Flames. Fire. Heat. Explosion. Screams.
"Go now..."
"Live your life the way you wanted to..."
Bang!
Ann woke with a shout, heavily panting while sweats are running down her body. She dreams of it again. How many times has this been? She lost count. It's been almost 16 years since it happened. The tragedy that changed her life forever.
The tragedy that wounded their hearts, a wound so deep that no one can heal. Even as time passed by, it did nothing to heal the pain of seeing their parents die, no, it only got deeper, buried down to their hearts, engraved forever.
There's nothing that can quench their thirst for revenge, nothing except seeing the enemies of their father die just like what they deserve.
She stands up from her bed, hand reaching on her forehead as she walks to the nearby table near the wall. Hands running through her hair.
She looks at the folder once again.
Whitebeard. That's what is written on the folder and her wall contains countless pinned papers with written notes needed to make her plans successful.
This is for their parents. This is her revenge.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
"Firefist? Is that what they call that person?" A tall blond-haired man asks, blue eyes staring at the red-haired man whose style is pulled from the '80s. No matter how many times they told him to quit that style, he wouldn't because it's his trademark - the pompadour.
"Yep. That person's been on the streets for years now, but I guess, over the past couple of months, he made quite a name for himself." The red-haired man shrugs.
Streets do not refer to the alleys or the streets in the city. It refers to the Mafia world - the underground world.
"Any idea which group he belongs to, yoi?"
"Nah. There's no such thing as that information. No one even knows what he looks like. Quite mysterious, eh, Marco?" The red-haired man smirks at the blond man named Marco. They are in the Corporate office of the Newgate Group of Companies.
Newgate Group of Companies is one if not, the largest corporation in Grandline with many businesses under its umbrella. A powerful company that is currently under the supervision of Marco Newgate, a 36-year old man.
Behind this company is an undeniable truth, that it belongs to the current strongest Mafia Group - the Whitebeard Group and Marco serves as the right-hand man of the current Mafia leader, Edward Newgate.
Whitebeard is one of the Emperors in Grandline, along with the others like Big Mom, Hundred Beasts, Akagami, and Blackbeard. Aside from those, there are a lot of rising groups that are almost at the Emperors' levels.
Many people may know that this company is under the largest Mafia Group in Grandline, and surely, the World Government is aware of it but it doesn't mean they can do anything, not if they want an all-out war. No, they can only do something from the backend, away from the Public's eyes.
"Lone wolves like that is dangerous, yoi. Any other information about his movements, Thatch?"
"A few. I think Izou might be the one who can tell you more, or Haruta since they are the ones in charge of the information gathering." Thatch said. Marco only nodded before reminding himself to ask Izou.
A knock on the door took the two men's attention. When it opened, it reveals Izou, a beautiful woman who is also part of the group.
"Just the right person we need!" Thatch exclaimed.
"Me? Do you need me for something?" Izou asks, eyes darting from Thatch then to Marco. She approaches Marco's table, placing a couple of folders in front.
"Just a few questions, yoi." Marco said, pointing to the seat in front of him so she can sit. "Anything we know about Firefist and the groups he's connected to?"
"Well, I do have a little information about him. Why do you need them? Has he been targeting our territories?" Izou raises an eyebrow. No sane man will willingly go against their group. Everyone in the underground world knows how Whitebeard Group deals with those who mess with them. No mercy.
Even with the other Emperors, they do not easily antagonize Whitebeard's group. They're all crazy if they think that they will get away with messing Whitebeard's territories.
"There are a few rumors that they see someone in one of our territories. You know that a few weeks ago, we received reports that they've seen Firefist nearby. We just need to be careful." Thatch answered Izou's question.
They are not afraid, but they just need to be careful. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Someone who just appeared in Grandline out of nowhere only sparks curiosity in everyone. At first, Firefist is just a nobody, someone who is out there on the streets, but now? He is a mysterious being they can't fathom.
He managed to burn two of Big Mom's facilities in two months two years ago. No one was able to do this except him. The trademark Firefist comes from his actions - burning down buildings so accurately and no one managed to catch him.
Aside from Big Mom, Firefist also managed to mess with Blackbeard's territories. He's now a wanted man with two of the Emperors out to get his head.
Even after the years since he started messing with the two Emperors, none of them managed to get any information about this mysterious person. No one even knows what his motives are.
"Well, he's a hard man to look for. The information we have is that he's been seen around Akagami's territories frequently."
"Is he targeting the Emperors?" Thatch curiously asks.
"Who knows. If he starts messing with us, he better be prepared to face the consequences, yoi." Marco said before looking down at the folders Izou gave.
For now, they'll just see how things go.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
"You're going to that bar now?" Deuce asks Ann when he saw that she's dressed to go to her part-time job. Deuce is one of the part-timers in the small car repair shop Ann owns.
The shop is situated right in the borders between Akagami and Whitebeard's territories. The shop is small, almost not noticeable at all because it's not in the center of the city, but that's how Ann prefers it. She just needs a front so she can play her role as Ann Ortiz.
When the three of them came back to their birthplace, Grandline, they all carry different surnames. If there's something similar to their background, it's the fact that they came from a very old orphanage called Fuusha.
Dragon told them that the person behind the orphanage knows their parents, hence, the old man allowed the falsification of the documents.
With the rigorous training and studies, they do not need to go to college or university. However, Sab insisted that they must.
Ann decided to focus on mechanical engineering whilst working with finding their ground in Grandline. It wasn't easy but they managed to do so. 3 years since they arrived in Grandline, Ann dropped her college degree to start targeting the people behind their parents' deaths.
The possibility of a traitor within Roger's Group is still within their minds, but they have no way of finding out without solid proof.
World Government is one of their targets, or at least the people behind them. Then, there are those mafia groups who conspired with the World Government in targeting their father.
3 years of investigating, the three of them managed to figure out at least half of what happened in Grandline before their father left. Their father's group is being targeted from all sides and this just resulted in an endless war in the middle of the night against Mafia Groups as well as with the World Government.
Whatever information their father had, the World Government wants it or at least they want to shut him up for good. This is why the three of them set out in Grandline to kill these people. One by one.
"Yes, I am. Please close the shop once you're done." She said to Deuce before hopping on her bicycle. The bar is a little far from her shop, a 40-minute bicycle drive. If she uses her motorcycle, it will only take her 15-20 minutes.
Using her motorcycle is out of option. That will make people suspicious of her and that will risk blowing up her cover.
Blue Phoenix Bar - this is where she works 3 times a week. It's a popular bar that has several branches all over Grandline. This one right here is one of the least popular branches - just what she needed.
It's half past 5 PM when she arrived at the backdoor of the bar. Opening the door, she was greeted with the sight of a familiar face - Whitey Bay.
"Hey, Ann! You're here!"
"Hi, Bay! How is it going?" She greets back while taking the handkerchief out of pocket so she can wipe the sweat off her forehead.
"And we told you to just get a car or something instead of using your old bike." Bay said. She serves as the General Manager of the Phoenix Bars and frequently visits this branch. She started working here three months ago when she saw that they are hiring bar singers.
At first, Ann was skeptical if she should do it or not but since this branch is not the most popular one out there, she decided it might be a good idea to take this chance. There's a little information she can gather here, but it's worth taking this chance to get familiar with the faces of those allied with Whitebeard.
"You know I can't afford to buy a car." Ann smiled meekly before walking side by side with her towards the employees' quarters where she will be changing into her work clothes.
"And I told you that we have some spare cars we can lend to you." Bay said, insisting on the offer. "You are our star singer. That's the least we could do especially with the number of customers that are frequenting this bar just to see you perform."
That is true. Ever since Ann started working here, more customers drop by just to see her perform on stage. She works on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The bar is always full in those days that she works here.
The offer is very kind of them, considerate, but Ann refuses it all the time, being careful. She can't just accept the things they are offering for several reasons. One, she does not need their car as she has her own, albeit only used when she is on a mission. Two, she just wants to avoid being indebted to them. Three, there are these suspicions of her that the car may have a GPS attached to it. That's not something she wants.
"Don't worry about it. I can manage, but thanks for the offer." She smiles before going inside the locker room to change into something appropriate for her work.
She took off her jeans and shirt so she can wear the crop top sleeveless leather shirt paired with a black leather tight-fitting jeans with matching black knee-high leather boots.
Within 30 minutes, she was able to apply make-up, hair is now brushed properly and curled into luscious waves.
She is not fond of wearing make-up, but she has to at this point. She looks at her reflection in the mirror, dolled up for the night. Another performance to finish.
She gets out of the room to go on stage. The moment she steps in, the regular customers cheered for her, chanting her name.
"Ann! Ann! Ann!" She smiles at them, enjoying the attention. It's hard not to, of course. They all whistle, clapping their hands.
Ann surveys the area carefully to look for anyone new within the crowd. There's none so far which is good.
The music starts, she sings 'Havana'. She dances to the tune as she sings while walking from one table to another, earning numerous stares from the men in the crowd.
Some of them tried to touch her, but the bouncers are quick to meddle in. After all, she's not a prostitute. She would have smacked and break that person's bones but that's something she cannot do lest she will risk exposing who she is.
Tonight will be a special night after all...
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
It is 3 hours past midnight. The streets are peaceful with a few people walking by. Many know that the people awake at this ungodly hour are not civilians. They are people who belong to the underground world.
Behind the shadows of the building, there stands a person wearing a black hooded coat with an embroidered sign of a fire, paired with a mask on her face - a mask equipped with a voice changer just in case. She wears leather fire-proof gloves, a slightly loose black pants paired with black boots.
The coat is quite big, big enough to hide her curves and her assets. That's what she needs. After all, no one must know that the person behind these clothes is a woman.
She carefully walks in the alleys, avoiding people as much as she can, with a clear destination in her head. It's a warehouse filled with security personnel walking around to ensure no one can trespass.
But not her, not Firefist.
She has been preparing for this for months now. Messing this up is not an option for her. Carefully, she looked at the CCTV camera on the streetlight. It's going to be dangerous if they find out that Firefist is already targeting them. She plans to make them believe that one of their rivals are targeting them.
Her hand clutches on the bombs in her pocket.
Beep. Beep. Beep. The timer is ticking, signaling that it will go off at a certain time.
'5 minutes.' She murmurs to herself. This is the only time she has to get out of there so she crouches, right knee on the ground as she placed the bomb right next to the walls of the warehouse.
Just as she placed it, she instantly heard footsteps nearby. Firefist closes her eyes, sharpening her senses before discerning that the footsteps are coming from the right.
She immediately stands up, waiting for the person to arrive at her spot and when he did, her hands quickly reached for the tall man's neck and snapped it off.
He did not have the time to shout for help because he soon finds himself on the ground, dead.
Years of training, Ann mastered the art of assassination, something she needs if she wants to fulfill this rough path of vengeance.
'A minion, huh.' She thought to herself, scoffing off. It would have been better if it was one of the officers of Whitebeard, but her luck may not be that good if she was only blessed with lackeys.
One last look at the bomb she placed, she notes the time remaining. 4 minutes.
With hurried steps, she walks away from the warehouse, taking the same path as she did earlier. 4 minutes is enough time for her to reach far enough.
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
And she hears the explosion that shook the ground. She remains standing there, watching the building full of firearms explode.
'Ahh... What a terrible loss for you.' She smirks to herself, words meant for Whitebeard. 'I am not done yet.'
Then she hops on her motorbike, sprinting away before anyone sees her.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
"What?!" Marco's voice echoes in his room. "How did that happen, yoi?" He's frowning while clutching on his phone. He briefly stands up from his bed to go to his walk-in closet. He's fairly sure this situation needs his attention even if it means going out at this ungodly hour.
"We're still investigating it. We have the CCTVs ready to check who planted the bomb in the warehouse."
"Do we have any casualties, Thatch?" That's his main concern, his people.
"Yeah, a few. About 12 injured and 1 died." Marco can only close his eyes at the news, sighing before answering.
"I'll go there to check that out, yoi." He said before ending the call. He just shakes his head in frustration.
Yes, this is something common but it doesn't mean that he likes it, not when his family members are hurt. Anyone may think that Whitebeard is a ruthless man, yes, he may be, but only to his enemies. When it comes the family members, Whitebeard cares a lot for them.
Marco drives as fast as he can, ignoring the speed limit. Not like any police will hinder him and even if they did, they will only face the consequences because an angry Marco is not someone they want to mess with.
He arrives in the warehouse. Yes, this is just one of the smaller warehouses they have but its value is nothing to joke about especially the goods stored inside.
This warehouse contains some of their firearms as well as a few cars the family members use. It's worth millions and it's gone in a blink of an eye.
As soon as he steps out of the car, he sees several of their family members treating the people injured. Vista, Thatch, and Namur are already there, talking to the Decalvan Brothers who are in charge of this area.
"Marco." They all greeted him and the blond-haired man nods at them.
"Any news, yoi?"
"We secured the perimeter but we found no one. The bomb was placed rather carefully and probably in a blind spot of the CCTV camera. Whoever placed it seems to know the place very well." Vista said.
"And no one managed to capture footage of that person?" Marco frowns, not liking this situation at all.
"We're not done with the CCTV cameras. We'll let you know once we have anything." Namur said.
"Good. Because whoever he is won't get away easily, yoi."
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
The news quickly spreads in Grandline. Whitebeard quickly covered the story by telling the public that the cause of the explosion is a malfunctioned electricity circuit.
Ann watches the news while fixing a car from one of the customers. She smirks to herself.
'There's more to come...'
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
AN: You all probably know my pattern by now. LOL. A little bit of introduction of the sisters. HEHEHE. Enjoy!
P.S For those asking if I will include the Roger Pirates or something, here's the answer:
- They will play the part. I only mentioned Rowing's death. I may not include everyone there because there's just so many members. So, I may just include a few of them to play a role.
- Again, this is not about Roger. This is about ASL Sisters' Road to Revenge. And for those who followed my stories, you already know my love for romance with the pairs involved - ZoLu, MarAce and SaboKidd
- Other pairs may be mentioned, but still, focus is on ASL Sisters