There was nothing like the smell of breakfast in the morning.
Law sat where he had laid, looking groggy after a long night of surgery. Drona was sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, unmoving. Was he meditating?
By the fire was Reiju, working on the aforementioned breakfast. She had a smile on her face, and Izuku knew it wasn't just for the joy of cooking.
"That's two ladies you've brought happiness to," commented Nana inside his mind. "I'm proud of you, Izuku."
"Yeah kid, you really stepped up where it counted," Banjo smirked trying to pat the boy on the back.
'I didn't do anything,' Izuku thought, remembering not to say it aloud. 'It was Yamato really.'
'You were there for her just as much,' insisted Nana. 'Believe me, she needed all of it, from both of you.'
"You need to stop downplaying your actions so much, Izuku" Yoichi spoke comfortingly."Even small acts of kindness can have a big impact."
Izuku smiled at their words, finding little room to argue as he felt his spirits rise a little.
"Okay everybody!" Reiju called out, as she spooned food onto plates. "Breakfast's ready!"
They gathered around the fire, and Reiju handed out the plates.
"So how did it go; Reiju, Law?" Yamato asked between mouthfuls. Izuku mentally reminded himself to work on her table manners.
All eyes fell on Law, and Izuku could tell they were as curious as she was. He wanted to know too.
"Well…" Law paused, and took another mouthful. "I did all I could."
"Oh." Yamato looked a little crestfallen, and so did the others
"Lineage Factor's messy and complicated," Law went on. "Couldn't get all the conditioning out, but most of it."
"How, exactly," Reiju asked. Law glanced at her and took in a deep breath.
"Reiju, daughter of Sora." Reiju perked up, eyes wide at the command as Law looked intently at her.
"You are free."
Silence reigned as the group waited for something to happen, Reiju to show some sign of responding to the trigger…but even after a minute passed, no reaction.
Then he pinkette let out an exhale, a hand going to her head, looking down at the ground.
"Uhhh Captain, what did ya do?" Bepo asked.
"Judge's command to Reiju has been lifted." Law mentioned. "My surgery transferred the command authority to me." Izuku perked up.
"Command authority?"
"Her Lineage Factor will no longer react to Judge's voice, it reacts to mine. Because of my command just now, Reiju is now free to do whatever she wants." Law shrugged.
Reiju let out a cry, hand over her mouth.
"You did it!" Yamato laughed, ran at Law, and glomped him!
"H-Hey! Let go!" the man called out, as Yamato lifted him off the ground and spun him round and round.
Izuku laughed while Drona smiled indulgently, as if they were children being silly.
"Lucky…" Shachi and Penguin grumbled, glowering at their captain's good fortune.
"You're such a good person Law! You're Reiju's hero!" Yamato exclaimed, practically jumping up and down. Law glared up from between her massive mounds; though Izuku could see that he was blushing. Whether it was for the praise or his current placement….Law certainly would never admit.
"I'm a pirate not a hero, now lemme go before you break my shoulder blades!"
"Hmhmhmhm," Drona chuckled with his eyes closed. "Such an energetic sight."
Yamato set Law down, beaming. The doctor quickly patted himself down, looking like he'd just eaten something sour, though a ghost of a smile started to form on his face.
"You're free now Reiju," Izuku uttered, looking back at the pink-haired girl. "I'm happy for you."
"I wouldn't… I wouldn't be here if not…" She sniffled a bit, looking back to Yamato and Izuku. And then to Law. "How can I ever… thank you?"
"I'm a doctor." Law uttered. "I told you that last night." He sat down by a rock. "No thanks are necessary. I took an oath after all."
"That makes you a hero, Law." Izuku added, the tattooed man looking back. "Thank you."
Law looked away, pulling the cap down over his eyes, hard.
"Cap'n' blushin~" Shachi leered as Law flinched.
"He's such a big softie~" Penguin added as Law began to grind his teeth.
"I think he's angry, you guys," Bepo added, stating the painfully obvious.
"But to be hugged like that from Yamato!" Shachi exclaimed. "We want hugs too!"
"Me too me too!" Penguin. "Healing Hug Chaaaaarge!" And the two leapt up at the blinking Yamato.
"Room Shambles."
Two pine cones landed in Yamato's unsuspecting hands. Nearby, the duo yelled as they fell from a tree face first. .
"Hnnng… not faaaair~" Shachi groaned.
"I wanted huggieeeeee…" Penguin groaned.
"If that's all they want I-" Izuku grabbed Yamato's hand.
"Let's… move on," insisted Izuku gently.
"Ohho, what's this? What's up Izuku, not too crazy about Yamato sharing the love with some other guys?" Banjo smirked and chuckled to himself.
"I do believe our dear little brother is jealous Banjo. I wonder why?" En also decided to join in on the fun, a smirk visible behind his collar as Izuku's face started to turn red from a combination of anger and embarrassment.
A loud conking noise quickly shut that down as Nana glared over the now bashed former heroes. "That's enough commentary from you two stooges."
Mentally thanking Nana, Izuku shifted focus back to the woman of the hour. "So Reiju, how are you feeling? Are you feeling any odd side effects or anything?"
"I'm fine, never better," Reiju replied, smiling again. "Even if it hadn't worked at all, after what happened last night…it all means so much to me." Yamato hesitated, and then beamed again.
They finished their breakfast and washed up; then gathered around the fire again. The time had come to lay their plans.
"Okay, now we're here, we can start," Law began. "We're here, the way I see it, to take down the Vinsmokes and the Germa 66."
"There's a few things we need to work out," he went on. "The first is precisely what we're up against, and what we do with anyone who's left alive." He took a breath. "For that, I'd like to turn over to Reiju."
He nodded to Reiju. The girl nodded back, and braced herself.
"Germa is not a kingdom like any you've known," she said. "In every other kingdom, the majority of citizens are people; little different from the people of Swallow, or anywhere else you've been. The army, if they have one, is a small group set apart from the others. The people support it with recruits and taxes, and in return it protects them; or at least, that's the idea."
She paused. Izuku wondered where she was going with this.
"Germa, as I said, is not like that," she went on. "There are no people there as you would understand. The only civilians are the maids who work in the Royal Castle. The rest of the population are troopers, of the kind you've fought already."
Izuku was confused. A society made up entirely of soldiers? Was that even possible?
"An entire kingdom of soldiers." Drona mused as he sat up from his meditation, walking over to join them. "That sounds more like an army than a kingdom."
"Because it is." Reiju's tone was almost robotic. "One… created by my father."
The camp went quiet; but for the gentle crackle of the fire. Izuku gulped, as his mind processed what she had just said.
"I'm probably gonna regret asking," Law cut in. "But…how?"
"The Lineage Factor is the seed of life itself. And like a seed, it can grow under the right conditions." Reiju took a breath, then another. "Being an expert in such matters, my father sought out talented soldiers, and extracted their Lineage Factor. After a few false starts, he figured out how to make it grow into a new person; an exact copy of the original. They grow in jars, and are conditioned to serve and obey. Not a single one has ever wilfully disobeyed."
"Clones…" Izuku heard himself say. All eyes fell on him. Yamato's eyes widened, no doubt remembering the stories he had told her.
"You know of such things?" Reiju asked, perking up suddenly.
"Not personally," Izuku replied hastily. "But where I'm from, that's what we call them."
"What are these clones?" Drona inquired.
"They are replicas, copied humans, we had stories about them," Izuku replied.
"Explains the suicides" uttered Law. "No prisoners, no evidence."
Reiju nodded sadly. "The Troopers are completely loyal to my father and have zero concern for their own lives. To my father, they are as disposable as bullets, and just as easy to replace."
"How sad," mused Drona mournfully. "To have so little respect for life."
"Awful!" Yamato was shaking, her teeth gritted. "Just making them like that…without parents, or a childhood! That Judge isn't a king! He's a mad scientist, like in Law's comics!"
Izuku felt bad for both of them. For Reiju, for having had to grow up surrounded by such evil. And for Yamato, for having to confront it.
"Reiju," he began, clearing his throat. "We're going to have to fight these troopers. Do they have any weaknesses? Anything we can use against them?"
"Nothing in particular." Reiju shook her head. "Father kept their Lineage Factors simple to make replication easier. The one major change he made was to their enzymes, to make their bodies more efficient overall. It also causes their bodies to decompose rapidly after death. The poison capsules are just insurance. Otherwise they have the same weaknesses as any human."
Izuku shuddered, as he remembered the warped, discolored faces of the dead troopers. It made sense, in a twisted way. If they ended up like that after dying, no one would ever discover their secret.
"So anything that kills humans will kill them," mused Law. "That keeps things simple."
"Don't underestimate them," Reiju warned. "You've seen their fighting qualities. To them, death in battle is a good end to a life well lived. They know every nook and cranny of Germa, and they will fight to the death to protect it."
Izuku did not like the sound of that.
"Okay, so, how many of them then? And what sort of resources do they have?" he asked.
"Aside from the Royal Castle, Germa has sixty snail cruisers," replied Reiju. "Each snail cruiser is armed with four warship-grade cannons in turrets, and has a crew and trooper complement of one hundred. Of these, no more than thirty go out at any one time. That means we face at least three thousand troopers, plus my father and my brothers."
She paused, clearly bracing herself
"My father isn't the fighter my brothers are, but he is crafty, and will have tricks up his sleeve," she went on. "My oldest brother, Ichiji, has red hair, and the power to shoot blasts of light from his hands and eyes. My middle brother, Niji, has blue hair, and can charge objects and body parts with electricity. My youngest brother, Yonji, has green hair, and his right fist extends on a cable; allowing him to strike at long distances. Aside from that, all three have superhuman strength, speed, and toughness like me; along with their Raid Suits."
Izuku glanced around the fire. Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo looked very, very worried, and he didn't blame them. They had seen Reiju fight; and soon they would have to face her three brothers.
"Drona…" Law turned to the old man. "You don't have to do this. You've done enough already, and this isn't your fight."
"It's all right." Drona smiled and shook his head. "I'm in too deep to back down now. Besides, I owe it to Reiju, Yamato, and Izuku, and to my own code, not to let this stand. Those who spread heavy Kara must not prosper."
He paused, and his words hung in the air.
"Izuku, Yamato, I ask only one favor in return. That favor is your help in finding the people I'm looking for."
Izuku looked at Yamato, and Yamato looked back.
"Of course," declared Yamato, without a moment's further hesitation. "You should come back and meet Pops with us. I'm sure he'll want to help too."
Drona smiled again, and nodded. He seemed happy with that idea.
"About that," Izuku cutting in, turning to the Heart Pirates. "Assuming we all survive this, I can't just leave you guys to the World Government's mercy. If you like, I can carry the Unicorn over the Calm Belt into the Grand Line and bring you all to Pops."
The Heart Pirates stared at him in amazement. In the corner of his eye Izuku could see Yamato watching them, her eyes pleading with them to say yes.
"You'll bring us…" Shachi uttered, stunned and moved.
"To Whitebeard himself!?" Penguin finished.
"Well, we were going to the Grand Line anyway," mused Law. "I guess we'll have to take you up on that. Anything else, we'll have to fix with Whitebeard when we get there." He looked to his followers, his comrades. "You guys fine with that?" The three glanced at one-another, then nodded.
"You should come too, Reiju," suggested Yamato, turning to the shorter girl. "If you don't want to be a pirate, you can settle on one of Whitebeard's islands instead. They're peaceful and safe. Or there's Doyle if you prefer somewhere more lively, and we know friends there! You'll be safe there too."
Izuku felt an all too familiar twinge of disquiet. Sending Reiju to Doyle did make some sense. Bach and Lawson would understand her suffering, and they would keep her safe. But if the World Government found out that she had any part in what was coming, she would have a target on her back.
"Thank you, Yamato." Reiju smiled, and blushed a little. "I want to visit those places with you and Izuku, and Doyle too. But I want to join Whitebeard, if he'll have me. I want to stay with you all, and help you, in any way I can."
Yamato let out a squee, and glomped the unsuspecting Reiju.
"Now that that's all settled, we need to get back on track," Law cut in, trying not to look. "Reiju, what kind of territory are we dealing with?"
"Uh, yes." Reiju managed to disentangle herself from Yamato. "Unless my father has taken the whole kingdom out, it should be somewhere within the Kaisafjord Archipelago. It's a collection of mountainous islands, with only a few safe routes in and out; all of which are under watch day and night."
"So…we can't go in at sea level," Law thought aloud. "They'll shoot us to pieces before we can reach their dead zone. I'd say go in overhead, then drop right down on the castle from above. Izuku and Yamato fight the Vinsmoke brothers, while the rest of us hurry around and hit the self-destruct buttons. We can at least take out the snail cruisers that way."
"I can fly us in, definitely," Izuku agreed. "But I'm not sure about the self-destructs. Reiju?"
"The self-destruct for each snail cruiser is controlled by a dead man's switch on the command deck," Reiju explained. "It links to incendiary bombs hidden in the walls and floors of certain compartments, including the command deck and the ammunition bunkers. When it goes off, anything in those compartments, and the corridors outside, and any compartment without a sealed hatch, will be incinerated."
"Including us, if we use the switch," Law grumbled. "I guess we could hotwire it, but that might take a while."
"Your best bet is to self destruct one Cruiser, move through the next and then go to the other cruiser as well. The explosive damage will be enough to sink the one in between and any cruisers near by." Reiju explained.
"So if there's thirty ships, our target is fifteen max." Izuku added.
"Do that, and the Germa Kingdom will sink into the sea." Reiju finished.
"If I might make an observation," Drona spoke up. "Reiju, the troopers serve your family. You are their princess and their commander. Does that mean nothing to them?"
All eyes fell on Reiju; but Izuku already suspected the answer.
"They will not choose me over my father," answered Reiju sadly. "They will only follow me if my father and my brothers are dead. I would be the last of the Vinsmoke line."
"Then surely there is your answer," suggested Drona. "Isolate Vinsmoke Judge and his sons from the troopers, and you have won half the battle."
"Hey, the old guy's got a point!" Shachi cut in. "We steal ourselves a Germa transponder snail, then tell Judge we've got Reiju prisoner and we want to make an exchange. Judge, the brothers, and some troopers come out to fight us, and we take them out at the location of our choosing!" He grinned. "We've got Law, Izuku, Yamato, and Reiju, and us three can deal with the troopers!"
"I see your logic, but it won't work," replied Reiju. "My father is no fool, he will suspect a trap. Even if he was willing to go out himself, he would leave at least one of my brothers in command in the castle. If you insist he will refuse, or prevaricate until he can figure out your location; and with a Germa snail, it won't take him all that long, especially since we are so close."
"Also, we shouldn't send Reiju anywhere near Judge if we can avoid it," interjected Law. "I can't say for certain what would happen if he tried to control her again, even with my overriding of Judge's conditioning. Best to keep her in reserve until we have no other choice. Better safe than sorry."
Shachi humphed, and deflated. Reiju looked crestfallen. Yamato squeezed her shoulder.
"It's not that bad of an idea," Izuku assured him. "Separating the Vinsmokes from their troops makes a lot of sense. We just have to do it inside Germa."
"Clever boy." Bruce commented inside his head.
"You got a plan cooking in there?" Law asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Yes…" mused Izuku, cupping his chin. "I think…maybe I do."
(X)
Night had fallen over Kaisafjord.
Vinsmoke Judge clenched his jaw tight as he read the report from Captain Psi. He and his snail cruiser who were near the Penrith Expanse had found Swallow Island destroyed, as ordered. But he had also found the corpses of Captain Upsilon and his company, and his snail cruiser dead in the harbor; its tower destroyed from the inside.
"Was there anything else?" he asked the clerk-trooper standing beside him.
"Heavensward has been calling again, sire," replied the trooper. Despite having been grown in a tank and conditioned for combat from the moment he emerged, he still somehow managed to sound like a passive-aggressive butler. "Also various kingdoms. They're getting offhand, sire."
"Oh are they now?" Judge snapped the dossier shut, and handed it to the clerk. "I have no time for their whimpering."
"They were very insistent sir." The clerk mentioned as Judge glared at him. "Should we give a response?"
"None. That is all." Judge ordered as the clerk nodded and departed.
Judge strode towards his office door. The guards outside heard him, and pulled the doors open; their synchronicity perfect as ever. Judge strode on, down the grand corridor, the faces of his ancestors glaring down at him. Outside the windows lay polished stone and neatly-trimmed grass; the land of his kingdom, borne aloft on the backs of giant snails. He gave the portraits a side glance, and sighed through his nose.
He reached the dining room, where he knew his sons were waiting for him. On cue, the guards opened the doors for him, and stood to attention as he strode through. Perfect as ever. Everything working the way it was supposed to, like a neatly oiled machine.
"This is bullshit!"
Judge suppressed a sigh, as the doors closed behind were sitting at the table, Yonji and Niji sitting closer to the balcony door and Ichiji closest to the door leading into the palace interior.
"We're at dinner, Yonji," replied Ichiji, looking up from his plate. "Did you forget basic mealtime etiquette?"
"It's bullshit, because we're sitting here eating and not doing anything!" Yonji snapped back. "We know who Reiju's with! We should be out there looking for them!"
"Oh yes, of course!" sneered Niji. "Just go out and find one little band of pirates, in the entire North Blue?"
"Enough!" ordered Ichiji, silencing his brothers.
He finally noticed his father, and stood up. The other two did likewise, looking sheepish. Judge moved to his place at the head of the table, but remained standing; letting them sweat a little.
"I will not lecture you on basic etiquette," he said eventually. "You two should know better by now." Yonji's face curdled like milk while Niji sneered.
"Now…" He sat down, and his sons did likewise. "Losing Reiju has been disruptive for all of us, but we must not lose our nerve, nor must we be idle. Reiju will be found, and her behavior will be…corrected."
Niji sneered in obvious pleasure, and Judge saw a hint of a smirk on Ichiji's face too.
"Will it work?" asked Yonji, looking dubious. "We're not talking about some defective trooper here."
And he was right. This was well beyond the mild, easily corrected nonconformities the troopers sometimes showed. Obviously he would have to recondition her, but he wasn't sure how much would be needed, or how much of her would be left when the job was done.
"It will work, because I will not allow it not to work," he replied bluntly. "I have invested too much in her, as in all of you, to accept failure."
"What? Can't let her make babies with some schmuck or something?" Yonji asked, Judge narrowed his eyes at the green-haired boy, and he wilted.
"I will not allow our bloodline to be tarnished" he growled. "Nor will I share its power with another Royal family."
"Yeah, well that's about all she's good for," Niji sneered. "She won't last in a fight, not against you."
That was true too. He needed only to speak, and she would obey.
"The Heart Pirates are more dangerous than the bounty numbers suggest", Ichiji stated. "Our cruisers are focusing on them, right?"
"The pirate hunt continues," replied Judge. "Scum like that tend to flock together in times of danger. But you're right, the Hearts have been underestimated."
"What about this 'black beast' of theirs?" Yonji pulled something from his belt and held it up. It was a bounty poster, showing Trafalgar Law's face. "Looks like this guy's got some dangerous fruit users on his crew. And some sort of masked monster too. What is he, some sort of monster collector? Circus freak ringleader?"
"Not like it'll be a problem for us," Niji scoffed. "We're better than Fruit Users. We have powers and we can swim. Knock their asses into the water, they sink like a rock."
Another boon from his genetic breakthroughs. His children could go toe-to-toe with all but the strongest fruit users and win, and water wasn't a problem for them. With some further improvement, Devil Fruits would become obsolete; not worth the trouble.
"Can't ya send at least one of us out to hunt for Law? Hell, send two of us," suggested Yonji. "We'll find Reiju, smack some sense into her, and rip every single heart out of…the Hearts." He sniggered at his own joke, and Judge rolled his eyes. Yonji was ever the go-getter. Sometimes to a fault.
He wasn't wrong though. This was getting beyond a joke.
"That may come to pass. But for now, we'll need to pull back our ships and ready them for contracts. Never forget, my sons. Our dream requires money, and that money comes from the prey we hunt."
He took his wine glass and sipped from it.
"You are wolves. And as wolves, you will rip your enemies apart and stand alone in victory"
Yonji and Niji smirked as Ichiji nodded. Judge snapped his fingers, and the side doors opened. The maids entered with their trays, laid out the plates, and withdrew without a word being spoken. The meal was, ironically, his sons' favorite; lamb and veal.
"Damn right we will." Niji uttered.
"It'll be good blowing off steam when we get to those new contracts!" Yonji ripped into a big piece of veal.
Then all four froze, as a loud knocking rang through the hall. Then it came again, from the double-door leading onto the balcony; at the opposite end of the hall.
"Pizza delivery!" yelled a voice from beyond. All eyes fell on Yonji.
"What!?" he spluttered. "Don't look at me! I didn't order pizza-HOW can I order piz-"
The doors blew in, screeching and clattering as they slid across the stone floor. The entire hall shook, stone dust falling from the rafters and covering the table. Two somethings flashed out of the doorway, smashing into Niji and Yonji and hurling them against the back wall, shattering the stone and metal as dust and debris billowed out. Ichiji and Judge leapt to their feet, staring in shock.
"Vinsmoke Judge!" Trafalgar Law sauntered through the doorway into the hall, a long curved sword held casually over his shoulder. But it was his two compan-no, things that drew the stunned Judge's attention through the dust.
One was tall and broad-shouldered, clad in a leather jacket and wide red trousers with a white and violet rope belt, its face covered by a demonic white mask with wild blue hair. The other was shorter, clad in green, and shrouded in writhing darkness and had blazing green hellpits for eyes.
The Black Beast and the Masked Monster! But how!? Swallow Island was on the other side of North Blue! How did they arrive so quick!?
And how dare they attack his kingdom!?
Law glared hard, his two Allies gazing right at Judge, and unsheathed his sword.
"Your kingdom dies tonight!"
Big thanks to Juubi-K for writing this up. And thanks to IKnowNothing and WildJoker000 as always!
But yeah, we didn't begin our war with Germa 66 on chapter 66, but Chapter 69. Who knew. A 9 is a 6 depending one's point of view after all...
The war at last begins. Where is Reiju and the other's? You'll see. But for now, sorry but here's a cliffhanger before I go on a nice long vacation to Vegas. When I get back, I'll get to work on the battle to come. IT's gonna be a blast and a half. Been excited to write it up... but I need this break. Especially in the battle about to take fold. It's gonna be a major one in this story for all parties involved.
Hope you all enjoyed this too. I'll see you all in the next one.