Three days came and went on Raijin Island without incident. Lightning flew at the Humo Robinson constantly, but it kept getting teleported away by Schwarz's portals. Any stray bolts that missed the portals simply struck the panda-shaped glass dome, where they fizzled harmlessly.
On the second day, bored out of her mind, Roxanne wandered over to the port-side edge of the deck, her sherry brown hair being blown everywhere in the powerful gusts of the eternal storm. Lighting touched down in the water right in front of her, accompanied by a deafening thunderclap.
As her ears rang from the thunder, Roxanne got an idea.
"Hmm… if I can bend anything… I wonder…"
The sky rumbled directly above that patch of water again, and Roxanne raised her left hand, holding it slightly out over the guardrail. She began to break into a cold sweat.
The lightning dropped, and quicker than a whip, Roxanne flung her hand out, smacking the bolt into a perfect curve with her bending powers. Her jaw dropped, her cigarette fell out of her mouth, and her eyes became as wide as dinner plates.
"Holy shit…" she muttered. "If only Andy could have seen that…"
Lightning continued to pour from the sky like water. Roxanne pulled out her baby transponder snail and dialed up Lulupo.
"LULUPO! LULUPO! YOU HAVE TO COME SEE THIS!"
"Darling, I can barely hear you over the storm!"
"PORT SIDE DECK! Now!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Lulupo rushed down to the port side of the deck and found Roxanne standing there, holding a ball of lightning in her hands, swirling maniacally. He was promptly taken aback at the sight and shouted "HOW?!" over the storm.
"I'M BENDING IT! QUICK! GO GET A BOTTLE!"
Lulupo obliged, running back inside to grab a large glass bottle. He ran back out and held it out in front of Roxanne, who released the lightning into the bottle as Lulupo quickly corked it. They headed back inside together, awestruck at what they had just done.
"Darling… did we just… catch lightning in a bottle…?" Lulupo asked.
"I think we did…" Roxanne replied as she looked at the lightning swirling around in the bottle. Then, she got another idea. Using her bending powers, she bent the bottle in half lengthwise, then again widthwise, again and again until the bottle fit snugly in her pocket. Her face lit up with a wide, toothy smile as she turned to Lulupo.
"Nahaha… Lulupo, I think I have an amazing idea."
"What's that, darling?"
"Go get a bunch more bottles! I'm gonna find some clothes with lots of pockets. We're gonna go lightning catching today!"
—
The rest of the crew kept to themselves and their own hobbies. Shaska sat in her room, crocheting a blanket while smoking a cigar and sipping a large glass of wine. Schwarz was tuning his guitar after spending a few minutes sharpening his sword. Lulupo and Roxanne were on the deck, spending their afternoon catching lightning in bottles. Johnson was in the dormitory, reading a novel. Zinnia was tending to her flowers while Ruth was shedding her skin. Puerco was having a snack in the galley, while Isha was tending to patients in the infirmary. Ren, after reading the latest issue of Pandaman, decided to explore the Robinson to see if anything needed fixing before landing at Vicks Davis.
All in all, it was a very slow three days on the Humo Robinson. Tensions slowly started to build amongst the grunts.
On the last day of their stay on Raijin Island, Delilah stood on the deck, arms leaning over the railing as her hair was tossed about wildly in the storm. Freddie approached her, hands in his pockets.
"You ever get the feeling something really bad is about to happen?" he asked.
"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE WIND!" Delilah shouted back.
"I SAID I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS VICKS DAVIS PLACE!" Freddie shouted. "I THINK SOMETHING REALLY BAD'S GONNA HAPPEN!"
"UGH! GO INSIDE! WE'LL TALK IN THERE!"
The two headed inside to the galley. There were numerous other grunts milling about as well, playing cards, puffing on cigars, and sipping whiskey. Others were sparring.
"As I was saying," Freddie began, sitting down at a table. "I feel we're about to sail into our deaths."
"We're going up against a guy who may as well be the fourth Emperor," Delilah responded. "I don't know how many of us will survive."
"You think we should ask the boss about unionizing?"
Delilah laughed. "You'll get us killed for sure. Y'know, back at the Collective, we at least had security and safety."
"Provided we didn't say anything bad about Dear Lea—Mandy, of course. Look, I'll bring it up to Shaska. She let the guys at HQ unionize, why not us?"
"Knock yourself out, Fred. Deacon and I are just gonna chill until we get there and hope all goes well."
"Alright, suit yourself," Freddie responded. "I'm gonna go talk to the boss."
—
Freddie knocked on the large, ornate door to Shaska's room. Within a few seconds, Shaska poked her head out, breathing smoke in his face.
"Whaddya want, grunt? I'm busy."
"Um, boss? Since we're about to set sail to what's sure to be a big battle, I was wonder if we could talk about unio—"
Shaska slammed the door in his face. Freddie turned around and slightly hung his head. "Yeah, that went about as well as I expected…" he muttered.
—
Several hours passed. The transponder snail in Shaska's room began to ring.
Purupurupurucaaaalick
"Speak."
"Miss Shaska, it is Zinnia, the Log Pose is set to Vicks Davis Island!"
"Well, don't just stand there! Raise the anchor! Let's blow this pop stand!"
"Miss Shaska, I do not believe this is a place where we ca—"
"RAISE. THE. ANCHORS."
Zinnia nodded and hung up her transponder snail. Shaska promptly dialed into the Robinson's PA system and began to speak as the anchors raised and the ship began to depart from Raijin Island.
"Alright, maggots! Listen up! Men, women, drag queen! Let's roll! If we get the lead out, we'll make it to Vicks Davis before that insane king guy and his creepy sister! And then we'll put the hurt on them!"
While Shaska was giving her speech, Zinnia counted on her fingers all the turns of phrase she didn't understand and would have to ask about later.
Shaska continued with "I'll be blunt. I doubt we'll make it out of this in one piece as a united force. But I'm confident we'll stamp out this scourge!"
She flicked ash off her cigar and added "y'know, one of the grunts here proposed to me the idea of un…"
She retched.
"Unio…" She retched again.
"UNIONIZING. Well, fine! You lot earn your keep, and we'll iron out the details after the battle. But right now, our only focus is getting Balthasar von Esens!"
Johnson put down his book and looked up at the transponder snail PA system blaring in the dormitory. He let out a sigh and muttered "going up against someone who's functionally an Emperor on an island full of Celestial Dragons with barely a plan… we are all going to die…"
"LET'S ROLL!" Shaska called as the Robinson's motors kicked into high gear.
—-
The Humo Robinson sailed for the rest of the week without much incident. There was the occasional random storm, or sea monster, or pirate attack, but the hundreds strong crew made it through unscathed.
Days passed, but finally, a grunt in the crow's nest spotted something in the distance. He quickly dialed into Shaska's room on his transponder snail.
Purupurupurucaaaalick
"This better be good," Shaska growled, blowing smoke in the snail's face, causing it to cough.
"Miss Shaska! I see land ahead! It must be Vicks Davis Island!"
"Hot damn! It's about ti—"
"It's surrounded by Marine battleships."
There was a very pronounced pregnant pause.
"Marine battleships, you say?" Shaska asked.
"Marine battleships."
Shaska snuffed her cigar and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Son of a… let's hope they haven't spotted us yet. Shoulda realized a Celestial Dragon vacation spot would have top notch security. Tell the bridge to cut the engines and drop the anchor. I got an idea!"
The Robinson stopped dead in the water.
Shaska dialed into the PA system and ordered "All Worldwide Smoke grunts be on standby. Officers, meet me in the situation room for further orders."
—
The officers gathered in the Robinson's situation room. All except Zinnia were incredibly unimpressed by the current turn of events, some with their faces in their hands or pinching the bridges of their noses.
"How could you not have seen this coming?" asked Puerco, pulling his head up.
"Been here a week and I think it's already time for a vote of no conf—" Isha tried to say.
"Eh eh eh…" Shaska interrupted, flicking ash off her cigar as she held up her hands. "Hold off on any votes right now. I got a plan."
"How in the world did you become the head of one of the world's top paramilitary organizations when you have this little foresight?" asked an exasperated Johnson. "I mean, seriously, we're supposed to be second only to Germa 66."
"By being stronger and richer than everyone else," Shaska replied bluntly. "Look, I know this looks bad, going up against two militaries at once. But—"
"That's because it is bad," Roxanne interrupted.
"Now, now, darlings. Shaska is the one who pays us, after all. Quite handsomely at that," said Lulupo. "Let's hear her out before we call for any votes of no confidence."
"Thank you, bald pre—Lulupo. Look, we still have an opportunity to sneak in. We have an ace in the hole thanks to the blond kid's Devil Fruit. We'll leave the majority of our forces here on the Robinson, then teleport onto Vicks Davis in a secluded area where no Marines or guards can catch us. Do you follow me?"
The other officers nodded.
Shaska blew smoke and continued with "when the king guy docks on the other side, we'll ambush him, take him out, and teleport away with his and his creepy sister's heads before the Marines have a chance to get involved."
Ren raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"This sounds much easier said than done. Von Esens is as strong as Emperor."
"Then it looks like we'll just need to bring our A-game!" Shaska declared, punching her palm.
Lulupo reclined in his chair and said "Shaska, darling, I've tangled with Conqueror's Haki users before. They can make entire islands shake with just their willpower alone. And this one in particular rivals the Pirate King himself! If we're measuring his strength by his bounty, at least."
"We don't know who he's got with him either," Schwarz added. "He could have some strong guys with him. I doubt it'll be all of us against just him and the creepy girl."
Shaska's patience was wearing thin. "Look, this is the bounty of a lifetime we're going after here," she said, puffing her cigar. "Nothing's going to stand in our way. The only reason this guy's bounty is so high compared to, say, Whitebeard, is because he's actively trying to overthrow the government. I'm not saying this will be an easy fight. I'm saying you guys are making a mountain out of… a smaller mountain."
Zinnia raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"I would quite like to find Saint Legree and hurt him for all the years he tortured myself and Ruth."
"Once again, if you do that, snake girl, then we'll really be in deep crap, okay? Each admiral is as strong as an Emperor, too."
Shaska paused for a moment, then asked "We got everything straight now?"
The officers looked at each other. Discontent filled the air.
"This is a suicide mission…"
"But it's our best shot…"
"I do not understand how to make a mountain out of a mountain…"
"ARE WE GOING OR WHAT?!" Shaska shouted over the murmurs, slamming her fist on the table in the center of the room and leaving cracks in it.
"I'll stay back on the Robinson. I can't fight, remember?" Isha said.
"Fine, everyone else, grab a few grunts for a strike team. Meet on the deck in ten minutes. That's when this operation begins in earnest," Shaska ordered.
Everyone else nodded and left the situation room. Shaska remained in her seat and bowed her head.
"I hope whoever's listening out there can give us strength. We're gonna need it."
—
Meanwhile, on one of the Marine battleships that surrounded Vicks Davis, a soldier ran up to a buff, red-haired officer standing on the deck. The officer, notably, had a metallic right arm and both legs were completely metal from the knees down. He had a sword at his hip and a shield on his back under his Marine officer's coat draped over his shoulders.
"Commodore Franco, sir! We've spotted a ship that stopped dead a few miles away!"
"Yes? And?"
"It's the Humo Robinson!"
Franco's eyes shot open at that. "The Humo Robinson, you say?"
"Yes, sir! Surely they're here for trouble!"
"Undeniably. And don't call me Shirley, soldier," to which the soldier rolled his eyes. "Be on guard. That's Shaska and Worldwide Smoke. I'll report to the Vice Admiral. Dismissed."
The soldier saluted and ran off as Franco pulled out a baby transponder snail and dialed it.
Purupurupurucaaaaalick
"Vice Admiral Izmena. This is Commodore Franco."
On the deck of a battleship on the other side of the island, an eight foot tall woman with long, orange hair in a green suit and an officer's coat over her shoulders answered.
"Shaska, you say…?" Izmena asked, face contorting into a crooked smile. "Oh, how I've waited for this day."
"Should we engage, ma'am?"
"She's tricky. Don't sink her just yet. Wait for her to set foot on the island. I'll kill her personally."
"Yes, ma'am."
Izmena hung up and began to chuckle to herself. "Ohoho… I'm going to enjoy today."
—-
Meanwhile, the Spirit of Liberty spotted Vicks Davis on the horizon. Balthasar von Esens stood on the deck with his arms crossed. Right beside him was Rusila, cheerfully playing with one of her stuffed animals… before she ripped its head off and laughed.
Von Esens pulled out a pocket watch and checked it, commenting "hm. Not as timely as I vould haff liked. Shaska may fery vell be here already. No matter. Ve vill destroy her und all ozer reactionary forces. Right, Rusila?"
"I'm gonna get lots off blood on my hands today!" Rusila replied cheerfully.
"Indeed. Indeed."
TO BE CONTINUED