(Location: East Blue)
(General POV)
Jack stared at the three approaching battleships with anticipation. He had been waiting for them ever since the Goa Kingdom incident, and now they were finally here. Pulling out a spyglass from his Inventory, Jack began to look around on the approaching battleships for any sign of those in charge, and after a few seconds of searching he saw two people jump from two of the battleships and gathered near the bow of the third one with another man, and now the three men were standing side-by-side as the battleship drew nearer. The three men were wearing suits with navy cloaks on their backs, and Jack suspected right away that those three were Vice-Admirals.
Quickly going into his [STORE], he scrolled through a bunch of information until he found a booklet that showed every Marine Vice-Admiral currently alive. After buying it, he flipped through the pages before he found the three men in question. On the left with the scarred face and the curling mustache was Vice-Admiral Doberman, a powerful swordsman in his own right, who had mastered three of the Six Powers techniques, and was fully capable of using Armament Haki. Beside him was Vice-Admiral Strawberry, a tall man with an extremely long black beard and tall head to match.
Like every other Vice-Admiral, Strawberry could use Haki, but had only mastered two of the Six Powers techniques, however his skills with the sword could not be underestimated. Finally on the far right was Vice-Admiral Onigumo, a tall man who was wearing an ancient war helmet with a small, traditional dragon on the front of it. Reading the information about him revealed that, like the other two, he could use two of the Six Powers techniques and could utilize Haki, however unlike the other two, Vice-Admiral Onigumo had eaten a Devil Fruit. The Spider-Spider Fruit, which was a Zoan Devil Fruit.
Taking the initiative, Jack quickly put one of every fruit on the deck of the ship, just in case this went like he was thinking it would. Or hoped. "What are you doing?" Luke asked, not understanding why Jack was making a small mountain of fruit appear. "I'll explain later, for now just get ready. I'm going to handle those three there on the nearest ship, so you can do whatever you want to the other ships. Even… even blow them up." Jack said, struggling slightly at the end when he mentioned blowing up the ships. Though he really didn't want to simply because those things were massive and were probably worth a fortune. Still, Luke's life was a bit more important to him than money. 'It's okay. There are a lot more of those ships out there.' Jack told himself, choosing to not dwell on money at the moment.
"You there! Who are you and what were you doing just now?! How did you fall from the sky?!" Vice-Admiral Doberman shouted at them when the battleship was near enough to them. "I don't think that's any of your fucking business!" Jack shouted back at the Vice-Admiral who didn't seem to take his words that well. "What did you just say?!" Doberman roared angrily. "I said the Celestial Dragons want you three to go to the Holy City and bend over! They're missing their bitches!" Jack shouted back with a grin even as all three Vice-Admirals withdrew their swords. He was blatantly taunting them, and it was working.
Seeing the Vice-Admirals preparing to attack him, Jack raised his left hand towards Vice-Admiral Onigumo, and using his Devil Fruit ability, Black Vortex, Jack pulled the man towards him with a gravitational pull that he couldn't get out of. When he was almost to reach him, Jack unleashed a pillar of black flames that enveloped Onigumo, but the flames only lasted a few short seconds before they dispersed, and from them ash scattered about in the wind.
The two remaining Vice-Admirals were shocked at what had just happened, however before they could react, Jack appeared in front of Vice-Admiral Doberman using Shave and Moonwalk in conjunction with each other, then hit him with a Haki coated fist to the guts that sent him flying back into a cannon. Not willing to let up his surprised advantage, Jack spun quickly with his gun at the ready and fired from point-blank range right into Vice-Admiral Strawberry's temple, killing another of the Vice-Admirals, which left only Vice-Admiral Doberman, who looked to have seen better days. "Vice-Admiral!" The men around him shouted as they moved to try and help their superior who was currently in the process of vomiting blood.
"W-Who are you?" Vice-Admiral Doberman managed to wheeze out as he struggled to his feet. To him, the man before him was a complete monster. He had fought against pirates who were feared all over the world, but none of them had ever been able to move as fast as this man, nor had they been able to hit him so hard. On top of the fact that whatever he did, it somehow was able to rupture a number of his internal organs, something that he was sure no ordinary man could do with just a punch.
"At this moment, I am your judge, jury, and executioner." Jack answered simply as he approached the man with a fire literally burning in his eyes. The Marines around them could do nothing to stop him, as their bullets simply went through Jack and out the other side. "He's a Devil Fruit user!" Someone shouted, sounding as though he had blown the case wide open as to why none of the bullets seemed to phase Jack. For his part, Jack ignored the small fry as he moved quickly towards the injured Vice-Admiral, and try as they might, the Marines were powerless to stop him.
When Jack reached him, Vice-Admiral Doberman tried with the remainder of his strength to attack Jack, but Jack swung his own sword and deflected the blade coming towards him, then casually, Jack plunged his sword into Vice-Admiral Doberman's chest, piercing his heart. It was right about that moment when the Marines were frozen in shock when Luke climbed over the railing, bleeding from more than a few wounds, one of which looked pretty bad. "Hit the deck." Luke said tiredly as he fell forward on his face, at which point there was a loud explosion that rocked the area.
*BOOM!*
The battleship nearest to them lit up like the fireworks on the 4th of July, and Jack could tell that the Marines that had been on board the ship were all dead. None of them had managed to jump overboard and escaped whatever Luke had done to them. Jack silently lamented the loss of all that money, but he couldn't really argue with the results. There had been almost a thousand Marines aboard that ship, and Luke had killed them all in one go. Sure he was a little beat up, but he'd survive.
The remaining Marines, seeing all three of their commanders dead and one of their ships in ruin, called for retreat, however Jack had no intention of just letting them leave. Heads flew with every swing of his sword and Marines fell limply to the ground whenever he fired a shot, and before long the deck of the ship both he and Luke were on was completely cleared of Marines. Alive ones anyway. Looking over, Jack could see the third battleship was trying to sail away from them, and after letting out a sigh, he charged up his power before unleashing a wave of raven black fire that completely engulfed the battleship, followed shortly by another large explosion that promised the eradication of all life on that battleship.
"Wasn't that ship worth a lot of money?" Luke asked from behind him, causing Jack to let out another sigh. He didn't want to think about how much money just went up in flames right there. "Come on. There are still a few Marines down below deck." Jack said, completely ignoring Luke's question. Together they made their way down below deck, clearing the place of all Marines. "Please, don't kill me! I have a family!" One man begged, but Luke simply walked over and stabbed him in the stomach before he twisted his blade. "I had one too, but you Marines took them from me." Luke whispered to the man before he pulled his blade out of the man's stomach and moved on to the next.
After killing the last Marine on the ship, the two went back to Jack's little ship floating in the water outside, then Jack put the battleship into his Inventory before he began looking around the fruit until he found the one he was looking for.
==========
[Name: Spider-Spider Fruit]
[Type: Zoan]
[Value: $100,000,000]
[Sell: Yes/No]
==========
Opting not to sell it, Jack put it in his Inventory with the other two Devil Fruits he had collected thus far, then he stored away all of the fruit scattered about before he and Luke continued on their way to Windmill Village. Luke was in need of some stitches and recovery, and Jack was in need of a proper bath.
*****
(One Week Later)
Walking downstairs, Jack saw Makino getting the bar ready for the day. "Good morning, Makino. I trust you slept well?" Jack asked pleasantly. Makino let out a soft laugh before replying, "That's supposed to be my line, but yes, I did sleep well. Would you like some breakfast?" "Please and thank you. Oh, and could you make some for Luke as well? He'll be down in a minute." Jack said respectfully with a smile on his face. There were few people he had met in this world that he could enjoy the presence of, and Makino was certainly one of them. She was very kind and he wouldn't let anyone be disrespectful to her, not even himself.
A few minutes later, just like Jack said, Luke came walking down the stairs, still looking half asleep. He had been stitched up by Makino when they had first arrived here a week ago, and though he'd been ordered to rest up, that hadn't stopped him from going over his sword forms yesterday and every day before, since they got back. Luke barely had a chance to get seated before Makino placed a large plate of food in front of him, as well as a steaming cup of coffee.
"Will you marry me?" Luke asked, sounding dead serious, however Makino simply laughed in response. "Do you really plan on marrying me to get me to cook for you?" Makino asked with a knowing smile. Ever since that first morning after they arrived back here to Windmill Village, Luke had been trying quite persistently to get her to go with them when they set out so she could be their cook, but Makino had flat out refused each and every time, however Luke wasn't one to give up so easily, and now he was resorting to marriage proposals.
"I'd marry you right now if you'd agree to cook for me every day." Luke declared simply as he began to shovel the food in front of him into his mouth. "As flattering as that is, I'll have to decline. Besides, I can cook for you anytime you're here so long as you pay for it, and no marriage is required." Makino said with a smile before she went to do some cleaning. "Pointless, but good try. Anyway, eat up. I think you've recovered enough that we can finally begin the serious training." Jack said, getting a nod from Luke. He was itching to get strong like Jack.
Fighting those Marines from Marineford was quite the eye-opening experience for him. Where before he had thought he could take on the Marines like they were nothing with how easily he was able to beat them, the Marines in the East Blue were weaklings compared to the ones he had fought on the battleship. They were stronger, faster, more skilled, and overall a lot more challenging. Had he not got lucky and blown up the ship, Luke didn't think he would have been able to deal with ten of those grunts, and had Jack not been there to take on the Vice-Admirals, he would have been screwed.
"I'm ready." Luke said after eating the last piece of food on his tray before he got to his feet. "Hold your horses, and sit back down. For the first part of your training, you're going to have to do a bit of reading." Jack said as he cleared the table, then made a stack of books appear on the table. Luke was a bit confused how books were supposed to help him train to get stronger, but he suspected Jack was going to explain that very thing considering he made a whiteboard appear near the table and began to draw a diagram of a person on the board.
"First off, I want to tell you about Haki." Jack began what was a fairly long lecture on Haki. He explained all about its functions, how it could be utilized, and even how someone could sense someone else's Haki to sort of gauge their strength. Luke was fascinated about the subject to say the least, and after the lecture he immediately grabbed the book on Observation Haki and began to read.
It took awhile to finish the book on Observation Haki, but soon after Jack began to demonstrate his use with Observation Haki, and even tried to help Luke learn to sense it inside of himself. He did this by using Armament and Conqueror's Haki in conjunction with each other to give a sort of example on it, while at the same time almost traumatizing Luke in the process. Trauma was supposed to be one of the more popular ways in which to awaken one's Haki, and Jack figured it was worth a try.
To his relief and amusement, Luke did manage to awaken his Observation Haki, but so did Makino. Jack hadn't intended on terrifying her to the point where she would awaken to her Haki, but it happened, and now he had to teach her how to control it so she wasn't sensing everyone around her all the time and going nuts like Coby did after the battle at Marineford.
Luke was quicker to get his Observation Haki under control then Makino was, but that was to be expected considering he had read the manual that described how best to control it. Still, it was a little trippy hearing the voices around him when those responsible for the voices were nowhere around him.
*****
A month passed by in a blink, and in that time Makino had gotten a firm grasp on her Observation Haki, and despite Jack's offer of more teachings, she felt as though that was enough for her. Jack actually thought it would have been really cool if Makino got super strong, but she just didn't have the mentality for it. Jack had tried to make the argument that it would help her if she was ever attacked by bandits, but she assured him that she was fine, though that didn't stop Jack from putting a pistol behind the counter for her to grab if she needed to.
In this month, Luke had made remarkable strides compared to where he was before. His Observation Haki was coming along nicely, and though he couldn't coat his skin with it, he could use Armament Haki to some degree. He could now punch at Jack and not have his fists go through him, rather now he could actually cause real damage now, provided Jack let him. He still wasn't even close to being his match, and he knew it too.
Over this time, Jack had made Luke learn a new sword style, the one he learned from the manual, and pushed him further and further each day with it, on top of which Jack made Luke join him during his physical training, and needless to say, but Luke thought Jack was inhuman. The rate Jack pushed himself, Luke knew full well how he was able to get as strong as he was at such a young age. It was a little much even for Luke, someone who pushed himself to the limit almost every single day, however Jack seemed to think his limit was too small and pushed the bounds of Luke's limit as much as he could.
They had only just begun to discuss the Six Powers techniques when Jack suddenly declared that he and Luke were going to go to Loguetown. "Why are we going to Loguetown?" Luke asked curiously. "Because, I've decided it's time to start a new organization to combat the World Government, and there's someone there who I think would be a good candidate to run it." Jack answered simply, as if he hadn't just said something that could be world-changing. "You do know there's already a group who does that, right? They're the Revolutionaries." Luke said smartly, which earned him a kick to the shin.
"Ow! Son of a bitch!" He howled in pain. 'I might have gone a little overboard.' Jack realized too late, but just shrugged it off, thinking Luke probably deserved the extra pain for doing something stupid. "I know all about the Revolutionaries, but they overthrow governments, they don't patrol. This new organization we create is going to act a lot like the Marines, only they won't answer to the nobles or Celestial Dragons. They'll patrol the world and keep people safe, in time that is. For now, the East Blue will be the start of it." Jack explained, getting a nod from Luke who was still rubbing his leg where Jack had kicked him.
"Okay, so who's the guy in Loguetown, and why do you think he'd be a good fit to run this new organization?" Luke asked, sounding much more interested and less snarky than before. "I haven't actually met the guy yet, but he's a Marine Captain. From what I've heard, he's one of the better Marines who actually cares about the people and those who serve under him. He also isn't much of a fan of the World Government, and he absolutely hates pirates. I'm not even sure he'd be open to agree to run the organization, but I don't exactly have anyone better in mind unless I do it myself, which I don't want to do. There are still a lot of places in the world I want to see, and things I want to do, and running an organization like that sounds headache inducing." Jack explained, which got a small frown from Luke. He didn't particularly like any Marine and felt most, if not all of them, were better off dead, but he'd at least go along with the idea of maybe recruiting the guy, and if they failed, he'd just kill him. After all, there was no point in leaving a Marine alive. That was just stupid.
*****
In the skies of East Blue, a tiny ship could be seen soaring through the air at speed most ships could only dream of going. This was of course, Jack and Luke. Normally, Jack would use the propulsion from causing a great explosion to launch them through the air, then they would land and start all over, but right now he was trying something a bit different. After shooting up into the sky, Jack kept up the steady stream of fire to keep up their speed, and at the same time kept them airborne.
For hours they travelled this way, passing island after island with not a care in the world. Luke had fallen asleep at some point, and Jack sort of zoned out as the hours passed him by, keeping awake only because he had to supply power to the boat, and coat the ship with his Haki if they decided to land. That was generally what he did, even when he launched the ship, he had to coat it with his Haki, elsewise it might have been ripped up during take off.
Jack was brought back to reality when he noticed something approaching their position, or rather, something that they were approaching far too quickly. 'Is that…?' He wondered, then realized rather quickly that his assumption was correct. Somehow they had flown across the entirety of the East Blue in a matter of hours, and now they were quickly approaching the Red Line, which, if he guessed correctly, they were going far too fast to avoid. "Hey, Luke!" Jack shouted, getting the white-haired man's attention rather quickly, then pointed in front of them at the quickly approaching obstacle in their path. Without even giving it a second thought, Luke ran towards the back of the ship and leapt off without even consulting Jack or even checking to see how high up in the sky they were.
'Fucking idiot.' Jack growled internally before he stored the ship into his Inventory, then used Moonwalk to quickly make it to where Luke was falling down below, grabbing him mid-fall before he gently carried him down in his arms. "Seriously?" Luke asked while being held in a princess carry. "You were the idiot who jumped before I could give you a parachute. That's why I was waking you up, not so you could abandon ship like an idiot. The fall probably would have killed you had I not caught you." Jack said, chastising the man.
"Well excuse me for not wanting to go splat on the side of the fucking Red Line. Shouldn't you have stopped us before we were about to crash?" Luke asked, making a good point, however Jack didn't seem to care much for the question, so he dropped Luke, who fell about a hundred feet before he landed in the water down below.
When Jack made the little ship appear, Luke climbed on before they tried to find out where exactly they were. "I'm pretty sure Loguetown is South from here." Jack said, but in truth, neither he or Luke knew for sure where exactly they were, so it was just a guess on his part. "You're a terrible navigator." Luke told him flatly. "Oh yeah, well I don't see you doing much better!" Jack said, feeling the urge to throw Luke in the water again. "I never claimed to be a navigator." Luke said, making a good point. "Well, I know where we can get one. We'll stop on the Conomi Islands after Loguetown and see if she'd be willing to join us." Jack said, thinking of a certain orange-haired girl who was arguably one of the best navigators in the world.
With that in mind, they headed south along the Red Line until they saw an island off in the distance. When they arrived there, they found that they had in fact reached their destination, though if you asked Luke, it was entirely by luck. "No matter what you do, don't kill any Marines here yet. Let's wait and see how this goes before we do anything extreme." Jack told Luke, knowing his hatred for Marines would probably have him butchering every Marine on the island before they even found Smoker. "I'll be good. You can make your offer to the little boy-scout, and when he refuses you, then I'll kill him." Luke said, almost as if he knew for certain that Smoker was going to turn them down.
Taking advantage of the situation for what it was, Jack put on his skull mask and grabbed the bodies of the people he killed with bounties before he loaded them up onto a nearby cart. There was Kuro, worth $16,000,000 berries, who, Jack wasn't sure he'd get anything for considering most people thought he was dead already, then there was Jango, Kuro's Vice-Captain, worth $6,000,000 berries. There was Don Krieg and his Vice-Captain Gin, worth $17,000,000 and $8,000,000 berries respectively. Finally there was Alvida, who was only worth $5,000,000 berries, but Jack wasn't about to pass up easy money. All in all, it would be $52 million berries, but that was only if they paid him for Kuro. If not, then it went down to $36 million.
When they arrived at the Marine base, Jack, handed over the bodies to the man in charge, and after confirming everything, even that this was the real Kuro, the man had him sign some papers before he was given his money. "Thank you, Mr. Turner. We appreciate everything you're doing." The man said, having heard of William Turner, the man who killed Buggy the Clown and the Fishman Arlong.
"It was nothing. They were all small fry. Anyway, could you tell me where I might find Captain Smoker? I have some business I need to discuss with him." Jack said from under the mask. "He's somewhere around town right now. The Captain likes to patrol every so often to make sure no one is up to anything bad." The clerk told him, then said he'd be back in about an hour or so, and he could come back then if he wanted to meet Smoker.
After leaving the building, Jack met up with Luke, who was sitting on a bench not too far away from the Marine base. He had opted to stay outside, if only so he didn't kill anyone. "I don't see the point of the mask. You're not even WANTED yet." Luke said when Jack arrived next to him and took off his mask. "But I most likely will be WANTED soon, and at least this way I can build up an identity as a bounty hunter in case I want to cash in on more pirate bounties in the future. Wouldn't it be nice to have the Marines fund the very man who's out to ruin them?" Jack explained, getting a small chuckle from Luke. "I'd sooner just kill them all and rob them, but I guess this isn't the worst idea." Luke said, giving his two berries on the matter.
Figuring they had a little over an hour to kill before they found Smoker, the two of them began wandering around for a bit until Jack saw a sword shop that caught his eye. 'This couldn't be the same one, could it?' He wondered even as he moved to go inside. Behind the counter he saw a familiar-looking man, even though he had never seen him in person before. 'There are a few differences compared to the anime, but it's him, alright.' Jack thought upon seeing the man.
"Hello, and welcome to my humble shop. Have a look at anything you'd like. We have an extremely large variety to choose from, so please, if you have something specific in mind, don't hesitate to ask!" The short man said while rubbing his palms together. Turning to Luke, Jack said, "Go over to those barrels in the corner and look for any sword that jumps out at you." Luke wasn't sure what Jack was getting at, but he assumed this was some form of test, and opting to not argue about it, he went over and did as he was told.
He sorted through the swords in the first barrel without finding anything in particular, but when he grasped the handle of a sword in the second barrel he got a weird feeling in his chest. He could feel an ominous aura coming from the sword that he couldn't explain, but he knew something was different about it. Pulling it from the barrel and then its scabbard, Luke saw that the blade had a black flame-like pattern to it, which for some reason made him look over at Jack, who was grinning at him. Evidently he had passed whatever test this was, even though he still didn't understand what was going on.
Seeing Luke grab the sword, Jack couldn't help but smile a knowing smile. 'He's more talented with the sword than I thought.' Jack thought, realizing Luke had far more potential with the sword than he had originally guessed. When the shopkeeper saw the sword Luke was holding, his face paled. Jack could tell he was going to say something, so he chose that moment to speak, cutting off whatever spiel the guy was going to say. "That's a nice blade there, but do you notice anything off about it? A deathly feeling, one might say?" Jack said, gaining the attention of both Luke and the shopkeeper. "It's cursed." Luke answered seriously.
"A swordsman cuts what he wants to, the blade is just a tool. Are you going to let that weapon control you or what?" Jack asked with a knowing smile. He had phrased the question like that simply because he knew Luke would never let himself be controlled by anyone, least of all a sword.
Luke stared at the sword for a bit longer, then slowly at first, he began to force his Haki into the blade. Jack watched as Luke managed to make the blade turn black for a single moment before it returned to normal, but seeing as that was the first time he had managed to accomplish materializing his Haki to the point it could be seen, Jack was impressed. Whatever pride he was feeling was quickly suppressed when Luke suddenly tossed the sword into the air, then spun around with his eyes closed while holding the sword's scabbard directly above his head, and after a short breath, the sword came back down, sliding right back into its scabbard.
"You fucking idiot!" Jack cursed angrily. "If you were off by a single hair, I'd be cleaning your corpse off the floor!" Ignoring Jack's anger, Luke simply smiled victoriously before saying, "I am the one who decides my fate! If I die somewhere along the way, so be it, at least I will have lived my life how I wanted. I won't let something as stupid as a curse hold me back." Jack couldn't argue with that, so simply sighed at him before turning his attention to the shopkeeper. "We'll take this sword." Saying this, Jack put $50,000 berries onto the counter. Just as they turned to leave, the shopkeeper told them to hold on while he ran upstairs to grab something.
Coming back down a few seconds later, he placed a black sword on the counter. "My shop is small, but this is the finest sword I own. It belongs in the hands of a true master swordsman. I would be honored if you'd take it too." The shopkeeper said seriously. Luke walked over and drew the sword from its sheath, noticing the uneven temper pattern. Nodding his head with a grin, he accepted the sword. With a shrug, Jack walked back over and put $5,000,000 berries on the counter, which was a lot more than the sword was worth. "You can have the sword free of charge." The shopkeeper said with a smile on his face.
"Thank you, but keep the money all the same. There might come a time when a green-haired man wanders in here looking for two swords. Let him take two of his choosing, and we'll call it square." Jack said, with a small grin. He had no way of knowing if Zoro ever would pass through here looking for swords, but given his past history with breaking swords, Jack felt as though there was a decent chance of it happening. The only reason he was doing it was because Zoro was by far one of his favorite characters in the series, and he felt that this was sort of a way to help him.
After leaving the shop, Jack and Luke wandered around town for a bit longer when suddenly Jack stopped cold as he stared at a man with white hair similar to Luke's, and he was wearing a white coat covered in cigars. "What's up?" Luke asked, not seeing the need for the sudden stop. "That's him. That's Smoker." Jack said while looking pointedly at the man in question. Smoker evidently noticed their staring, because he walked over to them a few seconds later and asked, "Can I help you?" Jack eyed the man up and down for a few seconds, getting a read on him, and from what he could tell, he seemed like a decent enough candidate to lead the new order of this world's protectors. He'd need some training, but he should be able to get strong enough to the point where he could contend with the best of them.
"Can we go somewhere private? I have something I want to discuss with you. Something I think is in your best interest." Jack said seriously. It was Smoker's turn to eye him up and down to try and get a read on him, but what he figured out, Jack didn't know. What he did know was that Smoker could tell Jack was stronger than him, which was why he nodded his head and gestured for them to follow him down the street until they got to a bar that was devoid of people, save for the owner.
"Old man, give me a bottle of rum." Smoker said calmly to the owner as he sat down at the bar. "I've told you before, you're not welcome here." The bar owner said calmly as he turned to look at Luke and Jack. "Who're your friends?" He asked with a raised brow. In all the years Smoker had been here in Loguetown, he'd never once brought people to his bar. "They aren't friends, just some people who want to talk in private. Seeing as this bar is always empty, I figured it would be the perfect spot." Smoker said with some amusement in his voice, which didn't go unnoticed by Jack or Luke. "So what do you want to talk about?" Smoker asked curiously.
Jack thought about how he should phrase it, but ultimately decided to just be straight forward. Smoker wasn't the kind of person who liked fancy words anyway. "I want you to leave the Marines and lead a new organization that doesn't answer to the nobles, or the Celestial Dragons." Smoker looked taken aback by Jack's words, and he wasn't afraid of showing it either. "And why would I do that?" Smoker asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Surely you know by now just how corrupt the Government system is? They're worse than the pirates and everyone knows it, they're just too afraid to say it out loud. The world is in need of a new order, one that doesn't stand for turning a blind-eye to those in power. This order needs good people. People like you, Smoker." Jack said, his words surprising Smoker yet again.
Seeing as how Smoker wasn't making a move, Jack decided to simplify it even further. "My name is Jack Sparrow, and my goal is to eradicate the World Government, the nobles, the Celestial Dragons, and the dogs who serve them. The Marines are finished, and the only question now is, will you sink with them, or will you take the hand that has been offered to you?"
Smoker was stunned, and not just him. The old bartender standing next to him was looking at Jack as if he had grown a second head. "Are you with the Revolutionaries?" Smoker asked even as his fist turned into smoke. Before Smoker could react, a black tendril reached out to him, and suddenly he found himself being pulled into Jack's grasp before he was slammed into the floor. Luke grabbed the Sea-stone tipped jitte from his back and pressed the tip against Smoker's throat.
"We are not Revolutionaries, and we are not pirates. We are most definitely considered criminals by the Marines and the World Government, but to the rest of the world we are protectors. We are sick of slavery and we are tired of the Marines pretending to be something they are not. Do you condone slavery? Will you let thousands of innocent men, women, and children be tortured in captivity simply for the amusement of some rich assholes? Because if so, I'll kill you right here and now!" Jack growled as he released a bit of his Haki at Smoker, causing his eyes to widen and his breath to catch in his throat.
The old bartender had eyes the size of dinner plates as he watched on in fascination, while Smoker was looking towards Jack with a searching gaze. "It was you... You were the one who attacked the Goa Kingdom and killed all of the nobles!" Smoker stated in disbelief.
"I would hardly call them nobles, but yes, it was me." Jack said simply, then almost as an after thought he added, "I'm also the one who killed the three Vice Admirals a few weeks ago. Them and everyone on their ships." Smoker's eyes went wide at that, and he couldn't stop himself from demanding an answer. "WHY?!" With his voice devoid of any emotion, Jack spoke, "I killed every slaver, rapist, and murderer I could find that night, and in the process I freed almost a thousand people who were being tortured each day. There were children who had yet to walk wearing collars around their necks, naked boys no older than ten who had been used and abused in ways that no one should ever go through. Of course the Marines would send people to hunt the one responsible for daring to stand against those atrocities. One little word about their masters was all it took to rile them up. They didn't put up much of a fight, really."
"The Marines fight for JUSTICE!" Smoker stated proudly, which only earned him a scoff from Jack and a low growl from Luke. "The Marines can claim to be on the side of JUSTICE, but exactly whose JUSTICE is it really? It certainly can't be for all those who get sold at the human auction houses each day, nor is it for the thousands of innocent people they kill when they destroy an island just to kill one man. Face it, Smoker. It is those in power who write what is right and wrong, and now it's time for the Marines to be erased, known only as a page in history." Jack explained, giving Smoker no room to argue, for he knew those words to be true.
"I don't want to kill you, Smoker, but if you stay a Marine, you will be my enemy, and I will not have you come back to bite me in the ass later because I let you go." Jack said calmly, which only gave Smoker another thing to think about. He joined the Marines to stop pirates and to help people, but he couldn't refute anything Jack had just told him. The Marines worked for the Government, and they were tasked to do some very unpleasant things that went against what was right, and he knew it.
After a period of silence, Smoker asked, "Are you going to kill all of the Marines?" Without skipping a beat, Jack answered, "There are some I don't want to kill, but after I give my declaration to the world, anyone wearing a Marine uniform will be killed on sight." "How do you expect to protect people all over the world with a new organization that hasn't even been formed yet? It took centuries for the Marines to get where they are now, and you expect to what… create the same thing in just a few short weeks?" Smoker asked, finding there was a massive flaw in Jack's plan.
"I'm going to start off small. First I will declare the East Blue is off limits to the Marines, pirates, and the World Government. Once the organization gets a strong enough foothold, word will spread and soon enough the North Blue will be next, followed by the other Blue seas before I move on to the Grand Line, and soon enough the Marines will be a thing of the past." Jack explained confidently.
Based on his expression, Smoker couldn't believe what he had just heard, but he would come to accept it soon enough. That, or he would meet his end just like the rest of the Marines. "Could I… Could I have some time to think about it?" Smoker asked solemnly. Jack gave him a nod before he turned his gaze to Luke. Taking that as the signal, Luke removed the weapon from Smoker's throat and placed it on the bar. "I expect your answer by tomorrow evening. I'll give you until then." Jack said, then both he and Luke exited the bar.
"Are you just going to lay there on my floor like a rug?" The old bartender asked curiously. When Smoker got to his feet, he looked over to the old man who was shaking his head. "What?" Smoker asked. "With a man like that around, the great age of pirates is going to be at an end soon. At least for the East Blue. I have no doubt he's going to do exactly what he claims he's going to do. I guess it's high time I shut down this bar." The old man replied back with a far away look in his eyes.
Ignoring the old man and his rambling, Smoker left the bar, all the while thinking about the offer that had just been made to him and what it meant. 'Are the marines really finished?' Smoker asked himself as he made his way back to the marine compound.