cautiously walked up to the start of the metal hallway. The first few cages held cowering beings that were clearly human, not yet altered. He grit his teeth as he examined them, noting how their ribs were protruding and they were covered in their own filth. Some were almost as young as his boys.
"It looks like they've been busy." Law answered as he continued through the dark walkway, not flinching when an altered human snarled and started to bite the bars with his sharp teeth, no sense of reason left in his eyes.
Smoker cursed under his breath, heart hurting for all the humans crowded around each other in the cages. He noted that the majority of them were young adults or children…there weren't many who had gray tints to their hair. Reading the labels stuck to the bars gave him an idea of what DNA they were crossing them with. Canids, Byakko, Thremma…even Fishmen and Thraul.
Eventually, the cages started to get larger, revealing truly terrifying creatures that hardly resembled humans at all. One cage held a beast that was easily twice Smoker's height, though the sorrowful glint in the poor thing's gaze let him know they likely weren't aggressive. Turning his head to the other side, Smoker stopped short in shock.
There were Lyca…his own people. A group of young women slept soundly in the cage, pointed ears peeking out from underneath their greasy hair. They looked unnervingly similar to him.
"No race is safe." Law put in, noticing he had stopped, "Come on, the alteration chamber should be up ahead."
Smoker's eyes lingered on the altered humans but he reluctantly followed the pirate.
"I…I had no idea it was this bad."
"This is the reality of the current system, White Chase-ya." Law replied, voice full of anger, "Not everyone is lucky enough to be found by someone like you."
His thoughts turned to Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. He had been right to keep them…otherwise, he might have seen their tiny, sweet faces gaunt and hollow through the bars of a cage, in bodies that were weren't their own. It disgusted him that the Celestials held so much power and that common folk simply accepted this as "normal".
At the end of the hall was a collection of doors, some of which led to storage closets and the like, but one in particular stood out. It was much larger than the others and sat on hinges that allowed the entire door to be pushed aside if needed. Like they needed the extra clearance just in case large creatures had to pass through. Trafalgar swiftly walked up to it and attached a device to the keypad, the same one he had used to unlock the first door.
With a promising click, the door automatically began to open, revealing a room full of medical monitors and a few tables (some with thick straps, likely used to tie down unfortunate victims). What really drew his gaze was the huge machine that took up most of the space. It was metallic, rounded and had many thick cables attached to its surface. The entrance to the device was made up of a clear material that had subtle scratches on the inside panel…like something tried to escape.
"This is…" Smoker managed, unsure what to say. It looked like some sort of primitive torture device. Law huffed and scowled at the machine, eyes cold.
"There used to only be one…but now they're everywhere. Destroying it won't change anything."
"Then why are we here?"
"S.A.D., remember?" Trafalgar replied while going up to the machine and running his hands over the metal surface, like he was searching for something. Eventually, he pressed on a hidden panel and a vial emerged. It was full of a bubbling green liquid and was large enough that Law had to close his whole hand around it to pull the container out. "This is what allows alteration to even be possible, and this lab is the largest producer of it in this sector."
"I see," Smoker answered, eyeing the chemical warily, "but aren't there other production plants? Even if this one makes most of it-"
"The monster who created it…he's here." Trafalgar interrupted, making Smoker go silent, "Caesar Clown."
Smoker frowned at the name. He'd heard it before.
"You mean that mad scientist who blew up his own planet for the sake of an experiment? I thought he was dead!" Law chuckled darkly and smashed the vial of S.A.D. on the floor, making some of the humans release frightened sounds in the next room.
"No, he's not dead…but he soon will be."
Smoker didn't like the sound of that.
"Oi, in case you forgot, I'm an Alliance soldier. No matter who it is, I'm not going to stand by and let you kill someone."
Law sent him a knowing smirk (that for some reason didn't have its usual bite).
"We'll see."
It was then that, all of a sudden, an alarm sounded in the other room, making the captive humans start to yowl and scream. Trafalgar cursed under his breath.
"What's going on!?"
"I don't know, but we need to hide. Come on!"
Smoker followed the pirate to the edge of the stacked cages, raising an eyebrow when Law began to climb the bars, startling the humans inside. He supposed it was as good a place to hide as any and followed the younger man up to the top where they both laid flat on their bellies. They were close enough to the edge that they could see what occurred beneath them. Within seconds of them going still, guards rushed into the room with weapons drawn.
He noticed they were the ones in gray, supposedly Vergo's men.
"Where are they? This door is never supposed to be unguarded!"
"I-I don't know, Sir, but the alert we received came from the alteration chamber!"
'Ah, they must've noticed when he removed the canister.' Smoker deduced, watching the guards rush towards where they had been only minutes before. He sent an annoyed glare to Law who simply shrugged, apparently not all that bothered that he'd almost gotten them caught.
While the guards searched for them around the alteration chamber, Law motioned with his head towards the still open door. Smoker nodded and began to crawl as quietly as possible across the cages, wondering to himself how the hell they were going to get so many humans on Trafalgar's tiny ship.
Ace held Luffy close as they sat on a cushion the aliens had set up for them, lazily gazing out the window at the planet below. They hadn't heard from Smoker and Law for a while and he was starting to get antsy. Luffy was distracted by the little bowl of food the pirates gave him while Sabo's entire attention was on the dark expanse of space. His blonde brother had his palms pressed against the thick material that served as a window and practically had sparkles in his eyes.
"It's…just incredible."
"Yeah, I guess so." Ace answered, eyes flicking over to the planet Smoker had leapt out of a spaceship to land on. From what he'd gathered, they'd 'jumped' onto the red side of the planet but it was hard to tell. Currently, the pirates' ship was just orbiting the planet…waiting for something.
"Miss Ikkaku told me that one half is literally on fire because it faces a star," Sabo continued, voice full of excitement, "and the other side of frozen. Isn't that crazy?"
"Does that mean Mr. Smokey might get a sunburn?" Luffy asked with an innocent tilt of his head, making Sabo crack an amused grin.
"Maybe. That's a good question, Lu."
Ace was glad to see Sabo somewhat recovered from his meltdown with Smoker. He'd held a lot of fear and anxiety inside and it had definitely done him some good to finally talk with Smoker about it. Honestly, Ace himself felt better now that they knew the truth of their kidnapping. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
…though he still wasn't sure about the whole 'Dad' thing.
"Do you think they have any more?" Luffy asked while holding up his empty bowl. Ace hummed and glanced towards the open door that led to the bridge. The pirates didn't seem too busy…but they did look sort of tense.
"I don't know, Lu. I guess we can ask."
'Because we can do that now.' Ace thought while bringing a hand up to touch the translator behind his ear. It was amazing how much simply being able to understand changed things. Just before he could pass Luffy over to Sabo, a loud beeping sounded from the bridge, sending the pirates scrambling without warning. The brothers glanced at each other in confusion, unsure what was happening.
"Is it them?" One asked while pressing buttons on the control panel. Another, one of the two with a funny hat, leaned over their shoulder at the question.
"No, it's too soon…so it must be-" The alien cut himself off and seemed to read the strange script that appeared on the screen, gibberish to Ace's eyes. "Ah, I see. It's our other friends. They'll be here to assist with the evacuation in approximately four hours. Right on time."
"Should we stay our course?"
"For now." The alien continued while straightening up, "We'll have to land soon though or Smoker's men will find us. I know Captain trusts him, but we don't know his crew…better to be safe than sorry."
"Are they talking about Tashigi and them?" Sabo asked in a whisper, making Ace frown in thought. He supposed it made sense that Smoker's people would chase after them considering everything that happened.
"I think so."
"I wanna see Shigi again!" Luffy chirped, smiling brightly with his hands still bunched in Ace's shirt, "Are they coming soon?" He just shrugged and readjusted the little boy so he could lounge against his chest.
"Seems that way…guess they're coming to rescue us."
"Eh? But we don't need rescuin'."
"They don't know that." Ace answered while watching Law's crew rush around and talk about complicated things that didn't make sense to him. Beside him, Sabo had gone back to gazing out the window, observing the icy-hot planet below. Hopefully they'd land soon…it was boring to just wait for something to happen.
"Okay, so what now?" Smoker whispered, ducking behind a wall they were using to hide from the guards who were now on alert for intruders. Law didn't respond right away and seemed pensive.
"We need to locate the S.A.D. manufacturing room and destroy it. Then we find Caesar."
Smoker raised an eyebrow when Law's golden eyes seemed to smolder at the mention of the scientist. It was clear what he intended to do to him.
"Right…any idea where that is?"
"Isn't that why you're here, White Chase-ya?" Trafalgar shot back, eyes simmering down ever so slightly. Smoker just glared at him. "Lead the way."
He huffed and glanced around the corner to check for sentries. Thankfully, it looked like most of the guards had gathered around the human containment area so they seemed to be in the clear. Motioning with his head for Law to follow him, Smoker began to jog down the hallway as silently as he could. He'd been right to trust his gut with the first area so hopefully he'd get lucky again.
Honestly, he had no idea where to even start looking. The compound was much larger than it appeared from the outside.
As they turned another corner, Smoker stopped short and cursed, backtracking quickly. Though he'd only gotten a brief glance, he was certain there was some sort of camera or surveillance equipment positioned on the upcoming hall. His ears also picked up the sound of voices behind them, indicating guards were approaching their position.
"Can you disable the camera?" Smoker whispered to Trafalgar who frowned and looked behind them warily.
"…not quickly enough. We may just have to make a run for it."
"And let them know we're here!?"
"Well-"
Before the pirate could finish his sentence, red lights descended from the ceiling and an even louder alarm began to blare, this time throughout the whole facility.
"Intruder alert, intruder alert. I repeat-"
"Damn it!" Smoker hissed while Law took off down the hall, not caring about the surveillance equipment tracking his every move. Not wanting to be separated, he swiftly followed the pirate as they rushed away from their pursuers at top speed. "I hope breaking that vial was worth it!"
"Couldn't help myself." Law managed while pressing buttons on his suit, "Too many bad memories. Polar Tang, are you there?"
"We read you, Captain."
"Our cover's blown and we need back-up! Land the ship wherever you can, preferably on this side of the planet."
"Aye-aye! We're on our way."
"Oh, and…" Law inhaled deeply for air as they continued their fast pace, "…wake Bepo. We're going to need him."
Smoker raised an eyebrow at the name. Since Trafalgar had generally kept the identities of himself and his crew hidden, it didn't sound familiar, but he also didn't recall meeting a 'Bepo' during their journey to G5. Another subordinate maybe?
Well, whoever they were, hopefully they were good in a fight.
Ace watched with big eyes as the pirates suddenly began rushing around, the one with the hat barking orders. A glance outside the ship revealed they were starting to descend towards the planet below. Was it finally time for something to happen?
"What's going on?" Luffy asked, jumping to his feet as a pirate rushed past them while pushing buttons on his suit, causing parts of it to morph and change color. "Are we gonna go down there now?"
"Kits!" Ikkaku called while jogging up to them, "Come with me, dears. We need to get you ready for entry."
Somewhat confused, Ace tugged Luffy along and followed the furry lady, Sabo trotting behind them. She led them down a hall they hadn't seen before and into a good-sized room with rows upon rows of black suits lining the walls. In the center sat a tube-like machine that pulsed with blue light.
"Though White Chase may not like this…he did ask that we protect you." Ikkaku muttered quickly while opening the door on the tube and flipped a few switches on what looked like a control panel. Sabo examined it curiously, poking at the thick glass.
"Um…what is it?"
"A dispenser, of sorts." The female alien explained while motioning to the different sized space suits on the wall, "The best protection we can offer you is right here. Now…who's first?"
Ace immediately stepped forward. There was no way he was letting his brothers near a weird alien machine without him testing it first. With a soft smile, Ikkaku lifted him up and placed him inside the tube, closing the door behind him. Luffy waved happily at him while Sabo seemed a bit nervous.
"Good…now just stay still, kit."
He found himself closing his eyes in anticipation when the machine started to make weird noises and shake slightly, but then he felt something start to form around him. It didn't hurt but did feel a bit odd, so he opened his eyes to see what was touching his skin.
Ace gaped down at the laser-like things creating a shell of sorts around his body, forming up into a familiar black space suit.
"So cool!" Luffy exclaimed while Sabo's jaw hit the floor. For his part, Ace remained as still as he could but instinctively lifted one of his now covered hands up to his face when the lasers retreated back into the machine, wiggling his fingers. The suit wasn't hot like he expected…in fact, it actually felt comfortable. Not too hot or cold and very flexible around his joints.
"All done." Ikkaku said while helping Ace out of the machine. He was immediately swarmed by his brothers who wanted to touch the smooth outer coating. "Luffy dear, why don't you go next."
Soon, all three of them wore the pirate's uniform and stood in front of Ikkaku so she could adjust fabric wraps of some sort that rested around their necks. Ace's eyes drifted to the yellow smiley-face mark on the back of Luffy's suit. Were they…honorary pirates now?
"Listen well, kits. These suits are durable and will help protect you from any changes in atmosphere or environment. That includes any debris or weapons."
"Are we gonna get shot at?" Luffy asked innocently, making Ikkaku's smile falter.
"I certainly hope not but we must take every precaution to make sure you're safe."
Ikkaku then pressed a button on Sabo's suit, causing a helmet to appear from the back of his neck and cover his brother's head. This startled the blonde at first, but then he seemed more amazed than anything else. Curious, Ace pressed the same button and stood still to allow his own helmet to form. As soon as the vizor cemented itself around his head, a red display appeared.
Unfortunately, the symbols on the screen (that he assumed were words of some kind) were completely incomprehensible to him. Apparently the translators only worked on spoken words, not writing. Still, he could basically figure out what some of the pictures meant.
"Look, look! I've got horns now!"
Ace smiled behind his helmet at Luffy who was excitedly pulling on little nubs that decorated the top of his helmet. Sabo's was completely flat but a quick run of his hand over his own helmet revealed a somewhat serrated design. His little brother's voice sounded different through the speaker of the suit. More mechanical and echoing.
With a chuckle, Ikkaku checked their helmets before retracting them back into their suits.
"You can pull these up over your noses if you need to." She gestured to the fabric around their necks, "Since you three can't understand the display very well, it may be more of a hindrance than a help. I'll also give you these…just in case."
Ace accepted a warm, red hat from the female pirate while Luffy was given what looked like yellow earmuffs. Sabo also received a hat, though his had a pom-pom on the top and blue stripes.
"Um…I don't think these will protect us very well." Sabo put in, making Ikkaku laugh.
"Yes, I know, but it will be cold down there and I have a feeling those helmets will be off more than you think. Just hold on to them, okay?"
They all nodded while Luffy quickly slipped the earmuffs on and adjusted his straw hat that rested around his neck.
Now appropriately dressed (by pirate standards), they were ushered back out into the hallway and towards the bridge. Ace tried to watch everything at once, quickly noticing that the pirates were now all armed and most already had their helmets in place. The planet also looked a lot closer than it did before.
"Shachi! Help me strap them in." Ikkaku called another pirate over (though Ace wasn't sure which one because his face was now obscured).
"Sure thing."
Ace didn't like the look of the harness that was pulled over his shoulders and around his waist. It looked too similar to the one they'd used going down to Smoker's planet. He hoped they wouldn't feel sick like they had before…
Next to him, Luffy reached over and squeezed his hand, clearly also feeling nervous.
"About time you woke up! It's unnatural how long you can sleep…Captain needs us, so get your butt in gear!"
He was startled back to reality when one of the pirates yelled across the room to someone, drawing the brothers' attention to the hallway opposite the one they'd come from. Ace gaped when a bipedal bear with white fur appeared, standing awkwardly in the doorway. He wore an orange jumpsuit (different from the other pirates) and wrung his hands in front of him like a chastised child.
"…I'm sorry."
"There they are! Get them!"
Smoker growled at their pursuers as he hit yet another yellow-uniformed thug in the nose, breaking it easily. Though they'd done a fairly good job of outrunning their enemies at first, now that their location was known, more and more of them kept appearing. Beside him, Trafalgar threw a guard into the wall, cracking the thick metal with their body.
"We aren't getting anywhere like this!" He called to the pirate, drawing his attention, "We need to re-group!" Law nodded in agreement and used his sword to block the downward swing of a grunt's saber.
"Duck, White Chase-ya!"
He'd barely registered the statement before Law's wings suddenly appeared, filling the hallway. Smoker watched closely as the man's eyes were once again encircled with dark minerals and his golden irises seemed to glow. With a vicious flap of his black, feathered wings, sharp shards flew through the air and embedded themselves into any living creature not smart enough to block or drop to the floor, as Smoker had.
He found himself grimacing instinctively as their enemies crumbled into bloody heaps, some of them screaming and trying to pull spikes out of their joints.
An effective attack but…
"Let's go!" Law called, wings disappearing as swiftly as they'd appeared. However, when the pirate took a step to run, he stumbled and almost fell into the nearby wall.
"Oi, what's wrong with you!?" Smoker hissed, scrambling to his feet in an attempt to reach the younger male. Law pushed him away when he tried to approach him and pressed a hand to his head.
"Losing the deposits just takes a toll on my stamina. I'll feel better when they reform."
"How long will that take?"
"…a few hours."
Smoker cursed and tightened his grip on his jutte.
"No way am I carrying your sorry ass if you pass out or something. Got it?" Law chuckled and began to jog down the hall, away from the carnage he'd left behind.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself."
The more they ran, the deeper they found themselves within the bowels of the lab. Smoker glanced left and right when they turned another corner, not liking how the lights had been dimmed and a sickeningly sweet smell filled the air. Law seemed to feel unnerved as well and slowed his pace slightly.
The only good news was that they seemed to have lost most of their pursuers…
"Any idea where we've ended up?" The pirate asked in a whisper, his hand gripping the sheath of his sword tightly.
"Not a clue," Smoker answered honestly, jutte held in front of him, "but if we're looking for the manufacturing room of a sinister drug…I'd say we're probably close."
Carefully and quietly, the two men snuck forward with weapons at the ready. Smoker sniffed the air, trying to follow the horrible smell back to its source. Eventually, they came to a set of large metal doors with an impressive lock keeping them shut. He eyed the set of three bars across the length of the entrance but also the menacing symbol painted on the front.
"…Doflamingo's mark."
Smoker glanced at Law's back where his own smiling symbol sat. They were eerily similar but the pirate had obviously been intentional in distinguishing his from Joker's grin.
"This is it." Trafalgar continued, taking a moment to change the color of his suit to back to black, "White Chase-ya, I need you to-"
All of a sudden, Law stopped short, eyes widening in shock. Smoker wasn't sure what to do when the pirate reached up to his throat and began gasping for air, like he was choking.
"Hey, what's-"
Smoker couldn't finish his sentence because, without warning, he couldn't breathe. He felt his eyes bulging as he desperately tried to catch his breath, but it was like the air had simply disappeared. Next to him, Law fell to his knees, dropping his sword.
"Shirororo…" A creepy laugh echoed around the hallway as an ominous, red-tinted gas seeped out from around the door in front of them. "What's wrong? You two seem to be struggling?"
Smoker glared at the being that materialized in front of them, gaseous face reminiscent of a scarecrow. He could barely make it out between the spots forming in his vision.
"Y-You…" Law managed, barely awake, before falling prone on the metal floor. The being in front of them just laughed and loomed over the pirate.
"I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting in person, Law…Joker told me so much about you. I can't wait to get my hands on your DNA."
Without really thinking, Smoker swung his jutte at the creature (a Vraed, his mind told him) and attempted to put himself between Law and their attacker. However, his weapon simply went through them in their gas state and the momentum of his attack caused him to stumble into the far wall. His sluggish attempts to fight back only made their enemy laugh harder.
"Ah, Captain Smoker. You were foolish to let yourself be brought back here…if you'd simply looked the other way, you might have lived."
Unable to keep himself upright any longer, Smoker found himself falling to his knees and collapsing roughly onto his side. As he struggling to stay conscious, he felt his jutte clatter away from him and darkness began to consume his vision.
'Ace, Sabo, Luffy…I'm sorry.' Smoker thought as everything went black.
Meanwhile…
Tashigi bit the inside of her cheek as Jonathan's ship continued to search the sectors surrounding G8 for any sign of the Heart Pirates. Despite how quickly they'd managed to set off after them, they had yet to have any success in tracking them down. Without knowing their destination, it was impossible to produce results…
"Anything?"
"No, Sir. There's no sign of them."
The Vice Admiral, who stood at the edge of the bridge, sighed deeply while motioning for the crew to continue their work. Tashigi straightened up when he turned and approached her, nodding to Bomba and Pike who stood at her back.
"Well, we've scoured most of this sector with no luck…do you have any idea where they might've taken him, Petty Officer?" Tashigi drooped and shook her head.
"I-I'm afraid not but seeing how they took the children and possibly the Princess as well, they must have something truly nefarious planned. Perhaps we should expand the search out of this sector?"
Jonathan hummed and stroked his facial hair.
"We can do that to an extent, but unfortunately there are regulations regarding our activities in different jurisdictions. If we go farther than G4, we'll have to hand this investigation over to a different branch."
"Eh, why!?" Pike exclaimed loudly, "Smo-yan is our Captain so we'll be the ones to save him!"
"And I want nothing more than to bring him home, but we are soldiers and must abide by the regulations." Jonathan replied in a deep, serious voice, shutting Pike up almost immediately. The Vice Admiral then turned back towards the helmsman of the vessel and called to him.
"Set a course for G1! Let's expand the search!"
'But what if the Heart Pirates took them beyond this solar system…' Tashigi thought, stomach churning. 'Or what if they went the other direction, toward G12…we'd be losing time!' She was brought back to reality when Bomba tapped her on the shoulder, startling her.
"Don't worry, Smo-yan is tough. We'll find him."
Tashigi's lips curled up into a smile at her subordinate's attempt to comfort her.
"Yeah, thanks."
Though she tried to put on a brave face for her men, the truth was she was scared. Terrified of losing Smoker and the boys. They all meant so much to her and she'd come to greatly enjoy their time together on G8. What would she do without them? Despite being her superior, Tashigi considered Smoker a close friend.
It would be devastating to learn he'd perished.
When they'd been traveling for some time, an alert suddenly sounded, drawing everyone's attention. Jonathan walked over to speak with the soldier at the scanning station while Tashigi craned her neck, trying to see what they'd picked up on radar.
"W-What is it?"
"Well, it seems a ship has just left lightspeed and appears to be heading in the same direction as us." Jonathan explained, turning to gaze at the clear barrier separating them from the vast expanse of space. Tashigi jogged up to the front of the bridge and stared closely at the speck in the distance that was clearly a ship. She deflated slightly when one of the crew members enlarged the image, revealing it was not the Heart Pirates.
However…
"Hey…isn't that Crocodile's ship?"
Tashigi's eyes widened and moved over the sleek hull of the cruiser, noting the Warlord's obvious mark on the side. Could it be…?
"Vice Admiral!" She yelled, causing Jonathan to nod in silent agreement.
"Hail them. Perhaps Sir Crocodile can give us a clue to the Captain's location."