(Location: Secon)
(General POV)
"The Marines… They got Stain." Haedrig managed to get out even as he tried to catch his breath. "Soran, I need your help!" Jack shouted, and from inside the ship came flying a tiny ball of glittering dust. Without having to be told what to do, Soran began covering both Radek and Haedrig with healing dust, and less than a minute later the two of them were as healthy as could be, if only a bit wore out. Once they weren't knocking on Death's door, Jack got them to explain the whole situation, and needless to say, but he wasn't happy.
Pacing around the ship, Jack's mind raced as he tried to think of what his next move should be, but each idea was worse than the previous. He knew this was some big elaborate trap for him, so rushing in was the worst thing he could do at the moment. "Calm down, and breathe." Nojiko said softly as she stood in front of him and cupped his face with her hands. Realizing that he wasn't making anyone feel better with his pacing, Jack decided to listen to the sound advice and took a slow deep breath, then exhaled.
"Thanks." He whispered to Nojiko. "First things first. Radek, you're coming with me to Dressrosa. Everyone else wait here on full alert. We'll be back soon." Jack told them, then without explaining anything else, both he and Radek disappeared. In what seemed to be no time at all, a gate opened back to Secon from Dressrosa, and Jack, Luke, Radek, and Viola stepped through.
"We're going to head straight to Alabasta and deal with the situation there, then we'll go back to the East Blue to get everything else planned out. Luke, I want you to see if you can find out where the jamming signals are coming from and get rid of them. Soran, I'm going to need your help healing the injured." Jack told them, getting nods of understanding before darkness rose up around them all and swallowed them up.
"What are we going to do, Pops?" Marco asked Whitebeard once Jack and the others were gone. They hadn't been invited along to fight in a war, but no one had said they couldn't come. "I get the feeling that the outcome of this war is going to determine the fate of this world. I'll understand if any of you don't want a hand in it, but I'm going." Whitebeard answered, and at once his sons and allies all shouted that they were going to follow him.
"What about you four?" Whitebeard asked Rayleigh, Garp, Sengoku, and Shakky. "We're retired." Sengoku said, not wanting any part in a war between Jack and the World Government. "If Jack wants our help, he knows where to find us." Rayleigh said, not against helping Jack if he asked, but until then, he was going to let the younger generation fight this out. Besides, he honestly didn't think they needed his help.
For his part, Garp didn't say anything, which was odd for him, but Sengoku didn't question it because anytime Garp said anything he got a headache, so he took his silence as a win. With that, the City of Dreams as they had dubbed their new casino, set off from Secon.
*****
(Location: Alabasta)
(Luke Strauss POV)
"I think that was the last jamming signal. Try calling them now." Luke said, prompting a Sentinel to call someone on his Transponder Snail. "It's working, Sir." The Sentinel said, proving Luke's assumption true. Ever since they had arrived in Alabasta a few hours ago, he could feel what felt like an electric barrier surrounding most of the country, and using his unique relationship with electricity he was able to trace the barrier's power sources.
Hiding in the most random of places, Luke found Marines or Cipher Pol agents, and after brutally torturing them and destroying the weird little devices they carried, the weird barrier fizzled out of existence, which is how he figured that it was gone.
Heading back to Nanohana, Luke saw that Jack had already replaced a good portion of the ruined city with new buildings, and Soran had healed a great many of the injured people. Kureha and her team of doctors were also working quickly, but even with their skills and expertise, they still couldn't compete against a little girl who could restore limbs and repair internal organs in seconds.
"Come over here." Jack said, prompting Luke over to where he was sitting with Haedrig and a few others. "Luke, I want you, Radek, and Viola to go back to Sabaody. Marineford is relatively close to there, so Viola should be able to use her powers to spy on the Marines and see what they're planning. See if she can find Stain and tell me his condition, then bring her back here and we'll go from there." Jack told him.
"They were waiting for me when I went there last time." Radek said, but Luke didn't care. "Open the gate." He told Radek, who did as he was told. Stepping through the gate, Luke checked the area with his Haki, and only after he couldn't feel the presence of anyone nearby did he gesture for Viola and Radek to step through the gate with him. "Gruesome." Viola said once she stepped through and saw all of the dead Government agents that littered the bar.
"Haedrig did that." Radek told her. "Can you see Marineford from here or do we need to go closer?" Luke asked Viola, who immediately began to channel her powers. It took a few minutes, but eventually she said, "I can see Marineford. There are hundreds of warships, and thousands of soldiers. I couldn't tell you exactly how many, but there are more than a hundred-thousand of them."
She was quiet for a few more minutes before she again said, "I've found two Warlords. Bartholomew Kuma and Hawkeye Mihawk. And- Oh… It seems they've found replacements for the other Warlords. The Marines standing outside their rooms are talking about them. Someone named Marshall D. Teach became a Warlord, and so did a former Marine Warden named Shiryu of the Rain. He's a swordsman. Finally there's a guy named Foxy. The Marines don't know a whole lot about him, but he apparently has a powerful Devil Fruit that they want him to use on you specifically." Viola explained everything as best as she could to Luke, and though it was informative, a picture was worth a thousand words, and right now, Luke would rather she just show him her memories because he was having a tough time trying to visualize all of this.
"That's five. What about the other two Warlords, Jimbe and Boa Hancock?" Radek asked her. "Jimbe is on route to Marineford, but there doesn't seem to be any information on Boa Hancock. She's likely still on her island, Amazon Lily." Viola replied curtly before going back to spying on the Marines.
"Hey, those people you fought in the Holy City, the ones dressed all in black, they're there too. Oh, and I've read about these two before, they're strong." Viola said, describing each person she happened to see, and even went into great detail about two people who were famous guard captains for the Government.
She continued spying for about an hour, finding all sorts of people, weapons, traps, and anything else she could find until finally she found the location where they were holding Stain. He was in a dark pit deep beneath Marineford wrapped in chains, and based on what she could see, he was just barely alive. The pit was completely lined with Sea Prism Stone, and there were more than a few security measures that made it impossible for someone to even scratch their ass, let alone to try and escape.
When they finally had enough intel, Radek opened a gate back to Alabasta, however instead of going with him and Viola, Luke stayed behind after he got Viola to tell him where someone was, then once the gate was closed, he disappeared from Sabaody. It didn't take him very long before he arrived at the island in the Calm Belt, and soon enough Luke was looking at a Marine Warship anchored just offshore of it.
'Oh good. They're still here.' He told himself, glad that the trip hadn't been for nothing. He didn't honestly consider the Warlords all that terrifying, but he would be a fool if he didn't see that they could be a threat, hence why he wanted to come here and get rid of one of them before she had the chance to go back to Marineford and join up with them to fight against The Order.
Figuring to deal with the Marines first, Luke appeared down on the deck of the ship with his swords at the ready, however it was only then that he realized there wasn't a living person on board. That wasn't to say there wasn't anyone on board, only that every single Marine had already been turned into stone statues. 'Huh… I was not expecting this.' He thought, finding that his entire plan was gone now.
Wanting to figure out what was happening, Luke shot himself to the island of women, not being all that stealthy as he did so. Almost as if he owned the place, Luke walked down the street, looking for any sign that these people were gearing up to join the Marines, but instead he got stupid looks from them.
"Halt!" Someone cried, and before long he found himself surrounded by more than a hundred women who all had bows drawn with arrows pointed at him. "You know, I had a dream like this once, only we all were naked and in a giant bed. Funny enough, you all had bows in that dream too." Luke told them with a wolfish grin.
"Wait! Stand down, all of you!" Someone shouted, and soon Luke saw a woman with jet black hair wearing black stockings to match her underwear that left nothing to the imagination. "What's going on, Ran? This person is a man, and you know they are forbidden here!" Someone asked the woman who had ordered everyone to stand down. "This man is Luke Strauss. The Snake Princess has made it known that she wishes to meet with him." Ran said, and at once everyone cleared the way for Luke, giving him a clear path to the giant building that looked like a palace.
Surprised at the sudden turn of events, Luke let himself be led to the ornate palace, and soon he found himself standing at the bottom of some stairs that led up to a throne. Atop that throne sat arguably the fifth or sixth hottest woman Luke had ever seen.
'Come to think of it, why is it that all of the women in my life are drop dead gorgeous? Nami, Robin, Nojiko, Viola, Perona, hell, even that dumb cunt Tashigi is pleasant to look at. Then again… Kureha still gives me nightmares.' Luke thought to himself, getting a slight chill from just thinking about the old woman.
"I must say, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Luke Strauss." The beautiful woman that Luke knew to be Boa Hancock spoke happily. "I wouldn't say it was a pleasure to meet me just yet, but we'll put a pin in that for later. First off, why did you want to meet me? Secondly, why are the Marines offshore turned into stone? Finally, why is it that there are no men on this island?" Luke questioned the Warlord.
"How dare you speak to her like that, you beast! This is exactly why we hate men!" A green-haired woman with an abnormally large head shouted at him from behind the pirate empress. "Sonia, please. It's alright." Boa Hancock told her sister without ever looking away from Luke. Whether she feared her sister would do something horribly or say something unthinkable, Hancock's sister ordered everyone to leave the throne room until there was just Hancock, her two sisters, an old shriveled gnome, and finally Luke.
"I've wanted to meet you ever since you and your friends attacked Mary Geoise. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to attack Mary Geoise since Fisher Tiger, but not only did you attack it, you and your friends burned it to the ground. As for the Marines offshore, they wanted to bring me to Marineford to fight against Jack Sparrow and his Order, but I would sooner help you than go against you. Finally, men are forbidden from being on Amazon Lily, however you are the exception." Hancock answered each of his questions in order, however her answers only gave him more questions.
"Even if men aren't allowed here, surely the women here have had male children. What happened to them?" Luke questioned her. "I'm afraid not. While the Kuja might fornicate with whatever male they happened to capture, no woman ever gives birth to a male on Amazon Lily. In fact, any woman on the island who has never ventured outside Amazon Lily has never seen a man before until your arrival." Hancock explained, however her explanation made no sense. Still, Luke guessed there were stranger things in life than an island that was sexist against men and somehow made all children born on it to be female. 'Either way, I better warn Jack and make sure Nojiko doesn't come here anytime soon.' He told himself.
"Okay, so why exactly would you be happy about us attacking Mary Geoise? You're a Warlord, who serves the World Government. Shouldn't you be upset about that?" Luke asked her, however this seemed to be the wrong thing to ask apparently because she began to cry.
"You know what, give me a moment." Luke said, not really in the mood to try and interrogate a woman who by all accounts hated men and grew up on an island of women. 'There are probably so many hormones floating around here, I'll be lucky to get out of here without growing a pair of tits.' Luke grumbled to himself even as he pulled out his Transponder Snail and called Jack.
"Where did you go? Viola told me you took off from Sabaody, but she didn't tell me where." Jack asked. "I'm on Amazon Lily. I came to kill Boa Hancock, but then I found out she doesn't have any intention of working with the World Government. In fact, she killed the ones who came to get her. Kind of threw me for a loop. Anyway, that's not why I called. Since you know so much, why would she be happy about us attacking Mary Geoise?" Luke asked him. In his mind, if it was even somewhat important, Jack would know about it, and at least he would be able to tell him straight up without crying about it.
"Of course you did." Jack said, then heaved a big sigh before he began to explain Hancock's backstory and how she and her sisters had been captured, then bought and enslaved by the Celestial Dragons. It took Jack roughly three minutes to tell him everything, and the entire time Hancock and her sisters were staring at him in disbelief. After explaining everything, Jack said, "So yeah, she does have a good reason to hate the World Government."
"Well I'm glad you told me before I killed her. That would've sucked." Luke said, then looked up to Hancock who was staring dumbly at him. "I'm sorry I was going to kill you, Hancock, but in my defense, I thought you were working with the World Government." Luke told her.
"Luke... has she been listening to me tell you all about her this whole time?" Jack asked, and Luke could swear he heard some irritation in his voice. "Yeah. At first it seemed like she was going to tell me everything, but then she started crying, and you know how much I hate crying, so I called you instead." Luke admitted honestly.
"You're an insensitive asshole, you know that?" Jack told him before he addressed Hancock. "I'm sorry, Hancock. I didn't mean to air your suffering, but I did think Luke needed to know it so he didn't do something stupid. We're going to destroy what's left of the World Government, and you have my word, no one will harm Amazon Lily ever again." Jack promised the empress, then without waiting for a response from her, he ended the call. The room was eerily quiet for a minute after the call ended, but it was broken by Luke clearing his throat before he said, "So… any questions for me?"
*****
(Location: Amazon Lily)
(Selene POV)
"Why did you bring us here?" Selene asked Luke as she, Soran and Apis walked beside Luke down the street towards a palace. "And why wasn't Radek allowed inside the town?" Soran questioned as she looked back at where they had left the man. He had already gone back to Alabasta to assist with everything, but it was still weird that he was stopped from entering the town.
"Men aren't allowed on Amazon Lily, with the exception of yours truly of course. As for bringing you here, I needed Soran's help with something, and I figured you all would like to see the all maiden island." Luke explained, though not very well.
"An all woman island? Viola and Perona weren't enough, so you had to get an entire island of them?!" Selene asked in horror. "What?! No! It's not like that." Luke said, but Selene wasn't buying it. "Since we're headed for the palace, I'm assuming it's another princess. Is she at least off the spectrum, or is she as nutty as the other two?" Selene questioned him, and Luke couldn't help but look away from her. "I'm starting to think he has a type." Apis said with a small laugh. "Yeah, the batshit crazy type." Selene said in agreement.
They were quiet after that, at least until they reached the palace, where upon entering they found themselves standing before a beautiful woman sitting on a throne. "You're back sooner than I thought. And who are these children you've brought with you?" The woman sitting on the throne asked, and she sounded a little angry for some reason.
"Hancock, this is my sister, Selene, and these are her friends, Soran and Apis. Soran is actually Jack's sister, and she has the power to remove that mark from your back." Luke said, and instantly the woman's demeanor changed. For starters, she was happy when Luke introduced her as his sister, but her expression changed rather quickly when Luke told her about Soran removing a mark from her back. 'Given how quickly her mood changes, she's definitely short a few brain cells.' Selene told herself.
Keeping her thoughts to herself, Selene simply followed along as they were led into the woman's bedchambers, then she turned her back to them before removing her dress, and it was only then that she saw the all too familiar mark burned into her skin. It was the same mark that had been burned onto her own back not that long ago. The mark of the Celestial Dragons.
Like her own mark, Soran simply waved her hands before slowly, the mark began to fade away, replaced with a healthy layer of skin. After seeing the mark disappear, the woman's two sisters began to cry in joy for their sister, and then for themselves after Soran did the same to them. Luke had thought to give the three sisters a moment to celebrate with themselves, but before they had even gone more than a step, the three sisters grabbed Soran and began to squeeze the life out of her, which then prompted Selene and Apis to hightail it out of there before they got roped into that death hold.
"You were going to just leave me!" Soran shouted at them, having appeared mere seconds after Selene in her tiny little fairy form. "It was a sacrifice I was willing to make." Apis said unapologetically. "What she said." Selene said in agreement. Even though she was happy for the three sisters, that didn't mean she was going to suffer because of them.
"You three shouldn't run off on your own." Someone said, and it was only then that Selene noticed two of the three sisters walking towards them. "Where's Luke?" Selene asked them when they got closer. "He and our big sis were… talking." One of them said.
"Is talking code for sex?" Apis asked, to which Soran sagely nodded her head. "I knew it. Even though I love the guy, he's such a whoremonger." Selene said with a shake of her head. "At least she's pretty." Soran said, looking on the bright side of things, but Selene didn't care. This was one more woman she was going to have to share her brother with, and she didn't like sharing all that much.
*****
It took a few hours before Luke finally emerged from the castle, with an almost glowing Hancock in tow. "Just you wait until we get back to Alabasta. I'm so telling Viola about this." Selene whispered so only Luke could hear her. "She'd find out on her own anyway. See if I care." Luke told her, not too worried about Viola. Given how she already knew about Perona, it was safe to say that adding one more woman into the mix wasn't going to change anything.
"Oh yeah? Does your new toy know about Viola and Perona? She seems unstable enough that she'd freak out about that." Selene said, and this time her words had the effect she wanted, because Luke looked slightly worried. "You wouldn't dare." Luke told her, though based on how worried he looked, he didn't believe that. "Hey, Hancock!" She said loudly to get the woman's attention. "Yes, sister-in-law?" Hancock asked her, her words giving Selene pause.
Before she could say something that would ruin the woman's day, Luke scooped her up and clamped his hand over her mouth. "She just wanted to tell you how excited she is to have a big sister like you. Anyway, I promised to have them home a while ago, so we best be going." Luke said quickly. "Oh how sweet! I'll see you soon!" Hancock said excitedly, then actually leaned in and kissed Luke with Selene wedged between them, giving her a face full of the woman's abnormally large chest.
Only after the two separated was Selene able to breathe again, at which point a gate appeared and they all went through it. "Sister-in-law? Did you two get married in the short time you weren't inside her?" Selene questioned Luke once they were back in Alabasta. "I'll admit, that caught me a little off-guard, but you don't need to go and make this worse for me." Luke told her.
"You did that all on your own when you decided to add her to your harem." Selene said matter-of-factly. "I don't have a harem." Luke refuted. "Apis?" Selene asked. "You have a harem." The other girl reiterated, followed by a nod of agreement from Soran.
Luke was quiet for a time, at least until Viola appeared, looking rather excited. "Your back." She said happily as she leaned in and kissed Luke, which caused her to pause slightly as she licked her lips. "I'd go rinse your mouth out with soap, Viola. Luke added another princess into his harem, and shockingly, she's nuttier than you are." Selene told Viola before she walked off, likely to go have a bath.
*****
(Location: Windmill Village)
(General POV)
It had been seven days since the Marines had captured Stain, and it seemed the World Government was finally ready to confront Jack. [Order of Lies] Was the headline of the day's paper, which went on to describe how one of Jack Sparrow's allies had been captured a week before by the World Government after the man had gone on a violent killing spree in Alabasta, destroying hundreds of homes and killing thousands of innocent people.
The article also went on to say that if Jack Sparrow couldn't protect one of his own allies, what made the rest of the world think he could protect them, and that all of his promises of protection were nothing but talk. Then as if challenging Jack even more, the Marines stated that they were going to execute Stain in three days, which was likely to give Jack time to gather his forces and go to Marineford.
"Even though we know what we're going up against, I still have a bad feeling about this. They somewhat have an idea of our powers based on the fight in Mary Geoise, and yet they still want to fight us." Haedrig said, revealing his thoughts on the matter. "I know. Regardless of everything we've seen thanks to Viola, I still think they have something planned that we don't know about, which is why I don't want to bring everyone. At least not right away." Jack said, then went on to describe the plan he had been cooking up over the last two days.
It was by no means a masterful plan, but it would cause chaos and reap the lives of thousands. Not to mention it would hopefully solve the main issue of the war, allowing The Order to retreat whenever they wanted and still come out the victor, regardless of whatever backup plan the Marines had in store for them.
"I like it. I like it a lot." Luke said, fully in support of Jack's plan. "Your plan is largely dependent on you getting close enough to them without drawing suspicion, and that's if they even reach out. Still, if you can get Stain back, I'm all in." Haedrig said, also nodding in agreement. "Even though I was once a Marine, I can see now how blind I was to the truths of this world. Stain doesn't deserve to die, so I'm with you, but I have one request." Smoker said to Jack, then slowly he looked over at Luke before withdrawing a gold medallion from his pocket.
"I have two friends still in the Marines. Black Cage Hina, and Aokiji. I want you to spare them and give me the chance to pull them out of this fight." Smoker said, tossing the medallion to Luke and calling in his favor.
Looking down at the medallion now in his hand, Luke stared at it for a few seconds before looking up to meet Smoker's gaze. "I will spare one of them. Choose." Luke said simply. "Now hold on a minute! That's good for [ANY FAVOR], your words exactly. Sparing the lives of two Marines isn't a lot to ask for!" Smoker said angrily at Luke's words.
"In case you've forgotten, I've already spared two Marines. Forgetting about the others who joined The Order, I never said anything when Jack recruited you or Tashigi, but if you two want to take their places, then by all means." Luke said coldly. At this, Luke quickly turned and caught the gold medallion that had been thrown towards him from Robin, who had been sitting against the wall opposite him.
"You can't hurt anyone who is part of The Order, ever! That means you can't threaten them, cripple them, or kill them! Smoker and Tashigi are both part of The Order, and I won't let you hurt them." Robin said firmly, giving her request as well, which was a lot more reasonable to Luke.
"Luke, you gave your promise." Jack said matter-of-factly. "But you didn't! Why are you agreeing to not kill them?!" Luke questioned him. "Because Smoker is my friend, the same as you." Jack answered simply before dropping the matter. "Fine! But if either of them try to kill me or anyone from The Order, the deal's off!" Luke agreed, though he was none too happy about it.
"Alright then, round up the strike team, then get the others ready on standby. I'm going to take the day and get things sorted out, then I'll head out first thing in the morning." Jack said, dismissing everyone present after no one else had anything to say about his plan.
Heading outside, Jack quickly found Nojiko before he took her by the hand and the two of them went for a walk outside of town. "I need to ask you something." Jack said suddenly with an air of seriousness about him. "We already discussed this, I'm coming whether you want me to or not, so get it out of your head." Nojiko said firmly, not in any mood to discuss why she should be allowed to fight for her friend and her beliefs.
"That's not it." Jack said quietly, then let out a deep sigh. "It's a selfish request. If I die in this fight, I want you to run. Take Nami, Genzo, and anyone else you trust, but you need to run. Go to the Sky Islands or somewhere far from the World Government." Jack said, which in turn earned him a playful swat on the shoulder from Nojiko.
"Don't be like that. You're not going to die. You're Jack Sparrow, aren't you?" Nojiko said teasingly. "But I'm still just a man. A man who doesn't know what's coming, and no matter how much I want to, I can't take on the whole world. I'm not scared of my own death, but I am scared of what would happen to you or our child if something did happen to me. They will never stop hunting you." Jack said, sounding weaker and scared than Nojiko had ever heard him.
"Then you better not die." Nojiko told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. She would be lying if she said she wasn't worried about this fight, but she had more faith in Jack than he knew, and so wasn't worried. She would make it through this war, and so would he.