"What are you looking at?" Smoker asks Tashigi, peeking a little over her shoulder to look at the documents she's reading. "That brat?" His voice is a little surprised that Tashigi is looking into the documents of none other than the rude brat they met back in Akagami's territory.
"I am just curious about her." Her answer is vague for she knows there's more to the curiosity than she lets on. The curiosity is derived from that encounter when she felt threatened by her presence.
No, it's not because of the feelings she holds for Zoro, yes, maybe a little, but she's not petty enough not to know her position in his life. It's just that the look Luffia gave her is akin to a beast in the wild.
"She's an odd one, that I agree." Smoker says, puffing a cloud of smoke out of his mouth, disregarding the no-smoking sign in the office.
"What do you mean?" Tashigi lets go of the documents to look at Smoker, curious about his opinion.
"Guts." He simply answers before leaving, baffling Tashigi but she does not press for an explanation. Her focus goes back to the papers on her desk. The more she looks at them, the more she questions Luffia's identity.
"Just who are you?"
And the file in her hand only contains nothing but documents from the orphanage. Not even anyone from the intel division can dig more than that. It's as if Luffia just appeared in Grandline out of nowhere.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Kidd is alone in his room, weighing down the news that arrived a few days ago.
Sab's apartment was blown to pieces by a bomb planted. No culprits found yet. The World Government and the police forces have no clue about the situation.
As soon as he heard it, his heart quickened instantly, sending numerous blades to his heart that are difficult to suppress.
It hurts.
His mind is filled with scenarios. Even with the news breaking out, he completely shuts himself, avoiding this news for he's afraid of what he might hear.
"Whatever!" That was his statement when he heard it, feigning ignorance and nonchalance but deep inside, he's worried. He won't show such emotions in front of his men for he doesn't dare admit it to them nor himself that after her betrayal, she still holds a place in his heart.
"Damn it!" He curses out loud the moment he turns on the television and the news about that incident is still a hot topic. There are several casualties and deaths - 3 women, 4 men, 2 children are dead, and several adults were severely injured.
Three women. He dreads if she's one of them.
With another curse, he stands up, getting his keys, and walks out of his room only to be welcomed by surprised glances from his men in the living room.
"Where are you going?" Killer is the first one to ask.
"Nowhere." He answers thinking that he will be left alone but surprisingly, Killer follows him, staring at Kidd as if he's about to do something stupid.
"I'm going with you. You should not be left alone." His tone doesn't leave any room for negotiation, instantly getting into Kidd's car without further ado, even going as far as taking the keys so he can drive.
Left with no choice, Kidd lets him be. Both are silent while Killer is driving with accuracy, taking routes to the center of New World City where Sab's apartment is.
Kidd wants to protest, but what is he supposed to say? His friend already knows what's been on his mind, so he stays silent.
They arrived in the area. There are still police officers so, they stayed clear of their sight, favoring to be standing in an area where they won't easily get spotted.
Kidd looks up at the damage of the bomb. It's quite a lot, but the damage is very specific on one of the apartments - Sab's apartment. He clenches his fist while looking at where her unit is.
"Bastard." He mutters under his breath. "I'm supposed to kill her." Resentment lingers in his words, even his eyes show anger in them. But why is he angry? Is he angry because Apoo beat him in killing Sab? Or was he angry because she's hurt or possibly dead?
Killer hears his friend but he stays silent, opting not to contradict his words.
"I'll ask if she's one of the casualties," Killer says, stepping out of their shade to ask around. Of course, he's not stupid enough to ask the police officers, after all, he's part of the Mafia World.
Kidd lets his most trusted friend be. When his eyes landed on the nearby convenience store, he's surprised to see a very familiar face.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Sab is walking in this familiar street, carrying plastic bags that contained essentials for everyday use. She lost all her stuff during the bomb incident and is now staying at a nearby hotel courtesy of the owners of the apartment building shouldering the expense.
She would have declined but it will be odd if she does, so she accepts it. Walking back to the hotel, she suddenly feels a firm grip on her arm and before she can process what happened, a sharp pain registers on her back as she is slammed on the nearby wall.
"Ugh." She groans, feeling the rough wall against her back with a few rough edges penetrating her skin. By instinct, she raises her hand to defend and attack but as soon as she saw his face, she froze.
Beautiful hazel eyes are staring at her.
"You're not dead." He says, his grip tightening in a bruising manner.
There's nothing much to ask about what he meant.
"Are you disappointed that I am not?" It's a genuine question and hidden in the words is a hopeful heart that he will say no.
"Yes. Very disappointed." And that hurts more than the impact she received earlier. "But on the other hand, it's fine. This way, you can die at my hand."
"Then, kill me now."
"Tempting, but your death will be inevitable and painful. You will pay the price of that betrayal." He grips her wrist with more force than earlier, making her wince in pain. "More than you can imagine."
A warning. A promise.
Staring at his hazel eyes, she can feel the intense pain and anger directed at her. For once, she almost regrets that decision. But it's too late for regrets now. There's nothing that can be done anymore.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Ann shows up in the hangar only to be surprised when her eyes spotted Marco talking to Blenheim with Thatch. Her heart instantly quickens when their eyes meet and he smiles at her.
Left with no choice, she returns the smile and did the same to Blenheim and Thatch. Three Commanders from Whitebeard's group in one place. Should the three of them gone in the picture, surely, the damage would have been immeasurable.
"Ann!" Thatch waves his hand enthusiastically leaving Ann no room to decline to approach them.
"Hi!" She simply says.
"How's working here so far?"
"Pretty good. I'm adjusting well to the environment, thanks!"
"Good to hear that! I'll have one of my babies for maintenance today. Would you like to check on it?" Thatch asks.
"Uhm, sure. I don't mind." Ann's role is not focused on the development but also to cater the VIP's needs too.
"Great! It's in the hangar. I will drop by later. I have a meeting to attend. Let's catch up later. Ciao!" Thatch quickly excuses himself followed by Blenheim who told them he has matters to attend to which Ann doubts. Both of them just wanted to leave her with Marco.
"Don't you have a meeting to attend to?" She asks.
"Why? Do you want me to leave, yoi?"
"Not really. But I know you're busy given your position." They start walking towards the locker room side by side.
"Yes, I am busier but this is a rare chance to speak to you and ask about a dinner date. Although this is hardly the best place to ask you since this is still a workplace."
"A dinner date huh?"
"You don't have to answer right away, yoi. You can send me a text message later when you've decided. I'll leave for now so I won't disturb your work." Marco is considerate enough not to push for an answer nor to delay her from attending to her work. After all, there are so many eyes on them. Everyone knows who Marco is and his position. Some may think it's unfair.
"Alright. I'll let you know later." She smiles at him before he left. Just as soon as he's out of sight, Ann vaguely feels the eyes on her. At one point, she sees a group of women staring at her, raising their eyebrows as if they are assessing her worth.
Ann ignores them. She won't get anything by being affected by those gazes. The moment she decided to pursue this method, she knows that no matter the obstacles, she won't be affected.
Hours pass by in a blink of an eye and it's time for her to leave. With that, she sends a text message to Marco, informing him that she's free tomorrow night.
There's a reason why she specifically set the date for tomorrow night. It's because she has plans tonight.
With the help of her hoodie and masks, a figure walks in the dead of the night carrying weapons and bombs at her disposal. As expected, Whitebeard's area is heavily guarded right after that incident. It's within her calculations.
It might be nonsense for her to keep doing this and cause minor damages, but this is to divert their attention. The more they think that Firefist is targeting their business, the more she has the means to proceed with her assassination. Her goal is not to bankrupt the Whitebeard, but to kill the leader.
At first, she wants to kill the Commanders too, but thinking about how young most of them are, they couldn't have been involved in the alliance incident against her father. With that, she crossed out names that may not be involved - Izou, Thatch, Namur, Haruta, Jiru, and Marco. Those names are not included in the list of Commanders that Whitebeard had during Roger's era.
Luring Whitebeard out of his fortress won't be an easy feat. Even with the other Emperors, none of them will take action personally and just deployed their Commanders to find Firefist.
Ann is careful to open the manhole on the ground, afraid it will make an unnecessary sound that can garner the attention of the members constantly on patrol. As soon as it's opened, she immediately went inside, shutting it down temporarily.
The murky smell penetrates her nose but that is the least of her worries. She couldn't care less of it for she has more things to do.
The water-sewer system is one of Sab's projects that she shared with her sisters. Ann made it her goal to memorize the blueprint. It is used several times when she's running away or on a stealth mission just like now.
She walks for about 10 minutes with one direction in mind and that is beneath the building of a warehouse Whitebeard owned. She placed the bomb right beneath that building before hastily leaving the area.
Looking back at the building, she frowns, finding it easy to infiltrate such a big warehouse filled with their supplies of guns.
The next day, she meets Marco in one of the restaurants a few kilometers away from the warehouse. She made an effort to wear a dress for the occasion.
"You look beautiful." He greets her when he picked her up in her house.
"Thank you." She smiles, a little nervous not because of the date but on what she's planning on.
All eyes are on them when they stepped into the restaurant especially Marco who's well-known in this area. After all, this is their territory. Some of the people in the restaurant are part of their groups. Ann recognizes them because of the marks on their shirts. Whitebeard's mark.
They must be a security team assigned in protecting Marco, not that he needs protection, but it is a precautionary measure in case their enemies will try to assassinate him. They can't afford to have the heir of Whitebeard die because of carelessness and lack of protection.
In all of Ann's years in the streets, she managed to only assassinate a few key members from Big Mom, but the Commanders are hard to kill. Aside from the lack of chances, they are constantly followed by a security team. Unless she and her sisters join hands, it is almost impossible to kill a Commander from the Emperors' groups.
Killing Marco is not in her plans but if worse comes to worst when she is left with no choice, she will strike. The idea doesn't sit well with her, and she prays that it won't come to that.
'He will be your enemy sooner or later,' she reminds herself. If she manages to kill Whitebeard, not only Marco but all of the members of Whitebeard's group will be her enemy.
"Are you okay?" He asks. "You seem distracted, yoi."
"Yes, I am. Just not used to this setup." She feigns innocence, looking around, and only sees couples and a few men on standby, pretending as customers. There's a truth in her words that she never went out on a dinner date and Marco seems to have bought her words.
"It's fine. Let's just enjoy the meal, shall we?"
Marco must have pre-ordered before they arrived here for the food is served rather quickly.
"You're not having a hard time, are you? I mean at work."
"No. Everything is going well. Deuce joined in as well. We're thankful to you for giving us an opportunity. He's thinking of at least doing something to pay you back for the kindness."
'While I'll be paying you with nothing but tragedy'
"It's nothing. A simple thank you is enough, don't worry about it. Besides, Blenheim wouldn't hire you if you're not skilled enough, so the efforts you gave are what brought you to that position, yoi."
"Does that mean I've paid you back with that lunch before? I don't have to go out with you, right?"
The smile on Marco's face instantly faded.
"Are you dumping me, yoi?"
"Haha! I'm kidding."
"Here I thought you're going to dump me. That will leave me brokenhearted."
"Please, even if I do, I am pretty sure you have several women that would love to date you and go out with you. It doesn't have to be me."
"It's true, but I only want you. Look, Ann. I am serious, yoi. Truly, I am. I'd love to date you if you're fine with it." The sincerity in his eyes is killing her with mixed feelings. Guilt slowly creeps in but when she reminded herself of why she's doing this, the guilt is slowly washed away, replaced by the resoluteness in her heart.
"Let's give it a try. I mean, I'd like to get to know you more." The smile on Marco's face couldn't get any bigger than it already is.
With that settled, they continue with their conversation just about anything. By the time the clock strikes at exactly 9:30 PM, Ann excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Inside the cubicle, she takes out the controller with a red button. Her thumb hovers over the device and with a heave of sigh, she presses it.
And just as she did, two minutes afterward, a shocking explosion reverberates in the area.
With haste, she steps out of the bathroom to go back to Marco who is now standing up and about to leave.
"What's going on?" She asks.
"There's an explosion." He answers.
"Explosion?"
He didn't have time to further explain as his phone starts ringing.
"Sorry, let me just answer this, yoi." He says then answers the phone. Ann watches his expression turn graver. A frown emanates in his handsome face and his hand grips the phone rather tightly that she's afraid it will break any second now. "I'll be there now."
The call ended then he turns to Ann apologetically.
"I'm sorry, but I have somewhere I need to be. I'll drop you by in your house now."
"It's okay. Did something happen?" Her acting is top-notch, convincing Marco of the fake concern written on her face.
"It's... It's an emergency."
"Does it have something to do with the explosion?"
Marco knows he cannot hide it from her, not that he plans to do so anyway.
"Yes, yoi. It's kind of dangerous, so I'll drop you at your house first. Let's go." He didn't wait for her to answer before he grabs her hand, pulling her outside of the restaurant.
"You don't have to drop me off if it's an emergency. I can call a cab."
"No, I can't allow that. Your safety comes first. I won't be at ease knowing you may not be safe yet. Don't worry, my siblings are taking care of it now. I'll be there as soon as I drop you off."
Now, she feels guilty. He's prioritizing her safety than rushing to their warehouse where members of their group may be dead.
The atmosphere on their way back to her shabby apartment is tense. Marco's grip on the steering wheel as well as his eye reflects the anger that he's trying to suppress. Ann feels a chill down her spine just looking at him. He looks like a sleeping dragon that is ready to explode at any given time.
"Will you be alright?" She asks as soon as they arrived in front of her apartment building.
"Of course. There are just some things I need to take care of. I'm sorry, yoi. I didn't expect this will happen on a special night like this." The apologetic look he gives her is clawing at her. She's guilty.
"It's okay. There are other days anyway. Take care." She gets off his car, waving him goodbye as he sprints back to his territory.
She's starting her calculated moves against Whitebeard. With Marco's trust in her, he will never suspect her to be Firefist. What she needs to do is carefully lure Whitebeard out of his hiding so she can kill him.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. The moment she hit that red button, she knows that she must think of Marco as her enemy that she must use at her disposal.
'I'm sorry. But you will have to be my enemy, Marco.'
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
"He's testing my patience, yoi." Marco'susual laid back tone is replaced by a firm and angry one while looking at his family.
"How many this time?" A deep baritone voice echoes in the room coming from the man sitting in the middle of the long table. A seat fit for an Emperor like him - Whitebeard.
"A few injured. Thankfully no death this time. Blamenco and Rakuyo managed to withdraw all our supplies from that warehouse. Now, they are in the main building." Atmos answers. He was near the warehouse when the explosion happened.
With the persistence of Firefist to constantly disrupt and damage their group, they came prepared. They withdrew the supplies they stored in that warehouse which only served as supposedly to bait Firefist.
What they didn't expect is for him to act earlier than anticipated. They are still in the process of vacating the building before they set the trap. Even before they managed to do that, Firefist is quick to take action.
"We managed to cut the losses, but this is still pissing us off." Fossa huffs in annoyance. "Why can't we take action against that bastard? Pops, one order, and we will track him down and kill him."
"Gurarara! What do you want to do? Search all over Grandline till you find him? That's time-consuming and will only disrupt our pace. We will leave our territory less secured if we deploy people to find traces of someone who's been a mystery for years."
They all listened to their father, nodding at his words.
"We don't even know if he works for other Emperors or if he's with anyone that may be our enemy. Best to let him think he's disrupting our operations. Sooner or later he will come to our doorsteps."
"Then we will capture him for interrogation? Or maybe we should kill him?" Jozu's question had Whitebeard laughing.
"Gurarara! My children, youth is such a scary thing." They all pondered on what he meant by that. "Alright. I'll leave it all up to you. Cut our losses for now. He will come at us anytime soon."
And he waved his hand, dismissing the conversation just like that. It left all of them baffled because there's no clear order on what to do with Firefist.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
"This is supposedly a quick project to eliminate that group. World Government thought it will be easier with you around, but seems like they overestimated your capabilities, Mafia Hunter." Kalifa's voice is filled with mockery while looking at the green-haired man famed for being a Mafia Hunter.
"What are you yapping about?" He yawns, not caring at the tantrums.
"You're not focused on this mission!" She exclaims, raising her voice and stomping her feet in frustration.
It just didn't happen once. It happened several times that they are against Strawhats and this person who is supposed to lead this operation is not around.
Zoro only shakes his head. He knows his shortcomings here and what these agents want from him. All the times that he's not around is because of Luffia. No matter what, she will always be his priority even if it means disregarding the mission he took.
Although admittedly, he knows that the times she calls for him are not because of anything urgent, he can decline her calls and proceed with his work, but he just cannot do so. He's slacking off because of her. Not that he has to tell them that.
"Tsk! Do you think killing Mafia Groups like them is as easy as hunting chickens on the ground? Think again. You're dealing with an Emperor-class group here. Unless you have a battalion at your disposal, then you might as well start a war against them."
"You're just not capable of catching and killing them! Such a waste of the fame as Mafia Hunter. We added you to the team because we thought you are capable and your resolve to kill Mafia Groups is strong. Seems not. Maybe you don't care about the death of your family members at the hands of Roger - argh!"
Kalifa didn't get to finish her words because Zoro's hand grabbed her neck, squeezing the life out of her.
"Who do you think you are to mention that name in front of me? Who do you think you are to mention my family's deaths?" His emerald eyes are shining with bloodlust, ready to kill at any moment.
"Let go." A man over 6 feet in stature points his gun at Zoro's head. This man is named Lucci, one of the members of this group and a World Government agent. "Let her go or else I will kill you where you stand."
The rest of the agents are now raising their weapons against Zoro, ready to shoot him to death if needed.
Clicking his tongue, he slams her on the ground. The woman gasps for breath, clutching her neck with red marks courtesy of the firm grip from Zoro's hand.
"If you all ever mention that again, I won't hesitate to kill you." Everyone can feel the killing intent coming from Zoro. It's as sharp as the swords he carries all the time.
For the first time, they witness what a monster he can be beneath the lazy attitude he usually shows.
While everyone is a little nervous, Lucci only smiles, approving of the beast standing before them, silently anticipating what kind of bloodbath he will show to them.
"We will hunt tonight."
Zoro finally said after moments of silence. To be honest, he could care less if they will catch this group or not. After all, he doesn't have a feud against Strawhats. But these people here are pissing him off, pressuring him to take drastic measures.
At the back of his mind, he's not sure why the World Government is hell-bent on hunting this group when there could be anyone much worse than them. There must be a reason but whatever the reason is, that's not his business anymore. All he needs right now is to get this done and over with.
"We will target one of the members. We can't easily kill the head without knowing what that person looks like nor can we tail him. Prepare to set out."
And that's an incoming disaster coming to Strawhats.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===