Attn: Shepherds of Justice & Straw Hat Crews // Voice

[justicereigns]

Right, so, I've been kidnapped by Straw Hat to his ship for the duration of the race, or until I get my key to my cuffs back. Whichever comes first. [You may all now laugh at him.]

Just so you know.

And I'll probably keep training Keimi even after I return.

And since it seems Davy Jones brought a bunch more new people in... hello. My name is Smoker, yeah that's my real damn name. I'm not an expert at sailing or fighting, but I've gotten damn good at learning how to handle sailing these seas, without resorting to piracy, if by some god damn miracle, some of you are actually principled enough, so yeah. Feel free to ask or whatever.

I guess that's it.

[He's a talkative guy this one.]

Comments

[justicereigns]

He used my own seastone cuffs against me.

[No worries I figured out what it meant!]

[youshouldberunning]

You know, for someone who has a pretty big weakness, you'd think they wouldn't carry them around with them. Just saying.

[justicereigns]

Bite me.

[Coughs.]

It's only been a problem against one other person, the one who gave me the scar on my face. Otherwise it's saved my life more times than I can count.

If Straw Hat wasn't so tricky I wouldn't be interested in chasing him anyway. [... So there?]

[youshouldberunning]

[would rather not bite smoke]

I suppose a challenge is better then an easy chase. Especially if that challenge isn't hurting anyone.

[justicereigns]

I'll hurt him.

If I ever catch him again somewhere it matters.

[youshouldberunning]

And it doesn't matter here. Because you can't turn him in?

[justicereigns]

Because I can't stop him from becoming the pirate King here.

[youshouldberunning]

So, I don't know him. Only what I've heard about him but... Why is it so important to stop him from becoming the pirate king in your world?

[justicereigns]

[A sigh.]

[That's a complicated answer.]

Because in order to become the next Pirate King, a pirate has to find One Piece. More than that, they have to be like the first pirate king himself, Gold Roger. Not just in spirit, not in blood at all, but in sheer damn recklessness.

The first Pirate King changed the world and inspired a new generation of pirates in the search for One Piece.

Finding One Piece, could completely destroy the world. And Straw Hat is a stubborn enough brat that he'd do it in spite of the risks. Or maybe precisely because of the risks.

[youshouldberunning]

[Wow... that sounds insane...]

[Um... ] So, what is this... One Piece? A weapon or something? [Must be, if it could destroy the world. And what's to keep others from finding it. People not pirates but near by, or.... something. Man, she's so not a sailing person.]

And what's to stop others from grabbing it while you're off trying to stop this kid?

[justicereigns]

No one else is capable of being the next pirate king.

No one's completely sure what One Piece is exactly, and the theories that exist are more than enough to make any sane person nervous.

I was at Roger's execution. I've seen hundreds of thousands of pirates come and go, I caught every single one that came through Loguetown until one. No one else has what it takes to be the next pirate king. I'm sure of it.

Have you ever heard of "indomitable will?"

[youshouldberunning]

You sound like you have a lot of respect for the guy, even if you are determined to catch him.

[Indomitable will. It made her think of Hellboy, with a sad sort of smile] MMm yeah. I've heard of it before.

[justicereigns]

Hah. Does it?

[Shakes his head all the same. He can't say he doesn't, but he can't say he does either. Maybe he does, in a bizarre sort of way, but it's not the kind of thing he could put to words; nor does he really want to.]

It's not something a lot of people have. [Indomitable will that is.] The kid gets back up no matter what happens. I've even seen him smile at the prospect of dying from his own execution, because he was that satisfied with his life, truly regretting nothing.

His family line is famous for their willpower, but his can't be harmed. No matter what he's faced, he gets back up.

And he has a special kind of naivete wherein people want to help him, in spite of themselves or their better judgement. I've seen him save a kingdom for the sake of pure friendship, and then turn around and gain an ally out of the very same pirate he defeated to put in prison. He does the impossible without even thinking about it.

No, I'm certain that no one else can get One Piece. Years ago there were others who could have, but they didn't want to. And since then, the seas of our world have been taken over by weaklings who've warped the meaning of pirate to the lowest, absolutely worst possible meaning. If it's even possible at all, Straw Hat is the only threat for achieving it.

[youshouldberunning]

[She didn't answer.... until all of that.]

Yeah, it does. [Sound like he has some respect for the kid. Though she has to admit, this story sounds pretty amazing.]

Respect enough to say he's the only person who can reach the impossible. Some of that reminds me of my friend, HB. Sets a goal and nothing will stop them.

Sounds a bit like a world changer. But if the pirates of your world are so... lowly now, then wouldn't having someone like Straw Hat be... good? [seriously, she's going to start looking in on more of this guys antics after this.]

[justicereigns]

[Well, yeah. Sometimes it is good. He saved the country that Smoker and Tashigi couldn't, while all Smoker could do was get proof enough to force the World Government and superior officers' hands in acknowledging that Crocodile had turned rogue. He saved the children that Vergo himself was involved in kidnapping for scientific experiments.]

He does some good things, but...

[But he's still a pirate.]

But it's not for stable reasons.

Like I said, he helped save a country. He stopped a pirate who'd been legalized by the World Government. Except then he turned around and allied himself with that pirate's closest partner, a woman who holds the knowledge to destroy the world with weapons. He also let Crocodile and several couple hundred others out of prison just because he was trying to save someone close to him. And twice he's almost had entire islands destroyed in order to rescue a friend of his.

He brings chaos with him. Chaos itself isn't bad, but it's not always good either.

[youshouldberunning]

[Oh god, Hellboy would love him. :|]

I see. So he does good things, but gets a little out of hand. And there's no way of ... what did you call it? Legalizing him? Getting him to help you and your Marines?

[justicereigns]

[Yeah, probably.]

[And Smoker laughs a LOT at that.]

No.

Right now the head of the marines would sooner extract his own teeth than allow such a thing, even though, don't get me wrong, all of the shichibukai are worse. But for all of the shichibukai's faults -- and believe me, there are TONS -- they at least make a pretense out of usually helping the marines. Even if it means putting their backs to a wall to get even that much.

Straw Hat doesn't believe in doing anything he doesn't want to. And I'm pretty sure the stories about him saving Fishman Island recently are only because of meat and friendship again.

He helped rescue a bunch of kids from a marine coverup, and part of it was an alliance arrangement with one of the shichibukai, but I think the rest of it was just because his crew wanted him to and he thought it would be fun.

Being a shichibukai would not be fun for him. And I don't think there's enough meat in the world to bribe him with for that.

[youshouldberunning]

[she's silent for a moment after all that. Huh.] I suppose we all have our forms of rewards and payment. Meat isn't one I generally here though. He's an interesting sounding guy, to say the least.

So, in short, there's no point in chasing him down here, so you let him kidnap you for the duration of the race. Hmm?

[justicereigns]

Who says I let him?

[>:|]

We were fighting and he glued himself like a monkey my jitte. When he realized I wasn't going to let go of it, but he still got hungry, he changed tactics and put my own cuffs on me.

[youshouldberunning]

Smoker. You turn into smoke. How does one handle magical handcuffs when they shouldn't touch them, and put them on a man of smoke?

[Sorry, she's being a bit of a brat. Clearly it means she likes the guy, seeing as she's talking to him like he's one of the guys she knows. There's a smile in her voice.]

[justicereigns]

Because they're made of seastone.

It turns people like me back to human, and weakens dumbasses like him.

[HE KNOWS IT IS A LAME EXCUSE BUT HE IS STICKING TO IT OKAY.]

[youshouldberunning]

All right, all right. I'll give you that. So now what? He has you locked up somewhere? Helping him train crew mates?

[justicereigns]

No, I got out of the cuffs.

But he kept my key so I can't go back until I get it back.

[Pause.] Not that I have a way off the ship yet.

[youshouldberunning]

And you cant have new cuffs made for them later?

I'm pretty sure if you needed a way off the ship, someone could catch up and find you. [Not that she expects him to take that]

[justicereigns]

I haven't found any seastone in this world yet. The key itself isn't seastone, but I don't trust any locksmiths in this world to make me a key for them without trying to turn the substance over to the navy here, and besides which, if a pirate has the key, they'd be kind of useless.