Shanks sighed in exasperation. He loved being captain, and sailing with his crew but god damn it, he hated that he had to manage everything when all he wanted to do right now is be with his brothers and kid. He fiddled with the rim of his old strawhat and sighed thinking of Luffy. It didn't feel right sitting on his head anymore but it was still a reassuring presence while he couldn't physically see his Anchor. He was ready to hand it back to the kid as soon as he was done all his calls and you know…allowed back in the infirmary.
He had finally been able to get off the Den Den with Rockstar who they had left behind on Ennies Lobby. He had been their fail safe in their original escape plan, laying low but ready to take out the guards if they wouldn't open the gate. Once they realized their plans had changed, he had started making his way back to where they had left the Red Force.
He sighed once again before starting his next call. He let it ring twice before hanging up and calling again. One ring and he hung up and waited. It took five more minutes before his Den Den rang. He picked up the line but stayed silent until the caller spoke. "Red. I can't speak long, the marines are in an uproar."
Shanks smiled. "Ah Hawky. Music to my ears. We got the package but had to do a bit of a detour. Seems like I wasn't the only one with a rescue plan."
Mihawk grumbled at the name but he could hear the tension in his friends voice so didn't push it. "Friend or foe? Because Blackbeard never made it and I overheard Sengoku saying he was seen at Impel Down."
Shanks voice went ice cold. "Teach was there?"
"I can't be certain however it seems likely."
Shanks swore. That bastard was in the same building as his kid, had been close enough to attack his kid and he had just left him alive. "Should have sent the whole fucking prison to Davy Jones while I was there."
Mihawk cut through his rant. "And what were you doing at Impel Down?"
"Well my crazy ass kid decided to do a one man rampage and I needed to collect his ass before he got himself killed." There was silence on the line and then a snort. "It is not funny. He's been a pirate for less than a year!"
"It's just, poetic justice that you managed to get a kid that's even more reckless than you."
"Oh shut up." Shanks snarked back. "Whats the situation there?"
"The higher ups have learned of the disappearance. They are keeping it quiet for now in hopes that Whitebeard will still appear and so they are hesitant to send anyone of any worthwhile strength out to locate him. No one has identified you yet but if you left survivors at Impel Down I would assume someone will make the connection."
"No survivors who were in a position to see us anyways. But we have plenty of unknown prisoners on board that we won't be able to contain." Shanks admitted.
"Of course you do, you bleeding heart. Stealth is an unknown concept to you isn't it. The Marines will wait a few more hours to see if Whitebeard shows, but they will no longer be broadcasting. It will be interesting to see how they spin the news to save face, especially if they have had a mass break out of their most secure prison. You do keep things interesting. I'll expect a full update later." Mihawk drawled before the line went dead.
This next call was going to be a rough one, he knew but it was getting close to Ace's scheduled execution and he knew that the Whiteboard pirates would be appearing soon. He waited impatiently while the line rang and interrupted the person who picked up immediately. "I need to speak to your Captain immediately. Delaying will cost lives." He heard a squawk of outrage but ignored it. He was tired of being disrespected by the Whiteboard pirates, of being treated like the cabin boy he had been instead of the emperor he was.
"We're a little busy right now. Speak quickly yoi." Shanks wanted to snarl as he recognized the familiar voice of Marco, the first mate instead of the captain.
"If I was feeling more spiteful I'd hang up and let you idiots face the consequences but that would upset some people that I do care about." Shanks said coldly, thinking of how Whitebeard refused to read a hand delivered letter because he insisted on only dealing with the Captain. "Your commander is no longer in the hands of the marines." With that Shanks hung up, ignoring the scrambling on the other end. The line started ringing but he ignored it. He would let Benn deal with them later… maybe. He had other calls to make.
"Red. That was a quicker than I expected. Everything okay?" Rayleigh answered quickly.
"Pa. It was close. I got there as he was facing down Magellan and he started a full on prison break. Hell he managed to fight through the entire prison and was back on second level when we arrived. He's truly something. I've got him with Hongo right now, alive but seas knows what he's been through. We also have Buggy on board. He's gained an entourage of prisoners who want him to rule the sea. Apparently he is the mastermind behind the escape." Shanks smiled fondly. "He's demanding to be left the navy ship but I'll drag his ass to you first."
Rayleigh sighed in relief. "Thats some good news. Your brother was always good at getting himself out of trouble. Normally by dragging you into it so it's nice to see that nothings changed."
Shanks laughed. "Well as soon as Hongo is done with the boys he will look him over and then we will call you with an update. Meanwhile have you heard anything about the Strawhats?"
"I haven't located them yet but it turns out Kuma works for the Revolutionaries. My sources there believe that he was sending them away for safety and would have tried to send them somewhere suited to them."
"Land ahead!" Came the bellow from the lookout. They were still a couple days away from where they'd left Red Force but they hadn't anticipated having to feed and care for so many people and were running low on supplies. Hopefully they would be able to restock and leave behind some of the prisoners.
"Hmm, keep working on it. It worries me that Luffy was alone while doing something so reckless." Shanks said as he stared ahead at the distant island, using his haki to feel for any concerns on shore. Suddenly there was an excited shout and he froze as somebody went rocketing into the sky, a familiar laughter trailing behind. "LUFFY!" He bellowed, staring in disbelief as his kid narrowly missed landing in the ocean, colliding with the beach and rolling several times before jumping up and racing into the jungle.
"Not so easy to keep an eye on him now is it?" Rayleigh said dryly.
"Oh shut up Pa." Shanks snapped hanging up and racing to find Benn. "I'm going to kill him."