Chapter 58: Power Surge

Chapter 64:

Power Surge

"The eighth branch of Marine Headquarters," Robin commented, her and Usopp observing the base from an upper ridge. "Although it's official name is G-8, it is usually referred to as Navarone."

"Where's the Merry?" Usopp asked frantically, scouring the lake with a pair of binoculars for a ship out of sight. "What have they done to my precious Merry? If they damage her, I swear I'll kill every last one of them!"

"Calm down, Long-Nose," Robin ordered. "Our lives are more important than the ship right now."

"No they aren't!" Usopp argued. "I'd die for that ship! If you don't care about her, then I'm going to go find her on my own!" The sniper stormed off, only stopping when a dozen of Robin's arms sprouted from a nearby tree, bending the teen into its shape just as a quartet of marines appeared.

"Find anything?" the marine in the lead asked. He was met with negative answers. "Remember, that ship is the ship of the Straw Hat Pirates, and it's our job to find them! They're somewhere in the base. Move out!" The arms vanished as the men moved out of earshot and, though he was still mad at her, Usopp muttered a quick thank you before storming off.

"Hello, Straw Hat Luffy," Jonathan greeted, his fork preventing the pirate's stretchy arm from snatching the meatball it had skewered, the final bit of food on the plate. "To what do I owe the honor of having such an infamous man inside my base?"

Luffy sighed and released the meatball. "Luck," he answered honestly. "We fell from the sky and this is where we landed. I like the food here, by the way."

"I'm glad you approve," the marine commented, eyeing the pirate captain dressed as a cook. "If it was your chef that cooked this, and I suspect it was, then you eat better than some admirals."

"Yeah, but I don't think they get kicked when they try to raid the fridge." Against his own wishes, Jonathan laughed. "I like you," Luffy smiled. "You remind me of Smokey."

"I take that to mean that you've met Marine Captain Smoker?"

"Yeah, he's a funny guy. He let me go in Alabasta so I could kick Crocodile's ass for trying to ruin the country." Realizing what he'd just said and what that information could do, Luffy swiftly covered his mouth.

"I thought as much," Jonathan sighed. "I hope you know, I can't give you the same luxury that Smoker did. My men will catch your crew. As a matter of fact, Pirate Hunter Zoro and Tri-Horn Coby have both been captured already."

"Where are a my Nakama?" Luffy demanded, some sort of pressure appearing in the room.

"I can't tell you that," Jonathan chuckled. "It would speed up the game too much." Luffy moved to argue, but Sanji's arm reached in and dragged the rubber-man out of the room. They turned away to run, but the staff of the entire kitchen was waiting for them in the wall, knifes brandished.

"It's a shame," Jessica commented as her husband stepped out of the room behind the pirates. "To think an amazing chef like you would waste your life as a pirate." The tension was mounting, only to be broken by the doors of the dining hall opening and releasing a wave of hungry marines that obscured the view of the pirates. Taking their chance, Luffy and Sanji bolted out the door and down the halls.

"They're getting away!" Jessica yelled, her voice being lost in the murmur of hungry men.

"Calm down, dear," Jonathan chuckled, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders. "We'll get them. For now, I want to try some of that pirate chef's cooking. Straw Hat stole most of my meal."

"What a dump!" the Marine Inspector muttered, eyeing the docks of G-8 as he disembarked from one of the battleships. Sunglasses rested on the bridge of the man's sharp nose and his brown hair was just long enough to be in a small rat-tail. It was quite possible he was related to Nazumi in some way. "To think I weathered a storm to come to this backwater trash field. You there! Call your commander immediately and tell him that Marine Inspector Sheppard of Marine HQ is here. I wish to speak with him ASAP."

"That will be fine, sir," the marine replied, "but I'm going to have to verify your name and rank beforehand."

"That's preposterous! Call your commander and I'll talk to him myself."

"That won't do," the man sheepishly responded. "I'm afraid this is the hour Commander Jonathan usually takes off for lunch, so he's probably in the dining hall."

"Then call the dining hall," Sheppard demanded as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

"No can do! Don't you know the G-8 creed?"

Sheppard blinked. "You have a creed?" Every man in the vicinity snapped to attention.

"Rule one: always wash your hands before meals!" they chanted as one. "Rule two: never leave food on your plate! Rule three: never discuss work in the dining hall! Rule four: when brushing your teeth-"

"I don't give a shit!" Sheppard snapped, cutting them off. "Never mind. I'll go find your Commander Jonathan on my own. And you, sailor; I hope you start working out a creed to keep in jail after you've been court-martialed!" The man stormed off, muttering about what would happen to the captain of this base after he handed in his report. He entered a dark passage into the base, so no one noticed when multiple arms pinned the man and forced him into unconsciousness.

"Marine Inspector Sheppard," Robin mused, studying the ID she'd taken from the man. "Yes, you'll do nicely."

Merry had done her best to be disagreeable with the marines that towed her to dock 88, scaring each and every one of them so much that they hadn't wanted to stick around to pull her out of the water. Most of the marines had fled as soon as her hull touched the concrete of the dock floor, leaving the so-called ghost ship to bob in the water without pulling her onto the dry platform.

Still, some of the newbies had been ordered to stay on her to guard the ship from its crew, leaving Merry preoccupied with the duo trying to steal their gold. Two marines had brought a tarp with the intention of hauling up the gold in great piles, three or four trips maximum, but Merry wasn't going to have any of that. Whenever they moved back to the pile of gold, Merry would shift the gold back to where it had been. Angered and confused, th marines still wouldn't give up and kept restarting. Merry kept silently, and sometimes not-so-silently, snickering at them until she felt a familiar presence on the ground.

Usopp, knowing none of this and dressed in a Marine uniform, had made his way to the dock and was staring up at the Merry with tears in his eyes. He jumped, however, when an old man with white hair and a bushy moustache/beard stepped up next to him.

"She's a fine ship, isn't she?" the man asked, surprising Usopp. "She's a caravel and she's seen a lot of action, too. Caravels can hold their own with the best of them, even if they're an older model. And she's loved. Those patch jobs are well-done, no matter how rushed they may seem."

"You can tell all that just by looking at her?" Usopp marveled.

"It doesn't matter to me if it's a Marine ship or a pirate ship if it's a beautiful vessel. Marines nowadays seem to think it's their job to wreck every nice ship they get."

"Hold it!" Lieutenant Drake ordered, a slew of marines behind him. "Hey, you! What unit are you in?"

"Unit 18?" Usopp's answer wasn't supposed to be a question.

"A sniper, then," Drake stated. "Are you stupid or something? Don't you know that only maintenance personnel are allowed on the docks when repairing ships?"

"Sorry, sir," Usopp apologized quickly. "Us snipers are pretty forgetful. I'll be going now!" Usopp turned, only to find four swords pointed at his neck.

"Unit 18 is a supply unit, not a sniper unit. You aren't going anywhere, Straw Hat Pirate."

"Now wait just a damn minute!" the old man yelled. "You know that these docks are basically sacred ground to the shipwrights! If you spill even a drop of his blood here, I'll make sure you regret it!"

Before any more could be said, light exploded from the deck of the Merry and two burnt forms were catapulted from the ship. The bodies of two marines, both of them groaning softly, landed with a thud at the feet of their Lieutenant Commander.

"The Hell?" Drake cursed. A form staggered over to the railing of the pirate vessel.

"Who are you?" Gin demanded in a tired voice. "Where are my Nakama?"

"Gin!" Usopp cried happily.

"Usopp," Gin called back. "Where the Hell are we?"

"Get him!" Drake ordered. Gin moved to jump off the ship, but he tripped over the railing and landed face first into the concrete. He exploded into lightning for a split second before he reformed, sparks flying off him at random intervals. The first wave of enemies slashed their swords through the man, but they had no effect save for shocking the marines.

"Gin, did you...?" Usopp left the question hanging.

"Ah," the Man-Demon confirmed as he backhanded a marine in the face, the man falling with smoke rolling from his mouth. "It seemed like the only option as the time."

"I mean, that's fine, but could you please help me?" Turning toward the sound of Usopp's voice, Gin darted forward. The four holding Usopp at swordpoint moved to retaliate, but they met the same fate as all the others.

"Pull back!" Drake ordered. "He's a Logia! Call for backup!"

"Special Attack: Smoke Star!" A small pellet broke against the floor next to Lieutenant Drake's feet, surrounding him and the marines around him in a grey cloud. The smokescreen dazed the marines long enough for Usopp to scramble onto the Merry. As he stepped on deck, a couple of Navy soldiers with a load of gold between them arrived from below deck.

"Man," the first complained. "All that work and this is the first load we got out? We haven't even gotten to the food or the cannons, yet. Stupid cursed gold."

"What's all the commotion?" the second asked Usopp, mistaking him for a marine.

"Usopp Hammer! Usopp Hammer!" The surprise attacks knocked the men out cold, giving the sniper the freedom to drop them over the side of the ship and onto the dock below. "Don't worry, girl," Usopp sighed happily, running a hand over the mast while ignoring the stalemate happening on the docks and the gold-laden tarp that was moving back into storage of its own volition. "I'm here to take good care of you, Merry."

Now, Usopp couldn't be sure, but he would later swear to Raftel and back that he heard someone whisper a very heartfelt "thank you."

"Marine Inspector Sheppard," Vice-Admiral Jonathan greeted, shaking the hand of the woman who had introduced herself as such. "It's a pleasure to meet you." The woman had dark hair that fell to her shoulders and sunglasses that hid her eyes. The uniform she wore was well-decorated.

"You as well," the woman replied smoothly, shaking his hand. "I'm sorry it took so long to get here, what with the storm and everything. I hope I haven't kept you waiting."

"Not at all," Jonathan smiled. "Please excuse us if we seem a bit frantic; we're having some problems down at one of the docks."

"I think I heard some of the men talking about that on the way up. Dock 88, correct? I'll leave that to you. Although, if you don't mind, I'd like to get my inspection started from the bottom up. Could you please have someone lead me to the brig?"

"Of course," Jonathan nodded. The woman, with two men leading her, exited the room. Quietly, the commander ordered another six men to shadow her. Now alone in his office, the vice-admiral turned to his chess board and rearranged the pieces.

"Straw Hat and a chef running around the halls," he muttered to himself. "An unknown doctor and two unknown nurses performing surgery. A sniper and the Man-Demon with the living ship. A woman who claims to be Inspector Sheppard. And finally, the Pirate Hunter and Tri-Horn in custody. That's ten human pirates in all, seven male and three female, the exact number we got from Alabasta (1). It's only a matter of time."

End of Chapter 64

1) Note: Robin was not part of the crew and Amy does not have a bounty, so Jonathan is confusing the disguised Robin for Amy, who is still in hiding. He also doesn't know what Chopper is.

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-SwordOfTheGods