A/N: Quick note from last chapter. Where I said Ben is your dad's mothers sister. It's suppose to say Ben is your dad's mothers brother, I don't know why it said sister, but Ben is not gender bent.
Antie up, Were Flipping the Cards.
"Start talking" Ben said again this time stepping up his volume
"About what?" Mihawk asked looking boredly into Ben's eyes.
"How about you start by telling us why Akainu is coming after Sanji again!" Luffy spoke up
"Why was Akainu chasing you in the first place?" Zoro asked looking at Sanji next to him
"Does it matter right now?" Sanji asked looking back.
Ace adjusted his hand once again, glad that the bleeding nearing stopped. "You don't have to worry Sanji, Zoro's a good guy"
Luffy watched as Ace leaned back and slumped into the couch. "Hey Ace how are you doing?"
"Little light headed. Nothing bad"
"Let me take a look" Ben said moving to Ace's side, having Usopp moving off the couch. He moved Ace's hand out of the way and looking at the clean cut, not too deep, but enough to bleed out unattended. "Shanks, do you have everything here, I need to take him to our doctor."
Shanks looked to Mihawk, who was silent and looking into his lap. "Yeah im good here, he aint going to try anything"
Ben nodded and grabbed Ace and threw him length wise across his shoulders and started jogging "He'll be fine Luffy, don't worry" He shouted backwards as he left the house
Luffy nodded to himself and sat back down. All eyes once again turned to Mihawk.
"Start with, why Akainu is coming after Sanji again" Shanks said.
"You expect me to know, an assassin? Only a hired gun?"
"Cut the bullshit" Shanks said, striking to the core of Mihawk "We both know that this run around is only going to delay the inevitable."
Mihawk scoffed and looked up "Fine. Akainu is hunting down a select few individuals Sanji included."
"Yes, but why?" Zoro inserted into the silence
"Zoro, he isn't a man like us, he doesn't need reason for action, and he only needs desire. For a corrupted justice" Mihawk said
"So what, he wants to kill me just to stir the shit pot?" Sanji said angrily
Zoro instinctively grabbed Sanji's hand to calm him down, Sanji the only one noticing.
"Essentially, yes." Mihawk responded
"What is he getting from this?" Shanks asked
"Bad men brought to his form of justice" Mihawk said out smirking
"There's no way it's that simple" Zoro said
"It ani't" Shanks said "Mihawk, don't tell me you have gone dull since our last meeting" he said out with just the right amount of warmth and jest to verbally bitch slab Mihawk.
"You doubt me now?" Mihawk spit angrily
"Well, should I?" Shanks teased
Mihawk glared, then gave in "he is looking to kick out a support beam of the Yonko's influence on the shichibukai."
"Destabilize the order of things?" Usopp asked out shocking everyone when he spoke
"Something bigger is at play, but I can't find the missing piece. Theres no way Sengoku would let an admiral run loose like this." Shanks said out confused
Mihawk chuckled "You should have read your briefs before you came here"
"What do you mean?" Shanks asked looking at him
"Sengoku is retired" the words floated there before everything clicked together in Shanks' brain.
If Sengoku has retired, then one of the admirals would be promoted, obviously with a change of leadership there would be a change of rules and operations, and morals. "What has happened to the navy?" Shanks said out to no one in particular.
"He ain't going to stop with just my defeat you know" Mihawk spoke
Sanji tightened his grip on Zoro's hand, drawing Zoro's attention to it. Their eyes meet, but Zoro simply reassured Sanji with a tighter grip then turned back to Mihawk
"What's his hit list then?" Zoro asked
Mihawk smiled "Take a scroll through your phone, Luffy" Mihawk quickly jumped his vision from Zoro to Luffy "How many still pick up the phone?"
Luffy glared at Mihawk, the worry showing through his anger "How dare yo-!"
"Who are the assassins?" Shanks said out over Luffy
"I'm not sure of the whole list, but I know that he brought in some new guys, two new ones to be exact" Mihawk said "They aren't like the ones you are used to"
"Names Mihawk!" Shanks said tension rising in him.
"These are men that want to destroy the current system, and let chaos rise again!" Mihawk laughed out quietly
"Who are they!" Luffy shouted
"Eustass Kidd, and Trafalgar Law" Mihawk said in quietness "They should be at the docks this moment" the calm and collected words shooting like arrows into Zoro.
"Shit Luffy, Franky and Robin, I called them, they said that they were running! Knowing them they'd-"
"Let's go!" Luffy said jumping up.
"How long ago was that Zoro?" Shanks asked. Stopping Luffy.
"Maybe twenty, thirty minutes ago, why?" Zoro asked standing and ready to go.
"Then there is nothing you two can do against those men. If your friends aren't dead then they're bait."
"They have a family Shanks! I can't just leave them!" Luffy howled out while Shanks restrained him.
"Luffy! I know this goes against everything you believe in, but this is politics right now, not war! You are a pawn not a hero, and if they are alive we can't let you fall into a trap!" Shanks felt the guilt as he's watched each word cut into Luffy.
"But, Shanks!" Luffy stumbled between hurt and anger
"Sit down Luffy!" Shanks said with the air of finality
They stared at each other the hurt, and anger flowing freely. Then Mihawk chuckled as Luffy sat down
"Well wasn't that a show" Mihawk said out with laughing words
Shanks, who hadn't sat down walked over to the sitting Mihawk and slapped him across the face. "What has happened to you?"
Mihawk looked at the carpet to the right of him and let the pain from the slap sink in. "Heart break does funny things to a man, and even cruel things when the heart break is as bitter as mine was" he finished looking directly into Shanks' eyes.
"Heart of gold replaced by what would seem like the ice of hell. I thought you had greater control over yourself, but it would appear that you are no greater a man then any other criminal. I had my doubts when I heard you were going to kill Sanji, but if such a thing as love changed you this much then I wonder if you were ever solid in your life. For all yourself proclaimed honor I shame you." Shanks bit out the last words with mourning and the anger one would experience when facing the murderer.
Mihawk rose to meet Shanks eye to eye "Shame me? Honor? You speak as if you ever understood me. And as if you weren't the one that twisted me around and around again in an endless suffering pit. You! You bastard drove me too this! You took away all that I cared for all that I felt, all my growth that you had helped me with, you took it all away and left me with… this, shaken, jaded, and broken form of a man, so don't you ask what has happened as if you are ignorant, find a mirror and stare into the answer!" The emotion ran down both men's cheeks.
"Don't you blame me! Our separation had nothing to do with this; it was your own inability to cope with heartbreak that forced you to take it out on others! You are responsible for your own actions! Blame me or not you are the one with the sword!"
Mihawk stood still, all will to fight gone, every flaw flaunted in front of him, and he opened his mouth to say the only words he could.
"We have gotten off topic" he said lowly into the emotionally rung out room.
Shanks walked back to his sit and slumped into it, angry and tired. "Zoro, this might be the time to get your answers.
Zoro turned to look at Sanji, who was looking away from him into the carpet.
"So, why was he chasing you Sanji?"
"Well I didn't know it was him at first. You see a while back my dads restaurant started to go under because he got sick for awhile. But I soon found out that it wasn't just that. This guy names Krieg or something"
The named rang many bells in Zoro's head
"I snuck into his hide out and stole them money back, at first it was just to get my dad's money back, but I got stupid. I started to sneak in more often and steal more, just for greed, it was so easy."
"You became a thief" Zoro said into the room quietly
"A rather stupid one seeing as how he had a kid" Mihawk chimed in earning a glare from Shanks and Luffy. Sanji started to cry, not making any noises, just crying.
"Krieg found out and came a knocking on my door. My dad found out where I was and came to get me, he had just gotten better. He offered up a large sum of money to get me back, but Krieg is crazy, and he ended up taking my dad's leg."
Silence was heard at a deafening level it seemed for Sanji "I thought it would stop there, but, soon enough he came around again, around this time Luffy and Ace showed up, soon after that I found out Akainu was using me as a money source instead of jailing me. So I skipped town. A year or two of no talk, my dad moved the restaurant over here. We thought we had lost them but…" He gestured to Mihawk.
Sanji turned fully around to face Zoro, he wasn't sure what he was going to see in Zoro's eyes, he opened his mouth to explain himself further, but when he looked into Zoro's eyes, he had nothing to say. He just saw, forgiveness, acceptance, and a comforting look. He smiled a small smile.
"I get it" Zoro said into the quiet room.
"Well wasn't that a touching story. If you're done with me, may I go now?" Mihawk said standing up
"Why don't you just take that phone call here?" Shanks asked
Mihawk smiled "Actually he hasn't called yet. I'm just bored here."
"I still have one question for you" Shanks said standing
"Yes?" Mihawk replied
"Why? Why allow yourself to be used for such greed filled reasons, for plans that if succeed will only bring more trouble on yourself, on me, and the others, onto so many families that you used to care about. That you still care about!" Shanks stated boldly "your friends will be killed; you know it, helping the enemy win a war you volunteered to fight for. Don't try and say you need a change of pace, we both know you like it better when everything is steady. How much of you has truly changed, and how much of you only donned a mask?" he finished with friendly eyes.
Mihawk went to answer opening his mouth, but then a buzzing alerted him to his phone, he pulled it out, standing in the middle of the room and looked at the caller idea. He opened the flip phone, and looked at the answer button. He hit one right below it
"Is it done?" Akainu's voice rang out into the room, his low bass causing little static on the phone
"Yeah, the D brothers, and Sanji are dead
"Pearl and Gin failed; Did the demon come by that house?"
"Yes, him and his son. They ran away, I think they might try to rescue Franky and Robin"
"Good, good!" Akainu laughed "Get back before Shanks arrives."
The line went dead and Mihawk closed his phone "Robin and Franky will remain alive for 2 days max. And you only have about a week before its discovered that I lied."
With that Mihawk walked out of the house
"Heart of gold" Shanks whispered when Mihawk passed him
On Mihawk's way out, he came across Ben and Ace walking back up to the door. "Take good care of him" Mihawk off handily commented to Ben as he Walked away. There was no response.
Zoro turned to see Ben and Ace walking back in, Luffy shouted at seeing his brother and moved to hug him
"Ow ow, Luffy my neck is sore, get off" Ace said in a Corse voice, the black stitches clear on his slightly tanned neck.
"Sorry Ace, im just glad you're alright!" Luffy said loudly
Ace laughed. Ben moved towards Shanks and got filled in.
"Two days huh." Ben said "There crazy rookies"
Shanks nodded "we need a plan, I don't want to risk going in myself, nor you, they'd call in higher back up I think."
Shanks had more to say but watched the gears turn in Ben's head "Whats your plan?" Shanks asked
"We are going to need someone that has a silver tongue. They may be bent of raising hell, but I don't they care about who they cause it too.
TBC
A/N: So I know I said I'd be putting these up faster, but I haven't, im sorry, im trying to write a pilot to a T.V series right now and its consuming a lot of my time. Plus im trying to get through my senior year, and so on lol once summer hits I'll be putting these up a lot faster, so please be patient with me, until then, you can expect snail delivered updates.