One Piece Shorts - Formation

“Incoming!”

The call from the Marine soldier was deafened from the continuous barrage of artillery and gunfire. The roar of battle rang between the pirates that the Marines had found on their way back to base from a routine patrol, and neither side was letting up. Though the pirates in question were new to the waters, they were no pushover as the Marines found out ten minutes ago. It looked to be as though the pirates would win, and their captain was roaring in laughter as he slew another Marine soldier.

“That's it, mateys!” he called to his mates as he stomped the poor soul he had just cut down with his cutlass, “Just a bit more and-!”

Whatever the man was going to say was cut off as he was shot back by a blast of black liquid and off the soldier he had been boasting on. When the pirate captain finally managed to wipe away the liquid, he saw a figure coming towards him with an intense aura of anger that he had never seen before. The figure turned out to be a woman of average height with a decent figure with black hair tied in a bun. She was well dressed with a pinstripe suit of the same black as her hair, only with golden yellow lines running down the slacks and jacket of the suit. On her head, the captain could see a black cap that all the Marines wore, but for some reason, this strange woman had a black veil like some mourner's veil that a widow would wear over it, obscuring her face.

The captain tried to get up but slipped onto the floor unceremoniously onto his rear. He tried again and fell face forward, almost biting his tongue as he hollered, “W-what the hell is this stuff!?”

“Oil,” the woman promptly answered in a no nonsense tone as she unsheathed a sword she had been carrying, “I'm an Oil-Woman who ate the Oil Oil Fruit, scum.”

The pirate captain looked up and cursed, “Damn it! A Devil Fruit User, huh? Well, a little oil, isn't going to do much good with that blunt sword-!”

It was true that the woman's sword was completely blunt, but the woman didn't seem fazed by the pirate or the observation. Rather, she swung her blade from the spill the man was wallowing in, and almost instantly, the oil ignited and caught the pirate captain in a blaze.

“HOT!!! HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!”

The captain yelled in pain as everything on him was caught in the blaze while the woman simply went back to the soldier to verify if he was still alive. The pirate captain, in his panic, try to jump overboard, hoping the waters would quell the flames but as he turned he felt something through his chest and realized there was a sword sticking through him.

But it wasn't the one that the woman had used to ignite the oil.

There was soon a swift kick on his back and the captain landed on his ship, only to realize that several of his men were already injured or dead with a similar wound on their body. The captain turned his head with the last few moments he had left and caught sight of the man that had done the deed. He was tall, had to be at least ten feet in height, with fair skin, blue eyes, and short blonde hair that was under a brown cowboy hat. The man was dressed in a gray suit and the captain could spy a green tie underneath the jacket of the suit. On his shoulder, just like the woman, he could spy the Marine's “Justice” jacket that all the high ranking members wore. There, on his hand, the captain could see the sword that had likely stabbed him as he tried to jump ship to stop the burning.

“C-curse...you...!”

Those last words fell on deaf ears as the fire began to consume the ship, the pirates, and everything else aboard their ship.

The man in the cowboy hat sighed as he watched the blaze, “Pirates are starting to grow balls with how many attacks we've suffered this month.”

“We both know the reason, Jack,” the woman replied as she turned to one of the men, “Get the medic team up here and tend to the wounded, and I want the minimum number of men to get us back to base on the double!”

The soldier saluted with a “Yes, ma'am!” and hurried to fulfill his orders.

The man, Jack, sighed again, “Yeah, I know what you mean, Addolorata. That business with the Black Crow taking out and usurping Ganrow DeWulf's position as a Pirate Sovereign hasn't done us any favors.”

“That's Vice-Admiral Addolorata, Merrian,” the woman, Addolorata, corrected Jack, “I would think a Commodore like you would remember your place.”

Jack smiled to himself and let a chuckle, “Sho ho ho ho...Apologies, Vice-Admiral Addolorata.”

Addolorata huffed, obviously not buying the apology but shook her head, “How did I get tied up with you of all people?”

“Pure luck, I suppose,” Jack answered, obviously not bothered by his superior's mood, but quickly getting serious again, “Headquarters is really worried over this cult that took over, right?”

“Yes, the Cult of Yatagarasu,” Addolorata answered, a serious tone coming from behind the veil, “As if we didn't have enough troublemakers like the Raganarok Brothers, the Cross Family, Gan Yan, and Kurozumi...now we're dealing with a cult!”

Jack crossed his arm pensively, “And that's not accounting for the remains of the Bloody Wolf Pirates that Black Crow allowed to leave.”

Both would not admit it, but out of all the Pirate Sovereigns that sailed the seas, Ganrow DeWulf of the Bloody Wolf Pirates had at least been the most reasonable of the five. He had even let Marines lived as long as they didn't do anything that would constitute a retribution or harmed those under his flag. That had been a small blessing in disguise for the Marines as this meant that DeWulf would keep any of his allies or enemies in check whenever someone entered the pirate's territory. With him being disposed of, that meant that all of the real troublemakers that had been playing nice for DeWulf were now out and about causing mayhem.

“The man is dangerous,” Addolorata concluded as she got up and began to head back to her quarters, “And we're here to stop dangerous men like that.”

Jack could only watch as his superior left, knowing well that despite her belief in the Absolute Justice that the Marines spouted and her own impressive fighting skill, Addolorata was still human deep down. She would go and mourn the lives of not just the soldiers they had lost but even the pirates whom she had just burned to death with her sword and Devil Fruit. He had known Addolorata for a while now, and while she would always act tough while her veil was down, Jack knew there was far more than what everyone aboard knew of the woman. Jack then pulled out a photo of himself along with a young woman with light violet hair and blue eyes in a wedding dress. Jack pressed the photo to his forehead, a smile on it as he thought of his wife, Uzura, and hoped she was doing well while he was helping out Addolorata.

His happy thoughts were soon dashed when a soldier rushed towards the door that led to the commander's quarters. With a loud pop, however, an exact copy of Jack appeared in the man's path, blocking him as Jack made his way to the shocked soldier. Tucking the photo back, he whistled at the man to get his attention, “Sorry, soldier. No one's bothering Addolorata right now. She's busy with some personal matters.”

The man turned and saluted as he stated, “But Commodore Merrian, sir, I have urgent news from HQ for the Vice-Admiral!”

Headquarters was calling Addolorata? Well, she was a Vice-Admiral and well known for being one of the toughest ladies in their line of work, so Jack wasn't surprised about her being called by HQ. He looked at the soldier quizzically as he let the soldier relax, “Any idea on why, soldier?”

“W-well,” the man started, unsure if to answer.

“Relax, man,” Jack reassured the soldier with a grin, “I'm not gonna tattle.”

The soldier looked from side to side, making sure that no one but he and the Commodore were talking as he motioned for Jack to come closer. Jack bend down to make it easier for the soldier to whisper, “W-well, sir, it looks like Headquarters is going to promote the Vice-Admiral finally to an Admiral.”

One of Jack's eyebrows rose in surprise as he got up and stroke his chin, “That a fact? So they're finally moving her up like she's always wanted.”

“Not just her, sir,” the soldier went on, keeping his voice low, “Apparently, you're also being raised to Vice-Admiral, sir.”

That one surprised Jack a bit more than the news of Addolorata. He looked at the man seriously, “Vice-Admiral? You sure you heard that right?”

“Yes, sir,” the soldier replied, “Apparently, after that battle in White-Chapel that you two were in, HQ thought your talents were better served as a Vice-Admiral.”

Jack frowned recalling the event: there had been several civilians attacked by a pretty famous pirate of those parts who was trying to make the island his home base. The pirate in question was no pushover either as he had a fleet of ten ships along with several allies. It would've turned into a dangerous situation if not for Addolorata and Jack using their Devil Fruit powers to help evacuate the civilians deal with the pirates at the same time. In fact, it was thanks to that event and his Warrior Warrior Fruit that Jack had earned the nickname “Hundred Man” Merrian now among his peers. He found the nickname silly, sure, but his name was starting to carry some weight behind it that pirates almost always stopped fighting when they saw him.

Jack adjusted his hat and sighed, wondering if this promotion was really something to be celebrated for a minute before he looked at the soldier. “Alright, I'll deliver the news to the Vice-Admiral, you go and see if anyone in the infirmary needs an extra set of hands.”

The soldier saluted and went on his way as Jack dissipated the clone he had made, wondering how he was going to go and deliver the news to Addolorata. He would also have to find a way to give Uzura the news of his promotion, and cross his fingers that they would finally give him the days off he requested for his honeymoon.

XXXXXXXXX

Several months after the attack, Jack sighed as he made his way through Headquarters to meet up with Addolorata or as she was now being called, Admiral Karasuhebi. It was always considered traditional to use a color and animal to refer to those of Admiral level, so Jack wasn't surprised. He did wonder why they chose a snake of all things for the animal, but he wasn't going to question whoever made the choice. He was happy that his superior finally got the position that she wanted, even though Jack would never accept the promotion if he was in her position. Admirals were all under the thumb of the Nobility and the Council, the major powers of the New World Government. If they said to jump, Addorolata would be forced to do so without question and maybe even ask how high she should. While Jack was a believer in Justice, he was not going to play as a dog for men and women who absolutely had no idea what was going on in the seas.

He finally reached the office he was looking for and knocked on the door. He heard a muffled “Come in” and Jack entered the rather spacious office, where the newly anointed Admiral was busy moving boxes of paperwork around. With a loud pop, three clones came into existence and began to aid the Admiral as the original Jack sat down, “So, how are you liking your new position, Addolorata?”

“It's Karasuhebi now, Merrian,” she answered before sighing and sitting down herself, “And it's nothing but paperwork for now. I swear they just threw all of these forms in boxes without knowing what was written on them.”

Jack chuckled as his clones went through the paperwork, the information being transmitted to Jack's mind as he motioned one of the clones, “Make sure you separate those properly.”

The clone nodded and the trio went to work as Jack went back to the Admiral, “So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“You recall that plan of yours?” the Admiral asked as she got out some rice crackers from the drawer and began to munch on them.

“Plan?” Jack repeated, trying to figure out what she meant as he dictated mentally to his clones on where the papers were to go.

“The special forces team?” Addorolata reminded Jack, “The forces to help keep the worst of the pirates crawling the seas in check?”

Jack then recalled offering that idea back as a volunteer in one of the classes as a recruit, and the only one to not deny him the thought had been Addorolata (a Captain at the time). He leaned back on the chair as he slowly gave a nod, “What about it?”

Addorolata pulled a paper out of a drawer with a grin hidden behind her veil and placed it in front of Jack, “Congratulations, Merrian, your idea just got accepted by the higher ups.”

Jack nearly fell off the chair as he blinked and righted himself, “How?”

“How else?” she asked, a smile now on her face that was barely visible to Jack, “You were right back then, Jack. We need a team that specializes in dealing with criminals who are beyond the level of combat of regular Marines or the bureaucracy that the government uses to slow us down. I can't think of anyone better to lead such a team than you.”

Jack was speechless and didn't know how to react to the news. Karasuhebi continued, “Don't worry, I won't let anyone bother you for your honeymoon with Uzura. We'll be selecting the members for this special forces once you're back and done having fun.”

Jack smiled and chuckled as he gave a salute, “Sho ho ho ho...I guess I'll have to bring you a souvenir for this one.”

Addorolata leaned back on her chair, “Make sure Uzura picks it out. I don't trust your judgment outside of naval affairs.”

Jack and Addorolata laughed together at that comment as Jack dismissed his clones and got up. He tipped his hat to the Admiral, “I better get going then. Try not to have too much fun without me here.”

Karasuhebi shook her head with mirth as Jack left, and looked at the paper with a sigh, “For all of our sake...let's hope he doesn't pick anyone too strange to deal with these pirates...”