(Location: Alabasta)
(Stain POV)
Nanohana, a port city in the kingdom of Alabasta was bustling with activity as people moved to do business. Once, not all that long ago, the city was a far cry from how vibrant it was today, and everyone in the city knew who to thank for that. "Here are a list of the new applicants, sir." Jennifer, a tall slender woman with dark purple hair said as she stepped into Stain's office and placed a folder atop his desk.
She wore a fancy grey pencil skirt with a white blouse and had her hair tied back in a tight pony-tail, giving her a professional look that brooked no room for nonsense. So far, out of everyone who worked with Stain here in Alabasta, Jennifer was the one person he relied on the most, which was fair with her being his personal secretary, but she went above and beyond for him.
"I've marked a few people on the list who I believe would do well, and the ones who I can also see as being future problems. There are two jobs on the Request Board that you need to handle today, but other than that, the new recruits should be able to handle the rest of them. I've assigned Koza and a few of the kings guards to monitor the more sensitive matters, and see no problems going forward. You also have a date later this evening, so don't be late. The time and place are listed right here. Dress casual." Jennifer said coolly, then stood at attention until he dismissed her.
"Thanks Jenny. What are-?" Stain began when she handed him another folder that silenced him. "These are the jobs you need to do. A number of Sea Kings have wormed their way up the Sandora River and are attacking any ship that tries to cross it, and a group of twelve people calling themselves, 'The Sons of Sand' want to start their own guild through the Association. They seem rather promising if I'm being honest, and Alabasta could use another guild. It'll let the people know they have options and that they aren't forced to choose us if they don't want to. It will also force us to lower prices for our services and keep us in check, but it should keep the people happy." She explained everything even as his eyes scanned the papers, though in all honesty he wasn't even reading them. She could explain what he needed to do far better than the pieces of paper.
"If you think they're promising, I should almost forgo the test entirely. You haven't been wrong yet." Stain said jokingly, which only earned him a blank stare in return. "I'm kidding. I would be remise in my duties if I didn't test them." He said quickly so as to get her off of his back. "Glad to hear it. I would suggest meeting them first as they're waiting down in the lobby." She informed him, which got him to sigh as he slowly rose to his feet. "Right then, lets get this show on the road." He grumbled lazily.
Honestly, Stain had become rather lazy since he started working here in Alabasta, but in his defense, after being forced to build a bridge for years on end, and then being tortured by Jack in that nightmare he called "Training", all Stain wanted to do was laze around, and he would too if it weren't for Jennifer. She made him do at least one job a day from the damn Request Board, then she had the indecency to take most of the pay from whatever job he did and invest that money back into the guild.
She had even taken it upon herself to take 90% of the pay Jack gave him each month so he couldn't spend it on booze, and he wasn't even sure what she did with it. 'Oh well, it's because of her I don't have to do any paperwork, so I'll consider this a win.' He said to himself, resigned to whatever fate she had in store for him.
*****
Later that evening after completing his jobs, Stain changed into the clothes hanging on his door when he got home, then immediately headed out to a new restaurant that had only been open for about a week now. Upon entering the place, he scanned the room for his date, and after only a second he spotted her in the far corner near a window. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting." He said to her upon arriving at the table. "Not at all. I only just sat down a minute ago." She lied, as was evidenced by the half-empty glass of wine in front of her.
"You look beautiful." He told her as he leaned in for a kiss, which did earn him a small smile in return. "So how was your day?" She asked sweetly. "Oh, you know, the usual. Beat some people, killed some sea monsters, that kind of stuff. You know what kind of a hardcase my secretary can be." He said, exaggerating how hard his day was.
"Is that so? Maybe she just has your best interest at heart and wants you to live a life worth living. Instead all you do is complain about her, why, I wouldn't be surprised if she up and quit on you." She said flatly before sipping her wine. "Now hold on a minute! You can't quit! It was a joke!" He said quickly, trying to back track, however all this did was cause Jennifer to laugh at him.
"I'm not quitting, but I am glad to see that my departure would ruin your life." She said, sounding far too happy. "Just don't joke about stuff like that. If you left, my life here would suck." He told her, being completely serious. "Oh do tell." She said coyly. Knowing how much she liked to hear how important she was, Stain began to tell her all about how great she made his life over dinner, and before he even realized it, they were leaving the restaurant and heading back to his place. Well, technically it was THEIR place, as they lived together, but it was his place first.
*****
(Location: Alabasta)
(Aokiji POV)
It had been a few days since their departure from Marineford, but finally Aokiji could see the sandy island coming into view. 'This is it. There's no turning back from this.' He said to himself, knowing full well that once they crossed this line, all hell was going to break loose. "Activate the blackout." Akainu ordered someone, and at once the signal was given to block all communication to and from Alabasta. As previously planned the ship anchored offshore a ways so as not to be seen, then about a thousand soldiers including the two Admirals and the Fleet-Admiral boarded smaller boats before sailing inland.
Already the perimeter of the island, not just the city of Nanohana was being watched to make sure no one entered or left so they couldn't signal for help, and that would stay in place even after they left here so as to give them all time to get back to Marineford before Sparrow found out about them.
Upon reaching the shore, Aokiji saw a number of Marines already waiting for them, and immediately the higher ranked among them began to give them as much intel as they had been able to gather. "We've been watching the target for the last few days, and right now he's currently at his house with his girlfriend, who is also his secretary. Her name is Jennifer Florence, and she is a firm believer in The Order. While Stain might be in charge of The Order here in Alabasta, she's the one who runs things, therefore I would suggest capturing her too if you can." The officer explained. "We're only taking one prisoner. Dispose of everyone else." Akainu instructed them, leaving it clear as to what they would do to the woman.
"We have the locations of most everyone in his guild." The officer said, showing a map of the city with red X's on certain buildings. "We don't need to eliminate every target, we just need to prevent them from getting into contact with Sparrow. Once we attack, they'll try to call him, but so long as we keep the jamming signals active they won't be able to. Some might try to sail out of Alabasta to reach him, that's where our agents will stop and detain them." Akainu said, not bothering to go over the map.
They discussed a few other things before finally moving out to carry out the plan. Even though Aokiji had read up on their target, he couldn't help but be a little wary given how his last encounter went with a member of The Order. It didn't matter that the target wasn't a Logia Fruit user, the fact that he had a Devil Fruit at all was concerning, not to mention that the guy was trusted enough to be in charge of an entire country.
Under the guidance of one of the soldiers stationed here in Alabasta, Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru were led to Stain's location, while the rest of the soldiers who came along with them moved into strategic locations to halt whatever else came their way. "This is it. He's in there." The guide said, pointing at a building with a dimly lit room up on the third floor.
Kizaru moved up onto the roof of a nearby building to attack at range if needed while Aokiji and Akainu moved into the building. Approaching the bedroom where their target was located, the two of them stopped when they heard the grunting and moaning coming from inside. "Do you think we should let him finish?" Aokiji whispered to Akainu, but the look he got in return pretty much answered that question. 'Fine. I was just trying to be a nice guy.' Aokiji thought, a bit annoyed at this whole thing.
Once the signal was given, they burst into the room, and instantly the smell of sex hit them like a punch to the face. On the bed against the far wall, Aokiji saw their target kneeling behind a pretty girl with purple hair who was on her hands and knees, and the two of them were staring at them with unimpressed looks on their faces. "You're coming with us!" Akainu growled at the man. "Don't say it like that. Can't you see he's doing that with her?" Aokiji said, adding a little bit of humor to the tense moment, which again did not go over well with Akainu.
Almost as if they weren't there to arrest him, the target and the girl calmly and casually separated from one another before they moved over to a hook on the wall where they put on some robes. "I'll be perfectly honest with you two, I was not expecting your company tonight. How may I help you?" The target asked coolly. "You're coming with us to Marine HQ where you will be sentenced to death for your crimes against the World Government!" Akainu told him.
"Is that right? And what crimes are those, exactly?" The target asked. "Going against the World Government!" Akainu shouted, then without warning he shot forward at the man, only instead of attacking him, Akainu was sent flying back towards Aokiji after being hit by some weird explosion.
Aokiji didn't even get the chance to figure out what was happening before he felt something make contact with his stomach, and suddenly he was blown into little tiny bits of ice shards and sent flying out of the building in the hole Akainu had made when he was launched away. Even as he put himself back together, Aokiji couldn't help but thank the fact that he was a Logia Fruit user, otherwise he would have been dead before he even knew what was happening. 'What the hell is wrong with these people?' He wondered, finding that the only two he had ever encountered were freaks of nature.
It took him a minute to regain his bearings, at which point the sounds of explosions reached his ears. Looking over, he saw bright flashes of light, followed by massive explosions that were rocking the city. Moving quickly, he caught up with Kizaru and Akainu who were both running around the area, however their target was using Moonwalk combined with explosions from his feet to move so fast that only Kizaru could keep up with him, but even then, he was impossible to hit.
"Where's the woman?! Lets use her to get to him!" Akainu shouted at them, however that was apparently the wrong thing to say because in the next breath he found himself being embedded into the ground by a series of explosions.
"AAAHHHH!!" Akainu cried out as fingers coated in Armament Haki dug their way into his right eye socket and tore out his eyeball. His left eye would have followed the same way, but Kizaru appeared beside him and kicked the target off Akainu and launched him out towards the ocean, which was sort of a problem because that was the same location where a number of their soldiers were holed up.
Kizaru must have realized that too, because he shot off a few seconds before Aokiji in the direction he sent the target flying, but when they got there they found they were too late. The area was littered with the body parts of Marines soldiers, and their target didn't look like he had any intention of stopping.
Hoping to wound or maim the target, Aokiji launched some ice spears at him, however he simply held up two Marine soldiers and used their bodies as a shield. "Bastard!" Aokiji shouted angrily, though it was more at himself than his target. He should have known better than to do something so stupid like that. Before he could really think of how to correct the situation, streams of magma and beams of light peppered the area. Aokiji couldn't say for certain if they had gotten the target, but at the very least they had killed all of their allies that were around him.
When the dust settled, like Aokiji had expected, all of the Marines were dead, but at least they had managed to injure their target, well, Kizaru had if the small holes the guy was bleeding out of was any indication. "You're coming with us!" Akainu once again told the guy, but like last time, he just didn't seem like he wanted to. "I'll go when I'm good and ready, but there are still too many Marines wandering around my city before I do that." The target said, then smirked at them before the area was enveloped in a massive explosion.
*****
"How many people do we have left?" Aokiji asked the officer who appeared once they had finally managed to apprehend the target. It had taken far longer than they had originally planned, not to mention the casualties lost. Out of the thousand or so Marines who had come with them, maybe fifty of them were still alive, and those that were weren't looking too good. Even the Admirals were injured in some way or another, though some were worse off. Akainu had lost an eye, most likely a kidney, and he was walking with a bit of a limp. Kizaru was battered and bruised, and he was bald. As for Aokiji, he was now deaf in his right ear, and he was certain at least three of his ribs were broken.
"There are enough men to keep the jamming signals running, but there aren't enough of us to monitor the coast and keep people from escaping Alabasta." The officer reported even as he clutched the bloody stump that was once a hand. "Just buy us enough time to get as far away as possible. Keep the jamming signal running and focus all of your attention on Nanohana. Don't let anyone in or out of the city." Akainu ordered the guy, then he turned his gaze to the bound and bloody form of their target.
The robes he had been wearing before the fight were in tatters, and despite the fact that the guy was butt ass naked, no one wanted to get close enough to cover him up. On the contrary, the bloody holes that littered his body seemed to put everyone more at ease. "Lets get him onto the ship. We'll immediately head back to Marineford." Akainu said, and the few soldiers who were coming with them moved into action.
*****
The trip back to Marineford was a lot more daunting than the trip to Alabasta, mostly because Aokiji expected to be set upon by a band of crazy monsters at any moment, but they had made it, if only a little behind schedule. Pulling into the crescent bay, Aokiji was pleasantly surprised to see the number of warships surrounding the island, not to mention the number of soldiers that filled the harbor, only whatever relief he felt in that moment was squashed the moment he realized something.
'One guy boot-stomped us, and now we're going to invite all of his friends to come over. This is not going to end well.' He told himself resignedly. "Kuzan! Are you listening to me?!" A voice shouted from beside him, causing Aokiji to reel back in surprise. "I'm deaf, you old bastard, not blind! Get out of my face!" Aokiji shouted at Kong who was a little too close for comfort.
"You all look like you've been through hell." Kong told them after Akainu explained what happened to them. "No shit. And here I thought we went on a little picnic to Mary Geoise. Oh wait, it got burned down too." Aokiji said sarcastically, not really in any mood to hear from the old bastard right now. "You got the target, that's all that matters. I've already sent envoys to each of the Warlords, and they should be arriving within a week. Hopefully that will be enough time before Sparrow makes his move." Kong said, then to Aokiji's annoyance, he smiled at him.
"While you all were gone, we received word that Sparrow attacked the Emperor, Big Mom. He won of course, but he didn't kill her, and we can use that to our advantage. I plan to have her join the war for our side." Kong told them, and at once Aokiji's eyes narrowed. "And what makes you think that's a good idea? The Emperors don't exactly like us." He said, not impressed in the slightest.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Kong said matter-of-factly. "No. The enemy of my enemy is still a fucking enemy if they're pirates, especially if they also just so happen to one of the four god-damned Emperors!" Aokiji said, sounding rather fed up with this whole situation, and it wasn't just because he was in a lot of pain.
He didn't have high hopes for this whole war, and honestly, he wasn't sure the Marines and the World Government were even in the right of it. To top that off, they were antagonizing a man he had never met who frankly scared the shit out of him, and now they had just gone and invited one of their worst enemies to fight along side them. An enemy that might very well stab them in the back at the first chance they got.
"You misunderstand the situation, Kuzan. We're gathering the greatest military force this world has ever known, inviting Big Mom just makes this easier. And if all else plays out according to plan, we might have the chance to kill two birds with one stone." Kong said, but Aokiji doubted things would go like he thought. Nothing they had done so far was working out all that well.
"That's great. You let me know how that goes." He told Kong, then left the ship and began making his way towards the hospital. If he was lucky, he could get patched up and get out of here before all hell rained down upon them.
*****
(Location: Windmill Village)
(Radek POV)
"Where to?" Radek asked Cormack, who looked bored as he flipped through some reports. "Calm down, Radek. Not all of us like patrol duty. Besides, the list of places to start is endless." Cormack said lazily without looking at him. "Excuse me, Sir, but there's someone on the line from Alabasta." A new recruit said, interrupting what was promising to be a lengthy decision on Cormack's part.
"That's weird. Usually people in Alabasta talk to Stain if they want to get a hold of us." Cormack said without turning his attention away from the list of papers in his hand. "Maybe he's busy? Or maybe he finally asked Jen to marry him and they went off on a honeymoon?!" Radek wondered excitedly.
"Radek, you're the only guy I know who gets excited about other guys getting married. Maybe you should stop hanging out with little children and go drink at a bar every once in awhile. I'll even take you." Cormack said, but Radek ignored him. He was good at ignoring people when they said stupid things.
"So what does the person in Alabasta want?" Cormack asked the guy who was still standing in the doorway. "I don't know, Sir, I told him to hold on a minute while I went and got someone." The guy said, and this time both Radek and Cormack looked over at him. "You're supposed to find out who it is and what he wants, then you report it so we know if its an urgent matter." Cormack told the guy something that even Radek could have told him was basic knowledge.
"That makes sense." The guy said, then quickly left the room to go and do just that. "He has to be a former Marine. They're the only ones I know who are that stupid." Cormack said with a shake of his head. "Give the guy a break. It's his first day on the job." Radek admonished him, but Cormack didn't seem to care.
"Oh, lets go and patrol-" Cormack began, but Radek interrupted him. "Leah said I'm not allowed to take you to any island with a resort. She also told me to tell you that if she finds out you put off patrol again, she was going to hang your balls at the foot of her bed so she could kick them every morning when she woke up, and that she didn't care if you were still attached to them." Radek said, reading from a slip of paper he had pulled from his pocket. "Fine." Cormack grumbled before he continued flipping through the pages.
It was right about that time when the new guy from earlier burst into the room with a panicked look on his face. "Horrible news! The guild in Alabasta was attacked by the Marines, and the guild leader was captured!" The guy shouted hysterically. Hearing what the man said, both Radek and Cormack shared a look before Cormack spun quickly around in his chair before slamming his fist against a giant red button, and instantly alarms sprang to life all over the base. Knowing what was coming, Radek opened a small gate to the courtyard for him and Cormack, and already he could see a small strike force moving into formation.
"What's the situation?!" Haedrig asked once he arrived. "Stain's under attack by the Government. That's all we know." Cormack informed him. "Fuck." Haedrig cursed, then unlike normal, he called for more people. Once they had about three full squadrons, Haedrig gave the signal for Radek to open the gate to Alabasta, only instead of seeing an approaching army of Marines, what they saw was a city in ruin, at least a good portion of is was gone.
"What the…" Radek heard Haedrig mumble under his breath as he surveyed the area. "I thought you were going to take us to the guild building?" Someone behind him asked. "This was the guild building." Haedrig said, answering the question that Radek couldn't bring himself to respond to.
"STAIN?! ANYONE?!" Cormack shouted loudly, but no response was forthcoming. "Spread out and search the area! Look for any survivors, and if you contact the enemy, send up flares!" Haedrig ordered, and at once people moved to do as he bade them. For his part, Radek stayed close to Haedrig as they moved about the area, mostly because he knew they couldn't risk him, but also because Haedrig would be the one to give him his next set of orders.
Even as they moved about the ruined buildings, Haedrig was creating clones of himself that immediately ran in a different direction than the clones before it, and it didn't seem like he was going to be slowing down anytime soon. "This way!" Haedrig said suddenly, changing their course to the left. Radek knew Haedrig got the memories of his clones when they disappeared, and they only disappeared when they found something important that they wanted the main body to know about.
Soon enough they arrived at a cleared area that was covered in tents, and surrounding them were hundreds of injured men, women, and children. "Jen!" Radek cried out suddenly when he noticed the purple-haired woman being tended to by an older lady. "Radek… they took him. They took Stain." She said through tears. It was a struggle, but she was eventually able to fill them in on everything that happened, and it was only then that they learned how the attack happened five days ago. They had apparently tried to call numerous times, but the calls never went through.
Having a bad feeling, Haedrig pulled out his own Transponder Snail, and like he suspected, the call wouldn't go through. "Whatever's stopping the signal is still active. Comb the shores." Haedrig ordered, which was all the instruction Cormack needed before he led a hundred soldiers away from the area.
"We need to get into contact with Jack. I'll stay here and coordinate things, but I need you to go get him. Do it just like we practiced." Haedrig told him, and Radek could only nod in confirmation. What he was talking about was Radek using Moonwalk and his gates to traverse vast areas in almost no time at all. Since he could open a gate to anywhere he could see or had been before, he could open a gate to the farthest place he could see, jump through it and do it again, essentially covering hundreds of kilometers in minutes, and so long as he followed Jack's Vivre Card, it shouldn't take him very long at all.
The only problem was, Radek wasn't the best at using Moonwalk, and making gates while he was in the air was rather tricky. He could do it, but it was by no means a perfect system, and he definitely couldn't do it with other people without it taking a lot longer, hence why he would be going alone.
Knowing that finding Jack was imperative at the moment, Radek opened a gate to Shakky's Bar on Sabaody Archipelago, however he had scarcely stepped through the gate when he was bombarded by gunfire. Thankfully Haedrig had still been standing beside him when he opened the gate and had jumped through and pushed him to the floor before he began filling the place with clones.
"Are you alright?!" Haedrig asked a few seconds later once he had killed everyone in the place. Pushing himself to his feet, Radek felt a searing hot pain in his shoulder and in his stomach. Looking down, he saw that blood was pouring out of him from the two places where he had apparently been shot.
"Fucking, FUCK!" Haedrig cursed angrily. "I can still do this. It doesn't hurt that bad." Radek said, but Haedrig looked doubtful. Pulling out his Transponder Snail, Haedrig cursed once more when he realized that Sabaody was being jammed as well, which meant that this was not just any little attack, but a well-planned one, and he had a sinking feeling that things were far from over.
That thought proved to be correct when pretty much the entire bar was engulfed by explosions, but thankfully the place was a lot sturdier than it looked, and the two of them were able to jump through another gate that Radek created to get them out of there. "Where are we?" Haedrig asked, finding that the room they were in looked very familiar. "Mary Geoise." Radek answered, which only earned him a long drawn out sigh from Haedrig. "Fine, but we're doing things differently compared to last time. Get on my back, and open the gates when I say." Haedrig told him, and though Radek wanted to argue that he didn't need to, he kept that to himself.
Climbing on Haedrig's back, they moved over so they were looking out over the Red Line and into the New World. "Pick a far off place, and make it high. If we fall into the ocean, we're fucked." Haedrig instructed him, then they were off.
*****
(Location: Secon)
(General POV)
"I can't believe you just gave it away to them! If you were going to give it away to somebody, why not give it to me?!" Nami whined for what seemed like the umpteenth time today about the fact that Jack had given away the giant casino that was Gran Tesoro. Well, that was its previous name, as it had now been renamed to the City of Dreams. "Can you please make her stop?" Jack asked Nojiko and completely ignoring Nami. "I would, but I just don't care." Nojiko answered simply while continuing to sunbathe on the deck of the Pearl.
"Think of the baby. What if he or she whines and complains for everything because they picked it up from her?" Jack said, playing a hidden card that he knew would spark Nojiko's interest. For the last few days, she had been reading book after book on babies, which was how Jack knew that even unborn babies could hear things going on around the mother.
"You can't use this as an excuse again." Nojiko told him, then went on to chide Nami on the fact that she had more gold and treasure than anyone in the world, so she could bite her tongue or go and spend the day with Luke doing who knew what or where. "By the way, the baby wants watermelon." Nojiko told him, and before her eyes he made a giant bowl full of freshly cutup watermelon appear in his hand.
Things were quiet for a time after that, until it wasn't. Jack had just fallen asleep on the lounge chair beside Nojiko when a loud crash rocked him awake. Looking at the cause of the crash, he was surprised to see Haedrig and Radek sprawled out on the lower deck, and Radek appeared to be injured because blood was already pooling around them. "What the fuck happened to you two?" Jack asked even as he moved to quickly help the two.
Breathing heavily, Haedrig wheezed out, "The Marines… They got Stain."