Chapter Text
I came into existence in an alleyway, stepping through a silently-swirling, turbulent portal. Stargate, it was not.. Perhaps not the most glamorous start to a narration, but it’s what happened, and I’m not one to embellish the truth.
To start off, I did a bodycheck. My clothes were on, my gear was… not. Dangit, I could’ve at least had my swiss army knife with me. Oh, well, I’ve had bigger losses. Continuing bodycheck! Limbs are in place. Extra limbs are in place. Face is in place. Everything is mobile and functional. I feel strong. Can’t test abilities here, but that’s no biggie. Clearing my throat, my voice worked, as feminine as it should be. Now, to figure out where I was and how to attract the least negative attention…
Just in time for me to think that, I heard a child’s laughter, and a moment later, a man panickingly begging for his daughter’s life from… Captain Smoker?
“Deelish, you beautiful witch, your timing is impeccable…” I snickered to myself and carefully moved toward the mouth of the alley, listening in on a man telling a girl how his silly pants ate her ice cream.
I glanced up, happy that the alley was well-shadowed. I wouldn’t be immediately detected. But I heard Smoker approaching, as the street was otherwise fairly silent, despite the people there.
“Which dock?” Smoker asked his fellow Marine as they approached.
“Uh, Dock A6, on the south side” the Marine replied, about to continue, when they both heard me chuckle.
“You’re pretty good with kids” I said, actually nervous about what I was about to do. But I tried not to show it, leaning against the wall and keeping myself to the shadows.
“Who are you?” Smoker asked, blunt as he was in the manga and show.
“Call me Jazmine. I’m new in town” I said, glancing up at them. The Marine grunt looked nervous, hand reaching for a weapon which he apparently had forgotten somewhere, because he wasn’t armed. “And no, I’m not a pirate. But I am pleasantly surprised to see a Marine with some integrity.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Smoker asked, tensing and stepping closer, smoke billowing from his mouth.
“Didn’t you see the father? He was terrified and begging you not to kill his little girl. I’m sorry to say, sir, but the Marines don’t have a good reputation in the world. To the people, you’re just as likely to kill a child as you are to comfort one, as you just saw yourself. Even the people around were tense, and it’s not from respect for your uniform. It was fear.”
Smoker glared at me, fists clenched in his gloves. But he wasn’t arguing against it. He seemed to be taking a moment to think back on the events. And perhaps other events.
“And what about you, then?” he finally asked. “Why do you hide yourself in the shadows? Afraid of being recognized for something?” As he spoke, I could see his body partially dissolving into white smoke. Let me tell you, the anime or manga didn’t do the effect justice. The MCU Thanos Snap came closest, but to see someone’s physical fleshy body turning into smoke was… just awesome.
“No. It’s just that most people in the East Blue aren’t used to seeing anything but regular humans around,” I replied, fluttering a wing and moving my tail a bit for emphasis.
The Marine grunt with Smoker jumped and gasped, but Smoker simply stopped smoking, just staring at me.
“A Zoan. Why don’t you just turn back to human form?” he asked, squinting suspiciously.
“Can’t,” I said simply. Wasn’t even a lie. I really don’t know how to do that. “Might I ask where you’re going?”
“Why?” he asked, tensing again.
“Like I said, I’m new in town. I’d like to see how its guardian handles unwanted guests” I replied. This was a risk. This was a huge risk. But I felt I needed to take it.
Smoker looked at me for a long time, before finally sighing and relaxing. “Come on then,” he simply said, and started walking away.
I blinked, but smiled and stepped out of the alley to follow him. The grunt once again jumped at the sight of me. Apparently, the shadows hid me well enough that he couldn’t see that I was some inches taller than Smoker. Or how my body looked, given the blush that was suddenly on his cheeks. I couldn’t help but giggle at that. Some men just flustered so easily…
Then again, a quick glance around told me I was curvier than most women, and my t-shirt wasn’t exactly hiding me. Nor were my pants. At least they were both black, so they weren’t emphasising anything in particular, either.
“So where’re we going?” I asked after a bit of walking, once the crowd’s surprise and shock got boring.
“D-docks. Apparently, a notorious pirate has just m-made landfall” the grunt replied, starting to get over his nervousness, as long as he didn’t look at me, and focused his eyes dead ahead.
“Yeah? Who’s that?” I asked.
“Monkey D. “Straw Hat” Luffy. Bounty, 30 million Beri” the grunt replied.
I whistled a bit, pocketing my hands. “That’s a huge bounty for this ocean.”
“Doubt the pirate himself will be anything special. Nothing I can’t handle” Smoker grunted gruffly.
“What’s he done to earn such a huge bounty, anyway?” I asked, continuing to walk.
The grunt fidgeted with his hands, likely wanting that wanted poster now. “Uh, not entirely sure. We know he took out Don Krieg and Fishman Arlong, though.”
“Sounds like he did you a favor, if that’s all you have” I chuckled.
“A pirate’s a pirate. If they take each other out, that’s just all the better for us” Smoker growled.
I frowned. That attitude would have to change, and I'd prefer sooner.
oOoOo
We turned a corner and heard some guy with a stupid beard... and an annoying voice.
“Have at it boys - no need to be shy on my account!” he called out, and looked back at his men, who were busy chain hauling stolen boxes and bags into boats. “I, Gally the Crescent, hereby proclaim all of your food to be in service to the future King of the Pirates! So don’t bother trying to hide anything!”
Smoker was walking up to the backs of the closest guys, when I looked them over. “That’s not Straw Hat” I simply said, causing Smoker to stop and look at me. “He’s not wearing a straw hat.”
Smoker looked back at the man, still screaming at the people, and the men still ignoring us. “Gally the Crescent, I think he said…”
“Oh, his bounty is… I think it was almost 4 million Beri, Captain” the grunt said.
This gave me an idea… A very stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless.
“Smoker, I’m a civilian. If I take out the captain, you think I could get the bounty for him?” I asked, already looking around for something to use as a weapon.
“I can’t in good conscience let you take on the crew by yourself” Smoker replied, brow wrinkled in annoyance.
“No, no, just the captain. I’m flat-broke, so his bounty would come in handy,” I explained, shaking my head, as my gaze touched on his own weapon. “Could I borrow that? What is that called, anyway, it looks exotic.”
“It’s my Nanashaku Jitte” he replied. “And no, you can’t have it.”
“Aww, but Captaaaain…” I whined a little. “It’s so cool…”
“No!” he repeated, more firmly this time. And this time, he got the attention of the closest pirates, who then jumped in surprise at seeing us.
“C-Captain! It’s a Marine and a monster!” one of them called out, backing away quickly.
I looked at the Marine grunt. “I think he just insulted you.”
“You’re the monster he meant!” he shouted angrily at me, while Smoker sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“I can’t deal with this. Fine, you take the small fry, and I’ll handle the smaller fry” he said, smoke already billowing from his arms. “If you think you can handle it, Jazmine! White Blow!”
With that, he punched forward, launching smoke from his arm to envelop the closest pirates.
I had to think quickly, so I simply reached for the closest items I could, and launched myself at Gally. These items turned out to be a large sack of… something. And a barrel lid. Well, it’d do as a shield if need be.
Flaring my wings, I used my momentum to throw the heavy sack at the captain like a missile. One which he barely managed to dodge, but the sack still managed to clip his right arm right above the elbow. I heard a snap and he wailed as his shoulder slumped oddly, dislocated. Or maybe broken, I couldn't tell in the heat of the moment.
It didn’t last long, as I lunged forward right after throwing, and smashed the barrel lid into his face hard enough to break the wood. Then, for good measure, I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to knee his gut, and finally smashed his face into the ground. He went limp and groaned in pain.
The rest of his crew were stunned or panicking from the combined assault until now, but seeing their captain knocked out in just a couple seconds brought some courage - or anger, more likely - to them, and they roared as they charged me. Most of them didn’t even bother pulling out weapons, and just piled on me like a bunch of frat boys.
Ironically, this meant they hurt their captain more, who groaned louder, air forced from his lungs from the weight, and pressing his injured shoulder against the ground more.
This might be a good time to let you readers know that I am strong. Above average for One Piece standard civilians, at least. I lifted the whole pile of people, leaned forward, and smashed them all into the rocky dock as hard as I could. Which wasn’t really much, given my leverage, but still. Quite a few of them cried out in pain, some were simply knocked out, and so many others were apparently just stuck to each other, limbs tangled with each other. I swear, I even saw one guy’s bare foot stuck in another guy’s pocket, and one had his nostrils stretched with someone’s thumb and pistol barrel, eyes watering with fear. I took away the pistol before it accidentally fired, the guy tearfully thanking me. Honestly, I don’t know if surviving is better than Marine prisons, but I don’t have many to go off as reference.
The battle was over soon with Smoker’s powers subduing almost all of them. Miraculously, I hadn’t been shot or hit with anything.
“Huh. Not a scratch” Smoker observed as I dusted myself off.
“Yeah. Damn lucky, huh?” I said, chuckling a little hysterically.
“Very. Good thing they were too surprised to use their heads” he replied with a nod, and looked to his fellow Marine. “How much was this punk worth, again?”
“Almost 4 million Beri. We’d have to go back to the office to be certain” the grunt replied.
“Take Jazmine back and give her the bounty’s worth. Along with the punks she took out. I’ll stay here and watch over this garbage.” I could swear I saw a hint of a smile on Smoker’s lips. But that had to be my imagination.
“Yes, sir!” the grunt saluted, and we headed back to the Marine office.
We walked mostly in silence, the people once again scared at my appearance, and giving us a wide berth.
I didn't need to say anything. A sideways glance showed me the Marine's expression.
The grunt clenched his fist. “Why…? We’ve done nothing but protect them for years, and they treat us like this…?
“It’s nothing personal. It’s the reputation of the Marines” I said softly. “You can do all you want to protect people, but the Marines are well-known to follow orders. And from what I’ve seen, most people higher in the chain of command aren’t exactly good people. If Marines aren’t indoctrinated to blindly follow orders, they’re afraid to disobey, even if the orders are bogus.”
He snorted, looking away and grabbing his cap to shield his eyes. “And how would you know?”
“Out of five Marine Captains or higher I know of in the East Blue, only two are decent. And one of them is dead. Captain Morgan, I heard, was recently deposed and arrested for corruption. Captain Nezumi, I know for a fact, is corrupt and just straight-up working for Arlong. Captain Fullbody is just an arrogant prick more interested in his ego than doing his job. But Captain Smoker and Commodore Pudding Pudding? They’re decent. Though I heard Pudding Pudding was killed by the Arlong Pirates before the Straw Hats took them out.”
The grunt was silent all the way to the office, only speaking again when the doors swung closed again: “Why do you call them decent? They’re good Marines.”
“Because good and decent aren’t the same thing. Good Marines follow their orders to the letter and without hesitation. Even if that order is to kill an innocent. But a decent Marine can look at themself in the mirror without shame,” I replied with a sigh of my own. "A great man put it in a certain way, but I don’t have the same eloquence as he does. Let me put it this way: If you were to be given an order to burn down an orphanage, and shoot any child who tried to escape, would you do it?”
His head snapped to look at me with such speed, I was afraid he’d get whiplash. “No! Of course I wouldn’t!” he cried out in shock and anger. “What kind of question is-”
“There’s a lot of marines who would,” I interrupted him. “Especially if the order comes from someone like… Vice-Admiral Strawberry. Or Onigumo. Or Akainu.”
He trembled, hesitating. I looked at him for a while, and opened my mouth to speak, when he grit his teeth and steeled himself. “I wouldn’t. Never. Even if they court-martialed me, I couldn’t do that.”
I couldn’t help but smile, and stood straighter, giving him a genuine salute. I don’t think I got the hand position quite right, but if the look on his face was anything to go by, he got my meaning.
“And that means you’re a decent Marine. A decent human being. And a good man.”
He looked at me for a while longer, before gulping and shaking his head. “L-let’s just get you that bounty…”
I didn’t say anything, and just smiled at him as he rifled through his papers.
oOoOo
Turned out Gally had a nice bounty of 3,450,000 ฿. Couple that with the bounties from the mooks I took out, and I got a nice amount of money to spend today.
I smiled at the Marine, thanking him for everything, and headed out. He looked like he had a lot of things to think about. Now, it was time to get myself a coat with some pockets! Oh! And a transponder snail!
…but first some food. I was hungry!